My husband Owen and I started looking at properties seriously five years ago,’ says Laurie, ‘as we were keen to move from our renovated one-bedroom flat into a bigger place. We wanted to stay local, and even looked at buying a bigger flat next door, although we really wanted a house. Quite by chance, I spotted one after I’d scrolled a long way down the estate agent’s site.
Initially I was told the property had been on the books a long time because the owner was determined not to lower the price. The rooms were painted in bright colours and it needed a lot of work, but that didn’t put us off, even though we couldn’t afford
