BBC Escape to the Country buyers detail being 'homeless' during 'hell on earth' move

It looked as though moving wasn't a straightforward process for one couple who was featured on Escape to the Country. During Monday's show, BBC star Jules Hudson caught up with Steve and Sarah, who left their lives in Hampshire behind for an idyllic home in Devon.

After a small recap of the original episode, which showed their house hunt in 2023, BBC viewers learnt the couple had chosen to put in an offer in the first home that was shown to them.

However, when Jules caught up with them, it had only been two weeks since they moved in, despite them putting an offer in a year prior. While catching up with them, Steve joked he didn't know if he should thank Jules or throw him in the lake.

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While inside the home, the BBC host was quick to notice an issue. Sarah said: "We have a lot of damp coming through." Steve explained they had people coming around to look at the issue as Jules asked if the survey revealed the issue.

He replied: "Yes, it did highlight a lot of it, so we knew. We've gone through hell on earth to get here, genuinely have. But, within two weeks, we're just in love with this house, we genuinely are."

After learning Sarah and Steve brought the home for £830,000, with it being on the market for £950,000, Jules was stunned. Although the move wasn't simple as their home in Hampshire sold for less than expected

Jules questioned how quick it was for their offer to be accepted as the pair shared it was within a few hours. The BBC star commented: "Obviously, it took a little bit of time to sell yours because you've only just moved in a year later."

Sarah replied: "We had a few buyers and they fell through, that was hard. Then, the final buyers, we were a little bit nervous of losing them so we let them move in quite a while ago and made ourselves homeless, basically.

"We broke the chain. Actually, having that six weeks where we stayed in the B&Bs, because we weren't in the house, we weren't busy doing things, unpacking boxes, we had time to go out and explore."

Praising Jules for his efforts in helping them find their dream home, Steve started to get choked up. He said: "It's a massive thing for us.

"Would we go through the Escape to the Country journey? 100% Would we change anything? Probably not. Have we found a dream house with your help and the crew? Mate, come on, what more could you want?"

I Escaped the Country is available to watch on BBC iPlayer