Steve and Celine, of Claverdon, Warwickshire, inherited the 1960s family home 18 months ago from a family friend but admitted they found the property ’embarrassing’ as it was the ‘shabbiest on the street’.

They enlisted the help of George Clark and his team to bring the A-line building up to date, with a hefty £150,000 set aside to spend on the job.

But by adhering to the designs of architect Graeme Williamson, they ended up going a staggering £200,000 over budget, leaving viewers agog.

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The couple said they had a £150,000 budget to spend on bringing the 1960s A-line home up-to-date

Full-time mum-of-three Celine said the house had sentimental value as she grew up two doors down and spent much of her childhood visiting their family friend Sheila.

But having inherited it, she admitted she felt a ‘sense of dreadful shame’ every time she stood outside it and looked at its knackered paintwork and rotting timber. 

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Graeme suggested cladding the home all in one material, which didn’t go down well with Celine

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George Clark warned he thought the project could go way over budget as it was a ‘big job’

Another remarked: ‘Right I am 10 mins in #UglyHouse and it is p****** me off! “Oh I hate my gifted house, it’s ugly” Gifted!!!!! Maybe, just maybe do more than take a door off before you get a TV show in, ya snob!’

And one wrote: ‘Oh so you don’t like the house you’ve inherited? Ya boo sucks to be you doesn’t it.’

Celine’s husband Steve, a financial operations manager, said they were keen to find an innovative way to bring the house bang up to date.

Many took to Twitter to suggest they should have sold the house and bought a new one for the amount of money they spent on it.

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Nicola Bentley, 46, and husband Phil, 48, claim that despite complaining about the faults ten months ago, only 10 per cent of them have been fixed.

The couple used their life savings to help buy their four-bedroom dream home off plan from house-building firm Persimmon, who boasted profits of £1billion last year despite accusations of poorly-finished new builds. 

But within days of moving into the property, they claim to have found a host of problems including doors that do not fit properly and holes in the plasterwork.

They also discovered architraves which are not level, cracking around the window boards, bubbled paintwork and say the turf in their garden was ‘lumpy’ and ‘uneven’.

The furious couple pointed the finger at Persimmon, which currently faces a battle to keep its lucrative right to sell homes under the Help to Buy scheme amid criticism of executive pay and accusations of shoddy workmanship. 

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Within days of moving into the property, the couple claim to have found a host of problems, including doors that do not fit properly (pictured left) and a ‘lumpy’, unfinished garden

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Pictured is damage to a window sill in the front room of the home, which the couple bought off plan from Persimmon Homes last year

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Pictured left and right, expanding foam filler used on the front door spills out from the seals, creating an unfinished look to the new-build home

Under-fire building firm boasted £1bn profits

Persimmon, the housebuilder which is at risk of seeing its lucrative Help to Buy contract removed, saw pre-tax profits surpass £1billion last year.

Pre-tax profits rose 13 per cent to £1.091billion in 2018, on a four per cent rise in revenues to £3.74billion, it has been reported. 

Of these, nearly half, or 7,970, were sold to people using the Help to Buy scheme – some 288 more compared to 2017.

Dave Jenkinson (left) took over from Jeff Fairburn (right) after a pay dispute

The housebuilder is reportedly at risk of being stripped of its right to participate in the Government’s Help to Buy mortgage scheme.

That is allegedly because of issues including the use of Help to Buy to acquire houses with leases, the quality of Persimmon homes and treatment of customers, and its leadership in the wake of the backlash over pay.

The FTSE 100 company also recently confirmed that interim chief executive Dave Jenkinson will stay on in the role after previous boss Jeff Fairburn was forced out last year following an outcry over his £75million bonus.

The married couple, who have two children aged 10 and 15, say the home in Kippax near Leeds, West Yorkshire, was left looking like a building site.

They say they noticed problems as soon as they were handed the keys in May and it has been an uphill struggle ever since.

Financial director Nicola suffers from systemic autoimmune disease lupus.

She claims increase stress levels and airborne dust have led to recent flare-ups. 

Mother-of-two Nicola said: ‘It’s been awful and it’s taken over our lives. There isn’t one room in the whole house which is complete.

‘We are living in a building site, we haven’t been able to put any photos up on the walls and there is just a TV and sofa in the living room.

‘We don’t like to wallow in self-pity but this has dragged us down so much, it has nearly broken us as a family.

‘It’s been horrendous and the worst year of our lives. We wish we had never done it.

‘This is our life savings, we have put everything into the house. I thought we had a dream home but it’s turned into a nightmare from hell.

‘They keep apologising but apologies aren’t good enough. I just want our house finished and I want it right.’

The couple outgrew their previous home of 17 years and decided to look for a bigger property.

Nicola and Phil viewed a showroom home in September 2017 which was of a similar style to the prospective house they were looking to move in to.

After discussions, they decided to go-ahead with purchasing the new-build, which was bought off-plan.

However, they were allegedly not allowed to inspect the property to make a snagging list prior to the exchange of contracts because it was ‘against Persimmon policy’.

Dalek Graphics managing director Phil said: ‘To start with, the Monday after we moved in we received a snagging report saying there were 500 defects. I identified a further 200. 

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Mark Beresford, 61, and his wife Sharon, 57, launched the competition last year and told contestants they would give away their riverside property in Hampshire if they sold 250,000 tickets at £25 each.

But instead they sold just 30,000 – raising £750,000 – not enough to trigger the prize draw for the six bed house in Ringwood on the edge of the New Forest.

In their terms and conditions, the Beresfords stated that in these circumstances the first prize would be cash to the value of 75 per cent of the final ticket sales – but only after their promotion costs were taken out. 

The couple maintain they racked up around £450,000 in advertising, marketing, PR and legal bills and were also entitled to keep up to 25 per cent of the ticket sales – about £187,000 

The remaining £110,000 from the £750,000 pot was won by Carina Alcock from nearby Christchurch, whose ticket was drawn two days ago.

In the face of criticism, Mr Beresford, a 61-year-old company director who made his money turning around failing businesses, defended the veracity of the draw and the costs they racked up.

He said today: ‘If we charged our time on an hourly rate we would be a little bit above minimum wage’ and threatened to call the police if the reporter did not leave. 

Graham Nash, from Poole, Dorset, wrote online today: ‘Would be interested to see the breakdown of the costs’ and Michelle Philpott, from Poole, posted on social media: ‘I think all who entered should be given their money back. £600,000 on promotional costs?’

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