Homes Under the Hammer

Love all the presenters. Generally love the format. But. Of late it's so samey and predictable. Property developers dominate. Remove all traces of the great yesteryear. Laminate flooring. Grey's . Black/White. HMO's . ( Nothing wrong here if done tastefully, but it's all for a quick buck. Seen a couple of fab ones . But mostly too commercialised. Removal of garden space for parking is very prevalent, we're always told what a good idea it is. How about the 🐦 🐤🦉🐜🐞🕷🐌🐛🥀🌷🌳🍁 a bees 🐝 🐝🐝 etc. Very sad to see such a decline in front and back green spaces. Getting so I don't look forward to watching any more. Shame. 😕

Daytime TV is well-known to contain some extremely bad programming, but this is an insult to the intelligence.

The basic format: two presenters look at some homes going up for auction, then find out who buys them and see what happens to the properties three months later. That is about it.

They try to make out that making money as a property developer is such a difficult trade and that the buyers will have to be extremely skilled to make a profit. The problem here (and it's not the makers' fault) is that due to the housing market in the UK the average house price increases £41 a day, it is very hard to make a loss unless they pay well over the odds for a very poor property in a bad area. Some don't even look at the house before buying so they don't know it has huge cracks through the wall or massive subsidence, and they will still end up in the black. Renting out for a year or two before selling will reap even more.

The presenters do their best to try and make the programme seem exciting, but they are up against it as there is a definite limit on how thrilling you can make a show like this. The script is painful, for example if the property in question is an old pet shop you get endless lines like "are they barking mad to take on this property?" or "let's see if they can get this shop on the cheep," etc. Who writes this stuff? It would help if the properties themselves were more interesting, but most of them are average mid-terrace dwellings that need a bit of a paint job. One thing it does well is inadvertently show how bad estate agents are. About 9 in 10 when asked "what is the property market like in this area" they will answer "(insert town name here) is definitely an up and coming area." What every area in the UK? Before any changes have been made they will often quote prices thousands of pounds higher than before with little justification. That is probably due to the fact that you can start up an estate agents without any formal qualifications.

Almost makes you wish for a housing market crash just to get rid of the plethora of property programmes that fill our screens and this one in particular as there is just so little variation between one show and the next. Potential property developers might find some of the advice useful, but it is the same every episode and most of it is just common sense.

The concept is quite reasonable and shows you can frequently buy property at auction for less than on the normal open market. However, the program would benefit from additional advice on buying at auction - after all that is the program title. For example, although costs are mentioned there is no indication of how much these are - e.g. auctioneer's costs, taxes payable when you sell, legal costs etc. When a potential profit is announced, it would be very useful to have an idea of the net profits. I would also like to know how properties are selected for the program - is it just pot luck?

The new female presenter is nice to look at, but does she have to wave her arms like an out of control windmill, and does this programme need three presenters,l am sure one presenter could manage this programme,Overall, its an interesting programme,and do we have to have the second screening of the first interviews.

This is a great show and is handy for anyone looking to buy a property at an auction. The presenters are very warm and friendly. They're also pretty knowledgeable. It would be great if they did updates on some of the more interesting properties that were not yet finished when the crew went back after three months. For instance, the two who bought Bagatelle Cottage from the 1800s. I would have loved to have seen the end product.

I like the way one of the presenters, Martin, comes across as passionate about period features and saving them. You can tell he is not just business-minded but also really cares about properties. The lady, Lucy, is personable and good at interviewing people. And they both have good chemistry together.

I'm returning to England soon, so this show got me up-to-date on property prices (what a shocker). Homes that cost about forty thousand when we left are now worth three hundred and forty. Ah, well, that's life.