Couple bag ‘dream’ £325k property at auction after house hunting for two years

A couple have expressed their joy after they bagged their ‘dream’ home via a property auction. Tammie and Jason Squire, from Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, were “ecstatic” to secure the detached property in Shrewsbury for £325,000.

They competed against rival bidders in a packed saleroom at Halls auctioneers’ Battlefield saleroom last month after house hunting for two years. Purchasing the three bedroomed country cottage, which requires modernisation and refurbishment, will mean that they will be just a 20-minute drive from their youngest daughter, Hollie, 20.

It currently takes the couple around 45 minutes to visit Hollie, who has a range of disabilities, at Condover College’s residential home in Pontesbury, near Shrewsbury. The couple’s new house has a range of adaptable outbuildings and an amenity paddock.

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Jason, who buys and develops land, plans to add a ground floor extension to the cottage to provide a bedroom and showering facilities for Hollie, who returns home at weekends. The extension will be in keeping with the black clad outbuildings, one of which will be converted into a garage.

The couple’s plans are subject to planning consent. Tammie, who has been a full-time carer for Hollie but now works part-time as a bookkeeper, said: “This cottage ticked every single box in our search for our dream home.

“We had been home hunting for two years because we wanted to relocate to be closer to Hollie. The beautiful, period cottage is on top of a hill, sits in its own glorious space and has so much potential.

“What more could you ask? It just needs some loving care and attention which I am more than prepared to give. We just love everything about it.

“Our eldest daughter Charlotte, who’s a primary school teacher in Wolverhampton, visited the cottage with Jason the day after the auction and said it was ‘pure perfection’.”

The plan now is to put their current detached, four bedroomed house, which has been adapted for Hollie, on the market whilst architects draw up plans for the cottage.

Speaking about the auction, Tammie added: “We loved the whole experience and Halls have been great. I had watched ‘Homes Under the Hammer’ on tv but had never previously been to an auction.

“The room was packed with hundreds of people and we were wondering how many would be bidding for the cottage. My adrenalin level was through the roof, so that when the hammer fell and we had bought the cottage, I shouted ‘Yes!’ loudly.

“We were ecstatic. I can’t explain how overwhelming it still is to think that we will be living there.”

Jason said: “It’s a dream come true because I grew up in the countryside. I don’t have too much planned other than converting one of the barns into a garage and demolishing those that are unstable.

“The layout of the house will stay the same but we would like to add a single story extension. I shall be using my civil engineering background to level the paddock and turn the majority of it into a wildflower meadow with a single polytunnel to grow our own produce.”

Alex Forber, manager of Halls’ Barker Street office in Shrewsbury, added: “We are delighted that we have been able to help Jason and Tammie find their dream home in Shropshire. They have purchased a fantastic property with lots of potential to make into a lovely home in a great location.

“The collective property and land auction was the biggest we have organised to date and a huge success. We very much look forward to the next collective auction on July 12.”