BRITISH COUPLE BUY FRENCH HAMLET IN NORMANDY FOR £26,000

Yip Ward and Paul Mappley bought a hamlet in Normandy for £26,000 after finding themselves unable to afford a UK home, according to the couple. The pair lived in a caravan in Tunbridge Wells when a friend offered to sell them the abandoned property in 2020 because it needed extensive restoration. After a brief visit to France, Ward and Mappley bought the initial house immediately for £12,000. They later purchased the adjacent buildings for £14,000, acquiring seven cottages, two barns, a workshop, a cider press, two traditional bread ovens and other outbuildings.

"People always say how did you find the village and it's not that we were looking, it was a chance meeting with a friend who had got a place and was selling it," Ward said. The couple funded the first purchase by selling their possessions, including Mappley's old tractor. French rules gave them eight months to pay the full balance, so they worked as landscape gardeners during Covid to fund the deal. Having spent around £100,000 restoring the site, the pair estimate they have saved more than £100,000 by doing most of the work themselves with their builder friend Ian.

Ward and Mappley converted the original cottage into a holiday rental alongside a horsebox brought from the UK, which they report is fully booked. Social media followers have fundraised to help the couple finance the remaining work. The pair plan to complete their second cottage by summer 2027, according to their schedule. They also documented the restoration for the Channel 4 programme Help! We Bought A French Village!.