When Jess and Rick Sowerby started searching for their first home in 2018, they had not considered a fixer-upper. But after 30 viewings without finding their dream home, it was time for a change of plan.
“I was getting disheartened – I thought we’d never find anything,” says Jess, 33. “Some houses were lovely but weren’t to our taste. I’d have felt guilty ripping out a new kitchen or bathroom just because we didn’t like it, so we decided to buy a home that actually needed the work done.”
Renovation projects were about £90,000 cheaper than “turnkey” homes (those that are finished and ready to move into), giving the Sowerbys more budget for the project. In February 2019 they got the keys to their 1930s semi-detached house on a cul-de-sac in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, and got to work.
“It had been empty for six months and was cold, damp, dated and musty. But it felt like a home,” says Jess, who has documented their renovation on the Instagram page The House that Colour Built.
As house prices continue rising, many buyers are looking to renovation projects as a cost-effective way of getting on the ladder. The average first-time buyer home cost £229,094 in August this year, according to the estate agency Hamptons, which analysed Land Registry data. It was £156,453 in August 2015.
