The journey to a new home wasn’t as smooth as expected for one couple featured on On Monday’s episode, presenter Jules Hudson caught up with Steve and Sarah, who had swapped their Hampshire lifestyle for a dreamy Devon home.
Following a brief recap of the original 2023 episode that documented their house hunt, viewers discovered that the couple had decided to make an offer on the first property they saw.
However, when Jules reconnected with them, it was revealed that they had only moved in two weeks prior, despite having made their offer a year earlier. In a light-hearted moment, Steve humorously pondered whether he should express gratitude to Jules or toss him into the lake.
Upon entering the house, Jules quickly spotted a problem. Sarah disclosed: “We have a lot of damp coming through.”
Steve elaborated that they had professionals scheduled to inspect the issue, leading Jules to inquire if the survey had flagged this problem, reports .
BBC Escape to the Country couple recall being ‘homeless’ during ‘hell on earth’ move (Image: BBC)
Steve confirmed: “Yes, it did highlight a lot of it, so we knew. We’ve gone through hell on earth to get here, genuinely have. But, within two weeks, we’re just in love with this house, we genuinely are.”
After discovering that Sarah and Steve purchased the house for £830,000 – significantly less than its market price of £950,000 – Jules was taken aback.
However, the transition wasn’t without its complications, as their Hampshire property sold for less than anticipated. Jules was left perplexed by the speed at which their offer was accepted, to which the couple revealed it happened astonishingly within a few hours.
The host remarked: “Obviously, it took a little bit of time to sell yours because you’ve only just moved in a year later.”
Sarah and Steve sold their home in Hampshire to move to Devon (Image: BBC)
Sarah commented: “We had a few buyers and they fell through, that was hard. Then, the final buyers, we were a little bit nervous of losing them so we let them move in quite a while ago and made ourselves homeless, basically.
“We broke the chain. Actually, having that six weeks where we stayed in the BandBs, because we weren’t in the house, we weren’t busy doing things, unpacking boxes, we had time to go out and explore.”
In a moment filled with emotion as he lauded Jules for his assistance in discovering their perfect property, Steve grew noticeably moved. He emotionally stated: “It’s a massive thing for us.”
Despite the struggles the pair shared they wouldn’t change a thing about the process (Image: BBC)
“Would we go through the Escape to the Country journey? 100% Would we change anything? Probably not.
“Have we found a dream house with your help and the crew? Mate, come on, what more could you want?
I Escaped the Country is available to watch on iPlayer.