Yip Ward and Paul Mappley, both 52, who were priced out of the UK property market, have bought an entire French hamlet for £26,000 and estimate they have saved £100,000 by carrying out the renovations themselves.
The couple, who were living in a caravan in Tunbridge Wells, purchased the property in Normandy after a friend offered them the opportunity. They bought it immediately for £12,000, financed by selling their possessions, including an old tractor belonging to Paul.
Expanding the Property Portfolio
Since that initial purchase, the pair have bought the surrounding buildings and now own seven cottages, two barns, a workshop, a cider press, two traditional bread ovens and various other outbuildings – all for an additional £14,000.
They started restoring the hamlet building by building in 2020 and have invested approximately £100,000 in restoration work to date. The original cottage now operates as a holiday let, along with a horsebox transported from the UK that is "booked out".
Renovation Savings and Community Support
The duo believe they have saved more than £100,000 by undertaking most of the work themselves with assistance from their builder friend Ian, 62. They are now in a position to pay Ian £1,000 each week using funds generated from their YouTube channel.
Yip explained: "People always says how did you find the village and it's not that we were looking, it was a chance meeting with a friend who had got a place and was selling it."
"We definitely see it as the planets aligned. We went and sought out a wreck that had been abandoned 30 years ago and pieced it together."
"We're really cracking on now. We say to ourselves we can't believe this whole place is ours. Coming from where we come from I don't think the gratitude for being here will ever run out. It blows my mind."
Funding and Future Plans
Thanks to French property rules meaning they did not need to hand over the full sum for eight months after purchase, the couple threw themselves into the project during the Covid pandemic, funding the purchase through their work as landscape gardeners. They also documented their restoration journey and appeared on Channel 4's 'Help! We Bought A French Village!'.
Paul described their current efforts at their hamlet, La Buslière, as being in "full restoration mode" following years of painstaking work. He said: "I can't express to you enough that apart from cottages one and two, the other three cottages were covered, the whole roof in ivy. They were literally being swallowed by nature. We're saving so much money doing it ourselves."
Paul noted that a friend they met in the trade, who has been in building restoration for 47 years, worked for no payment for the first six months after seeing their YouTube video about a rotten beam. The pair now receive donations from five people every day, including furniture and materials, saving them around £400 worth of materials each week.
For example, one side of the roof of cottage three was quoted at £13,000 to fix, and they did it for £2,000, saving £11,000 on just one side of a roof. Paul estimated that doing the work themselves saves over £100,000 across the seven cottages.
Once restoration work is complete, the duo intend to experience living in each individual cottage within their hamlet. Yip remarked: "People say 'once all seven cottages are done you'll rake it in'. That's what a capitalist would say. We don't want it to be a metropolis."
"Every single guest who stays here says they can't believe how quiet it is. There is no light pollution, it's a fantastic place and we don't want to ruin it with seven cottages populated with people."
The other buildings will be turned into workshop spaces, with plans for summer fairs, markets, monthly outdoor cinema and pizza making using two original pizza ovens. There will be no TVs or UPVC windows in the cottages, as the couple want visitors to feel transported back in time. Their restoration adventure can be followed on YouTube @helpweboughtafrenchvillage.
