MONEY COMMENT
I'm A Property TV Addict... Get Me Out Of Here!

By Maynard Paton (TMFMayn)
October 28, 2004

I am a property television addict -- for two reasons.

First, I sold my house earlier this year and am now renting. Therefore, I have a rather obsessive (and many would say biased) interest in all things house prices.

Second, there seems to be nothing else on the box. A quick check in this week's listings threw up the following property-related shows on the five terrestrial channels:

A Place In The Sun
Builders, Sweat And Tears
Changing Rooms
Escape To The Country
Grand Designs Abroad
House Doctor
How I Made My Property Fortune
How To Be A Property Developer
Location, Location, Location
Moving Day
Property Ladder.

Trouble is, they all follow the same old routine.

Often, the programmes are about a prospective house-hunter who gets taken round various homes, but is shown later to have bought a completely different type of property at well over the original budget.

Or they feature a novice developer who overpays for a ramshackle gaff, underestimates the cost involved, spends recklessly on refurbishments, and yet still sells up for a fat profit - thanks to rising prices.

Or they show a smug townie couple who swap their city pad for a country retreat (complete with 'wow factor' and outbuildings), so they can give up the rat race, spend more time with the children and make pottery for tourists.

Sadly, there's no sign of this televisual phenomenon abating, with a call on our discussion boards this week declaring: "An exciting new BBC show is helping first-time buyers take that all-important first step. We will help you increase your buying power by introducing you to other first-time buyers in the same position... We'll help you find your dream home...!"

Yep. As well as making the biggest financial decision of your life... you pool your money with complete strangers. Crazy? Very.

The deluge of property stuff on the telly tells me the housing market is full to bursting. Indeed, if first-time buyers are now having to team up to buy a bottom-rung shoebox, you just know property prices are too expensive and are heading for a fall. And all this on top of it all, house-price statistics and mad property deals tell a similar, worrying, story.

At this stage of the housing cycle, the public deserves property programmes that offer greater financial education.

For example, I suggest a series entitled How I Saved My Housing Fortune, which would follow fed-up house-hunters looking for attractive places to rent at a cost far less than the potential mortgage.

Or Repossession, Repossession, Repossession, which would recount tales from late Eighties homebuyers about the dangers of negative equity and excessive borrowing.

Or Property Snake, which would uncover the goings-on behind dubious estate agents, 'millionaire' property seminars and various buy-to-let schemes.

Until these sorts of programmes become commonplace, I am left to suffer star-struck homebuyers making what I consider to be costly mistakes. I am a property television addict... get me out of here!