I couldn’t get on the property ladder in Britain so I bought three houses in Bulgaria for less than £3,000 each on eBay – now my children have an inheritance

A Scottish man who struggled to get on the property ladder in Britain has now bought three houses in Bulgaria on eBay for around £3,000 each.

Delivery driver Rob Davies, 35, from the west coast of Scotland, had been looking abroad to buy a house for some time before he came across the huge house in Golyamo Krushevo.

On Help! he documents his project to make the house habitable. We Bought a Village, which aired on Channel 4 this afternoon.

And while the house itself was a bargain, Rob has a huge job to do as the property has no fitted bathrooms, kitchen, windows, electricity or running water and is believed to have been abandoned since the 1980s.

Despite the enormous amount of work he has to do on the house, Rob has revealed that he has no regrets about his decision and believes he is investing in his family’s future.

The enthusiastic homeowner says: ‘I’m always looking for properties on the market to see if there are any bargains.

“I just did a random search on eBay, just typed in properties, just to see what’s out there. And that’s how it came about.’

The father adds that he was “sold” on the property after seeing just a few photos of it.

“I messaged them saying I was interested, I want it, I think we paid a £200 deposit, got the keys and the rest is history,” he says.

‘It was actually four walls with a roof, but it was ours. It felt great to actually go, we want a property, we can’t do that in the UK.’

With a leaking roof and no windows to waterproof the property, the program follows Rob as he assesses the water damage to the property’s floors and ceilings.

He believes it was built more than 100 years ago, but has been empty and abandoned since the 1980s

On a whim and based on the photos alone, Rob made the life-changing decision and paid an incredible £3,000, for a six-room detached house on half an acre of land – without even telling his wife

The excited homeowner said: ‘I’m always looking at properties on the market to see if there are any bargains

The houses need a lot of work and Rob has a lot of ideas. He thinks these could be “beautiful future homes” for his sons.

Despite being called a ‘bargain’ by the show, the house has been empty for 25 years and the roof is leaking, so the first thing Rob needs to do is assess how much damage there is to the floors and ceilings.

The village where Rob’s three properties are located is very small and almost completely deserted, with only one shop which also serves as a pub

When he begins the project, Rob discovers aging bundles of twigs in the ceiling used for insulation and a dusty chipboard that needs to be torn down in an attempt to see if the original beams can be restored.

He reveals that he thought the project would be much easier than it turned out to be, as he spends time in Bulgaria without his family.

After purchasing the first home in 2023, Rob fell in love with the village and started thinking about leaving a legacy for his children – which led him to purchase two more properties in the region.

With the cheapest house costing him £1,500 and £3,000 respectively, he hasn’t ruled out buying more.

Staff! We bought A Village series two starts on Channel 4 on Monday October 16 at 5pm, you can tune in to watch the rest of Rob’s journey.

The show follows Britons as they restore empty and unloved settlements that are on the verge of collapse.

Last season, a family from Manchester renovated a holiday complex in France and another man saved a deserted hamlet in Spain.