Room to Improve? Quite a bit here, Dermot!
MYSTERY surrounds the final episode of this season’s Room to Improve which has yet to air.
It was announced in March that the last show of RTÉ’s home renovations series was delayed and would be broadcast within weeks.
But the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal that all work has stopped at the house which was to be the subject of the final episode.
The series – hosted by awardwinning architect Dermot Bannon and produced by Coco Television – was due to feature a Georgian-style property on the Malahide Road, north Dublin.
When the MoS visited the property this week, the house and project appeared to have been abandoned.
A large skip – still full of debris from inside the house – was in full view on the front lawn.
Inside the property, no signs of recent works were evident, and a hard hat was resting on a washing machine.
Renovations first began on the house in late autumn of last year. But according to neighbours, work ceased ‘before Christmas and has yet to recommence’.
One resident said: ‘The owner is a lady from the Dublin area and there was a bit of excitement when we found out Dermot was going to be on our street.
‘My wife is a big fan of the show, so she was hoping to catch a glimpse – but sadly not. That skip is a bit of an eyesore now at this stage and we haven’t seen any builders or movement on the house in months.’
Footage released a number of months ago by RTÉ showed the initial stages of the rebuild with a large extension being built to the rear of the property.
The property was purchased for €435,000 in April 2016.
Planning permission was granted in October 2016 for a new driveway, entrance gates and all ancillary works to the front garden – not a large extension. This means that the extension to the rear of the property cannot exceed 40 sq.m, according to planning guidelines.
RTÉ declined to comment on the delays.