Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Emma Munbodh

Dad lists £1.5m country home for £5 online after it failed to sell during pandemic

A dad-of-four who spent a year transforming a £340,000 barn into a luxury family home has listed it on the market for just £5 as part of an online raffle.

Marc Bryden, 32, is hoping to shift 300,000 tickets between now and October - and says he will donate a large amount of the money raised to charity.

Marc, who owns a driveway renovation firm, bought the barn for £340,000 in 2018 when it was derelict.

The four-bedroom property is set in three acres of land in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire.

He spent a year transforming it into a luxury home along with his uncle Karl and this year, it was valued at £1.5million.

The conversion, named Daisy Lee Grange, also has a double garage, stable block and horse riding arena.

"I was working outside in all hours just trying to make a living for myself, but I thought there must be something else besides working outside in all weather," Marc told the Yorkshire Live.

The five-bedroom property, located in the town of Holmfirth, is surrounded by three acres of land and is newly renovated (Triangle News)

"It's been blood, sweat and tears and I've really put my all into it, but I thought that if I can hand it to someone and it be their dream home, then I'd love to do that.

"It would be someone who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford a home like that."

It took Marc and Karl, 54, around a year to do the property up, which Marc said was "literally nothing" when they bought it.

"We took three walls of it down and then we built it back up, I did most of the work myself and ended up sleeping there with a carpet for my pillow," he said.

The property has been renovated by builder Marc Bryden, alongside his uncle and business partner Karl (Triangle News)

"I really put everything in to it, it's been a labour of love. But we're not looking to make a massive profit, if we can just pay everything off and someone can get a nice house that's all we want."

More than 10,000 raffle tickets have sold in the past 24 hours.

Marc and Karl are set to make around £1.5million from the raffle ticket sales - as there are 300,000 £5 tickets available.

They will also give £50,000 to Holmfirth Hospice and Mind.

"It's the first time we've done anything like this, it's quite challenging and it's put me through quite a lot of pressure - I wasn't close to having a breakdown or anything, but I can understand why people have struggled with mental illnesses so that's why I chose Mind," Marc said.

The conversion, named Daisy Lee Grange, also has a double garage, stable block and horse riding arena (Triangle News)

Marc and Karl said a further 10% of the sale will go towards fees, and they'll also cover the stamp duty and other house fees for the buyer.

Marc said: "It's quite a high value property, so I first looked at trying to get a bit of a holiday let for it as it's got stables and a manège [horse riding arena] and it has views over Holmfirth so it's quite a nice picturesque place.

"But we just thought we'd try this first so that someone gets a nice property for a fiver."

The property also features a double garage, stable block and horse riding arena.

Marc, who has owned a driveway business with Karl for the past six years, said he wanted a new challenge (Triangle News)

Get the latest money advice, news and help straight to your inbox - sign up at mirror.co.uk/email

Marc lives at a separate property with his wife Emily, who works as a legal secretary, and their four kids, Gracie, eight, Blue, seven, Elsie, five and Indie, four.

They are hoping to raffle off the home and buy a plot of land to build another home on.

Marc insisted the raffle was "not a scam".

He said: "We've had a few comments from people asking if it's a scam as you would but I can promise you it's not.

"There's credibility and everything."

Stelios Kounou, owner of the competition site Raffall, said: "After other houses have been successfully raffled on our site recently, we are excited to host such a beautiful home.

"We wish Marc and his family every success with their competition."

The raffle will end on October 30, or when all tickets have been sold.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.