Homes Under The Hammer Selfish Ruiners of EVERYTHING

[LNPW]

AIBU to really hate people on HUTH who buy beautiful Victorian family homes and turn them into scruffy flats set for a life of minging curtains and a million wheelie bins parked outside?

I know it makes financial sense to do this if you buy a big property but ffs ... leave the Victorian shit alone!

I watched one where they bought a gorgeous 5 bedroom Victorian terraced house. Huge original fireplaces, stain glass windows etc etc ... it needed a lot of work doing yes but the building itself was amazing.

“So, what are your plans for this gorgeous property”

“Well I’m gonna turn it into flats innit” fuck off

YY Escape to the Country. Retired folk with massive budget want to live in a huge high maintenance character pile miles from anywhere with acres of land.
Makes total sense. Their families must be

Sorry for derail.

I saw an episode once and got unnecessarily excited more interested because I recognised the area and where the property was. It was a large old house that I think had been a dr or dentist. They said to convert back to a house and renovate wouldnt be cost effective because of the average property price on that road, and they wouldnt make any money. So they knocked it down and built a terrace of 3 small houses. It did seem a shame as it could have been a beautiful house but probably more practical and useful to the area to provide 3 more affordable homes.(as well as more profitable for the original buyer)

I don't like the show much, I find the presenter irritating. Where I live there are a lot of large period houses converted into flats because there are many big 10 bedroom places which there is no call for nowadays, I don't mind that conversion as long as they keep the period features - my DS rented one for a while, it was lovely.

My favourite property show is Place In The Sun - Home Or Away.
They always choose away.
After being shown hugely expensive terraced cottages in a UK coastal town (in the rain) then sundrenched villas in Spain with glorious views and a pool, I can see why 😊

@saraclara I walked past his office in Nottingham and he was in there. I almost went in and asked for his autograph!

My blood boils when the EA says at the end what the rental value would be, and the owner proudly announces that they have already found a tenant for £100 a week higher. Graby landlords.

The one that sticks in my mind is a middle aged couple doing their first one up and hoping to make it a business (grrrrr).

They bought a sweet little terraced 1960s house which had decent sized rooms and a decent garden (as they did in the 60s).

The ripped up the original woodblock parquet flooring and put in huge white ceramic tiles throughout the whole of the downstairs. And astroturfed the garden!

I hated them. Was literally shouting at the tv.

Why do people replace grass with astroturf? I've also noticed a trend for replacing wooden fencing with plastic panels and paved driveways with resin. I hate it!! Natural materials are so much nicer.

I assume the astroturf is to keep garden low maintenance and reduce the need for a gardener (if renting out a property) .
Some friends got some astro turf for their garden as their kids are v sporty and were ruining the grass. It's really bad for the environment.

Why do people replace grass with astroturf? I've also noticed a trend for replacing wooden fencing with plastic panels and paved driveways with resin. I hate it!! Natural materials are so much nicer

Because people are too lazy/time poor to do maintenance; cut grass, paint fence.

The times I've watched it they seem to be absolute tips and do get improved...and more in the north and Wales than SE.
Does anyone else wonder about the searchers in Location....? They seem incredibly picky and recent episodes have shown couples apparently really happy with a house and then it's ended up they haven't bought it or anywhere else.

Yah, I can never figure out Escape to the Country, DH and I say the same thing.
Retired couple looking to dowsize but always insist on a huge country pile with loads of land, how are you going to maintain all that shit? And never end up buying anything!

I love A Place on the Sun, especially Scarlett, she always looks like shes going clubbing after the viewings. They always have a couple who want a 3/4 room villa with views of the sea and a pool in a hugely popular resort with a £100k budget.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen an episode of Escape to the Country where the couple actually buy one of the houses. Same with Place in the Sun.

They always have to “go home and have a think about it.”

If I were The presenter I’d be giving them a proper and a PA: “Thanks for wasting our time you knobs. Now piss off.”

ChrissieKeller61 my DS is providing homes for people who because of the shortage of council homes have nowhere to go, he is proving homes for people who because they are on benefits are refused tenancy's by other LLs he is not making huge amounts of profits, if he wanted to do that as at least two of his property's are good areas with good schools that he could rent out privately for inflated prices and people, well people who are not poor and on benefits would be willing to cough up.

If councils are not building council houses, or not renovating homes to use as council houses there are no employees earning good salaries and pensions to actually work on them are there?| or you suggesting that the council who my DS supports have sacked a load of their staff because they are getting properties from him, what a load of rubbish, the profit (very small BTW) is being earmarked for renovations on 2 houses for the council to us and maybe one or two new ones when auctions are back only of course its all on hold during the pandemic, which is what councils should be doing with the profits from their own rents, ploughing them into new homes but they have never done that even the money they make with RTB doesn't go into new homes, if they did that then schools etc could be funded out of other funds.

Oh and I am sure my DS is not going to be bothered by your lack of thanks, having someone who has been in a B&B for months being able to start a new life in a smart, safe, secure environment is part of what makes him happy at the moment

I watch HUTH for the gems like the previously mentioned Cornish cottage bought by the existing tenants and recently the massive Grade 2 listed mansion in Maidstone gradually (over 11 years) being brought back to life by its new eccentric owner. I love the houses that are bought by people to live in themselves. Conversely I shout at the telly when I see shoddy renovations (paint over the light switches being the least of it).

I live in a tiny Victorian terrace and over Christmas had my stairs turned 180 degrees to give direct access to the upstairs bathroom and reduce their angle. Cost me £11000. Money very well spent but not the fantasy HUTH quotes of that to do up a whole house!

this is just a playground-jealousy anti-landlord thread in a thin disguise.

MN doesn't like money made from renting out property as housing is a necessity. You don't see them outside supermarkets waving banners, protesting about that?

HUTH is just fantasy TV. I've only ever seen editions that are years old (usually at the garage while the car MoT is done) set in obviously rough areas. That means low rents and the maths only stacks up if it is a quick fix job that obviously won't last a year of someone actually living there.

meanwhile battle continues to stop the council allowing building of three oversized houses on a tiny plot near me. These will be for sale if anyone is stupid enough to buy them - but round here they may not be.

I prefer it. They are homes for more people. No one needs a house that big.

Escape to the country ;
I'm convinced a few are stooges hence the fact that the huge kitchen and acres of land are not good enough ! Also we can invite family who would need to drive 500 miles to live in a field ! I'm sure many can't wait to spend hundreds on petrol to get there then more getting to a shop to buy the cornflakes for breakfast.
A few people are nice and seem genuine but mostly they are po faced individuals who need a boot up the bottom!

We have just brought a Victorian property and are keeping all the original features where possible (have removed one door as have knocked kitchen and dining room together) but have kept all the picture rails and decorative ceilings throughout the work! And the high skirting which I love! We will be living here for many years until it's time to downsize (it's a 6 bed property!) I think it's such a shame when they get converted into flats and two down the road from us is converted into a nursing home so they have signs and big bins outside 😖

Like Dieu and others, I love the musical interludes, the best bit is guessing which track they'll choose following the obvious clues from the presenter

But it's a programme about making money, not improving properties. The opening titles are crystal clear on this - origami houses made out of money, houses in shopping baskets, the faces on the notes themselves smiling as their value increases.

I worry about Martin

DH and I joke that he looks like he lives in his car.

I love HUTH. I don’t get the argument that the people buying the houses are taking them from first time buyers. There is nothing stopping the first time buyers from buying the houses at auction.

We bought renovated and sold on a couple of times. Both times DH replumbed, rewired (he was a qualified electrician) installed or renewed central heating (gas plumber did the work).

All the way through our mantra was 'better than new'. We knew what market we were aiming for. We wanted people to come and look around and think I can move in straight away. So we put in curtains, carpets, bathroom fittings. When you are selling empty the decorating needs to be neutral.

When the second one was sold again 5 years later nothing had been changed except that the owner had added some net curtains. So we can't have got it too wrong.

The ones I dislike the most are when they buy a really unusual property with loads of land and/or a huge garden, and demolish it so they can build several other houses in its place.

I haven’t watched it for quite a while, but often used to think they were not being at all honest about costs. As a pp said, they often seemed ridiculously low - that is unless they were doing virtually all of the hard graft themselves - not often the case.

Some of the cases are truly distasteful - I particularly remember one professional LL specialising in having very cheap properties in very cheap areas done up as cheaply as possible - he was literally rubbing his hands in glee at the huge yield he was going to be getting on his investment - 14% IIRC - very evidently coming from housing benefit aka taxpayer money.

OTOH I do have some respect for the odd person whose own sheer hard graft has turned some seriously grotty hellhole into somewhere nice to live - whether for themselves or for someone else. Occasionally I have thought, well, yes, that person has earned any profit they’ve made, though often enough it was not that much when taking all their time and effort into account.

HUTH is about making money though, isn't it? .

What annoys me about it is that the "profit" rarely takes into account associated costs.

So, if a property is picked up for £50k, costs £20k to do up, is sold for £80k the profit is £10k until legal costs etc are factored in. So you could end up with say, a profit of £5k, which seems hardly worth the effort.