Episode Information Property Ladder: Bow & Surbiton

Date Published:

25/06/2008

The two developers in this episode are not only looking to make money, but also hoping to make a difference to the environment. But they've both chosen rather unlikely properties to make their statements.

Yoga teacher Claire Harrigan wants to develop a 'healthy house' - a home free of modern toxins and filled with spirit-lifting ideas, such as 'happy' coloured lighting and wiring carefully diverted from sleeping areas.

She's convinced that a building can make you ill, and that the growth in organic food proves that people are willing to pay a little extra to live healthily. But she's chosen a 1980s terraced three-bedroom property in Bow, bang in the heart of east London.

Claire has been working on the development for four years already and hasn't really got anywhere, but she's determined to get it finished before her birthday in four months. However, trusting in her intuition instead of getting properly organised, she still hasn't got a schedule of works or a fixed design together.

In the four years she's been working, she's knocked down almost every interior wall, converting the three-bedroom plus garage property into a two bedroom one, and this could have seriously devalued the property. But worse, she's done it without taking professional advice, so she could have made it structurally unsound as well.

Claire is expecting her house to sell for £100,000 more than what similar houses in the area (with their original three bedrooms) are going for. The question is: how much is Claire's development to do with the realities of her market, and how much with her personal beliefs? And can she finalise her plans so she can get on with finishing it? It's time for Sarah Beeny to add a little focus.

Flat in Surbiton

Lecturer JP Frazer and astronomer Julie Cave want to do an environmentally friendly development, but they've chosen an unlikely property: an unremarkable 1970s flat in the London commuter belt town of Surbiton.

They want to prove that eco developing doesn't have to be 'hippy woolly hats and sandals' - that it can be chic, contemporary and luxury. But Sarah's concerned that they've chosen the wrong property in the wrong place, because Surbiton is a conservative London suburb, and the flat's building isn't exactly desirable.

The flat is dark and dingy, with a separate kitchen and lounge, and two bedrooms. The plan is to remove the wall between the lounge and kitchen and install a new kitchen and bathroom to add a light, open feel, and to spruce the tired flat up.

Their budget is tiny, so JP and Julie's main strategy is to use reclaimed and recycled materials, such as tiles from skips and even a complete kitchen. But will using these create the chic pad they're aiming for? And some of their ideas, like an 'eco aspirator', a vegetation system that's meant to improve the flat's air quality, are a little off the wall for their market. Can they keep the balance between eco and elegant?