We had "Grand Designs" on television (Canada, CBC) for a few years, which I loved, though it drove my husband (Canadian builder) batty. And we've got one or two series of "Restoration Man" with George Clarke on dvd which I quite like.

The scope of many of the projects seems to be much grander too than what we tend to see in North America, and the UK projects seem considerably more individualized and unique.

$3M for a castle with 121 rooms seems like a deal!

I haven’t seen either show, I will look for them.

I like the idea of not allowing owners to move in if they haven’t respected the time limits, or even better in my view, if the historic modifications that were agreed upon were not observed or respected.

We have problems in our city with speculative developers who purchase old houses or schools and then rather than restore them as they suggested they would, they let them sit for years and years until they must be demolished for safety reasons. Then of course a condo tower does up. The other problem is developers who agree to restrict a development to two storeys, but end up building three. Or their approved plans don’t show a roof top terrace over looking their neighbout’s yard, but they build it without approval. They get a slap on the risk from the city, but they never lose their property or have the project torn town. It’s a scam, especially in heritage districts and our city let’s them get away with it. If the city demolished the new structure, or denied developers or homeowners occupancy rightsjust once or twice I bet the rules would be followed far more often. So I’m all for the British rules!

Well except that LEEDS woman was targeted at something like 95 points and found out she had like 93 because one of the things she lacked was onsite showers for the workers so they would not transfer construction debris to their own houses. She was a single woman building a one-off house. And no one would have been able to move it. It would have sat empty. She was able to juggle around and play some games for the extra points but it was dicey for a while.

Another guy was rescuing a house and doing the work himself. He applied for funds because it was a significant house because of the original builder/owner but they jerked him around forever, and then the same government could take the house away from him, keep his entire investment because he did not meet a deadline. Which was something like 9 months. These rules seem extreme. It's for infractions not nearly the sort of stunts people pull in the US.

Uh-oh, I forsee another timesuck catching up on what I can!

I got pretty addicted to what I saw of the Irish "Room to Improve" series, which focuses on the architect-client relationship.

I love Grand Designs and Room to Improve, I'll have to look for Restoration Home. I enjoy the absence of fake drama and incredible repetition on HGTV shows.

I agree, the LEED requirements are a bit ridiculous, but I work in a LEED Silver building where fine winter snow will blow under the atrium doors and freeze on the tile floor. It makes no sense.

Just watched the guy with the big house in Wales. I am so hooked. Thanks a lot pal!!

Always happy to introduce others to time eaters.

The types of government intervention are just so different: lots and lots of staircases with no railings at all or a sheet of glass with no handrail, but they can make you restore a wall exactly as it was built in 1650 if that means the inside is stuffed with reeds and no one will see it again for another 400 years.

Love all these shows, and yes, I have noticed the same thing. Also, Escape to the Country - the only bath in a two story house is on the ground floor and no one thinks it's a problem, and bedrooms so small walking around the bed (usually bending down for ceiling) is a "nice sized room". We're really very spoilt in someways, but we also accept poor quality that would not be accepted in the UK.