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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Liam Thorp

£1 house owners delighted with valuation after transforming derelict property

One of the first families to take part in Liverpool's groundbreaking Homes for a Pound Scheme are considering selling up and leaving Wavertree's Webster Triangle.

Childhood sweethearts Mel and Rob Hilton featured in the first series of Channel 4 documentary 'The £1 Houses: Britain's Cheapest Street' as they battled to turn their dilapidated, vacant new property into a dream home.

The second series of the programme has already shown how the young couple achieved that dream - and now live in a stunning house in the Webster Triangle.

But its not what is inside the house that is worrying the family - but what is taking place outside it.

The couple have already expressed concern about anti-social behaviour and crime in the local area - and are also frustrated that the street they live on is almost entirely empty of people with rafts of vacant properties surrounding theirs.

In tonight's episode - Mel and Rob discuss their ongoing concerns and reveal that they are considering selling the house that they have worked so hard on.

Mel says the area they are living in feels 'a bit like a ghetto' and expresses concerns about her two children playing out in the street.

And while she is talking to the programme makers - a local man suddenly approaches and throws pretend punches and kicks at the camera in a bizarre fashion.

One of Mel's big worries is that any valuation of their house could be severely affected by the problems in the area.

But when the couple meet with an estate agent they are pleasantly surprised with what they are told.

The continued focus on anti-social problems and crime in this part of Liverpool could again rile the city council and Mayor Joe Anderson.

He has spoken out publicly about what he believes is an unfair depiction of the city and the scheme by Channel 4.

Local councillors have also explained that they refused to take part in the second series amid concerns about how the local area was portrayed in the first series.

Episode three of the second series of '' The £1 Houses: Britain's Cheapest Street' airs on Channel 4 at 8.30pm this evening.

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