Derby To Buy or Not to Buy

Good morning. Today, we have an episode of To Buy Or Not To Buy

that you will not want to miss.

You shouldn't want to miss any of them. You really shouldn't.

But I'm guessing it's a special one, so we've got a houseboat,

maybe a castle, possibly a windmill to look for?

You're on the right lines. We're looking for something you'd only normally find in a fairytale.

-Right, what on earth is that?

-We're looking for fairies.

-What?

Ah, Derby!

England's most central city and central to today's house search.

Brilliant. Very clever with the words there, central and central.

But the question is, fairies - what are you talking about?

-Don't you believe in them?

-No, I'm a grown man, what are you talking about?!

Come on, just look sharp.

(What's he talking about?)

Amanda, Carl and their young son Owen live within a short hop of Derby city centre.

I'm getting a sense of deja vu here.

They do look familiar, don't they? But more of that in a moment.

Their current new-build townhouse is not a practical design for them,

-as it's set over three floors.

-That means that while Owen gets

a bedroom next to Mum and Dad, the second child that they're hoping for

will be sleeping on a different floor of the house.

That doesn't sound good. I think we may need some of our magical powers.

Amanda and Carl, welcome to the programme. You shouldn't be nervous.

You're about to step in the well-worn footsteps that many have trodden in before.

It's essentially a house-hunting programme, we have a lot of fun...

Can I, sorry, just stop you there?

We already know how the programme works.

We've had Simon and Christian come out prior to yourselves.

-You've already been on the programme before?

-We have.

So what happened last time, then?

We went to see the wildcard.

We really, really liked it. We were really impressed with it,

very quirky, and decided we would buy that property.

But then we just had a change of heart and decided to go with property one.

-And then, that didn't happen either?

-No, we ended up pulling out.

Let's just briefly discuss what you're looking for - has anything changed?

No, nothing's changed. We're still looking for a conventional house -

so, two floors, not the three that we've currently got.

Three bedrooms, minimum, off-road parking for two cars,

in easy distance in travelling from work.

So, ten miles away from the city centre.

Now, I've been telling Ed about fairies.

Yeah, and I'm not really sure what he's talking about.

I don't think you'll be able to find the perfect house - that's the challenge.

If you do find the perfect house, it's probably got fairies at the bottom of the garden.

THEY LAUGH OK. I'm totally with that now.

There's no such thing as a perfect house - if there was,

-it'd have fairies living there.

-You never know!

What about the style of house? This is modern townhouse style.

-You want something more conventional?

-More conventional, yes.

-Period?

-Can be period.

-I'd love a period property.

So really there's not much you're ruling out. Is there anything you don't want?

Shared driveways.

-Don't like shared driveways.

-How much money have we got to spend?

-Maximum £180,000-£185,000.

-All right, shall we go?

-I've got your coat.

-See you later.

-See you later!

-Bye-bye.

This would seem a very straightforward episode

- £185,000 they've got to spend, they want three bedrooms minimum.

But the curveball, is very much the fairies in the bottom of the garden.

If you've come late to the programme, ladies and gentlemen,

-they do want fairies at the bottom of their garden.

-Maybe it's not just the fairies,

maybe it's the environment that fairies might go to.

Yeah, that clears it up massively!

As a believer - I'm surprised you of all people don't believe in fairies - but as a believer,

I think I can find out a bit more about this today.

Why don't you stick to what you know then, and go and have

-a chat with an estate agent?

-All right, good. See you later.

Being in the geographical centre of England, Derby boasts transport links that are second to none.

It was one of the hubs of the Industrial Revolution,

and has maintained its reputation for technical prowess.

The city has a travel-to-work population of 1.5 million people,

and thanks to its positioning, the average commuting time for all these people is just 15 minutes.

So, in which other commuter belts in the UK would £180,000 allow you to live and work?

This two-bed character cottage is in the Cheshire village of Lymm,

and you don't have to go out on a limb to reach Manchester.

Updated to a high specification, it's right on the money at £180,000.

Now, feast your eyes on this stunning listed building in Reading.

It's not all yours, but it's a generous two double-bedroomed flat with a sumptuous lounge.

Live like a regency dandy for £179,950.

With Birmingham and Bristol equidistant, Worcester offers up this fine townhouse

with three bedrooms, generous gardens and extended living space.

You'll certainly be wanting to stay at home and not commuting.

On the market for £179,000.

'Time to get back to our property hunt for Amanda and Carl

'and find out what Derby has to offer.'

Amy, I'm in the area looking for a family who want to move to

an area where they can kind of raise children, have nice primary schools.

They want a villagey feel.

Derby as we know it today was founded way back in 921 by King Edward the Elder

as a bastion against the resurgent Vikings here in the East Midlands.

There are several areas in Derby that would meet your criteria, Spondon being one of them.

Spondon in particular is five minutes on a bus from Derby city centre.

It's worth mentioning one of the area's famous sons - yes,

George Clarke Simpson, who accompanied Captain Scott

and his ill-fated expedition of the Antarctic way back in 1912, was born right here in Derby.

Now, I'm going for a walk. I might be some time.

They want a garden, and I don't really understand this,

but the man said this, he wants a garden that feels it might have fairies in the bottom of it.

So, yes, maybe a private garden that...

Tall trees, lots of shrubs in the garden.

Lots of nice little places to go and hide for your fairies - yep, not a problem.

-Hello.

-Hello!

I have just met a beautiful lady in there called Amy,

who has helped me out immensely, and I have ended up

with not one, but two properties, which both look beautiful - I don't want which one to pick.

Why don't you take that one and I'll have that?

Yeah, I'll do that.

-You've just taken it off me.

-Well, you know, that's the way it goes.

Property number one, by the looks of it, is... I'll tell you what...

It is lovely.

It's been extended.

It's got three, no, four bedrooms!

It's got that garage and off-street car parking.

-I'm happy with that.

-You're going to nick it off me, are you?

-Come on.

-You've done it already. My property is beautiful.

It's in Spondon as well.

And if I was Jonnie, I'd have stolen this one.

I'll give you a quick flash of it. It's everything they want and more.

And fairies, yeah? Potential.

Oh, right. Well, I'll tell you what,

if fairies like older properties, they'd like this one. Look at that!

Amanda likes period and that's what we've gone for with the wildcard.

And out the back... my goodness gracious me!

Where shall we start?

Let's start with property number one and we'll go from there.

OK, the one you've just stolen off me.

Stealing is a funny word. Come on.

Property one is in the Derby suburb of Spondon.

It's home to one of the very few grade Grade I listed buildings in Derby.

Spondon also has a unique villagey feel, and is the sort of

well-established neighbourhood that Amanda and Carl are looking for.

So, Carl and Amanda, welcome to Spondon.

-Been here before?

-We've been to the shops.

Now, let's look at the house. You said you wanted

conventional living. Semi-detached house.

Definitely ticking the conventional living box.

-So far, so good.

-So far so Spondonly good. It really is.

And look over there. You've got the park.

You've got, I believe, a playground for around the age range

of the little one, and with future children,

-that will not be going out of fashion for a long time.

-If you cast your eyes behind you,

those buildings there, that's the local parade of shops.

So everything you asked for on your doorstep.

Go on, enjoy it. But come out if you want to buy it.

Very decent paintwork.

-Nice and neutral.

-Yeah, it could do with a bit of tarting up.

It needs tarting up - your answer?

Well, they said they're prepared to do cosmetic changes.

Into the lounge... Ah!

-Oh, I like this.

-This is a decent-sized lounge, isn't it?

Nice and light,

-which is good.

-Nice bay window here.

Yeah. Yeah.

Not sure I would have a table this end, I might put my TV this end.

He's not come on television starting quoting Dostoevsky, is he?

"I wonder where I might hang my art collection? Ooh, that would love lovely there.

"A bouquet of flowers there." No - "Where's the TV going?"

I'm happy with that. Game on.

Conservatory as well. I wanted a house with a conservatory.

I did want a conservatory, yes.

I like conservatories.

Let's just have a look outside.

I think is probably what helps with the light through the house, isn't it?

Here we go, here we go - added bonus there.

They've not greeted it with, "Wow, we've got a conservatory."

Maybe they just expected you would deliver that level of quality.

You do know that in this house, because it's all in a loop, we'd end up having fun chasing Owen around?

-Round the house!

-If it gets him tired for bed, I'm all for letting him run.

What's in here? Is it downstairs toilet?

Needs to be a downstairs toilet.

-It's a downstairs toilet!

-Woo-hoo, it's your birthday!

-Fantastic.

Have you ever heard that much excitement in a downstairs bathroom?

I did once at a party.

But you know... But there, they were very excited, weren't they?

The smallest room in the house has got the biggest reactions. Hoo-hoo!

Right. Well, here's a bedroom, or, in this case, an office.

-Oh, OK.

-It's not too bad.

-This must be the small bedroom.

Well, I hope this is the small bedroom.

-It ticks the boxes, but they're not going mad about it.

-No, they're not.

-This is actually a really good size, isn't it?

-It is a good size.

It's certainly not too shabby.

This is, erm, I guess these are all built-in, so...

-I'm not a fan of these.

-No, I'd probably take them down.

Or at least change the front of them.

In your face! They're ripping stuff out, changing stuff.

Because of that noisy road out the back there, I've no idea what it is they're ripping out.

-I hate that.

-Woah!

-Whatever they're taking, I absolutely hate it.

I can't remember what it is, but I hated it.

-It might be the wardrobe.

-That's what I hated.

That's a nice-sized bath.

-Would fit me in there.

-It's got bubbles, it's a Jacuzzi one.

-I like it.

-And a shower unit.

That's actually quite good, having a separate shower to a bath.

-Kids' room.

-This is Owen's room.

Loads of space for all his toys.

You can look out the back garden. You're not overlooked too much.

You've got a shed to keep you quiet in.

-It's not just a shed, what Carl's got out there.

-Goodness me! It's a behemoth, look at the size of it!

He is a motorbiker, and he could have Donington Parkway in that shed if he wanted to.

What's this? Unless it's the airing cupboard?

Oh, stairs!

These stairs, these stairs, these are your favourite kind of stairs.

Alternate tread stairs.

Oh, wow! This is fantastic.

-A loft room, a den.

-This is great.

This is where you can palm the kids!

-Ha-ha!

-No, I think I would be wanting this room.

-Owen's not getting this one. The kids aren't, this is my room.

-This is brilliant.

Amanda and Carl, very nice noises we heard throughout that house tour.

I was up all night thinking about this clever link in to guess the price, so here we go...

We are in Spondon - how many spondoolics do we think this Spondon hou... Anyway, Carl?

I'm going to guess, and it is a guess...

-£169,000.

-On the knocker. Maximum budget was £185,000,

-so you think Jonnie's giving you some moving room to do a bit of tinkering?

-I think so.

-I'm thinking £174,995.

-OK.

-Well, I tell you what,

pleasant surprises all round - this house has been reduced

-to the sell-it-quick price of £159,950.

-Crikey!

-That's surprising. That is a lot of house for the money.

-Quite impressed with that.

Well, don't think about it too much, because we have got property two coming up, hot on its heels.

-Shall we go?

-Let's go.

-I think let's go this way.

In a radical departure from the norm, we're taking them to see the wildcard next.

This Victorian semi is in the semi-rural Derby district of Borrowash.

But, more importantly, what will they make of the house?

Amanda and Carl, you may have seen this programme many, many times,

but had you ever expected the wildcard to turn up second?

-No.

-Never.

Look at it, there she blows! Now, Amanda, you were very much

loving the idea of a building, I would say,

-maybe not that far away from what this looks like.

-Yeah.

I quite like it, although it's looking quite small.

-Carl, what do you think?

-It's got a shared drive, and I did say that was one of the things I didn't like.

But only a shared drive so far. It opens up.

At the front you get this rather cute-looking building,

but at the back, a whole new world appears, a world of mystery.

-And maybe a world of fairies.

-Who knows?

Possibly, OK, are you ready? In three, two, one - enter the wildcard

that is actually number two. Go!

Here we go.

Ladies and gentlemen, would you believe that this is the back

of the property that we've just been stood out the front of?

And it does look very much like Walton country, I would say.

Three or four miles away, Derby.

-Look at the tiling down there.

-I like the flooring.

That's nice. It's always a good start.

I bet that goes all the way up to the stairs.

We could pull this carpet up and if we're lucky, might have a feature.

It would be nice if it does.

I don't know what type of tiling it is, I'm not a tilophile.

I would say Minton tiles.

-Do you know that?

-Yeah.

-100%?

-Yeah.

-All right.

Look at that. A wood-burning stove.

That's nice, I like that. That would belt out some heat as well.

Look how big the ceilings are.

Tall ceiling.

Ceiling height - massive.

Victorian proportions.

Nice, big tall rooms, but wide.

I always find Victorian houses quite narrow and dark.

This one is the reverse - wide and light.

So this must be the dining area then.

Yeah. They've knocked it through quite well.

Quite a good size. If you were to have this as the dining room,

like they have, there's plenty of room for dinner parties.

This is a good-sized kitchen, that's for certain.

A very big kitchen.

So you could have this as a dining area and kitchen!

And you could have a huge living space and toy room.

I thought this house would be full of surprises - maybe that's the wildcard.

Carl is most impressed with the size of the kitchen.

You do open that door and think, "Wow, where's this come from?"

Is that a window at the top?

-There's something going on there, but I don't know.

-A sky light.

-Nice little sky light, so you've got a light well hanging over the stairwell.

-Nice.

-Nice.

This is a good-sized bedroom.

Crikey, it is a very good-sized bedroom.

You could actually have your own en suite in this bedroom here, too.

Fitted wardrobes.

-Nice.

-This is a very good size.

They are imagining themselves in this property, much more so than they did in yours.

I often imagine that if I just named my properties the wildcard, maybe I would get on better.

This is another good-sized room.

-It is.

-Even if that was the master bedroom and second bedroom,

it's like our room, Owen's got his own mansion bedroom!

A lot of the rooms may be a little bit weaker, in a decorative sense,

in condition, but every room they like the size of it and are prepared to do a bit of work there.

-Little boy's room or little girl's room.

-Ah. The nursery!

-Quite small and compact, but it's all right for a kiddy's room.

-You don't need anything more, do you?

This would be the third bedroom.

This must be the bathroom, then, obviously.

-It's got the toilet in it.

-You'll be called Sherlock Holmes with deduction like that.

Yeah, a fair-sized bathroom.

I think it definitely needs coming out and a new one going in.

But to be fair, the whole house needs freshening up.

But there's a lot of potential.

So, Carl and Amanda, welcome to the back of the garden.

What do we think of these, well, they're not town views, are they?

It's a field with some horses in, which is nice, in its own right.

-Yes.

-I think you - tell me if I'm wrong or not -

emotionally moved into this property more than you did into his one?

Yeah. I think we saw quite a lot of opportunities.

A house that if you were to go in there, there's a lot of things

that you'd want to do to make it your own.

I think we need to guess the price.

We do. Now, we are, I think, it's 1-0 to Carl.

Amanda, you should go first this time.

-£169,995.

-Okey-cokey.

-All right. Carl?

I think it's about £175,000.

The actual price is £179,950. So it is slightly under your budget - £550.

Shall we think about that en route to my one, which should be the wildcard,

but it isn't, it's my one at the end of the programme, it's a lot fresher?

I'm confused. Let's go.

After the excitement of having the wildcard second,

I'm taking the couple back to a familiar area for my choice.

Property two is situated on a quiet road, but is only three miles from the city centre.

Best of all is the garden - a fantastic vista

that must surely have some fairies lurking in the undergrowth.

-We are in Spondon. We've been to Spondon before, haven't we?

-We have.

What do you think about the outside?

It reminds me of property number one - the same sort of style -

-which is a good thing.

-Amanda, what do you think?

I like it. I like the location, the fact it's in a cul-de-sac, so it's nice and quiet.

If you look at the other properties they've all had big extensions.

There's lots of opportunity for things like that as well, so...

There is a door.

Enter property two. Go!

-Right, then.

-Let's have a look.

We've not heard a great deal about them so far.

But this garden of all the gardens, surely there'll be fairies somewhere.

-Confident?

-Yeah, pretty much.

-I'm not.

I don't think there'll be a toilet there.

-I don't think you'll have a toilet under there.

-But useful storage.

That might be where your fairies could live. This is a good size.

Plenty of room for the sofa.

Be nice and warm on a cold day like this - around this fire.

Definitely, definitely.

But no, plenty of room for the sofa, so that's always good.

Now, this is something they haven't done yet - they have imagined

their furniture, I believe, on that last statement, moving into this lounge area.

Separate dining room - first time we've seen that in our houses.

Yeah, and I like having a separate dining room as well.

And it's fairly light, especially with having the nice French doors

that lead on to the garden.

Conservatory on the back there would be quite nice.

Hello, here we go! And the man is expanding the property out, isn't he?

-Let's have a look at the kitchen.

-This is nice.

Nice and modern, which I like. Plenty of cupboard space.

If I'm being picky, it's a bit on the small side, which is a shame.

They could, if they wanted to, expand out the side there.

Oh, this is handy! Wow!

What would you call this?

This would be my play area!

-SHE LAUGHS

-That's what this is!

Hang on a minute, Amanda, you're a grown lady, what do you need a play room for?

I think having the window always helps to bring the lightness upstairs.

This is better - one flight of stairs, rather than three.

Yeah, a bit better! Let's have a look in here.

Toilet...upstairs!

Nice to have a separate toilet rather than in the bathroom.

You just get crazy reactions whenever they go into a toilet.

Because, you'd hope to see one in the house, wouldn't you?

And they've found it. Man, that's a stress off.

If this house didn't have a toilet, we would not have bought it.

This is obviously the bathroom.

I think it would be nice to have the bathroom and the toilet together. Quite a modern touch to it.

It's nice, I'd prefer a shower enclosure, but I'm not going to complain too much.

-"Shower enclosure"!

-Loving that!

-Whoo-hoo!

Certainly big enough to be a master bedroom.

This is a really good size.

You've got fitted wardrobes as well, which is always nice.

-Useful storage.

-Actually, that's really good.

-What's that out there, look?

-It's a nice big window, so it's quite light in here as well.

You can see Owen playing quite happily in the back garden, on his own, nice and safe.

At last, they've mentioned what is a wonderful back garden.

Two sheds - two sheds here!

Yeah, definitely. It's a good-sized back garden.

Those birds, and yourself, and all you people at home will be pleased

to hear that these trees have tree preservation orders on them.

-Really?

-They do indeed.

-Where did you get that from?

-Otherwise known as a TPO.

So, this is I would say the third bedroom.

And this is actually not a bad size.

You've got a proper bed in there, single bed anyway.

Exactly, so you've got Owen's bed...

Hang about, they've given Owen a bedroom.

Never given Owen a bedroom in any other houses so far.

This one's the master bedroom.

-Is it?

-It's bigger.

Wow! This is much bigger.

-A lot bigger.

-This is much bigger.

-But could you fit an en suite in?

Could you? I'm not going to do it, he's not going to do it, but you could.

-Don't know how much it would impact on the room, but you could do it.

-I don't think you would.

The bedroom's big enough to warrant having a toilet and sink and everything in it.

Let's go and have a look and see how much it's going to cost us.

-I wonder what that is..?

-Hello! Hiya!

-Oh, you want us?

-Yes.

-Just wondering what that is -

-where the fairies live or something like that?

-You think so?

-Possibly!

Well, it's optimistic, isn't it?

I tell you what, it isn't where the fairies live. Jonnie knows about this...

What, where the fairies live?

Not where the fairies live, what's there!

That there is an old reservoir.

That's the tower that would look over it. Now, that is disused,

-and there's planning consent for a housing estate there.

-OK.

Now, normally they'd need to put a spade in the ground within

a certain amount of time or the planning permission lapses.

Having said that, it's surrounded by houses, and it's such a big estate

that it's more than likely going to get permission.

There you go. OK, it is in Spondon.

We've guessed the price of one property in Spondon.

You lost guess the price, Amanda.

You're playing for pride now. I'm going to give you the opportunity of going last.

-Thank you.

-OK?

-OK.

-Now then...

-I'm going to go £185,000.

-Right, OK.

-Right, so maximum budget £185,000...

-Well, then, I'll go £182,500.

JONNIE LAUGHS

-Right, the actual price of this is... Amanda, you've won.

-Whoo!

Unbelievable! £167,950, which is a very strange price for a property.

I think that's really good.

You're at the point where you've got to go and make the biggest decision of your adult lives

about which one you wish to test drive.

If you could do that, we will see you later on. So wander off that way.

-If you see any fairies...

-We'll let you know.

Yes, do, please. Thank you very much. Right, they're off.

But whilst they go off and make this decision,

here is a reminder for you people back home of the three properties -

with or without fairies.

Without.

Property one was a well-established gem set in the gentrified suburb of Spondon.

With a generous extension allowing a fourth bedroom and local amenities

just around the corner, it's on for a great price of £159,950.

Hold on! You're forgetting a man that is a sucker for period details and character.

The wildcard may have been a project, but it had potential, potential, potential.

There was also money left in the pot for updates, at £179,950.

Property two, in Spondon, has a fabulous garden, but is also very neat and tidy on the inside.

You could add a proper extension or a conservatory

on a selling price of £167,950.

But the question is, which one are they going to choose?

And yes, they've chosen to test drive property two - my choice!

Well done, and Owen has come along to try the house out for himself.

In fact, it's a family affair, with Amanda's mum, Helen, offering a different point of view.

I think it's really nice. The sun's even shining through the blinds now.

What do you think?

Wow!

Ha-ha! That's Owen showing his dad who's the boss.

And don't forget Mum!

-Come on, haven't we got some fairies to find?

-I'll get you!

Hey, no publicity, please.

There's some fairies in my garden, I'm sure of that.

Carl did say the perfect house would have fairies at the bottom of the garden...

I don't know where they're hiding.

I'm ever so disappointed. I am expecting to find one.

Well, what did he say? He said the fairies would be at the bottom of the garden,

so let's start there.

Yes - time for a reality check.

-Ed, congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-Look at you!

I do think there is the magic about going last in the programme.

But let's ask you - normally people come on the programme and they choose the wildcard to test drive.

You chose my one.

Just mainly for Jonnie's benefit, and for the viewers at home, what was so adorable about this one?

It was fitted out very nice inside.

You could move into the house straightaway, no problems at all.

Is this the sort of place you could see yourself in long-term?

I think it's definitely a long-term property, wouldn't you say?

It's something that you could grow into as well.

-It would expand with you.

-Yeah.

You've been looking around the garden as well, for fairies - have we found them yet?

-Mightily disappointed.

-Really?

-No fairies.

This is all your fault, Carl.

Well, we're getting near to the point, we have all committed

half an hour of our emotional lives towards this episode.

-It's been a journey.

-It really has. We'd love it to go out on a positive.

OK, shall we cross our fingers? Do you want to ask him?

-Can I? I was the loser after all.

-Go on, you were.

Carl and Amanda, to buy or not to buy?

-Not to buy.

-What on earth...?

-That close.

-Does that mean not to buy at the moment?

-Not to buy at the moment.

-I think there's potential.

If we look into how much extensions and garages will come to cost...

A single-storey extension or at least a conservatory is well within budget here. So is it a maybe then?

-It's a maybe.

-There's a possibility, yes.

If we could get fairies into the back garden?

-Then it's sold.

-It's a deal.

-Let's get on the look-out.

It's a bit of a break from the format, but Jonnie and I,

we both need some time alone to maybe cry in the back garden.

I'd like to stay a moment longer.

-It's been a pleasure meeting you all. But if you could just go that way...

-Good luck.

Don't turn around cos you might see us crying.

Viewers, if you'd like Jonnie and I to maybe help you find the property of your dreams,

one that could include fairies, don't hesitate, get in contact with us.

We will try and do that on a daily basis.

Fairies? You're on board with the fairies?

-No, I don't believe in fairies, do you?

-Me? Fairies?!

-No, I don't believe in fairies...

-You told me earlier on, though.

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