Cambridgeshire Villages To Buy or Not to Buy

OK, Ed, have a look at the landscape because this is a clue as to where we are.

It's just a field, we could be anywhere. Look at it.

No, Ed, look beyond the field into the distance. What can you see?

Nothing.

Exactly.

Can you start speaking sensibly now?

-What's going on?

-All right, Ed, work with me.

It's completely flat, no hills, no mountains. Where are we?

OK, I'm catching on.

This area of barren flatness, this haven to horizontalness,

this lovely, gorgeous area, are we in the Fens per chance?

We're in the Cambridgeshire Fens, to be precise.

Then within this horizontal haven will we be showing three properties?

We'll be showing three properties to our lovely buyers and then?

-Oh, we're not going to, are we?

-We are, we are.

We're going to give them a chance to try before they buy.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Today?

Oh, yes, we are, and today's buyers are Lynne and Sean.

Sean is very hard-working, very kind, very caring.

He was sent to me to give me patience.

Lynne is very beautiful, very kind, very honest,

can't tell a lie to save her life.

Hard-working. Yeah, good girl, an all-round good girl.

She likes creating lists

and every weekend when I think I'm going to have a nice relax at home,

I come home on a Friday night to be told what room is going to be decorated.

Job done, so let's meet them.

Lynn and Sean, currently Watford,

but you have opened yourself up to a whole world of possibilities.

What's the dream? What's the deal?

Um, we want to move to a nice village location

and to become mortgage free.

That's a lovely idea.

What a positive start.

What else are we going for in the mortgage free world?

I don't know because I've got two kinds of worlds.

The one world where we could renovate and make some money and move on.

Right, OK.

But still be part of a community meanwhile.

And then on the flipside,

I want to have a nice house in a sleepy village

with a Post Office and a pub and a couple of shops

so that we can get involved in the community.

Have chickens, bees and...

-Ha, I love Sean's face.

-So, I kind of want both.

I can see you're stuck between both worlds.

Something that could help that, are you currently sold?

-You're already to go.

-Yes.

In these credit crunch times you can take advantage of your position

and you might not need to do it in two steps

you could haggle people down and could achieve it

with the money you've got now.

Um, and we're choosing where to do this?

-Cambridgeshire.

-Cambridgeshire was the area that we'd given.

We looked at it before a couple of years ago and there are some nice village bits.

Some parts are flat and some parts are nice and villagey.

If there's a bit of renovation to be done then that's good as well.

-What's the issue with flat, then?

-It's flat.

-It takes less time to walk around!

-That's a very good point.

But maybe roller skating would be hard.

Hill starts are a problem currently.

Is it just for the scenery that flatness is an issue? Or is it just that it's flat?

Well, I suppose in the area that we're in now,

if the Arctic Circle melts, we're gone.

That's some forward planning.

So somewhere on a hill would be better.

There was a link there, you mentioned community.

Is that what you're looking for? You've lived in Watford for how long?

-All my life.

-So, you've got a lot of friends there.

Is it going to be a big move to move to a smaller place?

No, in my head I'm thinking it'll be more community spirited.

People might talk to you for a start.

That's what you're looking for, everyone knows your name kind of thing.

That kind of thing.

What do you want from the property itself? Does it have to be old, new?

Older with a bit of character,

three or four, at least, bedrooms

and a garden is always nice.

A garden is a must.

One of my sons has three sports cars

and the car that he uses to pull the cars with.

He would like me to, cos he's going to stay in London,

-cos that's where he works.

-He wants you to look after his clutter?

Yeah, even if it had two bedrooms and a kitchen and a lounge,

but the potential to build on.

I once converted a bathroom and that nearly killed me.

But you're a proper builder, aren't you?

I can do the work. That's not a problem.

-We can throw anything at you?

-Pretty much, yeah.

That's good. So you're going for mortgage free,

the good life, you could be the new Tom and Barbara.

-What's your budget?

-250.

-Have you looked around? Is it achievable?

-It is, yes.

Also, you're sold, you're ready to go, so you can negotiate hard.

-Right, wish us luck.

-Good luck.

-See you in a bit.

-Be good.

OK, they're looking for a four-bedroomed house, not a flat.

-No, it's not on flat land.

-Do they realise where we are?

The Fenlands, one of the flattest parts of the country.

It was their idea, not ours.

It seems impossible, shall we just quit now?

We never quit. We can do this.

-Are you sure?

-Go that way, I'll go this way.

Quit, who are we kidding?

The Cambridgeshire Fens are a breath of fresh air.

The expansive landscape of the area forms one of the most distinctive parts of Britain.

There are a few hills in the Fens, known locally as islands.

The largest of which is the Isle of Ely.

In years gone by the hills would remain dry

when the low-lying Fens around them flooded.

The cathedral in Ely is only 37 metres above sea level at its highest point.

In fact, most of Fenland is below sea level.

The highest point of ground at only 26 feet,

is in the small town of Chatteris.

If soil's your thing, you're in the right place.

These parts are full of agricultural land,

meaning all you'll see for miles are fields.

It's flatter than a pancake round here.

As they mentioned, our couple dislike flatness,

but they won't dislike the prices

as the average house in Cambridgeshire costs 50 grand less than the national average.

But if you want property and hills,

what can you get for today's budget around the rest of the UK?

Sitting on the slopes of the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire

is this three-bedroomed, semi detached cottage-style property.

Or you could enjoy views out over the northern hills.

In Loch Linnhe Fort William is this glorious villa.

But if you prefer the Welsh hills, then how about this

lovely, detached, stone barn conversion with views out to the Black Mountains.

Enough of this, let's find some hills in Cambridgeshire.

I've been given a nibble from a local estate agent

about a place that might meet Sean and Lynne's requirements.

The place is Doddington, and here I am.

I'm going meet the people and test it out to see if they will like it.

They want a village feel, a nice community, people welcoming them.

-Can they get that around here?

-They can.

I don't know any of these places. What makes them great?

Purely the village setting, the location, you have field views,

but you're also five minutes away from a main town

for all your facilities.

Lynne and Sean like the idea of a community. Let's see what they've got.

Weekly clubs, cheerleading, high-school roadshow, maybe a little bit young for them.

Street dance, I can imagine Sean doing that.

Cheer fit for adults and the fairy club.

Bowls, short mat bowling they've got here.

You can hire the village hall, 50 quid for a children's party.

Keep-fit classes, tone up, keep fit, have fun, feel great. I love it.

They don't want anywhere too flat.

Walking round it doesn't seem too lumpy and bumpy to me.

-No, it's very flat here.

-Really flat?

-Flat.

-Flat, flat?

-Flat, flat.

-Maybe a slight slope?

If you're lucky.

I've brought along my trusty spirit level

to test out flatness of Doddington.

Let me just look at that, the spirit level says it is hilly.

250 grand, what can that get you around these parts?

You can get a good-sized three-bedroomed, four-bedroomed...

Five-bedroomed, six bedrooms?

Not six bedrooms, but definitely three, four, five bedrooms.

Land, workshops, garages, field views, the lot.

All right, then, Ed,

I've been having a good chat with the estate agents around here.

-I've got to say, it's pretty flat.

-It is incredibly flat.

We have got our work cut out for us today.

I've been out with my spirit level and I found an area called Doddington

that I've been given a nibble from the estate agent about.

And Doddington is very, very nice.

Look at this. Here is a former blacksmith's cottage.

It is very, very lovely.

Lots of character. I think they're going to love this.

The garden is a little bit on the petite side.

But you could get maybe small hens and chickens and stuff.

Sean isn't that happy about it anyway, so it's a nice compromise.

It's a very nice house, I think they will like it,

-but they'll love Doddington.

-OK, well funny you said Doddington,

-I'm going for Doddington as well.

-Have you been copying me?

I was told it had a nice, village feel and that's what they wanted.

Did the estate agent measure it with a spirit level as well?

This place has got a great garden, loads of car parking space

and lots of room and potential.

-The P word?

-Yeah, that's what Sean wanted.

-OK, the wild card.

Ladies and gentlemen, what does Lynne not like?

-Flat places.

-She doesn't like flat places, well...

Or, she says she doesn't like flat places.

What's the way of finding out whether she doesn't like flat places?

By showing her a flat house in a flat place.

It's a massive, flat house. It's in a large, flat place.

With a gigantic thing out the back which is also flat. It's really flat.

But it's not a flat, so we're all right.

It's a bungalow, which is kind of a flat in a house form.

It's a gamble, I'll be honest, I'm nervous about it even talking about it.

-Where shall we start?

-Let's go to Doddington.

The old blacksmiths.

After my very thorough research,

Doddington came up trumps with the spirit level and the locals,

definitely a village with a heart and, so, here we are.

The blacksmith is long gone but he's left behind him a very handsome cottage

with an old workshop. Sean and Lynne, welcome to Doddington.

-Can you feel Doddington's warm embrace wrapping itself around you?

-No, it's rather nippy.

If you seek inside a little bit more you'll feel Doddington giving you a gentle rub.

Doddington is very nice, it's very lovely.

I have to agree with you there.

Doddington seems like a lovely little place.

There's everything you'd ever want. You've got local pubs,

a doctor's surgery, little shops, a carnival.

In July every year they have a massive carnival.

You could be living in the old blacksmith's cottage.

Have a look at it properly, it was built in the 1850s.

Very charactery, as someone might say if they were using the word "charactery".

You get this and this beauty here. What do you think, Sean?

It remains to be seen what it's like inside.

The outside looks quite nice, nicely maintained.

Let's see.

-Lynne, what are your thoughts?

-It looks good.

It's very nice, interesting.

I'd like to understand a bit about this part.

Because I'm not sure if that goes...

Basically, that's your neighbour's part.

You've got everything that isn't the brick drive.

That's theirs, this is yours.

You'd probably have to ditch one of your son's cars,

but you could get two of the sports cars in there.

Quite frankly, that is motivation. He can only drive one at once.

Doddington is lovely. I hope you like it a lot. There's the local hay cart.

Three, two, one, into the house.

It's quite small.

Nice and light and bright.

-I've got the study through here.

-That's a nice, good use of space.

It is, but would we want, but what would we use this for?

I don't know yet, I haven't thought about that yet.

-It's just an area for computers, we can have a computer.

-I suppose.

Don't see it as a study. See it as something other than a study.

Don't study specifically in that room.

Maybe empty your head of thoughts in that room.

This is nice. Bright again.

-Quite low ceilings, aren't they?

-It was an old building, wasn't it?

-Old blacksmith's.

-I like this.

Yeah, that's nice.

-I assume it still works.

-I'd imagine so.

Nice bit of light from there as well.

That log burner is virtually nuclear. It's huge, it's a beauty.

-Your favourite colour, darling.

-Yeah.

It's nice, though.

It's nice because everyone always puts kitchens by the window...

-..to the garden.

-Would you like it like that?

Yeah, I've often thought how our kitchen at home is configured wrong.

I'd would rather be sitting and looking out on to the garden

than be cooking and looking out on to the garden.

-Cos you're cooking, you're not, you know.

-Nice sink.

Well, this kitchen according to Lynne, is perfectly designed.

This is probably the first Sean's heard about it,

-that Lynne's got issues about kitchens and the way they're laid out.

-She never mentioned it to us.

Luckily, I've found this in lovely Doddington.

That's a nice dining area.

The only thing I'm thinking with it, all the rooms are a wee bit small.

From what we have seen so far, they're a bit small, yeah.

The small word has been used.

I'm not going to go as far to say disappointed.

They have got a place in Watford.

Maybe when you are moving from the environs of London out to here,

you imagine you might get more for your money.

Maybe they are not getting as much as they hoped.

That's nice, nice and bright.

That solves the problem of the other table.

Still, slightly, it would still be a bit small.

No, this is lovely. Lovely and bright.

I wonder, the sun's there at the moment. What position is this?

-I don't know.

-Can't you work it out?

So, Rani, how do you work out which way the garden's facing?

I tend to not look directly into the sun.

I look in its position in the sky.

I would say this would... South-east.

-You wouldn't be using that satellite dish over there?

-No.

Is there a satellite dish? Fantastic.

They always face south. That is a good way of working it out at home.

Plenty of light up here.

-Baby room.

-Quite small.

You couldn't get a bed, could you?

You would be struggling.

Perfect for a baby. Nicely done for a baby.

I don't think we will be having any more of them.

I know. If we want a single bed,

I don't think we could get a single bed in there.

This might be better as a study.

Lynne said she would be happy with two bedrooms,

quite a small place as long as there was potential,

Is there potential here?

Yes. If they ditch the cars, from her son,

they could convert the garage into whatever they want.

-This is nice.

-The main bedroom, I wonder?

-I think, yeah.

-Decent size. Plenty of light.

Nice colours.

Not much room for wardrobes, though.

-No.

-Really.

-The whole house, all the rooms have been quite small.

-Yeah.

-Then again, there is only going to be the two of us.

I'd need more room than that for my clothes.

That room that we came out of would be a perfect wardrobe.

-We will have people staying.

-That is true.

They have got a suite that could contain their friends.

That could be the walk in wardrobe. That solves that problem.

This is the master bedroom.

-That's better.

-Yeah, more wardrobe space.

I wouldn't worry about that, that tiny room you could use as a wardrobe room

-and still have a spare bedroom for guests.

-That is true.

The study down stairs could double as a...

Are these floorboards? Do you think they're floorboards, or?

They're not original, I wouldn't think.

No, I'm not talking about original.

They're not laminate flooring, are they?

Lynne is saying, is it a floorboard.

She is saying, is it an old fashioned floorboard, no.

When Sean says, it's not a laminate, he's kind of half true.

It's a laminate real wood floorboard. Which means they're both right.

If we were on game show, equal points.

-This is big.

-Big bathroom, very big.

-Most important room in the house.

-Yeah. Nice shower.

What have we got in there?

Ah. A washing machine.

-Handy to have though.

-In the bathroom?

No, it's a handy use of space.

What do you do, right? You go into the bathroom, take your clothes off.

What would you have to do if your washing machine was downstairs?

-Take the clothes downstairs.

-What a chore.

What a chore, and she means that.

You just lob them in there. Job done. Job done.

-This side of the house has been more thought out.

-Yeah.

With the high ceilings, there'd be nothing needing doing down this end.

-Very nice.

-Fit three or four in that.

I suppose you've got to have a nice bathroom because there's such a community feel.

Someone is getting work, "come on round".

Come in my bathroom, for goodness sake,

it's carnival time, get in the bath.

Sean and Lynne, sadly, the buzzword of the house was, "small", wasn't it?

-Down stairs?

-It kind of got a little bit bigger upstairs.

Is it too small for your needs?

I think it is. We're spoilt where we live at the moment,

we have quite a lot of space.

And, basically, a lot of furniture and stuff...

-Wouldn't fit.

-..wouldn't go in to those rooms.

Having said that, quite nice house.

A nice, cute house.

-Cute.

-Cute, has become a word that describes slightly...

We are stood by the open garage here. It's a cracker, isn't it?

-Nice bit of space.

-Tidiest garage I've ever seen.

-Very impressive.

-This could be full of Sean's clutter while he does it up

and creates it into extra bedrooms.

You'd have to get planning permission, but it's a big space.

This could extend the house outward and make it bigger.

By doing that, we're losing parking space.

-You are, but you do have on road parking over there.

-That is true.

It's something you could create profit in the house.

-That is a possibility.

-If you knew the price, you might like it more.

All right then, let's get on to guess the price.

-Your maximum budget is £250,000, is that correct?

-That's right.

Who would like to go first?

-You go first.

-For this property in Doddington.

-This is just a real guess.

-That's what we're asking for.

-£167,000.

-167?

I think you have wound them up, there.

Was that what you had in your mind?

I think it's much lower than the budget.

I was thinking £175,000.

175, 175, all right, and 167.

All right, Ed, who is the closest?

Sean is the closest. Lynne, you're miles out.

Am I? I did say it was a real guess.

£205,000.

OK, I'm miles out.

You are sold. You are ready to go.

You could negotiate. You could never get it down to £167,000.

You have never been to the village before. You don't know the area.

Everyone loves Doddington.

-Yeah.

-There you go. £205,000. Shall we go to Rani's one?

I think we should.

I love Doddington too. Let's go that way.

Ed's house may not have really excited them.

But Doddington is definitely hitting the spot.

I'm very glad to be walking just half a mile down the road

to the other end of the village for property two.

Better for me, it's bigger.

I can't believe you didn't spot this one, Ed.

OK, Lynne and Sean, welcome to property number two.

For my choice I brought you to Doddington.

-Have you been here before?

-We have, funny enough.

It's a fantastic place. Loads going on in Doddington.

Great community feel as Ed mentioned before.

-There used to be a black smiths.

-Really?

-I think his house was that way.

-Just down there.

-Where they have the carnival.

-Ah, yes, every July.

OK. All right. Enough about that.

Ed gave you space for maybe one or two of your son's car.

This, however has space for three cars.

-Do you have your own cars?

-Yeah.

Any friends come to visit, put their cars in there as well.

Not a problem. This, however, is the house.

-It looks really nice.

-Yeah, really nice.

Clean lines. Yeah, it's lovely.

You said you don't like place that is are too flat.

Is Doddington bumpy enough for you?

-Yes, I think it is.

-That's perfect then.

It all sounds good. The thing about this property, it's got potential.

Have a little think about that when you go around.

-That's exciting, isn't it?

-I love the idea of a house that needs work.

It might take a while to get through your drive.

Take your time and eventually get to the house and enjoy it.

OK, erupt into that house.

Slightly bigger entrance than the previous one.

-Yes.

-This is very spacious.

Oh, hello.

A little bit of work needed here.

-No, nice work though.

-Nice size.

-Nice work, as in it's easy.

-Yeah.

Very nice. Nice size.

It's got a fireplace. I wonder if that chimney breast would still be?

Quite possibly.

They are in the process here of starting to redecorate this room.

They really are in the process, aren't they?

Very much in the process.

No point redecorating it because the person who will move in

will redecorate it again. Why not leave it for...

In a way, thank you, is what they're saying.

They've done the hard job, they stripped the walls.

This is nice.

Lovely. I like the settee, actually. It's really nice.

-Not sure that comes with it.

-That's a strange ceiling, is it?

It's just a different way of doing it.

-OK. Very nice.

-Excellent.

Lovely. I wonder if there's a fire in here?

Probably not.

She never asked for a fire this morning, did she?

Unless of course she can see smoke

and is concerned and look for an exit.

The old phrase, "where there's smoke there's fire",

that's the way of telling.

-Oh, right.

-How weird.

It's a nice size, nice and bright as well.

I wonder how many bedrooms it's got though?

-I would be inclined to use this as...

-Something else.

-Yeah.

-Nice doors to the garden.

-Yeah.

Damp issues.

OK. Now, Sean himself is a builder.

He's noticed the damp in this part of the house.

It's no secret. They haven't tried to cover it.

-They can't, it's damp, it keeps coming through.

-Something to talk about.

-Hopefully that's been taken into consideration in the price of the house.

-Has it?

-It has.

Oh, wow, nice.

Funny shape.

Well, yeah, it is, but again, it's nice that it's not,

that you've got the eating area.

Separate. I like this as well, that breaks it up a bit.

Yeah.

This is nice, but it's quite, it is quite small, isn't it?

What I'd be inclined to do is to extend out and knock through.

Lynne is creating work for Sean, by the sounds of it.

But Sean wants the work, so, it's perfect.

Let's see what we've got here. Most important room in the house.

Nice bath, nice sink.

That's nice, yeah. Lovely.

That is nice. Wouldn't need to do anything with that.

Ball and claw foot. Good colours as well.

Yeah, no shower unit.

No, yeah, you could put one in easy actually.

It's easy to put a shower in the bathroom. Not a problem for them.

However, if they're outside all day, tending the land,

I thought a lovely romantic hot bath at the end of the day

-is what they need.

-Nice sell, nice sell.

Nice size room again.

Lovely and bright.

Dual aspect, is it, the windows?

Well, in Ireland we just call it, there's two windows in it.

Nice size. Ample for a bed and dressing table.

What's in it.

They're built in those wardrobes, aren't they?

Yeah. I would say this is a wee girl's room.

It's like Lynne is reading from an estate agent's details.

She's used the words, "dual aspect" and, "ample", it really is perfect.

-It's tidy.

-Yeah, get a bed in, well, a single bed, in easily.

-I would want to push it...

-Against the wall.

Yeah, and you've got that cupboard there.

It will still fit. That's minor.

OK.

Very small.

-It doesn't seem right with downstairs, does it?

-No, it doesn't.

It is only a single room.

You probably would need a bedroom downstairs.

That's probably the master bedroom.

There's still two good sized rooms down there.

You haven't got a really big bedroom upstairs,

if that's what they're after.

It's, kind of, smaller rooms all the way.

It's like they're crying inside.

When you were walking around that house you seemed quite positive.

You know, downstairs. We won't talk about the upstairs just yet.

-Why would we?

-Let's keep to the positive and look at the space.

Round the side the space for Karl's cars.

I'm thinking at the back of the garden, cos it's so spacious,

-a little veggie patch, would that work?

-Don't mention chickens.

-What do you think of this garden area?

-Space is unbelievable.

I love the garden area, it's really nice.

You thought of getting rid of this downstairs extension,

it has damp in it, and doing a two storey extension.

That would give you a fantastic bedroom upstairs.

And use the small bedroom as an en suite.

How much does it cost?

In the last guess the price, Sean, you won.

You were not that close.

£250,000 to spend.

Who would like to go first?

You go first this time.

-£225,000.

-Lynne?

-I say £230,000.

It's in my mind because it's a lot bigger than the blacksmith's property

generally all round, sorry about that.

That's absolutely fine. So, £225,000 and £230,000 from you Lynne.

All right. Well, actually, Sean you're the closest again.

-Again!

-You have won guess the price.

This house is on the market at £195,000.

Wow, very cheap.

So, a lot of scope within your budget.

Shall we go to the wild card? Everyone loves the wild card.

Are we going to leave Doddington or shall we stay in Doddington?

Let's keep it a secret. Let's go this way.

The wild card today is not so much wild in style but wild in location.

It's flatter than a crepe around here.

Which provides dramatic views from this property.

It's a huge gamble, although it may not look like it.

But they're definitely getting more space.

Sean and Lynne, the wild card, everyone always loves the wild card.

The wild card today is wild because it's a gamble.

-What did you say you didn't really like?

-Flat.

-All right.

-You've got a relatively flat house.

I would say a deceptive house from here.

I don't think you have any idea of just how much house you've got.

-Really?

-OK.

The view is, let's say, flat.

What do you think about it on first impressions?

Flat and remote.

Too remote and too flat?

Possibly, but I would be interested to see the house.

-What are your thoughts, Sean?

-Similar, flat, open.

You have got the land as well for your cars,

we are giving you things you want as well, but it is all a bit flat.

-Are you ready?

-We are, indeed.

Do not be flat with your mood when you go in though, Sean and Lynne.

Three, two, one, enter that house.

It's a bungalow with stairs.

Oh, yes, how funny.

Instantly greeted with the surprise which I kept very secret,

and you kept very secret, we both did.

It isn't just a bungalow, it isn't just a flat house.

-Oh, no, it's got stairs in it.

-It's a bungle-high.

A bedroom, a study,

a television, nice size.

-The ceiling is very, uh...

-70s.

I remember I paid a lot of money in one of my houses

to have ceilings like this.

Ceilings are very...I like that, they are together,

they know what each other is thinking.

Doesn't cost that much to do, though, bit of a skim.

That's an all-singing, all-dancing Bath, isn't it?

-It is a bit!

-It's like a TARDIS.

-Jump in then!

I was amazed by the bath.

I did not know what it was.

It's got a radio, a steam room, a sauna, shower, Jacuzzi,

-it's got the lot!

-It's its own private gym membership.

I think to join that bathroom is about 60 quid a month.

Another bedroom.

-I think this one has ensuite.

-OK.

Nice size.

In fact, out of all the houses we've seen, this is the

most decent sized bedroom. It's quite nice wallpaper as well.

They won't take that with them.

-I don't think they will take the wall paper with them.

-It can be done, you would seem mean.

-You could do it in little strips, like that?

-You could use a steamer.

You would have to really love wallpaper or it had gone out of stock.

I think they're going to keep it here.

That is one less job for Sean.

Look, a little office.

Even if it wasn't an office, it's not a bad size.

-A nice colour again.

-In your opinion.

I like this bluey, turquoise, aqua colour.

This would be a good room for a computer.

It has broadband.

You'd think in the middle of nowhere, in a land so flat and barren

you might not get broadband, but it does have broadband.

Those tiles again.

They must be on special.

-It's well thought out.

-Utility as well.

-I like the cooker.

It's really nice. Not sure how it works.

The units are nice. And the extractor hood.

-I think this is possibly the best kitchen we've shown them.

-It is the best kitchen.

It is the best view from the kitchen, but all of these things are not striking a chord with them, are they?

Not at the moment.

This is quite nice. That is a nice size and it opens out to here.

A pond.

You'd have to watch your wine intake stumbling out there into the pond.

This is a nice size as well.

It's certainly like a little TARDIS.

And it's got a dance floor. What more could you want?

It marries in nicely from one room to the other.

I think we're back in the game again.

They are good room sizes, bigger than what we've shown them already.

That is the benefit of having a nice, flat house.

Good use of space up here.

They've got a gym.

Goodness me, this is huge.

Good views as well over the potato field.

With flat, the views are better than anywhere else.

I think it's perfect.

You get to see further and if people are coming over to visit, you can spot them a mile off.

There they are! Put the kettle on!

It is very big. Nice, clean tiles.

Probably never used. Nice and bright. It doesn't feel cramped at all.

Of course it doesn't feel cramped. It's massive.

-How many bedrooms does this make?

-It's four built in wardrobes already.

They're all decent-sized rooms.

Good use of space again.

Even the way they've got the curtains.

It's nice. Not that it would be overlooked by anybody.

Looking out of that window, surrounded by all these fields, is it overlooked?

In no way, unless you had a high-powered telescope,

and who has got one of them apart from Patrick Moore?

How does flat living grab you?

The house is surprisingly big inside.

I suppose, I don't know, it would be up to Lynne,

the space is good enough, it needs a bit of work.

The ceilings are a bit outdated for our taste.

This is the area where you could be doing your back to nature...

You've got the greenhouse. They've got chickens at the back.

You've got this big out-building which is all yours,

-It's currently a music room and storage and garage.

-It's absolutely fabulous.

But I can't picture myself, or Sean and I together, living here.

I think we should do Guess The Price.

It may change your mind to give you an idea what this house

would cost you.

-How are we doing so far? Remind me. Sean, have you completely won this?

-So far.

All right, then. Third time, will you be lucky?

Your maximum budget is £250,000.

I think this is not as expensive as one might think.

-I reckon about 210.

-210.

-Lynne gives you a little nod there.

-Cos I was going to go 215.

OK, that's what we're going for. 210 versus 215, and we have spent

the maximum budget for this.

Again, we've been in different areas that you don't know.

£250,000 it's on the market for. You're ready to go, ready to sell it, so you could haggle.

But it's 250. And you'd be fools to, because you don't want to live here.

No, that's right.

-The good news is you've got one in Guess The Price, Lynne.

-Yeah.

-So it's 2-1.

-Yeah.

It's not a bad thing. OK, then. You've seen three different houses.

-You've got to make the biggest decision of your adult lives and choose your test drive vehicle.

-Sure.

-Are you excited? Ready?

-Yes, excited.

-Head off that way, we'll see you later.

-Thank you.

We'll see you in a moment. Good luck with that.

While they do that, here's a quick recap for you.

The blacksmith's cottage should still be in the running.

It's got a shedload of potential and the bathroom went down a treat.

And it's in Doddington, the village we've now put on the map.

It's a great price, too, at £205,000.

I think you might be kidding yourself.

My property was obviously the more spacious of the two in Doddington.

And, although the upstairs left them a bit flat,

they were happy with the changes they could make.

It was also way under budget at £195,000.

I'm not sure our gamble paid off today.

The TARDIS-like bungalow left them in awe of the room sizes

and there were already chickens in the back garden,

but nothing could hide the very flat views from every single window.

Top of the budget at 250 grand.

Right, then, Sean and Lynne, when I first met you I thought,

"You guys have got taste."

And then you picked property number two,

my choice for the test drive, so I was right.

How come you picked this house?

It comes closest to our criteria as regards it's liveable in now,

there's potential for improving it, you know, a bit of renovation work on it.

It is in a nice, village location.

It's clean lines, it looks like our kind of property.

Right. As an added bonus, today we have had our mysterious surveyor

come round and give it a once over.

It's not legally-binding, but if you were going to buy it, it's a good idea of what to expect.

You already know, they've exposed the fact, that they have got damp.

He's had a look and there's no cavity wall, it's all single brick,

solid brick built. So you have rising damp and penetrating damp.

You'd want to check out if you've got a full damp course across the whole of the house.

And with the penetrating damp, it's coming through the brick,

so you'd need a waterproof coating on the outside.

You know, it's not a cheap job.

It could start at around 10 grand, and looking at anything up to 15.

You never know when they had the damp course put in last time.

It could be under guarantee, you might be able to save some money if you find out.

-That's good advice.

-It is.

-It's good information to have.

-It shouldn't put you off the property.

-No.

-But think of it as a good haggling point.

-Yeah.

-Are you still prepared to test drive the house, knowing these things?

-Yes.

-Forget about the problems for the moment, go in and enjoy the house.

-OK.

And enjoy it, enjoy it. This is your moment in the sun.

Lynne's not wasting any time here.

She's straight in there with a list for Sean.

I'm sure he'll be so excited about that(!)

I'm not sure 'excited' is really the word.

Right, here's your list.

-I've seen worse lists, honey.

-I haven't really finished.

Looks like he's taking it quite well, considering.

Typical man - calm on the outside, crying on the inside.

-I'm sure there'll be no tears from Sean - he's got far too much to do!

-She certainly keeps him busy.

Inside one minute, outside the next - where will it end?

He's very thorough, isn't he?

Lynne's back to inspect the garden.

-That there.

-Yeah.

-That'll be the veg.

-Charlie Dimmock, eat your heart out!

-There's no messing with Lynne.

A veg patch is what she wants, a veg patch is what she'll get.

At least they've not forgotten to check out lovely Doddington.

-There's a lot on offer. Do you think Sean will sign up for the street dancing class?

-Maybe.

You've had a little time in the house and I can see you've got

-a very long list for Sean.

-Yep.

-That's just normal.

Is this normal? You've got a tonne of things for him to do.

-Lynne's name is...

-Right, one thing. Planning permission, that is it.

-Have you enjoyed yourselves in the house?

-Yes.

-It's been very good.

If we were to go for something like this,

it isn't anything that can't be done, as the surveyor said.

Here's a question: To buy or not to buy?

Well, I think we'd have to do some investigations.

We'd have to find out how much it would cost to put the things right.

Yeah, the things we found out.

Yeah. And even though it's within our budget, there is a ceiling

to what the property's going to be worth in the area.

-So if you spend that on making it right, you could be spending too much.

-Yeah.

And you'd never get your money back.

It seems more of a potentially "not to buy",

but you quite like Doddington.

-I like the house, but we have to do the investigation.

-It's a "possibly".

It's a "possibly", and if it does work and it stacks up,

then it's a "possibly".

-Yes.

-I'll accept that.

-If nothing else, have you enjoyed your time on the show?

-Wonderful.

-Yeah.

-If you buy a house here, let us know,

-because we'd like to come back for the carnival in July.

-Yeah.

-See you soon.

-Take care. Good luck with it all.

Thank you for your help.