New show tells homeowners to build, buy or restore

When it comes to moving house most homeowners take the standard path of moving to a house not too dissimilar in size and condition to the one they are selling.

But a new TV series, starting next Monday, aims to open the eyes of homebuyers to the other routes available.

Build, Buy or Restore, presented by property expert Michael Holmes, presents homeowners with the option of building a house from scratch; restoring a dilapidated property; or simply purchasing a finished house.

The show follows couples with budgets ranging from £140,000 to £800,000 – all of whom had not realised just how far their money could go.

The appropriately-named Holmes, who has also appeared in Channel Five's Hot Property and BBC1's Trading Up, shows the homebuyers a range of properties – some of which need conversion and renovation and others which are just plots of land.

And he steers them through the pros and cons of the three options in terms of cost and length of time to do the work.

Anyone who doubts his expertise will be reassured to know he has built, renovated and sold three properties of his own and is currently building his next.

The first episode follows a Derbyshire couple with £250,000 to spend, who are stunned by just how far their money can go on projects such as building their own four-bed house, or turning a rundown barn into a stylish contemporary home.

Subsequent programmes in the ten-part series see a Solihull couple contemplate building a stunning dormer bungalow with luxury basement on an £800,000 budget; a young Kidderminster couple choose between a three-bed town house, restoring a canal-side cottage or building a property in Herefordshire; and a Liverpool couple consider purchasing a spacious wing of a 19th century castle in Northumberland.

Build, Buy or Restore is on Discovery Real Time from Monday 14th November at 21:30.

For more information see: www.realtimetv.co.uk