What I Own: We spent £925,000 on our South West London home — now it’s valued at £1.5 million

Welcome back to What I Own – Metro’s property series where we speak to homeowners about getting on the ladder.

With a keen eye for Scandi design, when Justin Coakley found a doer-upper in South West London, he was sure he could transform it into his dream home.

But, on the market for £1 million, it was out of budget and was snapped up by another buyer.

A year later, though, Justin, who is originally from South Africa, and his partner learnt that the original sale had fallen through. The pair put in a lower offer and moved into the four-bed house in summer 2004, having paid £925,000 for it.

In just 18 months, their house has already been valued at £1.5 million.

Here’s what Justin had to say about his living situation…

Tell us about yourself!

I’m a full-time content creator, and I started out in the interiors industry slowly but surely, with our first house, which we bought in the UK eight years ago. I started posting pictures of it online, and it soon became apparent to me that people were interested in my renovation journey.

With the first house, I shared a lot of the renovation and what we had done, and it really started gaining popularity. I saw my account growing overnight in leaps and bounds, so I thought: ‘Wait a minute, there’s something to this’.

I started Instagram back in the day when there weren’t even stories, and it’s been really interesting to see how that’s evolved over time.

Now, my business has just grown from strength to strength every year. I’m working with some really big brands across the board, the biggest one being my main client, which is M&S, for whom I’ve been on a rolling contract for three years, creating online content.

In terms of the interior space, I’m a trained interior designer. I bought my current property in the summer of 2024 with my partner, and my whippet, 4-year-old Aalto. He’s named after Alvar Aalto, my favourite architect.

Whereabouts is your property? What do you think of the area?

I live in South West London, on the borders of Wimbledon. I really love the area for its accessibility to the city, as well as the outskirts of London and beyond. It’s got very good transport links to London, with the train taking 23 minutes to Waterloo.

We have a Waitrose, we have an M&S, and it’s very up and coming. There are also some really nice coffee shops, and I also love the accessibility to all the surrounding parks, which Aalto loves.

How much does your property cost?

We bought this property for £925,000. Originally, it was listed at £1 million, and I saw it a year prior to us buying it. I was a bit heart-sore, because I saw that it got sold, but then the chain fell through.

It was reduced to £950,000, and then I came in, and I said that there was a whole lot of work to be done here — I think it was last touched in the early 90s. So, we were able to put in a lower offer.

How much was your deposit?

We had a £300,000 deposit, because we had equity from our previous property, and we were able to pump that into the deposit. The property is now valued at £1.5 million, which was done by an estate agent.

What is the monthly cost of living here now, both mortgage and bills?

Around £3,000.

What was the process of getting a mortgage like for you? Did you find any parts challenging?

It was a lot harder this time around to get a mortgage, because with our first property, we were both gainfully employed.

This time, we were both self-employed, so getting a mortgage and finding a borrower that would give us the money that we needed was a lot harder.

We went through loads of different mortgage lenders, and at the end, we settled on one, but it was quite amazing, because all the big banks weren’t even interested in looking at us.

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Can you share details on your mortgage?

The rate was given at 4.97%.

How have you made the property feel like home? What’s the inspiration for your interior decor style?

I would say I’m a mix of contemporary Scandi and classical design. I love elements of contemporary design that suggest ‘ease’, but then also I’m very drawn to the more kind of classic kind of British interiors.

With this house, I wanted to lean into the classical style a lot more, which is a lot more in keeping with my own personal style.

I love going to antique fairs and finding one-off pieces.

How many properties have you owned before this?

Just the one, which was also in South West London.

What’s your favourite room and why?

I would say it’s my kitchen. I absolutely love it. I’ve just recently done a collaboration with IKEA, and we fitted out the whole kitchen.

I found it a really interesting process, because you can spend hundreds of thousands on kitchens, whereas this was quite the opposite.

At the moment, it’s my favourite room. It tends to happen, though, that every room that I’ve recently completed tends to be my favourite.

Do you feel like you have enough space?

Yes! There are only two of us and a dog, and the house is 2,000 square feet, so it’s already quite a big house. In fact, there are days when we don’t go into some rooms.

With our previous property, we already outgrew the space as it became quite cramped. Also, coming from South Africa, I’ve been lucky enough to live in really big spaces, so coming to the UK and downsizing a lot has been a big challenge.

Are there any problems with the property that you have to deal with?

We had a bit of an issue with the plumbing in the bathroom upstairs, but that’s all down to the fact that the plumbing was last replaced in 1910, so we had to get a combi boiler.

What do you want people to know about buying a home?

I think everyone has this idea in their heads that they want this dream house, and that it needs to fit a certain look.

I think British people are very specific about that, and I don’t know why, but there’s kind of almost a bit of a snobbery attached to buying a home.

As long as it fits the bill, as long as it has the right amount of bedrooms, there were a lot of compromises on our first property that we made, and I think that’s something that first-time buyers need to be aware of. 

You’d rather be on the ladder than not be on the ladder.

What are your plans for the future, in terms of housing? Do you plan to stay here long-term?

This isn’t the final house. It’s an amazing house, we absolutely love it. It’s the happiest we’ve been in a home ever.

But it’s given me a taste for wanting to live somewhere a little bit more remote, so this property is very much at the next five to 10-year plan.

Then, we’d like to sell up and move further out of London.

Shall we take a look around?

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

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