Renovating An Abandoned $1 Home In Liverpool, UK | Unlocked

so these were all one pound houses boarded up earmarked for demolition this whole area looked like this five years ago I remember when I was first allowed into the property and I had to sign a waiver to say that I was willing to enter at my own risk there was water Ingress the brickwork was crumbling the windows were bricked up it was in very bad condition I fell in love with it it was my crumbling pile of bricks welcome to Liverpool UK my name is Maxine and this is my home I bought for a pound my name is Maxine sharples I'm 36 and I bought a two-bedroomed house for one dollar in Liverpool UK in 2015 I heard about the home for a pound scheme through a neighbor I was a postgraduate student at the time with nominal savings and thoughts well I just crossed that bridge when I get to it and applied four years later I received a phone call telling me I was shortlisted for one of the homes for a pound I thought it was a scam so I agreed to give them a pound and be interviewed for a property it turns out it wasn't a scam and in 2020 I was given the keys to my one pound house foreign [Music] I will show you this street now which you can see next side by side what was a one pound house before renovation and what's a one pound house after renovation one pound house after renovation one pound house before renovation there were several conditions I had to satisfy I had to be living or working in Liverpool I had to have not owned a property previously and I also had to have the funds to renovate the property myself this all had to also be done within a 12-month period of time [Music] when I was shortlisted my financial situation had changed my father who had passed away had a property that I inherited which I sold which gave me enough money to then fund the renovations thank you foreign to flip the living Arrangement so that downstairs I have two bedrooms and a bathroom and upstairs is my living and kitchen room so after I had my architect draw my plans I was tendering out to contractors what contractors were available were way over my budgets not only were they expensive but they also weren't available to start for six to 12 months [Music] so one of the first jobs was to make the house water tight which meant I had to get a new roof another big job was the structural changes I was able to remove a lot of the internal walls and ceilings myself [Music] I was saving about thirteen hundred dollars a month by living in my camper van so I had hit rock bottom at this point funds were low I'd just gone through a breakup I was unemployed and I couldn't find Reliable trades people to do work so at one point I thought that the house was going to be taken off me and my money would be lost and although we were in lockdown and I weren't seeing anyone as much I bumped into friends in the park and shared my woes with them and a few weeks later I had a group of friends bring me back to life came round helped out with the project and really gave me renewed Vigor to continue [Music] so I was due to complete in February 2022 and I was signed off in May 2022 so I'd gone over by three months I'd completed the upstairs so I was living in my kitchen for the first six months before I had enough money to complete the renovations downstairs [Music] before Renovations the dining room doorway was here I bricked it up I moved the staircase to the back of the house in the original layout this was the living room as you can see it's just a storage room [Music] in order to make the new design work I had to fit a bathroom and a staircase into the existing kitchen floor space we've ripped up the back door and I feel it has everything I need although it doesn't have a bathtub the space works pretty well so the old dining room is now my bedroom I feel that the bedroom's big enough it contains a king-sized bed I renovated the bedroom and completed it with underfloor heating I removed the window and placed it with patio doors which gives me direct access into the yardam not quite a garden more like a work in progress but I've bricked up the old back door as you can see there and repurposed joists into a seating area flower planters and a bike shed and now for the upstairs typically in the UK the bedrooms and bathroom are upstairs but I flipped it this used to be the bathroom but I've managed to fit a Stairway landing and a small utility in here now for my favorite part of the house in what used to be the two bedrooms we now have this beautiful open plan space by removing all internal walls of the bedrooms and the ceiling I've managed to create this double height space add in a few Velux roof lights and voila the place is flooded with natural light being in here is uplifting it's where I practice my yoga it's where I read it's where I chill and I'm always not very far from the fridge I have my plants hanging the light in here is amazing and my plants loved being here I've taken advantage of the steel beams and used a I-beam clamp and a chain hoist to hang a chair this is my Urban tranquil Paradise spend a lot of time up here all of these houses you see around me were originally earmarked for demolition so not only have they been brought back to life but they've been restored in such wonderful taste in keeping with the area and all the colors as well I like how they've decided to paint the bay is a different color so this is a community regenerated through the homes for a pound scheme it's so difficult for anyone to get on the property ladder unless you've got Pennies from Heaven like I had you know I don't take it for granted that without that windfall I would never be able to do this so I'm Overjoyed at being able to live in such a beautiful home that I put so much Blood Sweat and Tears into that I can now enjoy and if I ever did leave it would only ever be rented out I don't think I'd ever want to sell this house it means too much to me I've invested too much into it to sell it it's priceless thank you foreign

Channel: CNBC Make It

Views: 1,606,793

Keywords: CNBC, CNBC Make It, home, homes, UK, United Kingdom, abandoned, abandoned houses, abandoned house, property, Victorian townhouse, townhouse, townhouses, living, living in the UK, Liverpool, living in Liverpool, home tour, fixer upper

Id: E7-Qq-41M7Q

Length: 8min 16sec (496 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 04 2023