Media Spotlight: Location, Location, Location
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Kirstie and Phil are back to scour the nation in their bid to transform would-be home buyers into proud owners and, in the midst of a serious recession, unite punters with their dream homes.
The new series of Location, Location, Location kicked off on Channel 4 last week with two contrasting sets of house hunters yearning for properties in the Merseyside area.
On one side of the Mersey fancy dress shop owners Gary and Nicky Wakefield have spent the past 18 months combing the internet for their ideal three double-bedroom home replete with big kitchen, big living area, big garden and study. Oh, and tree-lined avenues and grassy verges, all for £350,000.
Unsurprisingly with their long shopping list, their search has so far proved fruitless. The credit crunch has clearly passed them by.
Across the river junior doctors Gemma Kealty and Susannah Brown are looking to get on the first rung of the property ladder, hoping that their £200,000 will be enough to secure them their two double-bedroom dream pad in trendy Sefton Park.
Phil is charged with meeting the Wakefields’ exacting standards but despite showing the couple a six-bedroom property for £30,000 less than their budget an offending bus stop rules it out.
The second property that has just come on the market is discounted on the basis that “it just feels a bit new”. By this point even good-natured Phil is beginning to lose patience.
The couple then view a plush abode in the millionaires’ playground of Gayton followed by a 19th century semi which the Wakefields concede is “hands down” their ideal house, but not in their preferred area.
Meanwhile, the junior doctors are faring better. Although the first property they see proves to be a leap into the unknown some six streets from their chosen area, the next two come up trumps. It’s left to the first-timers to battle it out between themselves over a two-bed Victorian conversion and a grand yet modern flat overlooking the park. The Victorian flat wins out and with Kirstie’s help the pair snap it up for £198,000 - £17,000 below the asking price.
The pre-credit crunch market for property porn TV was pretty much saturated and it’s good to see the shows that survive are taking a more responsible attitude and steering away from peddling the line that property speculation is the path to eternal riches.
Location, Location, Location’s tried and tested formula of charming presenters putting their savvy negotiation skills to the test is likely to run for some time yet.
The programme makers are careful to avoid the danger of being accused of inspiring another debt-fuelled housing boom, reiterating the importance of working to a budget and not expecting a property to rise in value on its own.
By the end of the episode the doctors are clearly content with their lot, having bought a property they admit they would never have looked at had it not been for the guiding influence of Kirstie and Phil.
And the Wakefields? After agonising over “posh postcodes versus lavish legroom” the couple decide that location is everything.
They opt for the Gayton home but decide in their infinite wisdom that it is overpriced by the princely sum of £50,000. Unfortunately for them, other interested buyers feel the opposite and buy the property for £30,000 above the asking price. It seems that even in a recession, some people simply won’t compromise.
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