What I Own: We completely transformed our £520,000 home — the previous owners live next door

This weekend, we’re in a village just outside Cardiff visiting Stacey and Chris (Picture: Alistair Heap) Welcome back to What I Own – Metro’s property series where we speak to homeowners about getting on the ladder. Stacey Hawkes was driving through a village near to her home, when she drove past a Victorian house, with a ‘for sale’ sign outside. At the time, she and her husband, Chris, weren’t looking to move, and they’d just had a baby a few months before. The idea seemed mad. Nonetheless, they decided to book a viewing, and they fell in love the minute they waked in. The sellers were actually the people that lived next door. The two homes used to be one — an au pair had previously lived in the part of the home being sold. The one, large house, was being split up, and one half sold. Unusually, the owners even wanted to interview Stacey and Chris, before accepting an offer. They’ve lived in their Victorian home for seven years now (Picture: Alistair Heap) Ready to start your homebuying journey? You can access completely fee-free mortgage advice with London & Country (L&C) Mortgages, a partner of Metro. Customers benefit from: – Award winning service from the UK’s leading mortgage broker – Expert advisors on hand 7 days a week – Access to 1000s of mortgage deals from across the market Unlike many mortgage brokers, L&C won’t charge you a fee for their advice. Find out how much you could borrow online Mortgage service provided by London & Country Mortgages (L&C), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered number: 143002). The FCA does not regulate most Buy to Let mortgages. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Renovating the £520,000 home has subsequently been slightly awkward, given the previous owners could watch it happening, but doing so has seen the value of the property increase by £900,000. We chatted to Stacey about their property journey… Tell us about yourself! I’m 43, and I live in Cardiff with my husband Chris. We’ve got three children – my eldest is 21, and then I’ve got a 19-year-old and a 7-year-old. We’ve been in our Victorian house for seven years. Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. We moved when my youngest was a baby, and it was a really random purchase. We’d just finished doing up our other house, which wasn’t too far away from here, but it was different. It was detached, and from the 1950s. We happened to drive past this home one day, and we saw it was for sale. I nagged my husband, asking if we could come and see it. He said no. It’s been a challenge where they’ve made changes (Picture: Alistair Heap) But I encouraged him, and we put our house on the market the following day. We only wanted to move for this house. It took us quite a long time to move in, as it’d been empty for years before we moved in. A lot of the character had been stripped out of it, and we’ve spent years putting all of that back. I’m very much not an interior designer! What do you think about the area? We’re in a village just outside Cardiff. It’s a lovely place to live, and through lockdown we really got to know the neighbours on our street. It’s two minutes from the train station. Our friend has a gelato shop he operates out of his garage, that went viral on TikTok. We’ve got a retail park down the road, and it’s got a HomeSense, Starbucks, and M&S. Last year, they built in a pub in their back garden (Picture: Alistair Heap) When did you move? July 2019. How much did you buy your home for? It was up for £550,000, and we paid £520,000. I think it’s now worth between £850,000 and £900,000. How much was your deposit? We put £250,000 down from the sale of our previous house. How much is your monthly mortgage and bills? The mortgage costs £1,500 per month because we borrowed more money to renovate. Our water bill is around £111, our gas and electricity is £329 and higher in the winter, and our council tax is £279. We definitely use a lot of water in our house with a teenage son who showers a lot and a young son who loves a bath so deep he can swim in it (with goggles, too). Ufurnish Awards 2026 In partnership with Metro, the ufurnish.com Home Awards 2026 showcase the homeowners, influencers, innovators, retailers and manufacturers transforming living spaces across the UK. Stacey has been shortlisted for the Best Entertaining Space Award at the 2026 Ufurnish Home Awards. Read more about the finalists on the Ufurnish website. What’s the story behind this property — you bought it off your current neighbours? It was a curse as well as a blessing. The house felt like it needed a family, and the next-door neighbours, who owned it, wanted to meet us. They were worried we were developers who were going to swoop in, and slice and dice it up into flats. After viewing this home, they put theirs on the market the next day (Picture: Alistair Heap) The house had been theirs for 30 years, and their au pair had lived there. It had planning permission to be knocked through, so at one point, they would have accessed it, and the frontage of the house would have remained as two. They had a massive garden out the back, and then their children grew up and moved out; they had planning permission to turn it back into two dwellings. They left it empty. I was sold at the turn of the key. It was the best decision we ever made. How do you find living next door to the people you bought from? They’re a lovely couple. It’s been a challenge where we’ve made changes.I’ve always felt that I wanted to let them know what we were doing. In the beginning, they’d tell us why they’d done certain things, or why they had the fence at a certain height. I felt like I was living in their house. But also, it’s been nice to hear the history of the house. There’s a really beautiful tree in the garden she bought for her husband’s 50th birthday. It was awkward when we put a big extension on the house last year, but they’ve said they love what we’ve done to it. We’ve turned what was their allotment into a garden bar, which is now up for a Ufurnish Award for Best Entertaining Space. I think changing that space was harder for them. Our neighbour on the other side once made a few comments about all the work they’d done to the house, and that we were changing it. But once it’s your house, you do as you wish. They paid £520,000 for their home, having negotiated down (Picture: Alistair Heap) Have you had any problems with the home since you moved in? We didn’t realise the upstairs bathroom was one that the previous owners had put in to sell the house, so really, it was just a tiled shower room. It was nothing offensive; it was fine, but after a year of living here, we noticed a leak in the kitchen. It had been building up every time we used the shower room because the builders had tiled directly onto the plasterboard without damp-proofing, so we had to rip it out. Thankfully, the damage wasn’t that bad. What are your plans for the future, housing-wise? Could you see yourself moving again? We plan to stay put. Never say never. I don’t really want to spend another seven years renovating. Shall we take a look around? Welcome home (Picture: Alistair Heap) Home is where the heart is (Picture: Alistair Heap) The home is now worth between £850,000 and £900,000 (Picture: Alistair Heap) Their deposit was £250,000 (Picture: Alistair Heap) …as they had equity from the sale of their previous home (Picture: Alistair Heap) We’re enjoying the splash of pink in here (Picture: Alistair Heap) ‘The house felt like it needed a family,’ Stacey says (Picture: Alistair Heap) The previous owners wanted to interview them before they bought it (Picture: Alistair Heap) Oh hi there (Picture: Alistair Heap) Stacey says she was ‘sold at the turn of the key’ (Picture: Alistair Heap) ‘I felt like I was living in their house,’ Stacey says of the beginning (Picture: Alistair Heap) ‘It was awkward when we put a big extension on the house’ (Picture: Alistair Heap) Stacey says her teenager takes long baths, as does her youngest (Picture: Alistair Heap) We’d have long baths too if we had a tub like this (Picture: Alistair Heap) Stacey is up for an award for her work on the garden bar (Picture: Alistair Heap) Their other neighbours have made comments about the work (Picture: Alistair Heap) But as Stacey says, ‘once it’s your house, you do as you wish’ (Picture: Alistair Heap) Now isn’t this cosy? (Picture: Alistair Heap) The Well Inn was established in 2025, indeed (Picture: Alistair Heap) The garden used to be one big space (Picture: Alistair Heap) …but it was separated after they moved in (Picture: Alistair Heap) The home dates back to the Victorian era (Picture: Alistair Heap) Oh hiiiii (Picture: Alistair Heap) No riff raff, please (Picture: Alistair Heap) Can we have a go? (Picture: Alistair Heap) Now isn’t this a lovely green space? (Picture: Alistair Heap) Can we pop round for a game? (Picture: Alistair Heap) There are bar stools and everything (Picture: Alistair Heap) Do you have a story you’d like to share? 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