Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Get to nose around people's properties |
| Disadvantages: |
Can be quite "London" based |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
Along with the property boom of recent years there has been a boom of property TV programmes and following on from the success of Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location (or Location Cubed as it’s known in our household – much easier to say!) comes the series Relocation, Relocation (which we call Relocation Squared for obvious reasons).
Personally I love property shows. I’m an avid viewer of Property Ladder, Grand Designs and House Doctor among others. I’ve even found myself glued to Homes Under The Hammer, a little known BBC1 daytime programme so you can imagine how riveting it is! I’m not sure why I have such an addiction but I guess it’s just down to the fact that I’m a nosy sod and have a fascination with looking round other people’s houses.
~ ~ ~ Presenters ~ ~ ~
Relocation, Relocation is presented by Kirstie Allsop and Phil Spencer who have fronted Location, Location, Location since it began a few years ago. Both presenters are ex-estate agents and property experts and throughout the hour long show give helpful hints and advice about the house buying process, what to look for when viewing a property and ways to add value to your home among other nuggets of information.
Phil and Kirstie have a good rapport on screen and always seem easy going and friendly with the couples who are house hunting. Although some of the footage is clearly rehearsed and scripted, it isn’t too cringeworthy a la “jokes” in Changing Rooms or Real Rooms. Their voiceovers during the show about the featured couples can also be quite cutting at times and add a little spice although they never come across as being intentionally nasty.
~ ~ ~ Format Of The Programme ~ ~ ~
The idea behind Relocation, Relocation is that (usually) a couple want to use the massive profit they’ve made on their current home to buy two properties – one rural for a different way of life and one in a city so they’re not giving up on city life completely or where one member of the couple can continue to be based during the working week while they continue in their job.
The budget for both properties is clearly stated at the beginning of the show along with the requirements for each property. Kirstie and Phil then set about finding properties that match the couple’s wishes.
The house hunting part of the show seems to be filmed over a period of 2-3 days with the majority of time focusing on finding the perfect rural retreat. This is often the largest part of the budget and any offer that is put in on the rural property can affect the budget for the city place.
Kirstie and Phil tend to split up during their search with one presenter taking the rural route while the other carries out the city search. They will also find properties at a variety of budgets to show the couples what they can expect to get for different amounts.
~ ~ ~ Highlights Of The Show ~ ~ ~
Because the people searching for property on the show often have quite a large sum to spend, some of the houses that are featured can be very nice and we get to have a nosy around properties that are probably out of our reach in real life – although it is nice to dream! For example, one couple sold their London flat for £285,000 and bought a large 5 bedroom Victorian house in extensive grounds complete with workshop and 2 bedroom cottage for £280,000 in Scotland. It’s a good way of comparing what money can buy in different parts of the country.
This series Kirstie and Phil also had the pleasure of searching for a property in Italy for one couple who were looking to buy with the intention of eventually moving there. But foreign jaunts are quite rare in this show.
~ ~ ~ Minor Gripes ~ ~ ~
And they are only minor but most of the couples featured seem to have made their money through the London property market. It gives the impression that only people with a London property to sell will have the funds available to improve their lifestyle by relocating. Now although a high percentage of homeowners in London can afford this I’m sure there are couples in other areas of the country who have applied to be on the show and it would be nice to see them featured occasionally.
I’m also not sure that certain moves can be classed as enabling the couple to have “a better lifestyle”, although this is personal to the couple involved. One episode introduced a young family selling up their London (surprise, surprise) home and using the profit to buy a large family home in Middlesbrough and a flat in London for the husband to use in the week for work. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of improved lifestyle could be gained from a commute from London to Middlesbrough and back every weekend and spending 5 days a week away from his family. But as I said, this is often a very personal decision for the couple involved.
~ ~ ~ Programme Details ~ ~ ~
Relocation, Relocation is currently showing on Channel 4 from 8pm – 9pm on Wednesday evenings.
Every now and then there is a “Revisited” show thrown in where a shortened repeat of an earlier episode will be shown. Kirstie or Phil will then revisit the couple to find out how they are settling into their new way of life. These can be quite interesting, although do perhaps qualify as “cheap television” as only the last 10-15 minutes is new footage.
All in all the programme has a good format, is an original concept and certainly keeps me coming back for more each week.
