Location, Location, Location viewers have slammed a pair of Gen Z sisters for purchasing a ‘pokey’ London flat for an eye-watering £405,000 on Wednesday evening’s episode.
Amoke, a campaigner for a non-profit organisation, and Ines, who works in digital marketing, saved up enough money for a deposit for a flat in north London by continuing to live at their family home in Ipswich.
The pair, who are in their mid-twenties and had some financial help from their brood, haven’t had the best of luck in the capital city, where even the rental market is cut-throat.
They began their search two-and-a-half years ago and have since viewed over 50 properties and even put in an offer for four – but they all fell through due to bizarre circumstances, which even shocked expert Kirstie Allsopp.
Amoke, 25, said: ‘One of them, somebody else already started their mortgage process, the other one we got beat out by another cash buyer. There was [also] a man who was quite elderly and quite unwell and his nephew had started selling the place before he died.
‘Our lawyer was like “If you buy this, when you try and sell it I’m not even sure you’d own it”. There was also someone living in it that didn’t have a tenancy agreement. Ines, 23, revealed that their fourth offer was also outbid by the council, who offered the seller more money and all in cash.
Kirstie said: ‘I’m sorry! Jesus, Mary and Joseph! The council were buying back properties and you were outbid by the council? Oh my God, I’ve never even heard of that. I’m genuinely open-mouthed.’
Their bad luck in the London property market only fuelled Kirstie’s hunger to get them on the housing ladder and they ended up securing a property in north London for £405,000 – which was over their original budget of £5,000 – with fans of the Channel 4 show saying they should’ve ‘moved to the suburbs instead’.
Amoke, a campaigner for a non-profit organisation, and Ines, who works in digital marketing, saved up enough money for a deposit for a flat in north London
Amoke and Ines wanted at least a two-bedroom apartment with equal-sized bedrooms and a separate living room and kitchen space to entertain friends and to be close to a tube station.
Kirstie took them to view a three-bedroom flat in Palmers Green which boasted a private large garden, a basement and ticked all of their boxes.
However, it was a 25-minute walk from Wood Green station and needed some work done on it as the decor was ‘tired’. The property was on the market at bang on £400,000 and hadn’t gotten any offers in the two months it was listed.
‘We can definitely fit my friends and your friends in here,’ one of the sisters said as they looked around the home.
Kirstie was particularly excited to show them the large outdoor space – which is belongs only to their flat – and it left Ines open-mouthed. Amoke added: ‘Oh my gosh, it’s huge!’
They decided to compromise on the distance to the tube station because of the amount of space it offered, however, due to the work needed, the siblings wanted a reduction on the price and offered the seller £375,000.
Kirstie thought it was reasonable and at first, Amoke and Ines had it accepted at the price they wanted. However, two weeks later, Kirstie was informed that another buyer had come in at above and beyond the original asking price of £400,000.
After fighting tooth and nail for the women, Kirstie managed to get the apartment back, but for £405,000, which was £5,000 more than Amoke and Ines originally wanted to pay – plus the extra renovation costs.
Amoke and Ines decided to put in an offer on this three-bedroom flat in Palmers Green, north London
Kirstie admitted that the flat could do with a full renovation as the interior looked ‘tired’ (pictured, the living room)
Kirstie was shocked to hear that Ines and Amoke had been looking for two and a half years and had viewed over 50 properties with no luck
The girls wanted bedrooms of equal sizes so that it would be fair and equal (pictured, the bedroom)
One of the bedrooms in the flat was slightly bigger than the other but Ines and Amoke still loved it
However, viewers were shocked by the price they were prepared to pay to live in London
Ines and Amoke were shocked when they found out that the massive garden was private and just for them
The property – which they bought for £405,000 – boasted its own private outdoor space
Ines and Amoke said the first thing they’d change would be the bathroom as it was in dire need of a new lick of paint
Ines and Amoke were pleased with the separate kitchen and living space, one of the things on their checklist
The property had a third bedroom which Ines and Amoke could have as a guest bedroom or office space
The apartment also had its own basement which would help the women out with storing things
Kirstie said: ‘This is bad practice and offers more often than it should. But I promised Ines and Amoke that I wouldn’t let it happen again. So, we fought hard and the girls have secured the flat for £405,000.’
One of them said: ‘When we got the offer accepted the second time we were really, really happy. It was the perfect place for us.’
However, viewers were shocked by the price they were prepared to pay to live in London, with one writing on X: ‘Why the f*** would anyone want to live in a pokey flat in London for £400,000?’
Another penned: ‘£400k gets you only so far in London. The girls should move to the suburbs.’
A third said: ‘405 thousand for that WTF London prices are horrific.’
A fourth commented: ‘Are these sisters going to live with each other forever 5/10/15 years time…’
Meanwhile, Phil Spencer had his hands full dealing with a couple who had a long checklist of requirements for their dream home.
Teacher Rachel and military sergeant Leo went on the Channel 4 show as they wanted to find a house where they could put down their roots after years of living in various temporary posts.
The couple – who have been together for 12 years and have two children aged four and five – had a budget of £400,000 and tasked Phil Spencer with finding their forever home in north Wales.
However, it proved to be a challenge for the property expert.
Rachel and Leo said they wanted a detached four-bedroom house with a large garden, three bathrooms, a utility room, a garage and good access to a beach.
Phil appeared to look puzzled and deep in thought as he listened to their barrage of requests and even asked them what they needed to store in the garage.
‘What are your priorities?’ he said, to which Leo added that he also wanted to be closer to the children’s grandparents, who live in Flintshire.
‘For me, it has to feel right, it’s the forever home isn’t it? It’s the dream really,’ Rachel added.
Rachel and Leo opted for this three-bedroom property in the picturesque town of Denbigh in Wales
But after rejecting properties that were within budget and met their exact requirements, they ended up going for a three-bedroom house that had two bathrooms.
The property, in Denbigh, was on the market for under the couple’s budget, with an asking price of £385,000. However, after some bartering, they bought the home for £373,000.
Because the couple rejected properties that had the right amount of bedrooms, bathrooms, and space, they were branded ‘picky’ by an X user – who was shocked they didn’t opt for one home that had its own bar built into the garage.
The viewer wrote: ‘So picky – mate you have a pub in the garage ffs.’
Others were unimpressed with Phil’s picks, with one X user adding: ‘£400k in Wales should get you Buckingham Palace, where’s Phil looking?’
And another didn’t think much of the property they eventually chose, saying: ‘It looks like a Brookside house.’
Although the property had fewer bedrooms and bathrooms than the couple were looking for, they were taken by its smart presentation
Rachel described the property as ‘beautiful’, with Leo noting that it was ready for them to move into, and didn’t require work
However, some viewers were big fans of Rachel and Leo, with one writing: ‘Love this couple in Wales.’
Phil started by showing the pair around the first property on offer in Buckley, is 40 minutes away from the nearest beach and a couple of miles from Rachel’s mother.
The new build detached house was on the market at £325,000 and met their requirements of having four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a garage and a giant neighbouring field for their children to run around in.
But while Rachel seemed impressed with the downstairs, Leo said: ‘To me, it just feels like a confined space.’
Phil then asked them to open the interior French doors, adding: ‘You’ll get a sense of actually how big it can be if you’ve got people around.’
Eager to convince the father-of-two, Phil then took the couple to see the garden where they admitted that it was ‘bigger than they thought it would be’.
While the home was lacking the en suite bathroom the couple were under, they were taken by its family bathroom (and additional WC downstairs)
Phil spoke to the camera alone and said: ‘They’re not exactly jumping up and down with excitement but what I am pleased about is that they’re being open, honest and realistic.’
Despite being £75,000 under the asking price and ‘much bigger’ than where they were currently living but they were not keen on the ‘small’ living room.
‘What I’m taking away from this is that we have to increase the size of the living space,’ Phil said before they both agreed.
The trio then went to look around a second property located in Carmel with picturesque views of the Welsh countryside and was just over five miles away from the beach and Rachel’s family.
The four-bedroom detached house – selling for £399,950 – had an open plan living, dining and kitchen area, a utility room, office and a garage.
Phil described the property as a ‘ten out of ten’ and said during his voiceover: ‘If the style and charm of this place doesn’t wow them, I don’t know what will.’
The house the couple ended up buying had a large kitchen and living area, as well as a generous garden
Leo’s first impressions of the property were positive and he said: ‘If there aren’t many changes needed to the house then we will definitely use that top budget.’
However, their opinions quickly changed when they saw the rest of the house and said they disliked the ‘small garden’ and the fact that it didn’t have an en-suite or a suitable garage that they could store items in.
Speaking about the outdoor space, Rachel said: ‘I don’t know whether it is a little bit smaller than we wanted.’
Yearning to please the duo, Phil said he had a surprise before presenting them with the garage, which had been converted into a bar.
‘This is the Sergeant’s Mess,’ he joked before adding: ‘Does it make up for the small garden?’
Rachel responded: ‘For me, no. You’re missing the garage which is the storage.’
Married couple Rachel and Leo (and their two children) were looking for a home in Wales – and ended up opting for the third house Phil Spencer showed them
The third house, located in Abergele, ticked all the couple’s boxes on their wishlist and had four bedrooms, a utility, three bathrooms, a massive garden and was next to the sea, along with being close to Rachel’s family.
Despite it being advertised as offers over £400,000, Phil was confident that he could get it for Leo and Rachel at their budget.
While everything seemed to be going well, Phil decided to throw another in the mix and showed them around a fourth house in Denbigh which is a 30-minute drive to the seaside.
However, while the third property seemed to be a shoo-in and had everything they were after, Leo and Rachel were much more keen on the fourth one which was on the market for £385,000.
But it only had three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a much smaller garden than the last home they viewed.
‘I feel like I could cry. The only downside is that it doesn’t have an en-suite,’ Rachel said.
‘This has got lots to offer with less expense. It’s cosy,’ Leo said.
Viewers took to X to share their thoughts on the couple, with one branding them ‘picky’ – however, another said they ‘love’ Rachel and Leo
The pair eventually decided to put in an offer for the final property – even though it did not meet their long list of expectations in comparison to others they had seen.
Phil recommended they offer £360,000 as a starting price, which was rejected by the buyer. They then upped it to £370,000 but the owner requested £373,000, which Rachel and Leo accepted.
The emotional mother-of-two cried tears of joy and said: ‘The next adventure awaits, we’ve done it.’
A couple of weeks after the phone call, Rachel said their children were excited about the move and had started planning the themes of their new bedrooms.
‘Even though we’ve made every house a home, there’s going to be roots to where we are which is so nice,’ she said.
