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A Place In The Sun What Happen Episode 1 Engsub
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00:01For over 22 years, A Place in the Sun has been helping couples find their dream homes abroad.
00:07Kind of a bit of a tingly feeling. Are you? Loving it, loving it.
00:12Creating hundreds of happy households across the world.
00:15Oh, it's gorgeous isn't it? Beautiful.
00:17Shall we do it? Look, we're all welling up here.
00:20In this series, we'll be revisiting some of them to find out what happened next.
00:25Can I get a high five? Yeah.
00:27Today, Jean Johanson is in the Charente in south-western France with Rob and Lisa.
00:33She helped them buy a forever family home there less than a year ago.
00:37Does it feel real? It does feel real.
00:39Yeah, it's not feeling like a holiday now. No.
00:41This is real life now. It's amazing.
00:44Well, Jasmine Harman is in a traditional village set amongst the hills of Malaga,
00:49catching up with Alison and her daughter Paula, who she helped find a holiday home.
00:53Almost exactly to the week, isn't it?
00:57Six years. Six years ago.
00:59Yeah, it's been crazy.
01:09These picturesque fields in the Charente with their rolling landscapes are so charming.
01:15It really is like something out of a storybook.
01:17And it's this beautiful landscape that captured Lisa and Rob when I brought them here
01:21to find the perfect permanent home for them and their young family.
01:26If you're flying to Charente in the south-west of France,
01:29the most convenient airports are La Rochelle and Bordeaux,
01:32both of which take just over an hour and a half to fly to from the UK.
01:37Or if you're driving, it takes about seven and a half hours, roadworks permitting from Calais.
01:42Charente is named after the river that runs through it and is a very rural region
01:47full of traditional French towns and villages dotted around the stunning countryside.
01:52And it's very popular with Brits. More than 16,000 of us live there.
01:58It was in 2023 when police administrator Lisa and former police officer and soldier Rob
02:04asked us to find a permanent home in Charente for them and their son and daughter,
02:09with room for their grown-up children from previous relationships to stay.
02:13They had a maximum budget of £160,000 and plans to get a few chickens to add to their brood.
02:20Chickens are girls, so we'd call them girl.
02:22Girl, Null Sanders.
02:25Colonel for one, Sanders for the other.
02:28It's not that we're going to be eating the chickens.
02:30We're looking to be as self-sufficient as possible out there.
02:33I first met them in the grounds of the Chateau de la Rochefoucauld
02:37to find out what they were after in their dream forever home.
02:41A minimum of three bedrooms.
02:43OK.
02:43A lovely rural property or edge of village, detached.
02:47We'd like a small amount of space for additional people to be able to come over.
02:52Yeah.
02:52That would be nice.
02:53Nice and traditional inside as well.
02:56So I'd love to see a fireplace, maybe a few beans.
02:59And while the first property I showed them, this three-bedroom stone cottage,
03:03certainly fitted that build, it didn't make a great initial impression.
03:08A bit too small.
03:09OK, right.
03:11Yeah.
03:11Just from being in here, you're picturing something with a bit more room.
03:15I'm picturing something that can fit my 65-inch telly in.
03:18But once they'd had a viewing of the rest of what it had to offer...
03:22OK, so this is one of the first bedrooms.
03:25OK.
03:26It's not a bad size.
03:27No.
03:28Nice wood flooring as well.
03:29The picture got a bit better.
03:32It's growing on us, I've got to be honest.
03:34Pleasantly surprised by looking at the bedroom set up.
03:38And the garage.
03:38Mm-hm.
03:40So I kind of had a contender, but definitely some room for improvement
03:44as we headed to property two.
03:46This three-bedroom house with some important added extras
03:49and Lisa and Rob were cock-a-hoop.
03:52I like it.
03:53You do?
03:54I do, yeah.
03:55Yeah, I love the wall.
03:56And the fireplace.
03:57Traditional.
03:58Yeah, definitely.
03:59Inside and outside.
04:01Mind the chickens as you go, because they're dotted about in here.
04:05Superb.
04:05Yeah, fantastic.
04:06I think it's everything that we hoped it would be.
04:09That place knocked property one out of the running
04:12to be top of the pecking order.
04:14But I was hoping they'd be even more excited by property three.
04:18This very grand three-bedroom house in the village of Teze Azee.
04:22But things immediately went off the boil.
04:25What do you think of this curb appeal?
04:29There is none for me.
04:31No curb appeal?
04:32None.
04:33OK.
04:33I can't get past the roads.
04:35Right.
04:36It's too busy.
04:37And it didn't get any better inside.
04:40It's too modern looking inside for me.
04:42It hasn't got the French appeal.
04:44It's not a scratch on the chicken house.
04:47Right, OK.
04:48Yeah.
04:48It hasn't got that je ne sais quoi for me.
04:51I needed to get back on track and thankfully I did at my fourth property.
04:56A three-bedroom barn conversion with two acres of land and a small hamlet in the Chiron countryside.
05:02I think this is a good silence this time.
05:05Am I right?
05:06No, it is.
05:07It is.
05:07It's definitely a good silence.
05:09What kind of feelings has this property given you?
05:12Dreamy.
05:13Definitely dreamy.
05:14I can see the kids here.
05:15Stunning.
05:16Really lovely.
05:17Yeah.
05:18What do you think of that view?
05:19Speechless.
05:20Screams French countryside to me.
05:22Definitely.
05:23I left Lisa and Rob to have a look round on their own.
05:27What do you think in here?
05:29Oh, this is good.
05:30I love the floor.
05:31I love the staircase.
05:32I love the way that it separates two halves of the room.
05:35Mm-hm.
05:36And I love the fact that it can accommodate easily.
05:39Probably bigger than the 65-inch, tell you now.
05:41I love the beams.
05:42Yeah.
05:43Fireplace as well.
05:45The kitchen went down pretty well, as did both the bedrooms.
05:49Oh, this is big.
05:50Good flooring.
05:51Yeah, yeah, it is.
05:52The views out there.
05:54I know.
05:54Can you see?
05:55Lovely views.
05:56There's lots you can do with this.
05:57Yeah.
05:58They ended up in the attic with loads of room for conversion.
06:02So, additional space?
06:04Yes.
06:04I don't know what I would use it for.
06:06This has got a lot of potential, hasn't it?
06:08Project for the future.
06:10Project for the future.
06:12Before giving me their final verdict.
06:14What do you think for this house?
06:16This is amazing.
06:18Oh.
06:18This is absolutely amazing.
06:19I agree.
06:20You loved it?
06:21Yeah.
06:22Tell me what you loved.
06:23I loved the staircase in the lounge, really worked for me.
06:27I just like everything about it.
06:29It's just a really family house, you can just tell that.
06:31As soon as you walk in, it's just a family home.
06:33So, I had a lot to live up to with my fifth and final property, and I pushed the boat
06:38out to give Rob and Lisa this detached four-bedroom house, priced over budget, but with plenty of room for
06:44negotiation.
06:45You have delivered.
06:47Yeah.
06:47Good.
06:48In terms of the garden, you have delivered.
06:49Yeah.
06:49I've been in the woods.
06:50Yeah.
06:51I can see chickens in here.
06:52Yes.
06:53The outside worked.
06:54The outside worked for sure, and the inside wasn't too shabby either.
06:57What do you think of this space?
06:59It's big.
07:00Mm-hmm.
07:00Loving the wood.
07:01I like the beams.
07:02Definitely with the fireplace that's sitting central to the room as well.
07:06Yeah.
07:06This is not what I expected.
07:08A good surprise.
07:09Good surprise.
07:10Rob and Lisa loved Property 5 so much, it knocked the chicken house out of the running, leaving me with
07:16two contenders.
07:17But it was Property 4, the band conversion, priced at just over £145,000, that won out.
07:24We definitely want to put a cheeky offer in.
07:26Okay.
07:27And there's a reason for that. It's because your fourth bedroom is not complete.
07:31It's like that was a bedroom, so we're going to put an offer in £135,000.
07:36That offer, however, was rejected.
07:39They've made a counter offer.
07:40Okay.
07:41Of £137,000 to do the deal.
07:45Deal.
07:46Emma, we have a deal. Thank you so much.
07:50Congratulations.
07:51Boom.
07:51You've got an amazing property in France for £137,000.
07:55That's amazing.
07:57Amazing.
07:58Thank you so much.
07:59Santé.
07:59Salud.
08:00Cheers.
08:04Salud.
08:04It's been just over a year since I was out here house hunting with Lisa and Rob.
08:09I am so looking forward to seeing them and catching up on what's been happening.
08:14Bonjour, Rob.
08:15Bonjour.
08:16How are we?
08:18How are you?
08:19Good to see you.
08:20And you?
08:21Oh, amazing to see you and meet the kids.
08:23Hi, Robby.
08:24Robby.
08:25Evangeline.
08:26Evangeline.
08:26Good to see you.
08:27I can't believe it.
08:28You live in France.
08:29Crazy.
08:30How's it going?
08:30Absolutely amazing, isn't it?
08:31Yeah.
08:32We're loving it.
08:33You look really well.
08:34We both changed our hair.
08:35I know.
08:36Are you speaking French, you two?
08:37I'm a petit peu.
08:38I can't wait to hear all about it and I can't wait to see the house.
08:41Can't wait to show you.
08:41Yeah.
08:42Let's do it.
08:43Bonne va.
08:43Yeah.
08:44Coming up, I take a tour of Rob and Lisa's house and find out exactly what they've done
08:49to it since they moved in.
08:51Great job.
08:52I mean, I don't even think there was a roof on this room, was there?
08:55No.
08:56Yeah, you can see right up to the rafters, yeah.
08:58Totally fine.
09:04Guess what?
09:05Today, I'm in Cherente in South Western France with Lisa and Rob.
09:08Just a year ago, I helped them find this three bedroom barn conversion and I'm really
09:13looking forward to seeing how they and their two children have settled into it.
09:17Oh, yes.
09:18I remember that lovely meadow there!
09:21It's gorgeous.
09:22And you've got a dog as well?
09:23Yep.
09:24What's your dog's name, Robby?
09:25Jean-Laet
09:26oh cute oh it's so lovely to see it again what a beautiful house you chose the right one yeah
09:32yeah
09:33definitely it kind of looks the same out here a couple of additions yeah we've got the garden
09:37furniture and the spa over there and the barbecue robbie what do you think in your new house
09:42good yeah very good how long have you guys been here 10 months now oh has it been 10 months
09:48already
09:49yeah flying by does it feel real it does feel real yeah it's not feeling like a holiday now
09:54you know so it's this is real life now and it's amazing the burning questions for me do you have
09:59chickens and do you have a ride on lawnmower we have how many chickens do we have eight we have
10:04eight chickens one cockerel and a ride on mower called larry oh i'm so happy you got that more
10:10i mean the house is as gorgeous as i remember it i can't wait to look inside and you too
10:14can show
10:14me this time let's do that yes yeah do you want to go and play see you soon
10:22come in oh yes lovely original features you've got the beams which everybody wants in the french
10:29house and that lovely staircase what have you done in here it feels different we've done very little
10:36to be honest with you we've bought the yeah the sofas and furniture off the people that were selling
10:40it to us perfect it feels really homely yeah we loved the colouring already it just wasn't an urgent
10:46room to start looking at was it no no not at all so you've had a winter here yeah how
10:50was that cold
10:51and what made it worse was our the chimney was condemned so we couldn't use the fireplace that
10:56was here so we needed to buy a new chimney flue yeah and a new log burner so for a
11:01good while we
11:02were very very cold these are all the little things that it does sometimes it just takes time to sort
11:07out and it's problems you don't know you've got until you actually live here exactly
11:12all right yeah well this is definitely different yeah completely really pleased with it yeah talk
11:18me through what have you done this side of the room has remained unchanged that was the original
11:24bathroom wasn't it with the wall running through we've now had the shower put in you can see there
11:28the outline of where the toilet room was you know so that's going to get plastered next week
11:33i've tiled this floor which is the first time i've ever tiled in my life i'm impressed i have to
11:38say
11:38and did you get a bit of help was there anybody around the neighborhood yeah so we're friends with
11:42colin uh and sean you know so sean started the project in terms of the plumbing because i can't
11:48plumb not yet anyway i'm sure i will do at some point and then colin did the tiling did you
11:52have to
11:53spend a lot of money on this yeah this is nearing about six thousand pounds to do the bathroom but
11:58it was well worth it so family bathroom we've got bedrooms off here there was a room that was pretty
12:03unfinished yeah so there was a large attic room that we've now uh converted into an office in a
12:09bedroom great job i mean i don't even think there was a roof on this room was there no you
12:16can see
12:16right up to the rafters yeah oh you've done such a good job and this is robbie's room it is
12:22he happy
12:22with it he absolutely loves it yeah it was nice to get robbie and angel their separate rooms yeah and
12:28you got your chickens got the chickens i have to meet them lisa i have to do it right let's
12:32do that
12:36oh robbie and evangeline were such a big part of this search so to be stood here
12:41in robbie's bedroom well this is what it's all about
12:48well good size chicken coop you've got here yeah there you are rob that's what you wanted yeah
12:54yeah everyone does it you move to fans and you buy chickens and a lawnmower good sized land here as
12:59well but i bet it takes a lot of work yeah it does so in the winter time it takes
13:04me about three days
13:05to mow it because it's just over two acres but in the summer when the grass is all dry it'll
13:09take
13:09four and a half hours you've got a little vegetable patch over there as well lisa what are you growing
13:13oh all sorts so strawberries raspberries courgettes beetroot so you found yourself getting quite
13:21green fingers yeah actually i've surprised myself yeah we used to joke that that that lisa would
13:27walk past a flower in the uk and it would wilt so we've both been really proud of how she's
13:32turned
13:33the you know the veggie patch into into what it is now yeah yeah there's all these things that you
13:37couldn't do back in here it's neither you don't have the time or you don't have the climate i think
13:40what
13:41we didn't have was the space okay yeah you got vegetable patch got your chickens you got a ride
13:46on lawnmower you're living the dream you would definitely like it oh yeah definitely living the
13:51dream oh well i'm so proud that i played a part in it because i mean chickens everywhere and this
13:57lovely view it's gorgeous i think what we'd like to to show you is like a traditional french uh meal
14:04which is called an aperro so it's a bit like a meal before a meal but it's quite popular in
14:08france
14:09especially when they meet people for the first time cooked meats cheeses olives now you're talking
14:14yes please let's go i'm so impressed with what lisa and rob have managed to achieve in such a short
14:21space of time not just with the property but with their lifestyle as well now i'm looking forward to
14:27finding out more and enjoying a few nibbles right so what's the tradition then do i just dive right in
14:34go for it okay good this looks lovely lisa lovely oh i like that sound that reminds me of france
14:45so remind me how much did you pay for it i do remember a cheeky offer went in rob
14:48so it was on for for one four five that's right the cheeky offer was 135 000 they came back
14:55with a
14:56counter offer of 137 000 and we went yes you just wouldn't get anything comparable in the uk for the
15:01same amount of money and tell me about the process how did it go it went really smoothly you've got
15:0610 days cooling off period then you put the deposit down and then because we live in rural france the
15:14farmers get first refusal on whether they want to buy some of the land or the or the property i
15:20have
15:21heard that before yeah yeah so that process normally takes uh two months but we paid the extra money along
15:26with the people who sold us the house for it to be fast tracked so when we filmed to when
15:29we moved in
15:30two months that's quick yeah really yeah did that feel fast for you lisa did it give you enough time
15:35for your brain to catch up with what was happening no we were ready for the house okay when we
15:40moved
15:41over um we rented for a small while just a couple of weeks but we definitely wanted to get in
15:47get
15:47settled and of course since we've left the european union unit it's a bit harder to move to other
15:52countries within europe where what's your status so we've come over on a non-working visa which is a
15:59long-term visitor visa so it's it's the easiest visa to get otherwise if you start going for entrepreneur
16:06visas or uh owning a business you're going to need to show a proficiency at french complicated yeah yeah
16:11um and you're going to need your business plans and income and stuff like that so we've gone for the
16:16easiest visa then we need to apply for our carte de sojour which will extend the 12 months into uh
16:23a lot longer so first three years we're being monitored and having to do an extension after
16:28that it will go five years and then you can apply for the tenure and you're technically you're a pensioner
16:35so yeah that's your income well you're in france is coming from a pension has that made things easier
16:40yeah hell of a lot easier yeah yeah definitely yeah so we know how much we're bringing in each month
16:45you know we're not relying on wages where wages go up and down it's a set income we know what
16:50our
16:50outcomes are we know what our income is up and it's it's almost a silly question but
16:54do you feel happier i mean you you did your time in the army and the police both quite challenging
17:00careers i retired from the police uh through ill health um i was diagnosed with uh complex post
17:07traumatic stress disorder back in 2019 which came out of the blue i knew things that weren't
17:12weren't right with me in the way i was thinking the way i was behaving yeah i managed to get
17:16uh
17:16diagnosed through a part of the nhs that deal with military veterans operation courage and um you know
17:23that sent me on the road to some some sort of recovery with a lot of trauma therapy but we
17:30came
17:30to the realization that although i was getting to a point where i was getting well um it was never
17:37to
17:37the point where i could continue with the career so we made the decision to apply for ill health
17:42retirement and uh and that's what i got and what about being here you know the landscape here is
17:47totally different the culture is different lifestyle do you think that's helping you as well
17:52in your recovery so with my ptsd it makes it nigh on difficult impossible to return to the uk
17:58because of the amount of triggers uh that are there you know the sound of the the sirens um
18:04um are different over here you know so they're not as traumatic you know it's a completely different
18:09pace in life you know i'm surrounded by countryside i'm not surrounded by the the trauma that um i
18:14would have been had i stayed in the uk that's understandable and lisa i'm sure you've had your
18:18ups and downs especially when it's your partner and you can see they're not quite right yeah have
18:22you seen some changes since you've moved to france oh definitely we were only saying the other day
18:26that it's been your best year oh hasn't that love to hear that for both of you for all of
18:31you yeah
18:31this is such a lovely way to spend an afternoon you guys are so lucky what else do you get
18:37up to
18:37we've recently found a game uh called petonk of course you're in france we've not long started
18:43playing it we don't know the rules massively about it yeah we definitely have a go at that let's see
18:48a bit more and then i'm going to show you my petonk skills how's that you ready robbie amazing yeah
18:53let's do
18:53that it's wonderful to hear how much things have improved for the family since moving out here
18:59and particularly for rob after everything he's been through now though i'm looking forward to putting
19:04them all through their pieces over a game of petonk i've gotten quite good at this you know over the
19:09years just just letting you all know well it's a fact to follow then when you live in france does
19:15that make you better at petonk let's see right so from the rules that i know yeah you meant to
19:22draw a
19:22circle within the gravel good start yep that's where you start then you've got i think they call
19:28it le petit maybe okay go for it um then you throw it good and then it's whoever's closest of
19:38course
19:39gets the point go for it rob oh not bad go on angel wow not bad well done
19:54rubbish
19:58see that oh jean wins that point that one's clear merci beaucoup it is getting warm out here
20:05we gotta grab a drink oh sounds good lisa let's do that come on kids nice to see i haven't
20:11lost my
20:11petonk skills but i think the real winners out here in chiron are rob lisa and the family and i'm
20:17interested to find out how it's working with the grown-up children visiting from the uk as well
20:22this is a lovely spot right here isn't it is that limousine cows in the distance there yeah it is
20:27yeah
20:28beautiful so you sort of came knowing that you wanted to look around the chiron it was just a case
20:33of
20:34finding the best property and i think everything happens for a reason so is this the right one for
20:39you 100 yeah definitely when we chose the house and then we had to go back to the uk i
20:44remember we
20:45were on the airplane and we said it feels like we're leaving home yeah that's nice like we've left
20:50a little part of us here yeah is there anything that you missed from the uk family yeah yeah but
20:56then
20:56the flights are dirt cheap you know you can come over for 13 pounds yeah one way yeah when your
21:01other
21:01kids are coming over it's like quality time i mean to sit here or sit in the garden there is
21:06just
21:07just so lovely yeah they enjoy it don't they yeah they love it and it's not a thing that just
21:12happens
21:13you move to a new country there is a lot of stuff that you have to do anything that you
21:17would do
21:17differently robbie french lessons right that's a good one yeah having a bit of the language before
21:24you put them in the school yeah just to equip him better for when he started what advice would
21:30you give to anyone sat at home thinking we're going to do this you know how is the process going
21:35to be get all your official documents translated by a french registered uh official translator because
21:43it will be asked for at some point yeah and plan plan it's a couple of years in the planning
21:49yeah i mean i think this happened quite fast for you two it did but that's only because we had
21:55the
21:55um help from a place in the sun so if we didn't have that it would have taken us longer
22:01to be able
22:01to find the property and then move over i love to hear that and i love to see you two
22:06sitting looking
22:07at this view it's been lovely just to get a little slice of your lives here and what can i
22:12say it's beautiful
22:13angel it's been great to see rob and lisa and experience just a bit of the life they've made
22:31for themselves i really admire them for dealing with all the stuff that life throws at you and
22:36they've made a beautiful life for themselves they didn't just talk the talk they've walked the walk
22:41and they will be the envy of many including me coming up jasmine harman's in a wonderful
22:49traditional village in malaga province not far from the city itself catching up with allison and
22:55her daughter paula who she helped find a magnificent holiday townhouse six years ago oh my gosh it looks
23:04different i love the little butterflies and yes so that's from a local artist who does all the murals
23:10around the village relaxing and chilling out whilst enjoying these spectacular views now if that
23:28doesn't scream living the dream then i don't know what does allison shared this exact same dream when i
23:35first met her house hunting for her perfect andalusian retreat she'd already viewed numerous properties
23:42but i'm very glad to say that i managed to find her the right one a 40 minute or so
23:48drive east of malaga
23:49with its airport welcoming visitors from most corners of the uk a three-hour flight away this part of andalusia
23:56is truly remarkable amongst the lush green countryside and rolling hills there are a handful of stunning
24:02whitewashed villages offering a slice of traditional spanish life with weekly markets and flamenco music
24:08easy to find while we're a little off the more conventional tourist trail the golden sandy beaches
24:15and holiday fun of the costa del sol is just a short drive from here it's an area that really
24:20does offer the
24:21best of both worlds back in 2018 alison was house hunting with her daughter paula looking for a
24:29holiday home for her and her then husband ian within reach of the town of veleth malaga working with a
24:35budget of up to 65 000 pounds and it was pretty clear even before we met how important paula was
24:41to
24:41this search we do a lot together we spend a lot of time together socialize together i would sometimes
24:50rather go with my mom for the drink than yeah some of the girls i trust her judgment and her
24:55opinion
24:55it's paula's house as much as ours alison wanted a two-bedroom townhouse with enough space for paula
25:01and her son ollie to visit she'd already made a few trips to the area seen a number of properties
25:06and had one clear priority i do want to have maybe like a jacuzzi kind of thing on top so
25:13oh okay well that's what that's top of the list and i have promised my girlfriends that we will have
25:20a champagne jacuzzi party in the summer so and i can't bring it we kicked things off 20 minutes from
25:30veleth malaga just outside the village of bena margosa with this traditional townhouse that was over
25:36budget but with room to negotiate it had all the character and charm they were after but i think
25:42the downside would be the outside space i think the terrace i'm not quite sure that it's big enough
25:48for my hot tub um however i wouldn't at this stage rule out you wouldn't no no with champagne hot
25:57tub
25:57parties in mind we moved swiftly on to another two-bedroom townhouse this time in veleth malaga
26:03itself and with a large terrace however the space and light on offer inside along with the amount of
26:09work needed meant it was a no with that we headed back into the hills to the village of villanueva
26:16del
26:16trabuco somewhere i knew allison had already visited and loved in fact she and ian had viewed this house
26:22with a roof terrace and two bedrooms before i'm delighted that you've brought me back here um
26:32oh god no really oh and once they got inside you might want to change the furniture
26:41it's um but there's nothing to do it literally is you can come in put your bags down and you're
26:48good
26:48yeah i do have a good feeling about this one you do yeah oh that's very good do you do
26:54yeah i'm not
26:55now paula what are you thinking i'm a bit speechless to be honest that's amazing
27:06i could definitely see us sitting here it's so nice and your jacuzzi could fit in here too oh absolutely
27:16we now had ourselves a very solid contender so i thought we'd head back to veleth malaga to find
27:22another this in budget three-bedroom but unfurnished townhouse was the place i'd lined up but it didn't
27:29stand a chance so it's not for us no it's not really for us no i couldn't really see us
27:34being here as a
27:35family it sounds like this one's a bit of a non-starter all together really yeah well i think
27:41for our final property i'm going to pull out all the stops and hopefully we'll have another contender
27:45for you to at least give you some food for thought okay okay let's go the place i had in
27:51mind was back
27:52in villanueva del trabuco the location of our top contender and in the form of this upside down house
27:58with its two bedrooms downstairs and the hot tub these two were after already installed it was on
28:04the market a little over budget but with some room for negotiation it's almost like a sanctuary this is
28:12somewhere that you would actually want to spend time and snuggle down in you like this air it's
28:20beautiful you know when i imagined having my little andalusian retreat this is pretty much
28:32have you ever felt like this walking into a place before never oh mom
28:38oh to me it continued to impress
28:47ta-da look at this paula oh my word you've got your hot tub there does this come with it's
28:57actually
28:57not included but it's negotiable do you want to come up and see what we can see from up here
29:03yes
29:04wow this is a cupboard terrace oh wow wow it's so nice and fiber here like literally nobody can see
29:13us gorgeous
29:25and with those tears we had ourselves a winner
29:28ian was whisked out for a quick tour but i don't think he really had too much say in the
29:33matter
29:34and they all agreed that our final place the house with a hot tub was the winner the next day
29:39they
29:39were ready to make an offer and it was for 62 and a half thousand pounds nearly four and a
29:44half thousand
29:44below the asking price okay okay thanks judith i'll get back to you okay
29:52okay your initial offer has not been accepted but the vendors have come back and said that they would
30:02accept an offer of 66 000 pounds and they would include the hot tub all the furniture
30:13wow and they'll take it off the market
30:17there you go wow that's amazing
30:23what do you think
30:25what are you going to do yes yes do we have a yes
30:40that's fantastic we've got a deal tell them they can take it off the market thank you
30:56we would have never seen that if it wasn't for for you so i can't thank you enough cheers
31:06i think we need champagne really we'll save that for the hot tub yes that was an incredibly emotional
31:14but fun house hunt six years later i'm back in villanueva del trabuco to meet allison and paula
31:22and from what i understand a lot has changed i wonder what she's going to think because it just
31:28looks so different doesn't it so yeah yeah oh there's jasmine there hello hello oh my word
31:38what is this crazy wind yeah it's better than the rain the last time that's true this is the same
31:43time of year last exactly it was almost exactly yes to the week isn't it six years six years ago
31:51so are you still enjoying your holidays out here obviously well well things have changed a little
31:57for me jasmine because i now stay here permanently i'm actually a spanish resident yes for four years
32:08oh wow we really need a catch-up don't we a proper catch-up would you like to see the
32:16changes i would
32:17love to yes lead the way coming up i get a tour of that gorgeous townhouse and its new hot
32:24tub
32:25it took was it three men about 10 hours and it had to be lifted over the roof of the
32:33house from the
32:34street i knew a hot tub was important to you my goodness
32:44today i'm in villanueva del trabuco a wonderfully traditional village set amongst the hills of malaga
32:50paula catching up with allison and her daughter paula six years ago i helped find a beautiful
32:56townhouse for allison her then husband ian paula and her son ollie to use as a holiday home but i
33:03hear
33:03allison's now retired become a spanish resident and is living out here permanently i can't wait to see how
33:09it's changed and find out more about her life here oh my gosh it looks different i love the little
33:16butterflies and yes so that's from a local artist who does all the murals around the village and then
33:23she asked my mom if she could paint on her house and she was like of course how lovely do
33:27a lot of people
33:27speak to you or do you get a lot of attention from locals you do attract attention as a single
33:33british
33:34woman um with a pink house i'm single now oh god yes yes i am i am and happy and
33:45happy okay that's the
33:46main thing i'll update you after i've shown you around the house okay okay so welcome jasmine oh look
34:01so do you remember how it was like an upside down house so bedrooms downstairs living them upstairs
34:07so different in here yeah did you do this yourself i did i do i do have a have a
34:12little pink drill as
34:13well i know so obviously you have to keep within a budget when i'm making improvements so some of
34:19the things i can do myself i love the little diy projects so amazing things like that if i can
34:25do
34:25it i'll do it you will remember as well that i loved that bedroom when i was here on when
34:31i don't even
34:33know why i just started sleeping in here and i like the idea that when i wake up in the
34:38morning i'll
34:39look out the window and i can actually see the mountains from there this is my mum's room so
34:44when me and ollie come over this is the room that we sleep in
34:51yes oh it looks lovely you've done it so nice nice and homely it's mainly cosmetic yeah i'd see in
34:58here you know um painting things differently obviously different new beds and different um you know furnishings
35:07so here's the living room oh wow oh look you've done so much up here yeah everything's new it looks
35:19fantastic completely refurnished um and painted but the best thing i think we've got has been the
35:27cotton oh yes it's that relentless heat and it do you know what it's great and i'm not complaining
35:34about the heat but my goodness you do need to keep yourself cool yeah well i love what you've done
35:39in
35:39here have you done much in the kitchen and way of changing things um yes changes would you like to
35:44see
35:44so this is the kitchen see if you see any changes let me see to here i mean i can
35:54see quite a few
35:54changes already i'm pretty sure that pink fish was not part of the original house is that one of
36:00your touches surprise surprise i know pink i mean the kitchen units are the same yeah
36:07the only thing i did do though is i installed the black sink because i didn't like there was a
36:15silver
36:15one there before i didn't like it but i did that myself too i was so i was really chuffed
36:20with myself
36:21for that because i've never done the plumbing thing and i thought i know i'm so impressed i thought
36:27i'm gonna give it a try i love the changes you've made here it looks amazing thank you yeah perfect
36:33actually for a home it doesn't feel like a holiday home it feels like a home but if you like
36:38these
36:38changes i'll take you upstairs and see what you think okay so welcome to my party patio jasmine ah
36:50you've upgraded the hot tub yeah original one to be honest was too big i felt for the space
36:56but also you know because i've got cats they kept bursting the inflatable yeah so i had so i had
37:06a lot of fun in my life did you get back so there was a big drama they managed to
37:10get the crane into
37:12the street just in front it took was it three men about 10 hours and it had to be lifted
37:19over
37:20the roof of the house from the street i knew a hot tub was important to you but my goodness
37:26that
37:26is over the top i think it was a bit of the talk of the town yeah i think everybody
37:34was a bit of a
37:35oh it absolutely was even with the pink house is getting the hot tub now that's anything have you
37:40got your costume of course yes you brought your costume i have and i brought the bubbles as well
37:46yes let's go let's get changed wow it's amazing to hear how much allison has achieved but now the
37:56bit i've been waiting for the champagne hot tub party have you had lots of parties in here then
38:04this is what i've been waiting for for six years congratulations thank you it's just it's a new life
38:12for it it is it's just amazing and it's nice to have you back and to see what's happened yeah
38:18well
38:18i i i mean it's nice to be back i've got to say i could quite get used to this
38:23it's lovely my life is
38:26just completely different different i mean do you know this might sound strange but when i saw you i
38:32thought allison looks completely different you bought the house yeah it's about 66 000 isn't it
38:41but that included the furniture at the time yes that you had there how much would you say you've
38:46spent so i would say about 20 25 000 for the hot tub the the terrace refurnishing improvements to the
38:56to the facade of the house etc and what would it be worth now i think you'd maybe put it
39:01over
39:01about 100 yeah looking at the local market yeah definitely so when you actually completed on this
39:10house it was just you on your own yes because again we just decided or it it was obvious that
39:17we
39:18wanted different things and um went our separate ways and um i think when you're making big life
39:26decisions like that you know to to buy a property to to live abroad whatever you know um if you
39:33don't
39:34agree on something as major as that then you know you have to make a decision um so that yes
39:40that was a
39:40big decision brexit was a major factor if i wanted to stay here i had to apply for residency and
39:47i had a
39:48very short window literally i think it was three months yeah i think she decided one day i'm going
39:54and then literally within two days she was gone yeah a backpack not even nobody even packaged a
39:59backpack and gone how did you feel about that like i was proud of her for just jumping to do
40:04it but
40:04obviously that it was difficult but i think now it's all worked out yeah for the better so you look
40:09back and think yeah things were difficult then but now it's all made worthwhile so you're obviously still
40:15in scotland yeah do you miss your mum loud yeah of course i miss her though but then yeah you
40:21can
40:21come up here all the time which is amazing we speak every single day yeah every single day on the
40:25phone ten times a day yeah so it's uh yeah it's just it's been great obviously but i'm sitting in
40:31cold scotland and she's sitting here in the hot tub i think that's really a bit annoying but
40:36but yeah no it's great and i feel really safe here you know i mean our spanish neighbors are just
40:43yeah they look after our wonderful people in fact the first christmas here my spanish neighbors
40:49actually said to me are you on your own at christmas come for dinner oh yeah i hardly knew them
40:58you know and they turned out to be just just amazing you know so yeah oh that must be really
41:04reassuring yeah for me to know that's just got that support and if anything happened you've got all the
41:08people yeah so this is absolutely lovely i am starting to turn into a proof what's the plan for
41:15the rest of this afternoon for you so we're maybe going to go down to malaga on the bus if
41:20you'd like
41:20to join us and we can go for a little wander and see down there because that sounds lovely i'd
41:25love to
41:25actually i've not explored malaga city yeah so you'll love it you'll love it cheers cheers let's go to
41:32malaga let's put some bubbles on first
41:37if i'm honest i could have stayed in there all day i'm so pleased that six years after we first
41:43met
41:44the dream has come true and i've experienced an allison and paula hot tub party as malaga city is only
41:51an hour away by bus it's busy streets glamorous marina and host of curbside bars and restaurants
41:57offer a wonderful contrast to sleepy villanueva del trabuco so we've brought you to kailarios um in the
42:06heart of malaga city it's an absolutely beautiful street and it's somewhere that we we come to quite
42:14often it's the main kind of hub for festivals fiestas there's always something going on here
42:22so at the moment at the moment there's um a film festival going on hence the red carpet
42:38and also the buildings are amazing here as well like it's such a stunning street after checking out
42:45a few more sites such as malaga's cathedral known as the one-armed lady because it has just one tower
42:51and the beautiful center of culture next door we're heading up to a viewpoint overlooking this wonderful
42:59city check out the view from up here yeah it's beautiful so that's the beauty of malaga you're
43:05right on the sea front i know in the city so what would you say is the best thing about
43:11your decision
43:11to buy a place in spain it's changed my life completely
43:26i'm just so happy settled content it's just been really therapeutic for me yeah and the fact that
43:36it's changed paula's life it's changed ollie's life because you know they have the opportunity as well
43:40to come here and enjoy everything that we do here so she will be joining me at some point so
43:48what
43:48would you say to someone who was maybe in the same position as you were six years ago you don't
43:54need
43:55you know a huge amount of money i mean i didn't spend that much on the house you know in
44:01comparison
44:01to in comparison to one of those you're extravagant yeah but if you have everything that you want
44:08doesn't have to be extravagant yeah i think there would someday if they were thinking about doing it
44:14i would do it yeah what's the hell yeah because there's also a sense of adventure in doing it as
44:21well you know and that makes you happy yeah well i know it was so nice to see you too
44:27have a lovely time
44:38okay wow so many massive changes in allison's life and yet she has completely embraced the spanish
44:48lifestyle she's followed her dreams and it looks like her daughter paula might soon be following in
44:53her mum's footsteps what an inspiring woman if you'd like to be on a place in the sun to find
45:00your own
45:00dream home go to channel4.com forward slash take part
45:23you
45:24you
45:25you
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