The House That 100K Built

Kieran and Piers are on hand to help Martin Whyment build his dream home in the center of Leeds.

With house prices out of the reach of many people and banks refusing to lend, buying a home in the UK is becoming an impossible dream. So a few brave but ordinary souls are trailblazing what could be the solution for all of us – trying to build their own house from scratch. Architectural journalist and senior curator at the V&A Kieran Long and award-winning Piers Taylor are following self-builders as they take on the biggest gamble of their lives. Kieran and Piers will try to help them create the house they’ve longed for. But all have less than £100k to spend, little or no experience and life savings on the line – it won’t be easy. Twice-widowed, Sumati Bala thought she’d 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 living nightmare as one by one serious problem emerge from asbestos to rising damp. With the house condemned Sumati is forced to knock down the troubled cottage and has no option but to build a new one in its place. As the bulldozers move in Sumati 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. To help Sumati make the most of her incredibly tight budget Kieran and Piers attempt to steer her in the right direction. Kieran tracks down inspirational properties that are relevant to Sumati’s tight budget build while Piers takes her to the dramatic island location of Skye to visit contemporary, affordable homes so she can see first-hand what she can achieve with a minimal budget. Can Piers persuade her to adopt his more ambitious and contemporary plans for her dream home and cookery school? But the reluctant self builder soon finds the demands of supervising the build overwhelming and as Sumati’s confidence to make important decisions dwindles, the build grinds to a halt. Faced with the prospect of being without a home and no income Sumati has to make some tough decisions if she is to finish the house at all and get her life back on track.

With house prices out of the reach of many people and banks refusing to lend, buying a home in the UK is becoming an impossible dream. So a few brave but ordinary souls are trailblazing what could be the solution for all of us – trying to build their own house from scratch. Architectural journalist and senior curator at the V&A Kieran Long and award-winning Piers Taylor are following self-builders as they take on the biggest gamble of their lives. Kieran and Piers will try to help them create the house they’ve longed for. But all have less than £100k to spend, little or no experience and life savings on the line – it won’t be easy. On the brink of retirement, Shropshire farmers Ruth and Tony are at the point in their lives when they could hope to start taking life easy. But faced with a crumbling farmhouse they’re having to knock it down and they have ambitious plans to replace it with a determinedly modern design. Their savings pot is just under £100k, and despite having no experience or expertise in house building, the couple believes they can save money by handling every stage of the build themselves from laying the foundations to putting up the timber frame. But very quickly the budget spirals out of control and an entire wing of the house is abandoned in order to keep their project afloat. To help the couple avoid further costly mistakes Kieran and Piers Taylor attempt to steer them in the right direction. Piers experienced eye spots a whole lot of problems, not least the challenge of building a house that will fit into its beautiful surrounding landscape but Ruth is determined to stick to a modern design over the exterior of the house – and risks creating a horrendous eyesore. Kieran gains unique access to award-winning properties that are relevant to Ruth and Tony’s budget self build, taking Ruth to the Dungeness coastline to see examples of how beautiful weathered traditional materials for the exterior can also be contemporary. Can he persuade her to think differently and adopt Piers’ more rustic and cheaper cladding solution? But as the winter weather brings the build to a standstill, the couple find the demands of subsisting in a small caravan increasingly difficult and, as the money drains away, they face making some tough financial decisions if they are to finish the house at all.

Kieran and Piers are on hand to assist Tom and Zoe build the home of their dreams.

Can Andy and Jane build a self-sufficient, eco-friendly home on their budget?

Piers and Kieran are on hand to help Mary and Justin build a home in rural Devon for £95,000.

Ambitious ideas, the tightest of budgets and a desperate need for fresh ideas united the projects that Kieran Long and architect Piers Taylor followed on ‘The House that £100K Built’. Those homes were never quite finished but the owners have had to move in. So, two years later, Piers is returning to tackle a final set of challenges. With unexpected design dilemmas to solve, all on a shoestring budget, it’s now or never as they battle to complete their homes for good. In this first episode, pizza van owner Martin from Leeds, not only saved money but also improved his building by stepping out of his comfort zone, ditching conventional approaches to the build. But now, he’s still got a series of rooms to finish and is at a total loss of what to do. Piers must find a way to rejuvenate Martin’s thirst for an incredible home without blowing his budget. Kieran and Piers struggled to get Ruth and Tony to see how important decisions they made on the outside of their home were to it fitting in with the stunning Shropshire landscape. Now, they are facing their biggest and final challenge, to make their modern home blend with the ramshackle collection of buildings that surround it. But will inspiration from one of the country’s most

Ambitious ideas, the tightest of budgets and a desperate need for fresh ideas united the projects that Kieran Long and architect Piers Taylor followed on ‘The House that £100K Built’. Those homes were never quite finished but the owners have had to move in. So, two years later, Piers is returning to tackle a final set of challenges. With unexpected design dilemmas to solve, all on a shoestring budget, it’s now or never as they battle to complete their homes for good. Sumati had just £50,000 to build her home in the Scottish borders. She wrestled with fresh design ideas and inexpensive interior finishes, but a year on her home remains incomplete and is now under threat! With driving wind and rain causing damage to the unfinished exterior, Piers must find a way to reinvigorate Sumati to complete her home before it’s too late. Young Devon farmers, Justin and Mary, spent every penny they had creating their first home together. Today its home to baby Oscar too, but their low-cost home is dominated by a forest of baby gates and their prime living spaces have become cramped and cluttered. With a budget of just £200, Piers is challenged to come up with a bespoke design solution to reclaim their precious space - but have shied away from distinctive design ideas in the past, will Justin and Mary take the leap?