Location, Location, Location: Why couple who swapped Birmingham for popular Sheffield suburb have no regrets

Lauren and Ahmed’s search for a new home featured on the popular Channel 4 show Location, Location, Location last night, Wednesday, November 13.

The hydrogen research scientists chose to move from Birmingham to Sheffield as they had a new baby, Florence, and wanted to be closer to family.

They initially said their ideal location would be Meersbrook but eventually found their ideal home in Woodseats.

The episode was originally shot in September 2020 but the show returned to see how the family were getting on now, having welcomed a second baby girl, Robin.

They were still in the same house, which they had extensively renovated, and loved the neighbourhood, saying they ‘can’t imagine being anywhere else’.

When Lauren and Ahmed began their search four years ago they had a budget of £270,000. They enlisted Kirstie and Phil’s help after having been outbid on eight properties.

They hoped for a three-bedroom home with a family kitchen in an area close to cafes and parks.

Kirstie and Phil focused the property search on the south Sheffield areas of Woodseats, Meersbrook and Meadowhead.

They successfully put an offer in of £193,000 for a three-bedroom house in Woodseats which had an asking price of £200,000.

Kirstie said: “It’s a lovely house,” adding “go, Sheffield!”

In 2021 Kirstie told viewers on X (formerly Twitter) that her favourite place to film was Yorkshire.

Woodseats is in the Graves Park ward of Sheffield and is just over two miles from the Botanical Gardens and Endcliffe Park.

The high street offers a mix of independent shops, cafes and restaurants. There is also a local market which offers fresh produce and artisanal goods.

Abbey Lane Primary School and Woodseats Primary School are two excellent schools in the area and are both rated “Good” by Ofsted.

Woodseats is also home to lots of parks and green spaces such as Graves Park, with its free animal farm, which the family were seen enjoying in the episode.

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Since buying the house, Lauren and Ahmed told how they had spent £45,000 on renovations including a loft conversation which added a fourth bedroom, and a new kitchen-diner. The house is now valued at up to £265,000.

Ahmed said: “We did all the decorating ourselves as well as the flooring, electrics and lighting. It’s been very busy.”

Lauren added jokingly: “Who knows, it might fall apart. Time will tell.”

Lauren said: “With the work we’ve had done we could stay here for 10 to 15 years. There is no rush to move again. We have a really nice local area and we see my mum and dad pretty much every day of the week. 

“We were actually looking at a different area to begin with but Kirstie and Phil brought us to Woodseats. 

“Now we can’t imagine being anywhere else. There’s lots of nice cafes, good schools and a really lovely park with an animal farm which is really nice to take the kids to. It’s the right area for us and we will definitely stay here.”