A Place in the Sun: Couple refuse to view French property
Friday's episode of A Place In The Sun took an awkward turn when Diane and Nigel, a couple in search of their dream holiday home in France with a £180K budget, outright refused to view a property after immediately spotting a dealbreaker.
In the show's latest outing, property guru Lee Juggurnauth was tasked with finding the perfect French retreat for Diane and Nigel.
They were keen on a more relaxed lifestyle that would accommodate outdoor living, as well as space for their motorbikes, camper van, and DIY projects.
Initially impressed by the first few offerings, the atmosphere changed dramatically at the third property when the couple wouldn't even step inside after noticing an immediate problem, despite the house being described as "huge" and "tidy".
Lee presented them with a spacious four-bedroom modern townhouse, albeit slightly over their budget at £212,906, to which Diane expressed her concerns straight away: "Running through my mind is you're going straight in from the pavement."
She elaborated: "I think it's beautiful, it looks absolutely amazing, it looks so clean, so lovely but it's that stepping in off the street - straight from the street into the front door, we've got a camper van which is our pride and joy and we go away in a lot", reports the Mirror.
Diane continued, outlining their vision: "Our ideal is to bring that to France and bounce off to other places, I just think parking would be difficult here as it's quite a busy street."
"So I think unfortunately it would have to be a no from me," she confessed, adding that she didn't even want to view inside the property, explaining: "No because it might be really really nice inside but that [the outside] it would be a no for me with the way the front is."
However, later in the episode, expert Lee pulled out all the stops as the couple were smitten with a Monflanquin bungalow boasting four bedrooms and a price tag of £210,342. Upon viewing the property, Diane was so overwhelmed that she needed to sit down, visibly moved by the perfect property.
But in a classic property market twist, when the couple made their offer, they found themselves embroiled in a bidding war with another potential buyer. After initially offering £185,000, the pair upped their bid to their final offer of £197,500, which was subsequently accepted.
The new series of A Place In The Sun is available to watch on weekdays at 4pm on Channel 4.
