Glasgow couple's Maryhill home featured in Grand Designs: The Streets

Animator Joanna and carpenter Ben built the home with a budget of just £170,000 in Maryhill after purchasing the plot of land for £50,000 from Glasgow City Council as part of Scotland's first urban self-build scheme. 

Using a much smaller budget than usually seen on Grand Designs, the couple had to do all the work themselves, including building their own scaffolding and using ropes in an effort to avoid costs of around £20,000. 

Just outside Glasgow city centre, six plots of affordable pieces of land have been sold to budding self-builders.

The first house to go up will be Joanna and Ben’s American style ranch – with a tight budget of £170,000 #GrandDesignsStreets pic.twitter.com/8Zf15d1o5E

— granddesigns (@granddesigns) May 4, 2022

However, there was one part of the couple's experience that caught viewers' attention in particular. 

While overseeing the project, the couple moved out of their flat and into a caravan, but it was vandalised and burned with many of their possessions being destroyed.

One user tweeted: "My heart sank when their caravan was burnt to cinders.

"Such a gutsy couple taking on the challenge of building a wooden house in that area also.

"I pray it turns out well for them and their fellow neighbours on the street eventually."

Another said: "Is anyone watching Grand Designs, seeing a wooden barn being constructed in a 'gritty area of Glasgow' (Channel 4s words - It's Maryhill) and thinking 'you are literally setting a fire for youths to set alight'."

A third person wrote: "Watching Grand Designs on Channel 4 up at Maryhill... when I start watching I think 'hmm they might have an issue with neds'... two minutes in, yup." 

A spin-off of the popular Channel 4 show, Grand Designs: The Streets sees presenter Kevin McCloud follow households as they embark on an epic mission to construct their own homes as contract brand-new streets in Britain's biggest self-build project.