The couple worked 24-7 to turn the property from a ruined shell into a cosy home for just £30,000. After spending their first winter in the property, the couple have been left stunned after being told their house is now worth £120,000.
Speaking to the Mirror, Debbie, 48, said: “We never want to move because we have put so much of ourselves into this house. People thought we were nuts.
“We’ve crawled on the floors, we built the floors… it’s a gamble we took and we love it. Our blood and guts have gone into it. If they’d give us next door, we’d do it again!”
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Speaking about the first time they saw the property, Debbie said: “It was just a shell. All the joists were burnt. It was terrible. Honestly, it was just stacks and stacks of bricks. There was nothing. My family were saying to me, ‘You’re mad’.”
The damage was so extensive that every floor in the house had to be replaced, the chimneys had to be removed, and the kitchen and all the fittings were thrown out.
Debbie and Ste, 53, didn’t just put physical effort into the job, they threw in their savings and took out a small loan to finish the work.
Debbie said: “We were there until midnight with torches. We went seven days a week, we didn’t miss a day.”
The couple bought the home under Liverpool’s Homes For A Pound Scheme. Launched in 2013, its aim was to regenerate the area’s former slums.
A year after its launch, bosses said that 6,000 empty homes would be brought back to life.
Since the scheme was launched nearly 10 years ago, around 1,500 homes have been reoccupied including the one owned by the Hodges.
A similar scheme has since been launched in Stoke-On-Trent and Channel 4 has even made a documentary about Debbie and Ste’s exploits.
Debbie said: “The council scheme was the best thing to happen to us. It brings communities together. When we moved in, there were only about three houses on the road occupied.
“But it’s moving on now, it’s coming to be more of a community and about half the street is filled. We’ve met all the neighbours and introduced ourselves. People come from everywhere, from different areas, different countries.
“It’s a lovely community and I’m really settled here. I just love it. “Once a month we clean the street and make it nice. The area is coming up, there are bars and restaurants opening further down the road… I just wouldn’t move.
“I can definitely see the area getting better and we’ve never been so happy.”
