Wajid and Anam The House That £100k Built

We're in the midst of a low cost self-build revolution.

We're building walls!

It's harder than ever to get onto the housing ladder, so a few brave,

ordinary people are resorting to the seemingly impossible...

This gets the adrenaline going.

..building their own home from scratch for less than £100,000.

If we try to buy a house with that space, we couldn't afford it.

Architect Piers Taylor, and me Kieran Long, are back

and coming to the aid of six families

attempting this toughest of challenges.

-It's difficult looking at the budget and your bank account literally just going down.

-Yeah.

We'll try to help them with design dilemmas...

You arrive at a blank wall. I mean, is this what you want?

..challenge them to think bigger...

It just inspires me to want to go home and crack on with it.

..and search out innovative solutions that make

the most of their meagre budgets.

Whoa, look at that!

We'll all be pushed to the limit...

Oh, no!

..as we attempt to turn these ordinary self builds into outstanding homes.

If anyone thinks it's easy, they're an idiot!

This time, Wajid and Anam attempt to build a colossal three-storey,

six-bedroom house with anything but a standard finish.

We've been to Dubai a lot. I want marble flooring.

But will this family-run build bring them closer together,

or rip them apart?

I've had strong opposition from my project manager.

What the hell is this?

In the end it's my house.

I'm in Burnley, on my way to meet Anam and Wajid.

They've got an end-of-terrace plot in this world of terraced houses.

But they're building a property that has to accommodate a very wide range of requirements.

It's going to be a really big challenge.

In Lancashire, the Khans are redefining the term "house share".

Three generations live together in three knocked-through terraced houses.

There are ten family members all under one roof.

We are a very close, tight-knit family.

Family means everything to me.

Anam moved in when she married youngest son Wajid.

We've been married for nearly two years.

It was a typical arranged marriage,

but I think now it's hard to imagine life without him.

Wajid, a university lecturer, and Anam, a customer services manager,

now want some space of their own.

-We're expecting our first baby.

-We are, yeah.

It's always been his dream to make his own house,

so we're hoping to get the build finished

-before the baby comes.

-I don't know about that.

-We can do it.

-Before the second baby comes.

Wajid has been gifted the land on the end of the terrace by his parents.

This bit here is a whole dining area.

We're not having this wall here, so this wall is not there.

To build on it they're gambling £70,000 pounds in savings

and 30,000 in loans.

They've already spent 15 grand on foundations and design fees.

There's no endless budget. We have to make sure we stick to that.

We just hope we can get it all finished in that much...

But they have huge ambition for their £100K house and still

haven't finalised the design.

-You want four bedrooms, don't you?

-Yeah, just four.

-I want six.

Right, we won't talk about that.

I've never built a house before. I don't know anything about that.

He likes to tell people what to do rather than do it himself.

That's what leadership's about, isn't it?

For novices without a clear plan,

this build could easily spiral out of control.

I need to find out if they're any closer to coming to

an agreement on exactly what they are building.

-Hi, there.

-Hi, Kieran, how are you? Welcome.

You must be thrilled to see some progress.

-Yeah, real progress and it's exciting.

-Very exciting.

Still working on it. Changing our mind every day.

Every hour.

They can only afford a builder on site for 12 weeks.

Changing their minds causes delays

and that could mean they don't end up with a house at all.

Tell me how many bedrooms you're planning.

-Potentially six.

-Wow.

-I think maybe four or five bedrooms, but big bedrooms.

-He wants more rooms, I want more space.

-Right.

Every additional room means more labour, finishes and money.

A house this size will eat up their budget quickly.

One thing Wajid and Anam do agree on is their dream of a

three-storey building.

It will be their home but also allow them

to live communally at times with their wider family.

Planning limitations mean the exterior will have to largely

mimic the neighbouring family homes.

Inside, and in spite of their family's requirements,

they've gone for a fairly very conventional layout.

A narrow hallway leads to a kitchen-diner.

There's a large bathroom, an office

and large reception room.

Upstairs there's a further generous living space,

plus three bedrooms with en suites and a family bathroom.

On the top floor there are three additional bedrooms

and further en suites.

At 255 square metres,

it'll be three times the size of its neighbours on this street.

With just £100,000 to spend,

it's an extraordinarily large build.

But the ambition doesn't end there.

Tell me about your taste

and what your aspirations are in terms of design for the interior.

I want a spacious house,

I want marble flooring, we want underfloor heating.

We've been to Dubai a lot and I think that's where we got the inspiration.

That luxurious hotel room feel,

which is a nice place to spend time.

We have big dreams of making this a perfect home for us

but I don't know how we're going to achieve it.

Dubai luxury on their Burnley budget means they'll have to save money

wherever possible.

As a favour, Wajid's big brother Naim,

has offered to project manage the build.

He's got the unenviable task of delivering Wajid's expensive

taste on his limited bank balance.

It's a big responsibility.

It's stressful because if we leave it to Wajid, he won't have a

house for 100K, he'll be having a house for 200K, or 300K.

He'll just go out and say, "Yeah, I like that, I'll buy it."

These French doors look much nicer.

-It will also have a heavy effect on our budget.

-That's OK.

Tell me what it's like working with these guys.

Absolutely awful.

LAUGHTER

They want a door here, then they want one there, then one there,

so we build a wall and they say, "Hold on, we don't want that."

But I think it's good to be creative.

Yeah, but you need to be creative BEFORE you've built a solid wall!

Continually changing their minds means work is being done

and then undone.

They simply can't afford to make it up as they go along.

Wajid, is this going to come in at under the £100,000 mark?

-I think just about, yes.

-I don't think that's realistic at all.

I think we're going to go way over budget.

The interior, the en suites, the marble.

-I think they're looking at £125,000-£140,000.

-Really?

-I just don't understand why they want that.

-I just think it's something different.

As you walk in you want to get that feeling that it's not just

a normal house, it's got the wow factor there.

Wajid and Anam are thinking big and that's great, but this house

has to do so much and they aspire to this luxurious finish.

We've got to find a way to manage their expectations

and achieve the finish they want for less than £100,000.

Up another one, Joe. On the line.

With Richie the builder only budgeted for another nine weeks

to get all the structural work completed, the house is racing ahead.

Naim is desperate for firm decisions on the final layout.

They're just confused, to be honest with you.

They're still chopping and changing, making up their minds and that.

They've been altering their plans for months.

To make matters more complicated, Wajid is a local councillor...

Say cheese! Yay!

..and also wants a grand space in the house

big enough to use for his community work, too.

A big motivation is to have a separate area

for the political meetings

and I do get a lot of visitors.

It's all starting to cause friction on site.

We've moved one doorway on the entrance hall.

Yeah, that's one big change.

The whole reception room and the kitchen is now open plan.

We're waiting on the decision upstairs about windows.

They need to sort that out before I get to it.

Planning restrictions mean we can't change the external

look of the house,

but Piers Taylor must get Wajid and Anam away from the site

and take them back to the first principles of what they are building.

Until they revisit exactly what the house is for, they won't be able

to make good decisions or take control of the site.

At the moment Wajid and Anam are rushing headlong into this build

and I am worried it's going to be really ordinary.

And this is their one opportunity to build

the house of their dreams for them.

At the moment, my question is, who's designing this,

who's controlling it?

Wajid wants a grand and luxurious home,

but Piers can't find much evidence of one here.

When you turn up, how do you know

it's the house of a local important person?

He begins by looking at the entrance hall.

Here you could have a fantastic lobby that you went into

and you were received before you went into a reception.

And actually do away with a corridor.

You've stolen the space of the corridor into that room.

I would do a set of double doors there

and this will feel like a grand space.

Maybe you need to flip the bathroom and staircase.

This could be a beautifully detailed stair

with a lovely handrail, which would be really nice.

To improve the conventional arrival into the building, Piers' idea

is to remove the narrow corridor and switch the bathroom and stairs.

This would create a more generous and surprising light-filled space.

It would also allow for an open, sweeping staircase.

Double doors will also help add the touch of grandeur

Wajid's looking for.

Alterations must always be agreed with Building Control

for layout and fire safety.

I like that idea of the staircase.

That is something we thought about

but we've not been brave enough to come up with them.

I'm curious that you say you need to be brave, because isn't this just

how you go about process of deciding what your building should be like?

Yeah, we just stuck to the safest option, I think,

and our builder's a bit... He doesn't like changes.

You can tell HIM, it's your house. You can make any changes you like.

I think maybe I'm just trying to worry about the builders' feelings.

Your builder isn't the designer. You're the designer here.

The only problem I've got, the project manager is my older brother.

-Culturally, the older brother has a very big say.

-I can tell him, then.

-I can present to him.

-That might work.

It's tricky having these conversations now,

particularly when the momentum of a build is established.

But they have to be had at some point,

otherwise this will be a disaster.

But importantly, the consequences of making these changes now

are that they get a far better building for no more money.

And this is Richie.

-Hi, Richie.

-Hello, mate.

-How're you doing?

-Nice to meet you.

I've heard a lot about your work.

''Liaising with the workforce has very a different dynamic

'when the project manager's your brother.'

So there's some good news and some bad.

Give me the good, give the bad to them!

LAUGHTER

It's not just their future home at stake, it's family harmony too.

-We flip the bathroom and stairs.

-Put the stairs where the toilet is

-and the toilet where the stairs are?

-Yeah.

-You're keeping the same up and downstairs?

-Making the toilet smaller.

-Right.

But no wall between the stair and that reception room.

It's all open plan. Are we losing the corridor wall, as well?

We're losing the corridor wall, yeah.

And then you make that opening bigger,

so the only thing that needs unpicking is putting a bigger

lintel in there to put a bigger opening between these two spaces.

It's one small change. It's a better building.

It's not a small change - I've already built it!

That won't take long to take that lintel out.

You show me how long it takes.

Finally, Wajid and Anam have finalised a layout they are happy with.

At the end of the day, it's what the guys tell me to do.

-I'll do it, no problem.

-Are you happy?

-Happy.

-Oh, good.

-Yay!

What I tried to do in there was represent Wajid and Anam,

because I don't really have a sense this is their house.

And there's this huge dynamic, the older brother syndrome,

and Wajid is nervous about making changes.

-You're going a foot and an inch?

-Can we move it over a bit more?

What's really important for me now is that they understand that

they've got to take ownership of their house, their project.

With key decisions made, the build progresses.

The first floor walls have gone up and the front has been clad

in natural stone costing £5,000.

But there's still masses to do on this vast house.

Rather than keeping an eye on the build,

work commitments mean Wajid is absent for key stages.

There's a lot happening at once.

It's tough. It does get very difficult,

and stressful at times.

He's missing the biggest and most expensive day of the build so far.

£8,000 of roof trusses have just arrived on site,

making their total spend to date £65,000.

We are struggling with the budget. Um...

Wajid doesn't really discuss it with me as much,

but I can tell it's quite stressful.

The budget is actually going at a fast rate.

It's very tight at the moment, very tight.

Wajid will worry about that, you know.

He'll get a fright when he checks his bank balance!

This is a very important part of the build.

A chunk of the budget is going onto the roof.

It's a very nervous time at the moment. Let's hope it all goes well.

The crane cost £150 an hour to hire.

Any delays to the schedule today will have a further impact

on an already stretched budget.

NAIM: Them trusses are upside down.

Because the trusses have come upside down,

they've had to take them off, plant them there

and then put the chain back on so they're the right way up.

That's a bit of a delay in itself.

We're behind an hour, so it's costing me money.

And if any of the trusses get damaged,

the financial impact could be catastrophic.

All right, Joe, pull the rope.

With the clock ticking, the trusses are given temporary fixings

to hold them in place until after the crane has gone.

NAIM: This is the moment of truth now.

One false move and it could come tumbling down.

CRASHING

NAIM: Oh, no, no, no.

No, no, no...

No, no. This is absolutely horrific.

ANAM: I don't know what's happened, to be honest.

I just saw it all falling down.

The temporary fixings haven't proved strong enough.

The trusses have toppled towards the parents' house.

The whole building could've come down.

I don't know how much damage has been done to the house next door.

Having managed to get the trusses secured, the crane can head off,

leaving a £900 bill.

Naim inspects the damage.

Luckily, the scaffolding was there

so it's not done any damage to the neighbouring house there.

So we've got away lightly with that.

It's May, and there are just three months to go

until the arrival of Wajid and Anam's baby.

Richie is on his last few weeks on the job

and is rushing to get partition walls up.

With acres of flooring

and a forest of stud walls appearing before their eyes,

Wajid and Anam are realising the scale of the task they've taken on.

I think it's scary how quickly the money is going

in materials, labour and everything.

For me it's been very surprising how much the cement can cost

or how much the bricks can cost.

They wanted a three-storey home with a high-end finish,

but I just can't see how they can possibly afford it.

-Hi, Wajid.

-Hi, Kieran.

-Good to see you.

-Unbelievable progress. This is incredible.

-Yeah, they've done fantastic job.

'Inside they've gone with Piers' dramatic re-design

'for the ground floor, reflecting Wajid's dream of a grand hallway.'

We're stood under where the stairs are going in.

Much more of a lobby space and kind of a grand entrance.

That's great. It really feels like you're taken on board

the whole thing of what it's really going to be for.

-Yeah, we tried to fit personal life and my professional life.

-Yeah.

'But upstairs Wajid is slipping back

'to his indecisive yet ambitious ways.'

Is the layout of this floor fixed now?

That's the million-dollar question, Kieran,

because as the guys are working away there's this one

issue in my mind about one of the bedrooms,

whether we're having one super-long bedroom or just fit it?

So you're still deciding the layout as the layout is being built.

Is that a bit worrying for you? Who's calling the shots then?

If you weren't here today who would decide what the layout is going to be?

If I wasn't here now I'd be in some kind of virtual control centre

via my mobile phone.

Can you really keep control, though? Does it end up with a bit of a power vacuum?

There's still no-one to take these decisions?

I'm in a state of complexity.

'The lack of decision making

'mixed with the sheer scale of the build

'means Wajid is having to manage expectations.'

The optimistic deadline of Anam's,

she thinks this house will be done by the end of August.

Although I'm a very ambitious person, I've got to be

a realist and I think it's looking more like towards Christmas.

I think Wajid is putting a bit of a positive spin on things.

He's a very positive person, a diplomatic person,

but I must say it feels a little bit chaotic.

They're moving at 100mph here

just because the deadlines are starting to come thick and fast.

It is also a little bit worrying that so many decisions still

haven't been made, as the building is more or less finished.

And that's not the only problem.

How much have you spent so far, how much of the budget is gone?

So far we've spent £72,350.

So almost three quarters of the budget is gone.

-Tell me what hasn't yet been paid for out of that?

-En suites,

your bathrooms, your underfloor heating,

-your pipework, your electrics.

-Kitchen.

-Your kitchen.

That sounds like quite a long list, Wajid?

That's... Yes.

-We kind of didn't anticipate the huge size of the house.

-Right.

So, tell me how much more you've spent up to this stage

than you expected to spend?

-I'd say round about between £5,000 and £8,000 more.

-Right.

-That's a fair percentage, isn't it? That's your contingency gone.

-Yes.

That's a big chunk.

It's difficult looking at the budget

-and your bank account just literally going down.

-Yes.

Materials and labour have eaten into the budget,

but they're still a very long way off.

Somehow their ideas for the finish have remained unchanged.

To me, I've always wanted to have a luxurious feel

and one of the building materials that's influenced me

has been marble. It gives it a luxurious, grand finish.

I'll have pieces of marble here, there and everywhere.

The interior's definitely something that

I'm going to make sure that it's perfect.

It is going to be modern.

It's going to be elegant,

it's going to be different from the house that we're living in.

This house is nearly three and a half times larger than the average new build.

The high-end finishes they want are out of the question if they want

to finish this home anywhere close to their £100k budget.

We need to try and show them an alternative vision

for their home which they can achieve the less.

For Wajid and Anam, the per square metre cost of laying marble

or tiles and surface materials can really start to add up.

I think it's really striking when you see houses designed

for architects themselves, they often leave out all of that stuff.

You actually see the materials the house is made of.

That can be a great quality and, of course, you save a lot of money and hassle.

I think for Wajid and Anam it's going to be quite a big step

to embrace this stuff, and I'm hoping

by seeing this house, they'll take a step down the road.

We've got exclusive access to a house in Stamford Brook, West London.

It's a two-bedroom home designed by Powell Tuck Associates.

It champions the elegant use of relatively inexpensive materials.

-It is so light up here, it's so beautiful.

-Yes, definitely.

Yeah, it's pretty nice. I like its simplicity.

I want Wajid and Anam to see that they don't need to go over the top

with fancy finishes to create a feeling of luxury.

Here it's all about subtlety.

Does this in any way make you think, well, there's a way of having

an interior that you don't have to spend a fortune on.

You can still have some quality.

Yeah, I think it's the simple things in life

that make a big difference and you can see that cliche here.

When you walk in you have this wow factor and it's really nice.

I like it, yes.

The simple, honest materials on show have a beauty of their own.

Continuing an exposed brick wall from outside to in

saves around £50 per square metre,

avoiding the need for plaster and paint.

I like the idea of carrying the wall inside the house as well.

The floor finish is just

a sand and cement screed that has been polished.

When light washes across it there is a subtle sheen.

-It is quite a nice spot, isn't it?

-Yes, it's quite nice.

I think it's the fact that having that comfy rug there works well

with the sort of the raw flooring as well.

Yes, some very rich material next to quite a rough one.

-Yes.

-This has got a bit of a shine to it, hasn't it?

As you look across the room you get a little bit of a sense of reflection from it.

Even the ceiling, the beams are exposed but it's just so nicely, neatly done.

And also the way it's finished is quite kind of inspiring.

-It's perfect for a family home, yeah, I like it.

-Good.

Unpainted render, ordinarily used on the outside of a building adds a natural texture.

It can be done for a fraction of the cost of covering a bathroom this size in expensive tiles.

That is probably the most eye-catching for me.

I like this material, I think it really adds value to the interior.

This is the kind of finish that does look neat but still has a quality.

I totally agree with you.

If Wajid and Anam are brave enough to take on some of these ideas,

they could claw back some money from their overspend.

Do you think some of these ideas now you'll be able to embrace

and take forward to the house?

Actually it's a really difficult situation

because these ideas are brilliant. I like them, but the problem I've got,

I'm the youngest sibling in the family. I will think

how will that be accepted with the rest of the family?

Naim is the main person that I've got to get on board.

Does that mean some of the ideas you might like, but you think,

"Oh, my brother's never going to accept that."

-Is that what it comes down to?

-There is a strong hint of that,

because not only is he the project manager, he's my elder brother.

The danger for their project is that it could become

a house of poor compromises.

The biggest surprise of all was finding out from Wajid

that actually this build is not really up to them only,

he's got to run every decision by his family,

sometimes by his parents, and, in a way, most importantly by Naim.

He might be a counsellor and he might be a real independent guy,

but he's still the little brother in his family.

And the big effort is going to be convincing the family

that it's OK for them to have their own way.

It's been three months since work started on Wajid and Anam's dream family home.

The roof is now on and they can no longer afford a full-time builder on-site.

Richie has left.

I think we will miss him.

With all the stuff that he's done, he's helped us a lot.

It's going to be different now because obviously Richie's gone

and it's going to very much fall in the hands of myself and Naim.

Which is a scary feeling!

Without a builder they could easily lose momentum

and rush decisions they end up regretting.

Piers needs to help them come up with a strategy of low-cost solutions

that will finish their home with whatever they have left.

I heard that you're spending the budget like water?

-Yes, you heard right.

-You're halfway through a project

and you've spent three quarters of the budget.

We thought we were kind of three quarters of the way through

the project but you've reminded us we're halfway through the project instead.

Piers believes their one chance to complete their home within

budget now is by making the most of materials they already have.

Levelling and polishing their existing concrete floor

will give a glossy, marble-like sheen,

for just the cost of hiring the equipment, around £370.

Marble is an excruciating £55 per square metre.

Piers' idea would be just a quarter of that cost.

The great thing about techniques like this is that you're not

buying another finish to put on top of what you've already got,

you're actually using what you've already got and just exposing the beauty of it.

And this is just the first rough pass for the sander,

this isn't polished yet.

But if you do it properly, that's what you end up with.

Mirror smooth.

A polished concrete floor should retain its shine

for at least 15 years,

and can be re-polished when needed.

- That's smooth. - That is like marble.

It is, isn't it?

It is a durable, low-maintenance and cost-effective solution

to their desire for luxury.

But creating the feeling of an imposing entrance hall

is about much more than material finishes.

The design and scale of the staircase itself

could set the tone for the whole ground floor.

-OK, so I've made a little model for you.

-Right...

So, the principle of this

is that there is one very generous bottom step,

so is the second and third and fourth.

This could be the most beautiful cast and polished concrete.

Cos concrete is such a versatile material,

this could actually be a beautiful curve on it, if you wanted.

-Like a wraparound one.

-Absolutely.

I quite get it, and I like the idea,

because the staircase is a part of the flooring.

Absolutely.

Your hand rail starts here

and it's the most beautiful piece of metal

that just turns the corner there.

The original plan was for

a straightforward, functional staircase, hidden from view.

Piers' idea brings it firmly centre stage,

in a sense of grandeur to the room.

The initial four generous steps of polished concrete

would blend in to the flooring.

Then the material could become something more standard,

like timber, marking a change from public domain to private space.

Wajid, um... You're having a bit of a moment.

I'm just trying to picture it. Er...

Not sure.

Piers' radical rethink is a lot to take on board.

Normally, you see some staircases tucked away,

you can't really see them.

But here, you'll see the staircase, so you have to get this right.

This is the first sight someone's going to see

when you open your front door.

Piers is bringing innovation today,

but you have to understand it, you've got to believe in it,

and at the moment, if I'm being honest with you,

I probably do need a bit more convincing.

SHE LAUGHS

I can't stress about how important that arrival into this building is,

and I think it would be a disaster if they compromise

and just put in an ordinary staircase

and an ordinary floor finish.

It really has to have something...really special,

and that will transform the building.

MACHINES WHIR

6.04, Naim. 6.04 metres.

With just eight weeks till Wajid and Anam's baby is due,

and Anam's optimistic moving-in date,

the house is still very much a work in progress.

1.8.

It's more important than ever that Wajid and Naim pull together.

Lift it up.

The bills are racking up, too.

They are now having to pay for skilled tradesmen

to carry out key jobs.

Just plasterboarding the whole house is costing £4,000.

Electrics are being installed,

the render is going on,

and windows are being fitted.

Their total spend so far is now £85,000,

but, finally, Anam does have the key to her very own front door.

It just looks amazing when you come into the street

and the windows are in, everything.

You've actually got the keys to open the door.

So, yeah, it does give you that homely feeling.

Naim's priority is understandably just to get the house done

in the most straightforward way possible.

I do like the concrete, the polished concrete.

But to have it all the way through

is a bit too much, to be honest with you.

All of this part, put a thick shagpile in it, carpet.

I think that's going to be a better idea.

I'm going to talk to them and try to persuade them.

Naim is a very organised, structured, get-it-done kind of guy.

So, unfortunately, that leaves little element of creativity.

So, it's business as usual for Naim.

It's make or break time for this build.

Wajid and Anam are losing the battle to make this home exceptional.

I've been searching for an interior that will prove to them

that design can have a positive effect

on the way they feel in an interior.

I've got one more chance to show them ideas

that they might fight to have in their own home.

I think now is the time

to try to reconnect this project with their own aspirations.

Hi, guys.

'They told me they want something luxurious.

'I want to bring them to a place'

that, for me, sets standards in terms of aspiration

and perhaps can give them a little bit of inspiration

as to how they can create a beautiful interior.

Sketch houses a collection of restaurants and bars

in Mayfair, London.

This is certainly grand, isn't it? This entranceway.

What do you think of this, this rich, gold ceiling?

That's kind of a spectacular touch.

It's different, isn't it?

-It's not like an ordinary, white ceiling.

-Yeah.

A bit glitzy.

It's a world-class showcase of interiors.

Each room has been individually created

by some of the greatest contemporary artists and designers.

-Wow. Different, innit?

-That's very different, yes.

What do you think? Could you imagine having a forest in your dining room?

I've not seen anything like this before.

-Is really theatrical, isn't it?

-It's just amazing.

-It makes you feel a bit, like, happy.

-Yeah.

-Anam in Wonderland, isn't it?

-It is like that.

I'm not saying that you need to do your dining room up like this,

but it does give you an idea, doesn't it,

of just beyond the plain, ordinary materials?

Oh, wow.

I love this.

It's just the perfect room.

-It's a beautiful place, isn't it?

-Yes.

The Gallery restaurant,

by award-winning architect and designer India Mahdavi,

is an amazing example of a focused concept.

I love how it's just two things, really.

-It's just pink and then this copper colour.

-Yeah.

-Really beautiful, isn't it?

-It's just perfect.

The room clearly appeals to Anam,

but the real success here comes from its scale.

We're going to have a feature wall in every room.

That idea of creating one wall of colour -

when you see this place, don't you think they are these rooms

that are conceived as a whole?

Yeah.

Have we got the confidence to go and do a full room in a similar vein?

-I haven't got the confidence.

-I think Anam has.

Yes, it's just about being brave

and just being able to, sort of, go for it.

The restaurant upstairs draws on

the owner Mourad Mazouz's North African heritage,

with opulence at its heart.

What do you make of this?

Amazing. This room is doing it for me.

-So tranquil here.

-Yeah.

This partition, though, does look useful for you, doesn't it?

-Because it's...that sense of connecting two spaces.

-Yeah.

I think it's a fantastic idea

and it really gives you this huge, grand kind of entrance into it.

Cos you decided to go for that double door, didn't you?

Between the entrance hall and the lounge.

This is just a beautiful treatment of a threshold.

Doing something like that, with textiles, with leather,

it's definitely luxurious, isn't it?

To me, this is probably my favourite part -

I'm feeling the cosiness, I'm feeling a kind of tranquillity.

For me, it's phenomenal to just absorb and appreciate and...

-I've taken a lot on board.

-Yeah.

'But however much they like it,

'there is still a hurdle to get over.'

It's our job to go and show the creativity that we've seen here

and transpire that into Naim's mind, which is a difficult task.

I think the most important bit of progress today

was that they were no longer talking about which material

they should buy or shouldn't buy -

they were talking about how they felt in this interior

and the fact that design has communicated that to them

makes me really, really thrilled.

But will they be able to hang on

to that confidence and enthusiasm for their home

once they've got back to Burnley?

Just a few weeks later, for the first time,

Wajid and Anam have a good reason

to briefly take their focus away from the build.

We're delighted to announce

the arrival of our baby daughter,

Amira Khan.

-Lots of presents. I think she doesn't know how lucky she is.

-Yeah, yeah.

BABY CRIES

But with the 11 members of the family now under one roof,

it's more important than ever

that Wajid and Anam's own home gets finished.

We need more space now. Everything is just sort of crammed in this room.

It's just that I can't wait to get her nursery ready.

I am proud to be a dad.

When you see that face,

all the world's worries just disappear.

You just forget about everything.

But everything includes the house.

Wajid and Anam's build has ground to a halt.

Three months pass with hardly any progress.

There has been a real stagnant period.

I think it's affected morale a bit and I've just been a bit like,

"Will this ever happen?"

Naim has also been sick, so has rarely made it to site.

I've been quite ill, to be honest with you,

with cluster headaches.

Been about six to eight weeks but now, hopefully,

after some treatment and hospital appointments,

I feel a lot better.

Determined not to give up,

Naim manages to get the staircase in.

It's progress, but he fits a standard one,

not in keeping with the vision of a grand hallway.

It's now over eight months since they began

and there's less than 13 grand left to finish it.

It's Piers' last chance to influence the rest of the build

and he is determined not to let Wajid and Anam give up

on having an incredible interior.

There is nothing worse than a building project that stagnates.

But for me, the big surprise -

or big disappointment, really, I guess -

is the creeping normalisation of everything.

There's nothing distinct, nothing individual,

nothing personal about this building yet.

Piers must find out if Wajid is still committed

to making this home special.

You're right, there needs to be much more thought put into this and...

That's not the idea - to finish it, to just get things done.

-I think we need to do some things that are different.

-Yes.

We really want to get our personal touch to this whole project.

This space needs to be...

..a really grand space.

It needs to be spacious, it needs to be beautiful

and what I worry about the stair is that it slightly domesticates it,

it makes it seem like just a house.

What you need to do to this is not just choose an interesting handrail

and hope that is going to do something.

You know, it needs to be more than that.

You're right. There's going to be much more...

Piers needs to reboot their passion for that key entrance hall.

What I think we need to do is have a vision for this room.

Right now, you need to get the bull by the horns

and really make this an amazing building.

To salvage that conventional staircase,

it needs a big idea.

So, if you make an amazing metal screen,

that is full height, to create drama,

I mean, it could...

You could have that actually etched out of screen three metres tall.

-It's like a prayer.

-That would be fantastic.

I really like the idea that screen.

And he has an idea for much-needed opulence,

inspired by the leather panels Wajid saw in London.

This wall here,

if you got a whole series of leather offcuts,

what you could end up with is a wall built up out of series of panels,

which I think would be incredible.

I love the idea of leather. I can see that already.

This isn't expensive stuff, but it looks expensive.

That's probably the most exciting thing I'm looking forward to now.

With Wajid reenergised, Piers needs to act fast,

so he takes him to a workshop 20 miles away in Bury

that sells hides in every hue.

This bluey grey is kind of nice.

-How about doing it in pink leather?

-No. Never.

-Amazing size.

-Yeah.

I never imagined it to be this big.

If it was an end of line one, this size, what would it cost?

-We're talking £60-65 for an end of line one.

-That's pretty good.

Piers wants to show Wajid

how easily the leather can be transformed

into a luxurious wall covering.

He mocks up a panel using a timber offcut

and some upholstery stuffing.

-It works. There we are.

-One panel.

-Brilliant.

-Yeah, I can see that on a wall.

-It's nice, though, isn't it?

It's really sumptuous.

I'd definitely go for this rather than boring plasterboard.

-Great stuff.

-Good.

Wajid and Anam have set out from the beginning

that they want this to be a luxurious build.

But I think the important thing is not to make everywhere luxurious,

but know where to spend the time and the money,

and in the hall, the point of arrival,

that leather wall which they've taken on board

is going to be amazing.

But they need to do something more,

and that is the lighting.

With that in mind, Piers takes them to The French,

a chic restaurant in nearby Manchester.

What do you think of this room?

It's just amazing. I love the chandeliers.

-They're great, aren't they?

-Yeah, very nice.

I think the word is "grand".

Their lighting budget for the whole house is just £1,200 -

far less than just one of these chandeliers.

But it's the sense of scale

that Piers wants them to keep hold of.

The trick really is you don't necessarily

need to throw money at things to make them amazing.

-You could do something equally dramatic, I think.

-Yeah.

But to come up with a lighting centrepiece on their budget,

they need to head somewhere slightly less glamorous.

So, this is a little bit different than the smart hotel in Manchester.

THEY LAUGH

But equally interesting, I think.

This cable suppliers could be the answer to the quest

for glamour on a shoestring.

Braided cable is really fashionable at the moment,

and this is expandable braided sleeve -

a much more economical way of doing it.

You thread over standard wiring -

what you see is a beautiful, colourful cable,

using beautiful brass bayonet fittings

and then, an amazing bulb.

Use about 10 of them hung from different heights in a group

with, you know, all this glinting brass.

I think it will look amazing, really.

But is Piers' deconstructed chandelier a step too far?

You really are scratching your head and looking nonplussed!

I'm just not getting it, to be absolutely honest with you.

I just can't picture it.

Ten of these, 200 quid,

and then this braided cable sleeve at 50p a metre.

I mean, I think this will look better than an expensive chandelier

and more individual, quirky, and more dramatic, in fact.

Yeah, I know what you mean.

It's something different, we've not seen that before.

I think she likes it!

I can't picture it, how it may look like.

I'm just a bit confused.

As always, he's confused!

SHE LAUGHS

I think Wajid is completely flummoxed, if I'm honest,

and I don't know if he's going to do this.

'Real luxury isn't about squandering vast amounts of money -

'it's about the subtlety of light, material, detail and texture

'and then, invention.'

Back on site, after nearly six months of stagnation,

it's suddenly a hive of activity.

They're racing to get key living areas done

so they can move in.

Stretching their finances even further,

they've settled on six bedrooms

and a couple are beginning to look habitable.

I love the ceiling. I wasn't expecting them to do it.

It was more of a, like, a little surprise.

I'm really excited now because

I'm glad it's finally coming together.

And bathrooms and the kitchen are starting to take shape.

They're also making a start on creating the padded leather wall

in the entrance hall.

All wall and ceiling linings must have adequate fire protection

and treatment to comply with building regulations.

But Naim's is not so sure

about his brother's interior design choices.

I've had strong opposition from my project manager.

Leather going on the wall, it doesn't look right, you know.

The smell is... I'm not so keen on that, to be honest with you.

If it was something I was doing,

I'd just plaster it and paint it, to be honest with you.

Looking good.

But for once, Wajid isn't taking everyone else's ideas into account.

Yes, we had a difference of opinion in relation to the leather wall,

but I had to take the final decision.

In the end, it's my house.

-What you think?

-I think they'll be different.

-It'll definitely be different.

-Unique.

It could possibly set my migraines off,

that's what concerns me.

I think you'll be fine. Praying for your health, mate.

As well as the leather wall,

they're also going with Piers' suggestion

of a decorative panel to transform the ordinary staircase.

Anam's designing an aluminium screen

which will incorporate text that means a lot to the family.

This is the script that we're going for.

We say it like...

SHE SAYS PHRASE IN ARABIC

"All thanks and all praise be to Allah."

I'm just going to get that sent over to the designers

and then get them to get that engraved on it.

Their 100K budget has been pushed to the limit and beyond.

There's nothing left and there's still plenty to do.

It's been an absolutely monumental effort to get to this stage

and the guys have been working flat out,

especially Naim, he's been really, kind of, determined

to get things done.

It is tiring and demotivating,

coming in and starting in the morning,

finishing late in the evening.

But what keeps us going is the love we have between the family

and us brothers.

The need to find low-cost solutions to finish this house

is more important than ever,

but so is Anam's desire to make her mark on the interior.

She's found an economical way to add some bling.

We've got this gold metallic paint.

It'll just give it, like, that grand look.

But were not going to completely go crazy with colours.

It's really pressurising for me

because I'm like, I don't want to get this wrong.

As they near the end of over a year's work

on their low-cost build,

can it possibly become the high-end, luxury home they wanted?

Wajid and Anam set out to build a three-storey, six-bedroom house

for less than £100,000.

Not only that, but it had to accommodate

a very complex set of requirements.

It had to be a home for a new baby,

to accommodate their large extended family

and also Wajid's work as a local politician.

They were also struggling to understand

how non-standard materials could create a luxurious interior.

13 months since the first brick was laid,

we're back in Burnley to see whether they got their dream home.

-Hi there.

-Oh, hi, how are you doing?

-Good to see you.

-Hiya.

Hi, Anam, great to see you and great to see the house.

It looks super at home here.

It's been a long process. How's it been for you?

Oh, it was a piece of cake(!)

-THEY LAUGH

-No, seriously,

it has been a very challenging time, stressful.

There's been lots of disagreements, absolutely exhausted.

Blood, sweat and tears.

Yeah - I think tears, mainly mine.

THEY LAUGH

But will the tears have all been worth it?

Wow, look at this. Amazing!

This is fantastic. What a great space.

Wajid, this does feel to me

a bit like the entrance hall of a public figure.

Absolutely, it's just the way I wanted it to be.

As you enter, you enter a really, kind of, open space. You feel good.

Cos originally...

This was a very narrow corridor,

with a single door into this room and a single door into this room.

It was a wise man that told us some ideas...

-THEY LAUGH

-..so we followed them ideas through.

Their open plan living area will give them the big sociable space

they need for the extended family

and to host the community when they finally move in.

They managed to fit a kitchen for £6,500

and have given it a little extra opulence

with a lighting feature they picked up for £300.

I think this is really such a good effect.

It feels luxurious, it feels rich, it feels generous

and totally unconventional.

I remember when we went to Sketch together.

This feels like a bit of that kind of luxury

brought to Burnley, in a way.

It's pretty amazing, the kind of effect you get

with just some very basic materials.

Cos it looks really expensive.

I mean, how much did this actually cost?

Overall, it cost just short of £1,000.

-For the whole wall?

-For the whole wall.

That's kind of amazing, really.

If you went to a contractor and asked for somebody to make you

a custom leather wall, it would be many thousands.

I'm so happy and so delighted that we went for this choice in the end.

Without this wall, I don't think this space would have been complete.

'Fire doors still need to be fitted on the ground floor,

'as does the balustrade on the stairs.

'But it's the £600 screen that elevates the off-the-peg staircase

'into something far more grand.'

It's such a beautiful piece of decoration,

-but also has a real meaning for you.

-It's a blessing.

As soon as you walk in, you want to say,

"Where we've got in life, we want to thank Allah, the Almighty."

I think it's just so unique.

Of course, this is also a piece of architecture, in some ways,

because you have something fantastic that does allow your eye to carry through,

it does transform the space.

And upstairs, they've embraced their own idea of luxury.

The gold and mocha colour scheme

adds richness to the only completed bedroom.

Much of the rest of the house is still work in progress,

partly because they haven't compromised on finishes

to get their "Dubai hotel" look.

The porcelain floor tiles cost £1,200,

but they could've spent a fraction of that

had they adopted Piers' suggestion

of polishing the concrete floor which lies beneath them.

Piers, you always want to see concrete in these places,

but...not everybody finds it beautiful.

-Maybe to some, porcelain is.

-Actually, I think you did find it beautiful.

-We did.

Right up until a couple of months,

we were still going to have polished concrete. Um...

But then, when we saw these tiles, we just couldn't help ourselves.

We just had to get them.

But there was another low-cost design idea

which could have transformed the space even more.

What I notice, of course, is that you have put a chandelier up here.

You haven't done those 10 or 12 suspended bulbs.

-What happened there?

-To be honest, we didn't really like it.

We weren't too keen on it.

And more than that, it was the fact that it was costing us

around about the same anyway.

But I saw think something huge here

that was non-standard could have been great.

I will say something. The idea of the cluster lights,

we haven't totally ditched it.

-We will use the idea...

-Somewhere in the house.

-Somewhere in the house.

To be honest, most of his ideas

have made such a big impact on the house,

so really thankful to you for that.

But I think that the point is that they're really your ideas.

You've taken things we've shown you, things we've suggested

and you've always made them your own.

They've achieved their goal of a family home

with a sense of grandeur.

But how have brotherly relations fared?

It's not always easy, because Naim being Naim, clearly,

he is not the easiest guy to work with - we've disagreed a lot.

The biggest difference of opinion was the leather wall.

-You had to really stand up for it.

-I stood my ground and said,

"Naim, this is going to be something spectacular."

I mean, at first, I were thinking...

"What the hell is this leather wall?"

Did you think he was a bit crazy?

I thought you and him were both crazy.

But it turned out quite well.

I will say this - I think building this house together

that has made the relationship closer.

Hopefully he can appreciate

and respect my design choices more now, after this.

It's been difficult at times, but the finished product

is absolutely fabulous and excellent, to be honest.

It was good ideas, to be honest.

They certainly could have made more savings along the way,

but how much has this slice of Lancashire luxury cost?

How much did you have in your budget and how much have you spent?

I had a total of £100,000 for the budget

and I've spent £109,986.

That extremely precise! Why did you end up going over budget?

When it comes to the interior, we are not going to compromise.

There's been occasions where we've liked something,

it's been expensive, but we just really wanted to go for it,

because it's not every day you get to build a house.

I think one of the reasons we went over budget -

the main reason, in my view, as well -

-is that I don't think we realised how big the house was.

-Yeah.

Until we started doing the decor, interior work inside,

then we realised it was never-ending.

I think we underestimated that.

It really does feel, though, like a lot of house for the money.

It's an astonishing achievement, I think, to have pulled it off.

I'm delighted. It's an emotional moment for me,

because I've had a dream of building a house since I was 18 years old.

This is not just for myself and Anam.

We want the family to enjoy it as well.

Especially for your parents, didn't you?

-A space for them to use.

-I wanted to do something special

for my mother and father, because they've been amazing.

I couldn't be more happy.

Hiya! You OK?

I think Wajid and Anam - perhaps Wajid, particularly -

was suspicious of what design could do for him

and I think he saw it as something unnecessary.

And I think that he has understood

that design can really enhance your life

and, for no more money,

can actually completely transform a living environment

from something quite ho-hum to something really good.

So, which bit do you like best?

Um, I like the kind of opening when you walk in.

I think it's absolutely stunning.

It kind of gives you a really grand feeling.

You going to build a leather wall in your house? A gold screen?

I've been inspired -

actually, the whole design and everything, it's...

I couldn't have thought of it.

It's just amazing.

Something that we were looking forward to for so many months

and finally, everyone's together,

enjoying the space, enjoying the house.

It's a wonderful feeling, because when you've got friends and family,

great people, as we had today,

it's nice to share your happiness with people.

Wajid and Anam have achieved something, I think,

really unique with this house, because they haven't just built

a kind of dream around them and their daughter

and their small family unit.

This is a building that's for their extended family and, really,

for the whole community.

It's sort of humbling and makes you feel joyful

about the potential of architecture to bring people together.

Next time, Marcus and Sholto attempt to build an enormous house

in the wilds of Scotland.

I think that's only the first load.

With a budget already pushed to the limit,

will they be receptive to new ideas?

How do you feel about opening up the ceiling?

Will they agree?

You're saying that, "I want to do this and I want to do that".

And will Piers' ingenuity backfire?

That's bowing in the middle there.

-I wouldn't...poke it.

-No, no.