IT has two fully fitted bathrooms, four large bedrooms, a kitchen diner, extended lounge and two extra living rooms, double glazing and central heating and is worth £150,000.
Amazingly, the solid red-brick Victorian terrace was bought a year ago by taxi driver Jayalal Madde for just one pound.
Jayalal, 49, his wife, Chami, and their two daughters, Sansali, 13 and Sinali, 11,will be moving into their new home in Cairns Street, Granby, in time for Christmas.
The house that Jayalal re-built is the first of 20 to be finished as part of the Homes for a Pound scheme launched by Liverpool Mayor Anderson.
Over 1,000 people put in bids, and a follow up scheme with more homes for a pound has been promised by the Mayor in 2015.
Today he and Assistant Mayor Ann O’Byrne visited the house and were amazed at the transformation.
“When I came here a year ago I had to wear and hard hat and steel-capped boots before I could go inside," he said. "The transformation is incredible and shows the value of such a scheme.”
The house had been empty for 15 years waiting to be demolished, before the rescue plan was introduced.
Jayalal spent £30,000 on bringing the house to a required ‘decent homes’ standard and another few thousand to carry out extra modifications.
Jayalal told Liverpool Confidential today: “Altogether I have spent less than £40,000 plus one pound and we have this amazing family home. The girls can‘t wait to move in.
“Around the corner some smaller two-bedroomed homes were re novated and sold for just under £100,000. On that basis our house will be worth at least £150,000.”
One condition is the family must live in the house for five years, though Jayalal says he plans to stay much longer in the thriving community of Granby.
To keep costs of renovation work as low as possible Jayalal did some of the repair work himself.
Jayalal, Joe and Ann: Pictures by Martin Birchall
Mayor Anderson, said: “I am pleased to have had a tour around Mr Madde’s new home and seeing the work he has carried out to bring it up to standard.
“It is great to know that a once run down property has been lovingly transformed into a home for his family. Our pound scheme is the first of its kind in the country and is being copied by other towns and cities. We plan to extend the scheme here as well in 2015.
“This is a really creative scheme, but is just part of the overall picture. Across Liverpool, we’ve already brought more than 1,300 older properties back into use over the last two years, and through our housing development partners we are committed to making sure another 1,000 are renovated.”
Assistant Mayor O’Byrne, said: “We know how important home ownership is to local people, and that’s why we’re doing everything we can to bring our empty homes back into use.
“We are not pretending it is the answer to the issues with empty housing in Liverpool, but it is one of the tools now at our disposal.
“This scheme is very exciting but has not been without its challenges, particularly around securing house insurance for the owners and getting the utilities reconnected, but we are making good progress.”
