Property Snakes and Ladders — Season 3

Aired 23 September 2003

Sarah joins first-time developers Patrick and Vanessa from Aberdare, South Wales, who provide an example of how not to do it. They have re-mortgaged their own home to buy two cottages at auction that they've never seen before and are in an area they don't know. They plan to knock them together into one four-bedroom house. After buying them for the bargain price of £25,000, Patrick and Vanessa have set aside a budget of £12,500 to fully renovate the house, with the aim of making a profit of £15,000. Sarah is staggered to see the terrible condition of the houses and to hear that Patrick and Vanessa plan to do all the technical work themselves - even though they have no experience. Can Sarah's guidance help the couple to eventually turn their property into profit?

Aired 30 September 2003

Lisa Fox-Cooper is passionate about decorating and very bored with her high paid high powered job in IT. Her dream is to change career and become a full time property developer. Lisa’ pinned all her hopes on a small 3 bedroom house on a large estate in Macclesfield. She intends to transform it from a bland beige box into something that will really stand out from the rest using her very personal design ideas. But are rose petal and leaf skeletons stuck to the wall really going to help her sell or has she gone too far?

Aired 7 October 2003

Sarah meets next-door neighbours Jane and Jamie from Market Harborough who have just lost their jobs and put everything on the line to make their first property developing project work. Thankfully, the house they've chosen looks like a good bet as it could get away with new fixtures and fittings and a lick of paint. However, Jane's got much bigger ideas including moving doors and walls, and knocking through rooms. They plan to do all the work themselves even though Jamie worked as a labourer for a few months nearly 20 years ago and Jane's only ever designed clothes. Have they bitten off more than they can chew?

Aired 14 October 2003

Gina Reedy sold the family home and invested over £400,000 pounds in her first development. She intends to live on site with her husband and children while she project manages the build, but she has no idea what she's let them in for. As the chaos ensues, Gina looses control of the development and the budget until this project comes closer and closer to crisis.

Aired 14 October 2003

From the age of 13, Kim Maoate knew she wanted to be a property developer. Now, ten years later, her dream has come true. Kim's given up her lucrative job in IT, re-mortgaged her home in Buckinghamshire and bought a wreck 170 miles away in South Wales. Which is where her problems begin. She bought the house without seeing it, she paid far much too much and it needs much more work than she ever imagined. Kim's planning to do most of the work herself, with the help of a friend, but she has never done anything like it in her life. A week into the project, her friend still hasn't shown up and the costs are starting to rise.

Aired 14 October 2003

This week Sarah Beeny meets Jonathan Moon, who has turned his back on a lucrative career in IT to become a full time developer. But Jonathan's plans for a high tech, high spec bachelor pad go off the rails when he starts building works without his neighbours permissions. With works at a complete standstill for months Jonathan is forced to sell his sports car and rent out his flat to complete the project

Aired 21 October 2003

Sarah Beeny meets first time developers Alex and Vonny Shelley, who intend to transform a run down mid-terrace house into a modern family home, spending as little money as they can possibly manage. In fact their entire budget is only £5,000 and doesn't have anything in it for building work or labour, which they hope will be done by friends.

Aired 28 October 2003

Sarah Beeny meets first-time developer Martin Sutherland. He plans to convert a run down three-bedroom London flat into a luxury five-bed apartment in the hope of filling it with high-flying corporate clients. But his budget is too small and so are the bedrooms, for what Martin's got in mind at least.

Aired 4 November 2003

Paul Dare wanted a challenge to take his mind off the break-up of his marriage - and a challenge he has found. The Victorian house he has bought in Taunton, Somerset, is a house with a difference - it has no square rooms and is so structurally unsound that no mortgage company would lend him any money until he got the roof fixed.

Aired 11 November 2003

Sarah Beeny tackles a development in Richmond, Surrey, where Joanna Stamatis and Brian Walden have very big designs for a tiny two up, two down cottage. They want to rip the insides out and completely restructure it, in order to make a massive £106,000 profit. It's a huge job, and combined with Joanna's plans for Moroccan, Japanese and New England themes, plus her expensive tastes, Sarah's got a challenge ahead of her. She's got to convince them to keep this project as simple and as cheap as possible, or else they risk losing money.

Aired 18 November 2003

Sarah Beeny meets first time property developers Sharon Lennon and Mark Standing, who have turned their backs on high-paid jobs designing shops to see if they can work their magic on a large rundown property in Winchmore Hill, North London. They want to move the bathroom and knock rooms together upstairs to create three large bedrooms, a smaller single room and a fabulous family bathroom. Downstairs they want to knock the loo, pantry, dining area, kitchen and shower together and build on an extension to create one enormous kitchen-diner. But two weeks into the development Sarah and Mark take their summer holiday, leaving a friend and the builder to oversee the job, with disastrous consequences.