A couple who transformed a tired-looking house that was the "worst on the street" into a charming cottage were left speechless after finding out what the renovated property was worth. Trained accountants Tim and Laura bought the house in Glais, near Swansea, as they moved to the area from Bristol, with the property badly in need of a facelift.
The couple, along with their one-year-old daughter Grace, appeared on Channel 4 show, 'Worst House on the Street', which documented their 13-week-long mission to transform the unfashionable 1830s house into their forever home. As its title suggests, the aim of the programme is to buy the most rundown home on a street, renovate it, and attempt to make a profit.
Hosts Scarlette and Stuart Douglas, who have years of experience in helping renovate properties between them, were not overly impressed with the house when they first arrived in Glais, describing it as a "diamond in the rough, with a lot of rough," while Stuart described its huge conservatory as "a monstrosity". However, they both admitted that while the house had been "left to fester", it "could be beautiful" if Tim and Laura put in the work.
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The brother and sister hosting duo described Swansea as a "thriving city" as they opened the show in south Wales, adding that terraced houses had sold for an average of just under £140,000 during the last year, with detached houses fetching just over £300,000. Get the latest TV news and interviews sent straight to your inbox by signing up to our What's On newsletter.
In Glais, just a 15-minute drive outside of the city, houses neighbouring the one bought by Tim and Laura have recently sold for as much as £470,000. The couple bought their property for a knockdown price of £302,000, despite it being on the market at around £320,000.
They added that they had a budget of £65,000 with a contingency fund of £10,000. They planned to transform most parts of the house, including the snug, bathroom, conservatory and nursery room for Grace.
The show saw the pair get stuck into their first ever renovation job, as they gutted the old-fashioned bathroom and made it boutique, while partially knocking through the wall between the snug and conservatory and installing a log burner. They also scrapped the house's distinctive yellow external walls in favour of a more traditional look, while the conservatory was brought out of the "80s timewarp" it was stuck in.
Just 13 weeks later, Scarlette and Stuart returned to the village and were shocked at how much progress the couple had made in that time, describing the property as "unrecognisable". Praising Tim and Laura, Stuart said: "This transformation is impressive. That conservatory is 10, 20, 100 times better than what was there before. It's so much better."
Reflecting on the experience, Tim said: "It's been stressful, but it's also been quite rewarding. Neither of us have done anything like this before, so it's been, at times, quite good fun."
After having a look around the transformed property, it was time for the hosts to reveal the all important facts and figures. Neither of the pair were overly confident at how well their renovated home would be valued, with Laura predicting that they would "maybe" break even.
Meanwhile, Tim calmly announced he thought they would come in at around £350,000, around £32,000 less than they put into the property having gone slightly over budget. He added: "I'm only calm about it because we're not planning on selling it. If we were going to sell it I'd be devastated."
However, neither of them needed to worry, as Scarlette and Stuart revealed that the house had been valued at an average of £458,000, meaning they had made a profit of £76,000. They added that one of the agents they spoke to had said that the couple could probably fetch prices of around half a million pounds due to their hard work.
The couple couldn't believe the news, with Laura admitting that she was "speechless". Tim, meanwhile, had a change of heart from what he'd said moments earlier, as he piped up: "Right, let's sell it!"
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