How much did Sarah Beeny pay for Rise Hall?

Everyone keeps asking me if I’ve seen Sarah Beeny’s new TV show, Sarah Beeny’s Restoration Nightmare, which I mentioned in the blog last week.  This tell me two things, 1. its very popular and 2. not many of my friends read my business blog.

Since the last piece we’ve received a deluge of enquires asking ‘How much did Sarah Beeny pay for rise Hall’?  Usually  I refer to the brilliant houseprices.co.uk which instantly tells you the sold price of any house in the UK – from the year 2000 onwards.  And here lieth the problem –  Rise Hall was bought in March 2001 but its sold price is not freely available online.

So to answer the question we went to the the Land Register (www.landregistry.co.uk) where all property trancsactions are formally registered and recorded.  Records are available to the public (at a charge) and nowadays you can view them online (in the past you had to either go to London or order copies in writing).

So to satisfy your collective curiousity we paid £4 to get a copy of the registration documents of Rise Hall and can reveal that Sarah Beeny’s husband, Graham Swift paid £441,101 for Rise Hall on 16th February 2001 and it is registered solely in his name.

If you want your very own Rise Hall – see what £441,101 would buy you today, which according to www.whatsthecost.com would be worth £529,294.18 today taking inflation into account.

Searching for Houses for Sale under £525,000 in Yorkshire on The Big Property List does leave us just over four thousand pounds to spend on any renovations but unfortunately doesn’t offer you much as grand as Rise Hall, but certainly more modern run of the mill dwellings such as a ‘A well presented and extended four bedroom detached family home offering superb living accommodation and located in this highly sought after South side location.This delightful family home is presented in tasteful decorative order throughout.’

Hmmm, not quite the 97 room pile I was looking for thanks.

The after show ‘live chat’ on the Guardian website revealed mixed feelings from viewers, with many viewers and ex-pupils of Rise Hall saying how thrilled there were to see the place being restored.  Others showed an impatience with the show and Ms Beeny at a time when many in the housing market are suffering.

One commenter asked:

‘How does it feel to have contributed so much to the madness of the constipated UK property market by producing endless TV shows that encourage people to become obsessed with the whole thing and are you making this new show now only because the arse has fallen out of the same market and no one can actually buy a decent house to live in anymore – without a TV presenter salary?’

Well, Dimbleby wouldn’t let ’em ask questions like that on question time would he!

Many comments have been deleted by editors and there is no record of Sarah’s responses to the Live chat questions. Either way I enjoyed the programme more than I thought I might and if I happen to be sitting down whilst it’s on this week I will probably watch it.

Catch Sarah Beeny’s Restoration nightmare on channel 4 at 8pm on Thursday.

Have you Seen Sarah Beeny’s new TV show?

If you haven’t, you can catch Sarah Beeny‘s Restoration Nightmare on channel four on thursdays at 8pm.

In her new series Sarah tackles the 97 room Georgian Mansion she bought ten years ago with her husband, a property developer himself,  in an attempt to restore it to its former glory and to make it a venue for weddings and events.

Channel four says:

‘It’s time for Sarah Beeney to practice what she preaches as she tries to save a stately home in Yorkshire from ruin.  Rise Hall has been home to Sarah, her husband Graham and their ever-expanding family for the last ten years.’

Sarah Beeny is best known for her TV series Property Ladder and last year launched private houses sales website Tepilo, which helps individuals market their house online without an Estate Agent.

Does this prove the national obsession with property is no less strong than pre-2007?  Or is this more ‘aspiration media’ – watching someone do what we’d like to do, without the effort or glory?  Like River Cottage and Eat Love Pray however, you wonder if its really possible for most folks to take on this type of experience without TV/ book income.

If you have seen Sarah Beeny’s new show feel free to share your review or comments below.