Double Your House for Half the Money

Time Schedule

Overview

Double Your House For Half The Money tells you everything you need to know about transforming small ugly duckling properties into dream homes without breaking the bank.   It follows ambitious projects to double the size of houses for half the cost of moving to a new house.  For anyone planning an extension, loft conversion or knock-through, this is the must-watch series about how to get more space, create your dream home, and increase your property’s value, presented by Sarah Beeny.

Episode 1 – Ioannidis & Barratt

Tonight, two families are hoping to save cash and supersize their homes:

In Ascot, the Ioannidis family want to create a multigenerational home by doubling their 1950s semidetached house. Daughter Helena and her fiancé Andy are paying the mortgage and parents Paris and Zanette are funding the build from their life savings. Sparks fly from the start between daughter Helena and father Paris who also project manages the build.

In Maidstone Ben and Eloise Barratt want to double the living space in their cramped 1960’s detached home. As well as having a new baby on the way, web business owner and salesman Ben is piling on the pressure by project managing the build himself.

Episode 2 – Pritchard and Ridley

In Bracknell Builder Greg Pritchard and his wife, Marketing Manager Jo, bought their barely habitable property 4 years ago but with the arrival of baby Sam any progress on it trickled to a halt. What Greg and Jo do have however is an amazing view and will they be able to design a property to do it justice?

In Cheshire Recruitment Director Becky and Mechanical Engineer Mark Ridley lives in a 200 year old cottage with their two children. They want to add a massive extension and give it a modern revamp while making the most of its original charm – Mark will be project managing. There’s a danger that the character of their 200 year old house that they love so much could be completely lost with an extension of this size.

Episode 3 – O’DWYER & WATSON

This week, we are with two homeowners in two beautiful locations, who hope to save cash by doubling the size of their homes, for half what it would cost to buy a readymade big dream house.

First we have a young couple who bought a picture perfect cottage in Ardens Grafton in the lovely Warwickshire countryside. RICHARD & SARAH’s cottage, like many rural properties, has been extended, bit by bit, over time. The result is a hotch potch of buildings. From the original Victorian house, ending up with this side extension bolted on in the ’50s. They have a limited budget so to save cash, they’re doing the demolition themselves, which unearth some problems which proves, there’s no such thing as a problem-free budget.

In the gorgeous seaside town of Whitstable, Kent, PAUL & LAURA plan to dramatically transform their un-modernised 1930’s terrace. They have already lived through a long cold winter without heating to save money for the renovation. Now with a long saved and limited budget they want to build an extension that will give them twice the space. But it’s not all plain sailing as and they want their build to be as ecologically friendly as possible. Will they manage to balance limited budget with their strict eco principles?

Episode 4 – Walker & Green

This week we are with 2 families who have ambitious plans to double the size of their family homes – for half what it would cost to buy a readymade big dream house.

In Cheshire, childhood sweethearts Jackie and Russell are desperate to get to work on a rundown 1930s 3 bed semi they bought 3 years ago with a view to extending it in some way.

Then Russell lost his job and so three years later they’re still camping in a house that wasn’t really working for them in the first place. Russell got a new job nearly a year ago, and after remortgaging, plans for a gigantic extension are back on. Halfway through the build disaster strikes again and Russell loses his new job. Will they have to stop the build?

In Bristol, Neil and Anita and their three kids live in a 3 bedroom semi. It has an old shop on one side, which they are hoping to knock down and rebuild as a granny flat for Anita’s mum and dad. Will Neil see sense and give up his gym for a lounge for the parents?

Episode 5 – GARNER / THORNE

This week, two homeowners are hoping to save cash by doubling their space for half of what it would cost to buy their unaffordable dream home.

First Sarah’s off to Church Brampton, Northamptonshire to meet newlywed couple, Andrew and Angharad Garner. They bought a country home with a problem- it had a neighbour’s access alley running along the side wall of the house. To put it simply, if they build an extension, they will have to leave an alleyway running slap bang through the middle of their house!

In East Preston, Sussex, single mum Vicki Thorne is in need f a workable home for her two very special children. Henry is a typical energetic four year old in need of more space to play. Big sister 6 year old Iona-May has (quadriplegic) cerebral palsy and better facilities at home would make caring for her so much easier. Vicki and her mum Andrea, have spent the last two years raising the funds from donations to pay for the £60,000 needed for the building work.

Episode 6 – MORTIMER / TSE

First, Sarah heads to Swindon, Wiltshire where scientist Jo and computer engineer Keith have grand plans to more than double the size of their 4 bed 1930s house. Untouched for decades Jo and Keith Mortimer aim to breathe new life into this museum piece. The property’s 1930s layout doesn’t work for modern day living. The Mortimer’s aim to more than double the size of the entire house with a two storey wrap around extension. However disaster strikes only days into the renovation with the discovery of a unexpected mains sewer pipe and work is stopped in its tracks!

For the second story Sarah treks to St Albans in Hertfordshire to meet Mei and Yui Tse.
Mei and Yui have already expanded their house once – but it’s still not enough. Four years ago they converted their loft into a second bathroom and a shared bedroom for their two daughters to share. This time the renovations aim is to achieve extra bedrooms in a limited space and budget.

Episode 7 – BUNCE / HODGSON

First Sarah visits a tiny 2-bed house in Horsham, West Sussex where Jason, Sarah and 2 year old son Harley have completely run out of space. In their current layout there’s a cramped compact kitchen whilst upstairs the lack of room in the bijou bedrooms is a storage nightmare. Plasterer Jason is pulling in favours from mates in the trade, however only day one in they hit upon a real stink: a sewage pipe. It’s a disaster! The build will have to be put on hold and to make matters worse there’s a £900 fee!

Over in the affluent London borough of Wandsworth, South London, Charlie, Claire and baby Tommy live in a poky 2 bed Victorian terrace. Originally, they wanted to move to the country in search of the rural dream; however Charlie’s work required him to remain in London as a Cricket club Executive. As Charlie’s so busy, he’s leaving inexperienced Claire in charge of both the baby Tommy and the massive build which they want to decorate in the country style.

Episode 8 – Mitchie and Plummer

In Horndean, Hampshire, Pete, Teressa, their 2 kids and a boisterous dog are bursting at the seams of their tiny 1950s bungalow. Their home is designed around two factors: firstly a boisterous dog and secondly Tress’s special hobby, pole dancing!

Disaster strikes when six weeks into the build the Mitchie’s builder pulls out and Tress is forced to take on project managing. Sarah however has an idea it’s a pre- fabricated loft built off-site, but will Tress finally get her dream two storey home?

Sarah’s second couple live on the South Coast in Porchester near Portsmouth. Free spirits Ben and Kathryn want to create a colossal floating home at sea after living in a caravan for 8 years. Now they’re embarking on their biggest adventure yet, gambling £35,000 to buy a vast rusty ex-military 200 tonne barge they want to transform into their dream home.

But after months of hard graft, Ben, has had a major setback, he has a fractured wrist and it is going to seriously slow him down. Add to that the worst Spring in 50 years and Ben is forced to pour blood sweat and tears into this truly remarkable and adventurous build.

Episode 9 – Smith / Jefferson

Firstly Sarah’s off to St Ippolyts in Hertfordshire to meet musician Ben, French housewife Alex and their children, all six of them. A year ago they downsized, moving into their tiny 3 bedroom home. They’re asking a lot of this modest semi by turning a 3 bed into a 6 bed and there’s no way Alex can afford building the extension and turn this into a stylish home. This means most of the budget will be covering building costs, so that leaves Sarah with the challenge of helping Alex create her French dream interiors on a shoestring.

In Clapham, South London, lawyer Stephen has just moved in with finance expert Tara who has owned her flat for 12 years and now they have just got engaged, so amalgamating two homes into one means they’re feeling the squeeze.

At present their home consists of just five ground floor rooms and so the couple’s plan is to dig out their basement. But once digging commences the building’s shallow foundations end up costing the couple an extra £9,000 and then the leaseholders want £25,000 to sell the land below their house to them. So with unforeseen costs spiralling will Tara and Stephen get their dream home?

Episode 10 – Herman / Tourell

In Elstree, Hertfordshire, Sarah meets Oliver and Lucie Herman and their children Jessica and Holly. The Herman’s £900,000 home once doubled as a dentist’s surgery and they now face the challenge of transforming it into a stunning new home. Luckily for them, they have a whopping £200,000 budget to spend however when the budget skyrockets out of control soaring past £500,000, the Herman’s hopes of turning their dream home into the best house on the street may seem impossible.

In Liss, Hampshire, Graham and Alana Tourell are aiming to restore their former post office, a stunning arts and crafts period property into a home. But transforming what was partly a shop back into a home is a massive gamble for these first-time renovators. Of course, sourcing original and reclaimed items for the renovation doesn’t come cheap and takes months and so the build suffers from budget and time constraints.