Room to Improve (v2)

It's rinse and repeat every week every series.

That's what I thought, I said to my husband someone problem gave them extra money but they didn't want to say in case taxman came after it.

Anyway really enjoyed that one, they were a lovely down to earth couple and loved that they tried to stay true to old house.

Yeah they are in a very privileged position.

Though coming from grandparents they would be taxed fairly heavily as threshold B is only around 30kish.

I find it weird people let these houses sit empty for so long....though probably a case of not wanting to sell and break the farm up, but not enough mod cons to live in...too expensive to get up to modern standard.

I would say no inheritance tax was paid. House was probably left to Ivan's dad by grandparents and dad then passed it onto Ivan. Agricultural relief was probably availed of aswell which includes farmhouse so likely not a penny tax was paid on any inheritance.

I'm convinced they are mortgage free between savings and grants availed of but didn't want to say that. Nobody would be stupid enough to start on the outside walls of a house without going any plans and being so worried about funds. They definitely had their homework done before starting. I think they were probably more clued in than Dermot.

my father said the grandmother lived there until her death in 2009/10 he thinks. so not that long ago. the mother and father built a house out the front years ago and that is where ivan was living.

#surely the house wouldt be worth a huge amount . there was nothing spent on that house in donkeys years. it needed total rewire and plumbing

I basically Tweeted my dislike of that home and Dermot liked it!

that Farm has some amount of sheds out the back.

In future I'll watch the first ten mins and the last ten mins. And do something productive in the middle. There is no point watching the rest, we learn absolutely nothing about the actual build. Pointless.

House was lovely in the end.

Not really, not to the same degree anyway. I tuned in for the last few minutes of it, there's no way I would sit through a full episode anymore.

Reading the commentary on here is the highlight of the show.

Liked the house in the end .. but to natter on about budget constantly at beginning of show to end up not mentioning costs at the end is embarrassing. It’s obvious now that budget was never an issue with the couple.

They really need to show how to get these grants and what needs to be done structurally it makes it seem getting these grants is a very straight forward process. They don’t show the hoops you need to jump through to get them.

It’s mentioned every series but I want to see what heating is used for the windows. I want to see how the house was built and less focus on interior design and final finish. Also want to see more normal builds like a nice extension on a regular 3 bed semi on a realistic budget and not people who 1/2 a million to spend.

They were working off a grant last night that hadn’t even been started and only announced during the build.

Yes, felt I might as well have only tuned in for the last 10 minutes and even then we seemed to only get a glimpse of the house. But liked what they done

I find these enormous, gigantic open plan kitchens are far too big! There is nothing cosy about them.

My daughter has one and believe me with 3 kids the noise is unreal, if she is sitting on one side talking I can't here her as the sound seems to bounce off the huge windows, huge walls and high ceilings. There is nothing to absorb the sound, especially with screaming kids. Also it never feels cosy or snug, despite underfloor heating. The underfloor heating is nice, it gives a temperate climate but I always have to wear jumpers as there is no direct heat anywhere. The huge windows make it feel cold. I love light and space myself but I find a lot of these kitchen/living areas are far too big. Nowhere to escape either :-)

Yea, I think Dermot is paid for by the show but the QS is extra. This show was originally 30 minutes with an ad break; its a full hour now which is nuts considering how much detail (that viewers are interested in) is omitted. Should be part of the deal (i.e. when candidates are accepted to go on the show) that they disclose the costs; glossing over it with dumb statements like 'costs haven't been fully settled yet' just annoys viewers; they must have a fairly good idea given they have to pay for everything..

The walk in wardrobe was a joke, was that her entire collection of clothes.. Looks like he wasn't using the same space for his attire.

I always assumed that the QS was part of the show to keep Dermot in reality.

I would have assumed if the client was paying for their own QS there would be a different one each week.