Port Street, Stirling
Our client and the landlord of this three bedroom 1st floor flat on Port Street in Stirling had owned the property for many years. An elderly lady was the tenant here prior to our instruction to quote for complete refurbishment but her circumstances changed meaning that the property had become vacant. As the tenant had lived in the property for more than thirty years without any refurbishment or upgrading, it had become very outdated and generally quite tired.
Our instruction from the client was to suggest and quote for suitable upgrading works. This meant one single visit from our surveyor/estimator to gather the information and sizes required.
On submitting our works estimate our client responded within 24hrs in order to confirm ‘go-ahead’ with all suggested upgrading works. Although the competitive price of suggested works was attractive to the owner, it was also very important to him that works started and finished as quickly as possible in order to minimise the period without rent income. In this case the property was vacant a total of only 25 days.
The property here had a relatively recent combination boiler and central-heating system in place. We assessed the system and advised our client that it would be unnecessary to upgrade the system.
The kitchen required full replacement including appliances, base units, wall units, boiler housing units, doors, handles, plinths, pelmets, sink, taps, splashback tiling and lino flooring. The bathroom required full replacement including bath, bath taps, wall-mounted shower valve w/ riser-kit, tiled bath panel, vanity units, semi-recessed basin, basin taps, back-to-unit-pan, toilet seat and lino flooring. All carpets and floor coverings throughout required complete replacement incl carpet gripper, underlay and hardwearing carpets. The property required full decoration throughout including walls, ceilings and woodwork (doors, skirting and facings). We were asked to supply and fit white (blackout) roller blinds in the kitchen and the bathroom. Curtain rails and curtains were fitted in the three bedrooms and the living area. New low voltage wire-hung spotlights replaced the pendant light in the kitchen. Hard-wired smoke alarms were fitted where required to meet current rental legislation. All of the original timber sash & case windows were overhauled before decoration.
Areas where we were able to cut costs for our client – By assessing the efficiency and condition of the existing heating system and boiler we were able to confirm its good condition. The costs of replacing a combi-boiler can be relatively high so we decided we could avoid these costs in this case. The kitchen and bathroom layouts were relatively good and although we thought that with some planning and changes to pipework and drainage the space could be more efficient, our client opted to ovoid the addition costs.
Our clients aim for the general finish of the property was to have a modern, minimalistic feel with neutral colours throughout. Naturally the client expected good quality items and fittings with warranties included.
The monthly rental income achieved prior to the refurbishment by Scotia Property Services was £300.00 (regulated tenancy). On completion of the refurbishment the monthly rental income achieved was £850.00.