Category: Property on TV

This is another property program by Simon O’Brien

I think they’re still looking for people to take part – so if you’ve got plans to renovate a wreck then you should get in touch!
Are you renovating a derelict or run-down property with the aim of transforming it into your dream home?

If so then presenter and property renovator Simon O’Brien wants to hear from you for his latest series, My Derelict Dream Home, for UKTV Home.

He’s looking for inspirational projects and outgoing, down to earth people to follow as they take on unloved, unwanted wrecks and turn them into fabulous new homes over the next 12 months.

My Derelict Dream Home is light hearted and fun, filmed in a documentary style and ultimately very positive and uplifting. We’re hoping it will inspire lots of people to think about renovating run-down homes themselves.

Whether you’re involved in the actual graft or overseeing your project, True North Productions are looking for a mix of renovators determined to transform a derelict wreck into the home they’ve always dreamed of.

For more details contact Joe Forrest at True North Productions on 0113 394 5480 / jforrest@truenorth.tv or Christian Hills on 0113 394 5474 / chills@truenorth.tv

To Build or Not to Build on BBC1!
Today’s episode is Series 2 Episode 16 set iun Brighton.
Not watched any before now and it’s on its second series.
Series following some of the UK’s 20,000 self-builders. Jason Thawley and his partner Sarah Russell aim to prove that size is not everything when building a new home in Brighton.

From what I’ve seen of this one the moral is not to build complicated shape houses as it makes things more expensive and difficult. Rectangular houses are build by builders for a reason!

Just like Property Ladder and Location Location Location it looks like this show also features people who get pregnant too! In this case the house they are building is a bedroom short of what they now need.
The family have to deal with health problems and a premature birth as well as finishing the home. Build cost £160k, similar houses cost £240k on the same street.

Presented by Simon O’Brien

Find out more about To Build or not to build

location location location was on last night.
Both couples were in london looking at tiny properties for large amounts of money.

Watch now on 4oD

Louise and Matt -Check out the homes Kirstie and Phil sought out in North London

Sarah and Stewart – Get details for all the properties Sarah and Stewart looked at in Finsbury Park

I don’t live in London. I live close to one of the UK’s biggest cities though.
I am always horrified watching how expensive houses are in London, but houses in Chorlton near me are astronomically expensive compared to the North East side of the city.

For not much more than the smaller budget that Sarah and Stewart had in London you could buy this 3 bedroom detached property in New Moston
You can see it’s a big house, detached with drive, front and rear gardens! So much more than the 2 bedroom ex-local authority flat you could get for about that money in London!

I assume everyone who doesn’t live in London is constantly shocked by the prices shown when they cover London in LLL!
If you want to live in sunny CHorlton just a few miles awya you’d get this for the same amount of money – 3 bed mid terrace

Neither couple bought a property either ! They did have a clearer idea about what area they liked though!

You might have seen Country house rescue last night – it was a revisit to Abbey Dore Court.
Charis Ward bought Abbey Dore Court in 1967 for £12,000. In 2000, Charis decided to leave Abbey Dore to live in a more manageable property and the house fell into disrepair. Charis’ s 26-year-old granddaughter Clare is determined to bring her formerly happy home back to life.

Clare asked Ruth Watson to help, but Ruth’s idea for a B&B was rejected by the family in favour of turning the house into a self-catering holiday business. Ruth cautioned them against the decision, but Charis was determined.

Find out more about Abbey Dore Court on Country House Rescue Channel 4s site

Interesting that they didn’t want to run a B&B even though it would make more money – though I think she said she might in the future.

I didn’t know Country House Rescue (series 1) is available on DVD. What a great gift for someone who really loves this program.

Country House Rescue – Series One [DVD]

1. Cothay Manor – grade I listed medieval country house and gardens, -Stawley, Somerset.

Bought in 1993 by Mary-Anne and Alastair Robb bought
However, as a business, the manor is losing a serious amount of money, and a question mark remains over who will take over the estate in the future. With the situation at a breaking point, can Ruth Watson turn the estate’s fortunes round, and help secure Cothay’s long-term future?

2. Elmore Court – grade II listed mansion, – Elmore, Gloucestershire.
The house has been the family seat of the Guise Baronets for nearly 800 years.
The current owner, dance DJ Anselm Guise, inherited the estate in 2007 from his uncle (who had often disapproved of his nephew’s lifestyle), with the Baronetcy going to Anselm’s 77-year-old father. Now, Anselm’s laid-back approach has led to the property’s slow deterioration, so Ruth must inspire a sense of determination in the owner to save the mansion from falling even further into disrepair.

3. Chesters – grade I listed 17th century country house and estate, on banks of the River Teviot in the Scottish Borders.
The estate includes 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) and 14 estate cottages, as well as a mile of the River Teviot.

John and Ellie Henderson would like to leave their jobs in London and take up permanent residence at Chesters (John’s ancestral home), but they are unable to afford to. Can Ruth help the couple make the estate profitable enough to achieve their dream?

4. Albury Park – grade II listed country house with parkland, – Albury, Surrey.
Nigel and Jennifer Whalley bought the mansion in 2004, initially sharing the property with a number of elderly residents.

However, the other residents soon moved on, forcing the Whalleys to buy their shares in the property, and leaving the couple £4 million in debt. Ruth devises a plan for a show flat to entice new investors to the estate to save the couple from financial ruin.

5. Black Clauchrie House –
Arts and Crafts style former hunting lodge, set in 14 acres (57,000 m2) of grounds – Barhill in South Ayrshire.
Adrian and Caroline Goodall bought the property in 2004, but have yet to capitalise on their investment. Ruth tries to help the pair take advantage of their home’s heritage, but will other professional commitments help destroy the couple’s relationship, and put the future of Black Clauchrie House at risk?

6. Pentillie – 17th century castle and estate, close to St Mellion village in Cornwall.
Pentillie has been the Coryton family seat since 1698, but current owners Ted and Sarah Coryton (who inherited the estate in 2007) were determined to sell it after various family disputes. However, Ted and Sarah have fallen in love with the castle and its grounds, and seek Ruth’s professional advice to turn the estates fortunes around.

Another brilliant program for being nosey at posh houses!

Country House Rescue 8-9pm on Thursday 1st September
3 of 4
Ruth goes back to Pentille Castle Hotel to see if they followed her advice.
Ted and Sarah Coryton have renovated and been awarded 5 star status by Visit England.

The new series of Location, Location, Location starts on Wednesday 31st August at 8pm on Channel 4.

1 of 7
Rob and Hilary and searching in HItchin, Hertfordshire for a family home on a budget of £250k

Rupreet and Sundeep have a budget of £380k and are looking in Pinner which is an expensive area in Harrow.

Can’t wait to hear What Kirstie and Phil say about the property market at the moment. Will check when it’s been filmed too when I watch it!

OK I’ve watched it.
The postcode snobbery was amusing to watch, but Phil’s rather patronising “your price expectations are wrong” was annoying. Surely trying to get things for a cheaper price is the name of the game. Who would want to take on more debt than they had to?
I feel this program was ramping the housing market up which is not what it either needs or can stand at the moment.

Anyone who loves big houses and is as nosey as me will love Country House Rescue. It’s a chance to poke around inside big houses through the TV lens!

This episode which was on last night 18th August 2011 – was at Gissing Hall which is a hotel and wedding venue. Ruth Watson advised the couple who wanted to retire to get a manager in and concentrate on the wedding venue side as the location is a bit off the beaten track for a hotel.

You can watch again Gissing Hall on Country House Rescue on 4onD

Gissing Hall is very pretty and dates back in parts hundreds of years.

At the end of the show they said it was for sale and here it is on rightmove SSTC
20 bedroom detached house for sale
£1,500,000
Upper Street, Gissing, Diss, IP22

ITV1 are looking for home hunters to take part in Drive to Buy, a unique and exciting new property programme.

• ARE YOU LOOKING TO BUY YOUR IDEAL HOME NOW?
• ARE YOU INTERESTED IN A ONCE IN A LIFETIME BUYING OPPORTUNITY?
• CAN YOU OUTWIT RIVAL BUYERS TO BAG YOUR DREAM PROPERTY?

Drive to Buy will give four pairs of home hunters the exclusive opportunity to view three properties on the market that fulfil their dream criteria. Travelling from property to property on the Drive to Buy bus, the home hunters are all looking for similar properties at similar prices. They can bid on as many properties as they like, but there’s a catch – offers can only be made immediately after viewing the property. Once the Drive to Buy bus drives away the property is ‘off the market’.

This is the first property programme of its kind that brings house hunters face-to-face with their home buying rivals in a nail biting game of property poker.

If you are a home hunter in a position to buy a property in August – October 2011 and are interested in taking part in this original programme then please contact Renegade Pictures for further information and an application form – drivetobuy@renegadepictures.co.uk / 020 7449 3298.

What do I think?
What a horrible idea for a TV show! Is it to build up the feeding frenzy again to get bidding wars? Is it someone trying to find a way to entice people to buy their house?
Bizarre!

Series 2 epeisode 10.
This is one I remember seeing before. Extension not built on deep enough foundations with a swampy mud base. Leaky loo leaking sewage into the underfloor space and rats.
Well they’re not huge problems to solve when they get the insurance company to monitor to cracks in the wall. But it does make me wonder if there will be movement in the future from it as they didn’t notice cracks until some time after they moved in. The condensation was down to not enough insulation and not ventilatiing the house enough.

Rats just need the rat man – and as they said the problem was ongoing still I’d assume they need to speak to their neighbours and get them to ratproof their own homes.
This couple had no budget as they wanted to spend the money on their new kitchen.

It does horrify me slightly that these people discover a problem like the sewage under the floor and don’t just get a plumber in to price up sort it out!

Watch it on 4onD

The Channel 4 description is
Sarah Beeny revisits Paul and Clare Baker, whose house in Essex was cracking apart and infested with rats.

Paul and Clare Baker bought their house in Essex as the perfect home for their four children, but peeling back the wallpaper revealed a terrifying crack all along the back of the property. It turned out their dream home was sitting on six metres of sludge and splitting in half.

Sarah and her team discovered that the problems literally ran very deep, and they also tackled a rat infestation, sewage seeping into the ground floor, and black mould that made the children ill.
A year on, Sarah revisits the family to see if they are finally free of their problems.