Couple who couldn't afford a house in the UK buy an entire French hamlet with seven cottages and two barns for £26,000 - and save £100,000 by renovating it themselves

A couple who were unable to afford a UK home purchased an entire French hamlet for £26,000 - and have saved more than £100,000 by renovating it themselves. Yip Ward and Paul Mappley, both 52, were living in a caravan in Tunbridge Wells when they were offered the chance to buy the unique Normandy property by a friend in 2020.After a brief trip to France to view the site, they immediately snapped up the small hamlet for £12,000 - which they funded by selling their belongings and an old tractor.Since then, the couple have also purchased the adjacent buildings and now own seven cottages, two barns, a workshop, a cider press, two traditional bread ovens and various other outbuildings - all for £14,000.They began restoring the hamlet building by building six years ago and have already managed to convert the original cottage into a holiday rental, alongside a horsebox they brought from the UK which has been a sell-out success. To help fund the renovation, the pair have fundraised on social media and are now set to have their second cottage complete by summer 2027.And while it has been a costly and tiresome experience, the couple believe they have saved more than £100,000 by doing the bulk of the work themselves - with the help of their builder friend Ian, 62. Yip said: '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. A couple who were unable to afford a UK home purchased an entire French hamlet for £26,000 - and have saved more than £100,000 by renovating it themselves Yip Ward and Paul Mappley, both 52, were living in a caravan in Tunbridge Wells when they were offered the chance to buy the unique Normandy property by a friend in 2020 After a brief trip to France to view the site, they immediately snapped up the small hamlet for £12,000 - which they funded by selling their belongings and an old tractor'We definitely see it as the planets aligned. We went and sought out a wreck that had been abandoned 30 years ago and pieced it together.'We're really cracking on now. We say to ourselves we can't believe this whole place is ours.'Coming from where we come from I don't think the gratitude for being here will ever run out. It blows my mind.'At the time, the original sellers of the hamlet had changed their minds about the property due to the huge amount of restoration work that needed to be done.With the rules in France meaning they did not need to hand over the entire sum for eight months after purchase, Yip and Paul set to work during Covid, earning money through their jobs as landscape gardeners to seal the deal.They even documented their restoration journey and appeared on Channel 4's 'Help! We Bought A French Village!' to document the process.Now, Paul revealed that they are in 'full restoration mode' after working for years to transform their hamlet, called La Buslière.He said: 'I can't express to you enough that apart from cottages one and two, the other three cottages were covered, the whole roof in ivy. The couple have also purchased the adjacent buildings and now own seven cottages, two barns, a workshop, a cider press, two traditional bread ovens and various other outbuildings - all for £14,000 While it has been a costly and tiresome experience, the couple believe they have saved more than £100,000 by doing the bulk of the work themselves - with the help of their builder friend Ian, 62 Paul explained that their friend Ian has been 'in the trade for 47 years in building restoration' and agreed to help with the cottage transformation after coming across the couple's journey on their YouTube Channel'They were literally being swallowed by nature. We're saving so much money doing it ourselves.'He explained that their friend Ian has been 'in the trade for 47 years in building restoration' and agreed to help with the cottage transformation after coming across the couple's journey on their YouTube Channel. 'We knew of him and in 2019 he did repairs on cottage one,' Paul said. 'He did the roof repairs, minor works and then we didn't see him for four years and he, unbeknownst to us, was watching our YouTube channel.'We had a massive two tonne roof thing that needed to come out as it was rotten on one end. We didn't have anyone, machinery or money and we were sharing on YouTube saying 'we don't know what to do'.'He saw this video and arrived one day and said 'come on boys let's get this beam out'. For the first six months he worked for no payment.'Now, however, the couple are able to pay Ian £1,000 weekly through the money they earn on YouTube.Paul said: 'We have five people turning up every single day to donate things - they bring bits of furniture or materials for the roof. With the rules in France meaning they did not need to hand over the entire sum for eight months after purchase, Yip and Paul set to work during Covid, earning money through their jobs as landscape gardeners to seal the deal 'We saved £11,000 just on one side of a roof. Take that per cottage doing it ourselves that's £22,000 per cottage, seven cottages which is instantly saving us over £100,000,' Paul said Once their restorative project is complete, the couple are planning on living full-time in the hamlet, despite the amount of profit they could generate from renting out the cottages'I can't tell you what a community we've built somehow. Every week we're donated £400 worth of materials for free we can use.'All of this saves us so much money.'For example one side of the roof of cottage three was really bad and we were quotes £13,000 to fix it, and we did it for £2,000 because we did it ourselves.'We saved £11,000 just on one side of a roof. Take that per cottage doing it ourselves that's £22,000 per cottage, seven cottages which is instantly saving us over £100,000.'Once their restorative project is complete, the couple are planning on living full-time in the hamlet, despite the amount of profit they could generate from renting out the cottages. Yip said: 'People say "once all seven cottages are done you'll rake it in". We don't want it to be a metropolis.'Every single guest who stays here says they can't believe how quiet it is.'There is no light pollution, it's a fantastic place and we don't want to ruin it with seven cottages populated with people.'The other buildings we'll turn into workshop spaces. We'd like to do summer fairs here and markets.'Once a month we'd like to do an outdoor cinema and do pizza making – we have two original pizza ovens.''There won't be things like TV's in the cottages. There won't be any UPVC windows.'It's an exciting, amazing place and we want to make sure people are transported back.'