Escape to the Country annoyances.

[DontEscapeToTheCountry]

Why is there a new part where they show them standing on their doorstep chatting like a couple of vagrants?

Why when they show an elderly couple a kitchen or living room that you could host a barn dance in, do they say that it's much too small? What are these people doing in their kitchens that requires so much space?

And why, when they say that they want a 3 bedroom home with no stairs and a small garden, do they show them Chatsworth House?

Does anyone else have any other little things that annoy them about ETTC and similar shows?

Oh I've been known to shout at ETTC
I know it just my jealousy as I'll never be able to afford anything like these houses .
Yep we've retired no kids at home so need 5 bedrooms all ensuit,steep open staircases .Huge kitchen and 5 acres of ground . Also near a village to enjoy village life but not in the village life lol
I literally think yep you'll have to move again when you realise that it's impossible to heat and get up those stairs .
I once saw a retired nurse who had a very modest budget and I really enjoyed the options they suggested including a off plan buy which i think she did .That was way better than the the usual ones .
I might be more invested than I thought in this

Holding hands all the time!

I hate it when they try their hands at some local craft or something. I watch to see the houses not how to paint a pottery mug.

They are all always a bit weird. But then I suppose you'd have to be a bit tapped to volunteer to go on ETTC anyway.

On all these property programmes I HATE how the bloke steers the woman around by the small of her back

No one does that in RL ( or if they do there is something wrong there)

It annoys me when they clearly state at the start that they're looking for a peaceful idyll away from it all and then get shown a property on the busiest road in town.

Sharlene and Robin are in their twenties. Sharlene weaves lentils for a living and Robin runs an online yoga class.. They have three children and a budget of 1.2 million.

HOW?! I mean, I assume family wealth or inheritance but they're not even old enough to have benefited from London price rises.

Also the retirees who don't understand what downsizing actually means....

Every buggering room is 'light and airy'.
The presenters always talk about how easy it would be to 'knock a wall through'. Aagh, they wanted a ready made house - not something they have to compromise on / rebuild.
I do love Jules though. Always had a soft spot for a posh boy.

They say they want to be within walking distance of a village / amenities (we all know they mean the pub, ha!).
Then they get shown a property in a hamlet with nothing, that involves driving to the next village, for anything.

Both of these!

My personal favourite is "its a bit overlooked" when there's another house about 2 miles away and the residents would be binoculars to see you.

They never ever buy one of the properties, it must be soul destroying! 🤣

There was one recently where they held hands the whole time and she had her arm through his to do so.

They want ‘character’ but go for an ultra modern kitchen with an island and all mod cons.
They want beams, but want lots of light and crack their heads on beams anyway.
They want acres of land, but have little or no experience in gardening.
They want ‘rural’ but clearly having factored in that living with no one else within miles might cause problems in bad weather or for deliveries.

It's all very smug. And the house interiors are always incredibly beige and bland.

On a related note, does anybody else play 'Grand Designs bingo'?

I would say remember this is not always the ‘prospective buyers’ fault.

My neighbours were on the ‘home or away’ programme. Not much of what they really wanted was matched. Most of it changed by the production team.

‘Away’ wasn't the same area of France they wanted to move to.

‘Home’ - no intention to stay in the UK at all.
The production team came up with them wanting to return to an area one of them grew up in - part of the ‘story’.

To cap it all the production team ‘doubled’ their budget - so, even if they found a property in one of the two places that they didn't want to live😆, they couldn't afford to buy it anyway!

ETTC Bingo would 100% include:

• A vegetable patch/room to keep chickens
• A kitchen where they can chat to guests while cooking
• Space for ‘entertaining’
• Character
• Nowhere with poor people nearby

The ones who want to retire to the country don’t seem to give any thought as to how they’ll manage if for whatever reason they can’t drive any more, how they’ll access doctors, shops, and the massive houses with acres of land they seem to want.
And yes, when they say that the kitchen is a little small when it’s bigger than my entire downstairs I want to scream. Surely that’s the point of downsizing ffs.
I told DH if he ever started shepherding me about with his hand on my back I’d break his bloody arm!

In fact, they should film ETTC in the winter, and see how keen they are then!

The huge kitchens

No mention of disadvantages like no public transport or what the costs of council tax are

I'd rather see all 4 houses that they sometimes do rather than the infill of activities

I feel better knowing that others share my petty annoyances. And yes, the bloody hand holding which they clearly insist that the couples do.

Wish they update the annoying scurrying piano music in it

I have to add the people who don't want to be within 20 miles of a road but also want a variety of shops on their doorstep. How exactly do they think the goods get to the stores?

There's one still for sale nearby that was in that ETTC programme years ago. The price has dropped a bit - it's now under £1M 😁It's not a bad village but that house is right on the main road and immediately opposite the primary school.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/123931166#/?channel=RES_BUY