Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer expose one 'dangerous' house hunting habit

Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp were back at the helm of Channel 4's Love It or List It this evening (August 14) as they issued a warning to house hunters, after pinpointing that many make a common but costly mistake. In the Brilliant Builds episode, the TV hosts looked back at families that they had visited in the past. 

Together, they remembered helping parents-of-three Carly and Phil, who had run out of space in their High Wycombe home. While Carly wanted out of the house, husband Phil was confident Kirstie could come up with a renovation solution so that they would fall back in love with their property.

Just like many before them, the couple had made the mistake of putting their children's needs at the forefront of their minds when thinking about their home. Phil and Kirstie pointed out that this is something many parents and house hunters do but it can be "dangerous". 

Phil explained: "When children come in, what you need out of a house expands. So you need a bigger, better house that does more things. And that's really hard."

Kirstie agreed as she said: "Yes, but this really is such a short lived period. Don't spend a lot of money..." Phil interrupted as he added: "But when you're living in it, all you're thinking about and it is really intense."

His co-host continued: "It's like when people won't buy a house because they won't be able to get the pram up the steps. People make those big decisions. 

"And the problem is now, because we live in this country where housing is extortionate and takes up such a huge proportion of people's income, in a way that's unheard of in other parts of the world, these decisions matter.

"Firstly because if you get it wrong it's a big problem, but B, because if you're spending all this money you should at least be able to get that pram in the house."

Phil nodded along in agreement as he added: "And the danger is, which we have talked about many times, is that people choose a house to suit 'that' moment in time which is quite short and really intense. But that's what happens."

Kirstie is no stranger to making big decisions. The Location, Location, Location presenter, 52, recently revealed she purchased a holiday home in The Bahamas. While she  resides in the UK, the host shared the real reason behind the family's decision and admitted she has "no regrets" using most of her savings from the Channel 4 show to make the move a decade ago.

She made the luxurious purchase after losing her mum. But she added: "My mum would have loved this place so much. I did get my dad here and he painted it, and loved it."