Episode 6 Young, Rich and House Hunting

I want to live here.

Up and down the country, super-rich teens and twenty-somethings

are snapping up the hottest properties money can buy.

This is where the mistress would be.

You can hide your lover here when your husband gets home.

How To Be A Property Millionaire - I do like to read that.

Unless you've got a trust fund, or being bankrolled by Mum and Dad...

Some people work all their life to be a millionaire - I adopted it.

..the average first-time buyer now reaches a whopping 38 years old.

38? Bloody hell!

Are you joking?

As Britain's youth are in danger of becoming a generation

who can't afford their own homes. THEY SCREAM

This series follows some of the UK's most affluent young people.

I don't care about money.

80 bottles of Dom Perignon, couple bottles of Cristal -

a standard weekend.

I'll make 100 times as much in ten years.

As they hunt for their perfect pads...

Yeah, this is a bit amazing.

-Oh, I love this.

-Oh, my God.

And there's a walk-in wardrobe!

..and go on a serious spending spree.

That's the sort of theme I want to be going for. £700 is a good bargain.

It's going to be extortionate.

This one is 420,000.

799,950.

On the market for about 2.25 million.

There is no doubt in my mind, I've become obsessed with property.

-Have we got it?

-Yeah.

-Oh, thank God.

In tonight's show,

two glamorous best friends

on the verge of moving in to an exclusive £800,000 pad.

So, next year, we'll be in the penthouse.

A 23 and 24-year-old couple buy their very first home

for nearly half a million,

after only seeing it once.

It is the moment I'll see it for the second time. When we've actually bought it.

And an ambitious 21 year old starts her property portfolio

with nearly 500,000 to play with.

The whole street seems a bit, erm...

How can I put it? Like, a bit chavvy.

Meet best friends 25-year-old Kim, and 27-year-old Sally.

Ewww!

-Hi, I'm Sally.

-I'm Kim.

Together, we're buying a house for about £800,000.

Well, we had to put 20 per cent of the value of the property down.

We'll let you do the calculations yourself

cos now you know how much the property's worth.

20 per cent of £800,000

is a whopping 160 grand.

And that's cash.

Yeah, it brings out my whole, you know...

The average deposit needed to buy in London is £30,000.

These girls already have five times that.

That is so cool. It's like...

Sally and Kim are on the verge of completing

on a two-bed riverside apartment

in Battersea, South London,

that comes complete with cocktail bar, spa and private helipad.

The flat's gorgeous cos it's just got the wow factor. It's amazing.

The fabulous new flat may soon be theirs, but it doesn't come for free.

Hello. Sally speaking.

My phone doesn't ever stop ringing. I own a private aviation company,

and I work, on a normal day, about 10 to 12 hours,

and I work six days a week.

Scoop your hair up for me.

And Kim's not just a pretty face.

She's a professional model working for clients including

Nicole Farhi, Ben de Lisi and Harrods.

My job consists of castings work, whenever I get booked.

-See you soon.

-Take care.

-Bye.

Modelling may be super glamorous, but it's not the most reliable career.

I'm big on security,

and I think putting my money into property - it's safe.

And it would make sense in terms of if you want a bigger property.

Well, that's what we're saying. We can either buy somewhere that's great, individually,

or we can get somewhere super-fantastic together,

-live with each other and have a blast.

-Yeah.

Awww, love you.

Love you!

Meet twenty-somethings Matt and Louise.

Hi, we're Matt and Louise and we've got 350,000 to spend.

They're young and in love.

We met at a party.

She was dressed up as a... I'm going to say belly dancer, be polite.

She basically had a bra and knickers on.

I asked politely if he would like to be my boyfriend

and he laughed at me.

No, it's... No, we work well. It's a good team.

You like it or not?

They're so in love,

they've taken the huge leap of buying a flat together.

Well, the house is 345,000.

280...

Yeah, the rest of it, we've saved about 30 between us.

Yeah, my mum's given us a big chunk of it.

I quite like these old things.

People say, "Why not wait till you're older?

"You don't need the responsibility." I'm ready to do that now.

After eight months of searching,

Matt and Louise have finally exchanged on a two-bedroom flat

in trendy Camden, North London.

I got my belly button pierced in there when I was 13.

At a massive 345 grand,

their very first property is worth double

what the average first-time buyer will spend.

It's quite an expensive place,

but it's the sort of money you've got to pay unfortunately

to live where I live.

But it's not just the two of them they have to consider.

They also have a six-month-old called Rufus.

Rufus! Come on, come on. Come on. Come on!

We do love him a lot.

He's just like, erm, my little baby.

They love their pooch so much

they're tailoring their entire house hunt around him.

That's one of the main reasons for us buying a place.

Somewhere he can have his own garden.

A place where all three of us can live and have our home together.

They may be in touching distance of their new home,

but they're taking a massive gamble.

-She's only been in it once.

-Only see it once so...

-Seen it once.

Yeah, but I've looked at the pictures online several times.

Maybe didn't think about it for as long as I should have.

No, the regret's coming out.

Meet Amelia.

My name's Amelia and I'm 21 years old.

Currently looking to buy my first property.

Amelia's father owns luxury hotels in London,

and is helping her with the deposit for her first place.

So, I'm going to be putting down 20,

and my dad's going to be putting down 30 as a first house present.

So, with Daddy's help, Amelia has £50,000

and a budget of nearly half a million.

Hi, Papa. You OK? Are you coming in later today?

I aim to be like my dad in the sense that

he was very successful from a very young age. He owned loads of hotels.

I just want to be successful and, yeah, money comes with success. I hope.

This is her property, it's her deal. Having said that,

if she listened to it,

Daddy's advice, obviously,

she would be more successful.

But Amelia is a woman who knows her own mind.

I'm somebody who's very ambitious.

I don't want to be, you know, 25,

and not having exactly what I wanted to do.

Essential to her master plan is to buy properties she can then rent out.

I'd like to buy an investment property as a base for an income.

It's something I really wish to have now,

while I'm young.

And this young lady has a clear vision of what she wants.

I'm not looking for any ex-council local authority properties.

Kitchen is very important to me.

Small bedrooms are not appealing at all.

But with such high standards,

Amelia's house hunt might prove to be testing.

I know what I do like and what I don't like.

I definitely want it to be perfect.

I'm not going to compromise.

In the UK, the average first-time buyer

now has to save almost half their wage for five years,

to get on the property ladder.

But at 21, Amelia already has a 50 grand deposit.

-Looking to buy a property?

-Yes.

-Brilliant.

So, with a budget of nearly half a million to play with,

finding an investment property should be easy.

I don't like basements - there's no reception for my phone.

-I don't want one in a building block.

-No.

I'm not keen on the outside.

-Yeah.

-It looks very cheap.

-This one over here doesn't look cheap.

-No, that one doesn't look cheap.

-And also, I mean, to be honest, it's in a multi-million pound road.

-OK.

Today, Amelia's house hunt starts

with a two-bedroom flat in Clapham, South London,

on the market for 425 grand.

Obviously, you've got built-in fridge and freezer over here, as well.

It's not great, to be honest.

Bathroom.

-Yeah.

-What do you think of it?

I like it, but I'm just not motivated.

I know this sounds weird but I feel unmotivated to see the rest,

only because I didn't like the front.

I didn't... I feel like it's like a council block.

-I mean, it's a Victorian building.

-I know, but the whole street seems a bit, erm...

How can I put it? Like, a bit chavvy, kind of.

-OK.

-Like, it doesn't look upmarket.

-It's all about compromise.

-I know, I'm really fussy.

I don't know. I'm not sure.

In Amelia's search for a flawless flat,

compromise isn't something she's willing to do.

It has to be what I want.

I'm not spending that much money on something and paying the mortgage for something I don't love.

I don't think I want to settle for anything less.

Entrepreneur Sally can work up to 60 hours a week.

How many meetings are you organising for Monday?

Which is problematic when she's due to complete on her new 800 grand home.

Yes, it's very stressful.

It's just work, work, work,

Kim trying to get everything in one...

Everything done, estate agents, just...

I don't know why they take so long.

Papers we need to sign and just... a-a-a-a-h.

Her flatmate, professional model Kim,

is also on her way to work.

She may be close to sharing an 800 grand apartment with Sally,

but she still has to pay for it.

Catalogues can pay two grand a day.

TV commercial can pay £100,000,

you know, so...

..those are the ones we want.

Today's casting is for a top swimwear designer

whose bikinis are worn by celebrities including Kate Moss,

J.Lo and Paris Hilton.

-How old are you?

-I'm 25.

God, thank your mother.

OK, why don't we give her, erm...

Yeah, let me just see what else we have over here.

She's more tiny triangle, right?

There you go.

I am looking for swimwear models at the moment.

But I choose a new girl every year.

Erm, no I haven't worked with her before, but she looks great.

Perfect.

At the end of the day you're... It gets you out of reality a bit

because you earn so much money, but then your career is so short.

-The print on this is beautiful.

-Oh, thank you. That looks great.

I'm a firm believer in property. I bought my first apartment at 20.

I didn't want anything - it all went into my first property, because that's where...

If you can wait out the bad times, you'll make money.

-You won't lose your money. It's there.

-Exactly.

-And you know you won't spend it, then.

-Exactly!

You won't blow it on your Louboutin shoes,

and you won't blow it on clothes,

because you're tempted, and vacations.

Let the guys pick up that bill for you.

I think the casting went well. The show's coming up soon.

Erm, I think it will be a great show to do.

She actually spoke a lot about what I believe in, you know,

and investing in property, and that's where my security is, you know,

with my job being uncertain, is to gain security

which is my property and that's where I want to put my money in.

So, hearing her say that, totally agree with her.

Matt and Louise may have exchanged on their two-bedroom love nest...

Oh, look at that table!

..but with less than a week till they get the keys and move in,

they still have to feather it.

-We could have that in, erm...

-It's too big.

-Too big? OK.

It's going really well. We're looking forward to it, now.

It's getting nearer to the time when it might actually happen, so I'm getting excited about it now.

We haven't got anything to go inside, that's the problem. A week to go.

Joining them at a vintage reclamation yard is Matt's mum, Sarah.

What about that?

-No.

-One of the vital things we're looking for -

an enormous French flag.

I quite like old stuff.

A lot of people say my style's a bit granny-ish, but that's fine.

Erm, yeah, I really like antique furniture.

I find it really interesting, I always have.

Look at this. Oh, that is so beautiful.

Yeah, it's nice.

Shall we get numbers? What number is our house?

I don't know.

Difficulty is - we've only see it a few...

You've only seen it once,

so it's difficult to, sort of, know what...

Even painting - we've still got to paint the room.

A place can look completely different after you've painted and put, you know,

a different light in, can't it?

-I mean, you're just getting ideas, now.

-No, yeah, yeah, I know.

Buying furniture for a house Lou's only seen once, is tricky.

I haven't actually seen the flat.

Erm, what sort of size is it?

Well, we're not really sure.

I think each room's about 13, 14 by 12?

-Yeah.

-Sound right? Yeah.

-13 by 12?

-Yeah.

-It's not big.

-Slightly bigger than this table.

I don't think it's 13 by 12, darling.

-That's a rabbit hutch.

-A rabbit hutch?

No, I'm sure it'll be lovely. 13 by 12?

345 grand doesn't buy you much in cool Camden.

21-year-old Amelia's hunt for an investment property is moving fast.

In the space of a week, she's miraculously found somewhere that matches her high standards -

a two bed in Battersea, South London,

she likes so much that she's already put an offer of 445 grand on it.

They declined it, unfortunately.

Erm, I did put an offer of 15 less,

but it's also a leasehold which I definitely didn't want before.

The vendor is actually the owner of the freehold,

so I can possibly ask him if he could either extend the lease,

or make it a share of a freehold,

which I'd be much happier to purchase and then I'd raise my offer.

Having finally found somewhere up to her standards,

she's not about to let it slip through her fingers.

OK. So, I'm willing to up my offer by 7,000. So, up to...

-OK, so you were at 445.

-Yeah.

-So, 7,000 is 452.

-Yeah.

And, also, I'd like that to come with a longer lease.

I really am not happy with 123 years. I'd really like a lot longer than that.

Normally people sell their freeholds and they're quite valuable.

So, I doubt he'll be open to doing that, but I'll have a go.

Having made her new offer, the estate agent has promised to contact the vendor,

and call Amelia with the response.

All she can do now is wait.

I really wish that I could just call him myself and say, "Listen, matey,

"I've put in an offer. I really, really like your property, but..."

And I'm willing to make a deal with him or whatever.

But, obviously, it has to go through the estate agent, which is really annoying.

PHONE RINGS

Surprise. Hello?

Hello, how are you?

I'm fine, thank you.

Yeah, OK.

OK, thank you so much. Bye.

Ohhh!

He declined my offer again.

It is annoying, though.

Oh! I'm so depressed.

Erm, yeah, no, it'll all be fine, it'll get sorted.

If this doesn't happen, it's not meant to be. I'll find something else.

But Amelia may struggle to find somewhere

if she doesn't lower her expectations.

How far are you? Will you be here in a sec?

Sally and Kim are due to move in to their new luxury apartment

in less than a week.

But busy work diaries mean they're running out of time

to furnish their new home.

It's time to squeeze in a shopping trip.

Here she is.

I will just give you the... My credit card details.

-How did your casting go today?

-Oh, fine.

My little munchkin, you've got to pay the mortgage. Chop chop.

-Got to pay the bills.

-Working girl.

-What have you found?

-I love the chair, it's so cool.

-I knew it.

It's so Austin Powers of you.

I can actually sleep in this.

See, I was thinking this could be the sofa and your bed.

-I'm very excited, you know?

-Yeah, me too.

-This is happening.

I love these. They're so colourful.

You see, I love that. I love that, that's really lovely.

-I really like that.

-That is so fresh, no?

-I really like this.

-It's very cool.

-This can be a good bedroom...

-It's three grand.

Which I think, for a sofa, is quite reasonable.

OK, yeah, it's not Ikea £90 but...

But we don't want Ikea £90, that's what we're saying.

Come now, chop chop.

I don't have time, I've got to go back to work.

-Morning.

-Hi, there.

Disappointed after losing her dream flat,

Amelia has thrown herself back into the search for an investment property.

First up is this two bed in Battersea.

-Do you want to start through here?

-Yeah, I'll start with the bedroom.

-This is the bedroom.

-OK.

-So, plenty of built-in storage.

-Yeah.

Which often they don't have in these flats - I'm sure you've seen plenty.

Has a really funny smell in this house.

Erm, yeah.

-Erm, OK.

-OK.

Yeah, so how much is this going for?

It's on the market for 399,950.

-399, OK.

-Yeah.

-And this is the living room.

-They've converted this?

-Yeah.

In winter it's going to be freezing in here.

-They've put under-floor heating in here, as well.

-Oh, have they?

So, it should be OK.

It's nice. I do like it.

I can't really imagine myself living here, only because it's too...

Too much light coming in.

OK, that's fine.

-Do you want to look at the garden or have you seen enough?

-I've seen enough.

-OK, perfect.

I'll, erm, lock that up.

Amelia's high expectations have written off yet another property.

Didn't like the fact that the conversion of the garden

turned into a living room.

It didn't seem very homely to me.

That's why I don't think... I didn't really...

Couldn't really be bothered to see any more.

So, I think I'll take a pass on this one.

After eight months of searching for a new home,

the wait for Matt and Louise is almost over.

Today, we are completing.

We're about to go and pick up the keys and, erm, moving in.

I can't wait to, sort of, get in there now and just, erm, live for a while.

Being, sort of, at my mum's house, living out of a suitcase.

I just can't wait to, sort of, get back to normal life.

Well, you... She's only seen it once so she might hate it.

-Oh, God, yeah...

-Probably straight back out again.

This is the moment I see it for the second time - when we've actually bought it.

Shall we go and get the keys, then?

At just 23 and 24,

this young couple have bought their very first home

in one of the most expensive boroughs in London.

-Hello. Nice to meet you. I'm Louise.

-Oh.

-I'm the other half. Hiya.

You are now the proud owners of Rochester.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

-Enjoy, enjoy.

-Oh, thanks very much.

-These are our house keys.

-Come on, then.

-OK, I'm going.

On the other side of town, spirits are also high.

-When are we going to exchange the keys?

-Next week, right?

-So we get the keys...

-Which day?

-I can do any day.

So excited!

I feel like... It's, like, all, you know, second stage of our lives,

like, starting, you know?

It was really funny last week when we were talking about, like,

"Babes, next year, we'll be in the penthouse."

We're, like, working our way to the top.

-It's so funny.

-Oh, where's our drinks?

-Where's my drink? I'm so thirsty.

Here we are.

Oh, no. Oh, yeah, it is this one.

It's the moment of truth for first-time buyer Lou.

Well, that blue gate there is my front door. I think it's that one.

I hope it's that one.

She and boyfriend Matt bought their 345 grand basement flat after just one viewing.

But that was two months ago,

and Lou hasn't seen it since.

Yeah, this is it. That's my house.

So, that's my bedroom window, there.

And it looks like there's blinds, which is good

cos I didn't think of that.

-Right, you ready?

-Is this the right one?

It is, I think... Here we go.

Nice wall. Oh, my God, this is our house. Wow!

So, this is home.

-I love it. Yeah, I really like it.

-Good.

Oh, Matt, we've got a map for a shower curtain. I've always wanted one of these.

Oh, I really like it.

-BEEPING

-Do you like it?

-Oh, it's fantastic.

This is part of the reason we moved in here,

so Rufus can have his little garden.

So this is, erm, the garden.

It's lovely.

Cheers.

-Cheers to our new house.

-To our new house.

Amelia is still putting estate agents through their paces on the streets of London.

She knows exactly what she wants to buy and isn't willing to compromise.

-Hi.

-Hi, there.

-I'm Amelia.

-Hi, I'm Christopher.

She's invited her friend Sadie to help view a two bed in Fulham, South London,

where the average price of a house is a cool one million.

I'm not too keen on the sofas, they're a bit tacky.

When you come in the only thing which I really didn't like, erm, if we look at other properties.

You know as you enter? I don't like when it looks like a flat with stairs.

I like it to have its own door.

I don't like having to, you know, mingle with people who I don't really care about.

It needs a bit of work. It obviously needs new everything, really.

OK, up on your left is the master bedroom.

Oh, yeah, this is quite a good size. Oh, she's got the same Uggs as me!

These are the original wooden floors that they've painted white,

-which I think is rather nice, so...

-Yeah.

-A nice look.

-Yeah, it is.

To be honest, I don't really like this room as much as the other room.

-I really don't like that.

-No.

That looks really tacky. But, no, this room needs work, definitely.

Ah, look. They even have fake grass.

-It's lovely.

-Wow.

For summer, sunbathing, imagine the tan up here.

This is lovely. Oh, my God, the seats are soaking!

-How good is this space, though?

-Erm, yeah. It's lovely.

It's really nice.

Could it be that picky Amelia's just found her first investment?

-I'm not in love with it.

-No.

It's the fact that it's much more appealing if it's one person's on one level,

one person's on the other level, then there's the kitchen downstairs.

Totally agree.

Couldn't make much money - I think it's a no.

As Amelia continues her search for perfection,

Sally and Kim have found theirs.

Today, they get the keys to their luxurious £800,000 apartment in Battersea, South London.

I'm Sally. The estate agent was supposed to drop off some key for us.

Perfect. Thank you so much.

-My God, welcome.

-Home sweet home.

Welcome to our humble abode.

Look at this view.

How amazing is this?

Can it get any better than this?

Look at my bedroom. Awesome!

It can not get any better than this. Oh, it's so peaceful.

I'm almost speechless. I don't know what to say,

it's a bit crazy that it's finally here and...

-Wooh!

-Woo-hoo!

Well, here we go, finally.

-We've done it.

-This goes to a whole new adventure.

-Just me and you, together.

-Cheers.

To a very good year, and summer.

-Hello.

-Hello.

After four months of searching, and despite having a budget of nearly half a million to play with,

Amelia still hasn't found the perfect investment property.

I thought it was going to be a lot easier than it was.

I thought, "There's loads of amazing properties out there,

"I'm bound to find one I love."

So, erm... But I need to really find something I absolutely adore

and I am a perfectionist,

and when I want something, I really, really focus until I get it.

So, I think that this property will take its time

until I find something perfect

but I will find something perfect in the end

and then, hopefully, it'll be a success.

Across London, for two young people, the search is over.

It is very young to be buying a house together.

It's just something that we're both ready to do, something that we both want to do.

This sort of commitment, it's our, sort of, future.

We care about each other,

and we're happy to be living with each other so,

that's all that really needs to be said.

It's just that it'll be our place for the two of us.

You know, we'll have a place that we can call our home together

and we can decorate it together. It'll be our place together.

We're really looking forward to it.

While most people in their early 20s couldn't dream of buying a new home,

this lucky couple have.

I sort of feel for people who are trying to do this on their own at the moment because it's...

-You know, nobody's making it easy for people so...

-No.

I feel really, really fortunate,

really lucky to be able to buy a place cos it's really exciting.

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