Homes Under the Hammer makes history with record-breaking BBC restoration project

HOMES Under the Hammer has made history with a record-breaking BBC restoration project.

The BBC show has seen many projects take longer than expected.

But The Old Cottage Pub in Margate, Kent has broken new records, having first been purchased to renovate in 2009.

David Gorton bought the 370-year-old inn for £90,000 and originally planned to have the pub back open by 2011.

But he suffered a series of setbacks including planning permissions, and it is still a work in progress.

David told KentOnline: “It must be the longest-running Homes Under the Hammer project ever.

“It was a bargain to buy. But if I looked at the final figures I could expect on day one – I probably never would have done it.

“It’s worked out to be very, very expensive but honestly, if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to do it properly.”

One of the biggest costs for David was fixing the collapsing basement for £155,000, which took him over the initial budget for the whole project.

When the pub is finally completed, it will feature its own brewery in the basement, as well as Airbnb rooms and a restaurant.

The pub itself will have original old features too, such as “pour your own pint” stations – although punters will need a digital members card to use it.

David and his wife have also added an extra floor to the pub so they can have a second home with a sea view.

Homes Under the Hammer returned to see David five years after he first appeared on the show, hoping it would be finished.

He said: “I made them promise if they let me do the second film when we weren’t finished, they would come back and do the finale. They said ‘yes, so long as we’re still in production’.

“I have to finish it. The truth is I have no idea how much I’ve spent on it.

“It’s a work in progress, and if I kept score it would frighten the life out of me.”

Homes Under the Hammer airs weekdays on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer.