Homes under the hammer!

[robgil]

Ive just watched to geezers take a lovely old victorian terrace full of original fire places and built in cupboards , brick floors, wooden windows etc and turn it into a nice , magnolia, modern B+Q show room piece with modern floating fake flame fire places full of pebbles, cheap tiled floors and plastic windows, no period features were left what so ever. It made me cringe to see a lovely old house turned into a magnolia box.
Rant over.
They didnt make that much money from it either.

 

[Flyfisher]

I thought horror films were usually shown late at night, or did you record this particular one?

 

[JoceAndChris]

What a shocking way to start the day! I hope that the developers, and their families, are tormented by wailing Victorian ghosts who clank their chains against their beds every night. And they run mad, and drown themselves in magnolia paint.

A nice festive curse to start the day :twisted: ( I'm still in bed, having realised it's the solution to being cold)

 

[Feltwell]

I've just seen that. Not nice, not nice at all.

The house was in a bad state but was basically untouched - not even an inside bathroom. It did need a lot of work but with sensitivity that could have been a beautiful little house, full of character. I can't believe they ripped absolutely everything out - I expected the windows to go, but the internal doors, door linings, skirting & architrave, original fireplaces, built in cupboards - anything at all with even the tiniest hint of character, all gone.

Criminal. Leek is a nice little town as well.

 

[robgil]

It will probably be full of ikea furniture by now with a 'trendy' young couple living in it.
I suppose the house will make someone happy to live in it which is the only bonus in a situation like this but it wouldnt be for me.
The two guys who did it looked so proud of it as well. Cheap and nasty it was.

 

[Feltwell]

Being the dole-scrounging "sponger off the state" that I am at the moment (although possibly not for much longer - where's a "fingers crossed" smilie when you need one?) I can confess to watching a couple of episodes of Homes under the Hammer last week.

Friday's one made my blood boil - this dopey couple with far more money than sense bid on a beautiful little Cornish cottage, despite not having visited it or even having the faintest idea where it was, beyond it being in Cornwall! It was a lovely little cottage - in need of a little work, but fundamentally it looked fairly sound. A real picture postcard house - white painted stone walls and bright yellow sash windows, which if they weren't original were certainly old and completely useable with only a little work. Without doubt it had some damp, but again it didn't look too bad and as it was clearly painted in modern masonry paint the cure to that was pretty obvious.

The couple (once they'd found the place - they couldn't find what they'd just spent £100k on at first!) then stood there and enthused about the character of the place.

They then proceeded to completely gut the place - and for once the term "gut" was appropriate, EVERYTHING went - even the first floor, boards and joists. All that was left was the external walls and the roof. They then proceeded to rebuild it in a typically twee fashion with suitably fake period "features" that would never have been there originally. The estate agents then came round and gushed relentlessly about what a wonderful job they'd done - and, although it pains me to say it, I reckon that most of Joe Public would agree.

Of course the doors and windows all went in favour of UPVC. They've also got the world's worst taste in wallpaper!

It really was completely ruined :evil: . It's on IPlayer if you want to see the results:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00zgqf5/Homes_Under_the_Hammer_Series_14_Episode_85/

It's the first house featured, then the revisit at 24 minutes.

 

[MatthewC]

I quite agree, FF. I almost find my self hoping on that sort of programme that the purchasers will encounter all sorts of problems and spend well over their budget, just to teach them a lesson! They did in fact spend over £30k instead of £10k with a £5k contingency. I wonder if in a couple of years they will start finding dampness in their new plaster? Are there too many places like it in Cornwall for the local council to have got it listed?

Also, isn't it worrying that the professionals (auctioneer/estate agent/presenter) all think that the purchasers' approach was wonderful, with uPVC, injected DPC, lots of new pine and that horrible wallpaper in the bathroom? In fact, the presenter mentioned the character of the place in his introduction, yet forgot this when he re-visited 14 months later. I wish that at least the presenters of this sort of programme would mention a few of the issues that might be encountered, instead of making the entire show into an advert for this approach.

 

[Feltwell]

The presenters never seem to re-visit the houses on that programme - only ever provide a voice-over, and are never critical. Faces get pulled sometimes during the "You've just bought it, so what are you going to do with it?" bit, but that's it. It would be great if they could guide purchasers towards a sympathetic approach, however their thinking seems to be much the same - "Ooo, bit of damp there, need to inject a DPC" "Double glazing would cut the road noise and make it more appealing to tenants" etc etc.

 

[Penners]

Why on earth do you folk watch these benighted programmes? You surely know what you're going to see, and that's it's going to annoy you.

Or does the experience perhaps have a hint of restoration upmanship about it? :wink:

 

[CatherineB]

It's car crash telly, Penners

 

[Feltwell]

"Car crash" television Penners! Edit - Darn, Catherine beat me to the submit button!

Occasionally an old place is done up well on these programmes. I confess to having a fascinaton with old buildings that are in a bit of a state, and also that I've considered betraying my principles, joining the capitalist hordes and buying a place to rent out

And perhaps just a teeny bit of restoration oneupmanship! :wink:

 

[Moo]

Becoming a landlord isn't necessarily betraying any principles, surely. Not everybody can afford to buy their own home and there is therefore a real need for responsible landlords who care about their property and their tenants.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Becoming a landlord isn't necessarily betraying any principles, surely. Not everybody can afford to buy their own home and there is therefore a real need for responsible landlords who care about their property and their tenants.

Yes - and to be carelly matched up with tennants drawn from the Deserving Poor. :wink:

 

[Penners]

The trouble with poor tennants is that they have too many 'Ns'.

Feckless layabouts!

 

[CatherineB]

"Car crash" television Penners! Edit - Darn, Catherine beat me to the submit button!

Occasionally an old place is done up well on these programmes. I confess to having a fascinaton with old buildings that are in a bit of a state, and also that I've considered betraying my principles, joining the capitalist hordes and buying a place to rent out

And perhaps just a teeny bit of restoration oneupmanship! :wink:

I gave you a whole 56 minutes to get in there first!! :wink:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

The trouble with poor tennants is that they have too many 'Ns'.

Feckless layabouts!

Buger!

 

[MatthewC]

The trouble with poor tennants is that they have too many 'Ns'.

Feckless layabouts!

Buger!

:lol:

 

[Feltwell]

Becoming a landlord isn't necessarily betraying any principles, surely. Not everybody can afford to buy their own home and there is therefore a real need for responsible landlords who care about their property and their tenants.

'Twas said slightly tongue-in-cheek Moo. You're quite right, but there is also the argument that buy-to-let takes houses, especially ones at the cheaper end that may require work, out of the market for less well off buyers. Probably less of an issue than second "holiday" homes are in some areas though.

Stil, you need a decent amount of money to put the deposit down now, so I can think about it all I want, my principles are safe! I can think about doing naughty things with Kylie Minogue as well*, but that is another example where my principles are also safe!

Yes - and to be carelly matched up with tennants drawn from the Deserving Poor. :wink:

And there was I going to do a gag about FW perhaps indulging himself of the wrong sort of Tennants (as in "Tennants Super") before typing that, until I twigged it's "Tennents Super" . But "carelly"???

I gave you a whole 56 minutes to get in there first!! :wink:

I'm built for comfort not speed my dear!!

* Ringing door bells and running away, or scrumping for apples, just in case Mrs F reads this :wink: