Another one of Sarah Beeney's makeover shows on Channel 4 and it is exactly the same formula as before. We sit through 10 minutes of Sarah advising the punter on what not do do, how it's all going to go over budget, and why, basically, the whole idea is crap. We are seduced by clever computer graphics that show cutaway views of the awful downstairs loo or the equally awful lean-to. Then we are further reminded throughout the programme with little digs here and nudges there. Meanwhile, said punter, in this case, a knowitall from the East End backed by some geezer with more money than sense, wouldn't listen, didn't do a budget (she 'guesstimated'), went totally over budget, exactly as Sarah had predicted, and ended up flogging the house to her son for no profit at all.
So, what on earth is the point of this programme and ones like it any more, now that the housing market is on the slide? Builders, plumbers, electricians still want their pound of flesh, so doing up a property is going to cost just as much, irrespesective of the market. But the difference is that now you can no longer just wait a few months for the market to chuck another few thou on the asking price and dig you out of your financial black hole that way. In fact, in the current climate I don't see how anyone can make any money doing up properties purely as a business. I have properties on my RightMove shortlist (I keep them there so that I can monitor the market) and some of them have been there, the price *still* the same, since last September!
If only we could see Sarah Beeney do up an identical house on her terms so that we could see how she would end up making a profit, but we don't. The programme has become tedious and pointless and is less about renovating property than exposing the idiocy of the average man, or woman, on the street.
MM