The House That £100k Built

Martin Whyment is desperate to get on the property ladder. A young man running his own pizza van business, he has saved enough money to buy a backland site in the centre of Leeds to build himself his first home. But when the bank refuses him a mortgage, Martin is left with only one option - to ask his retired parents to lend him their own hard-earned savings. And for an ex woodwork teacher and school administrator that represents a huge gamble.

Twice-widowed, Sumati Bala thought she had found the perfect spot to spend the rest of her life: a beautifully located cottage in need of updating just outside Berwick upon Tweed. She moved in and planned to run her small cookery school there but the house of her dreams soon turns into a nightmare as serious problems emerged, from asbestos to rising damp. With the house condemned, Sumati is forced to knock down the troubled cottage and try to build a new one in its place. As the bulldozers move in, she witnesses the bulk of her life savings pulled to the ground and with just £50,000 left, she has to start from scratch. Homeless, with no self-build experience or family nearby, Sumati is facing the monumental challenge alone.

On the brink of retirement, Shropshire farmers Ruth and Tony are at the point in their lives when they hope to start taking life easy. However, faced with a crumbling farmhouse, they are having to knock it down - and they have ambitious plans to replace it with a determinedly modern design.

Currently living in a shared house with friends, ambitious young couple Tom and Zoe are desperate to move into their first home together. Not wanting to settle for the uninspiring homes that their small budget would buy them in Cambridgeshire, they have bravely opted to buy a plot of land on a housing estate and build their own. Planning permission dictates a relatively conventional home on the outside but they have plans to make it spectacular on the inside.

After living their whole lives in conventional houses with every modern convenience, Jane and Andy have bought a plot on an eco-community in West Wales where they can build their own home and live a self-sufficient lifestyle. As passionate environmentalists, they intend to build the house with locally sourced materials and to demonstrate that it is possible to build an environmentally friendly and comfortable house.

Newly-engaged couple Mary and Justin are desperate to build a life together in rural Devon where they and generations of both of their families are from. But with house prices soaring, the market for first-time buyers is desperately grim. They are left with one option - if they want to stay where they know and love, they need to build their own house.