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Meet the new homes in The Block

No ocean, city or park views in the street that will be home to 4 run-down terraces in The Block. But there's a lot of work to be done.

There’s no ocean views this year. And there are no city views or park views in 2011’s series of The Block either.

In fact the four homes that will be renovated for Nine’s next reality series are staring at a bland road and a local shopping centre car park.

As property values go, it’s hard to see the appeal of Cameron Street, Richmond, which is the site of four adjacent run-down terraces. It’s a small roadway with room for parking space down just one side. This ain’t no Ramsay Street.

But the show has also proven in the past it can transform.

The Block began filming on Friday when this year’s contestants got their first look at the shells they have to make-over. No longer using a block of 4 apartments, the series is also set to be be stripped into a 7pm timeslot by Nine, although insiders on site wouldn’t confirm the move when asked by TV Tonight yesterday.

Nor do there appear to be any plans to have live to air auctions.

Adjacent to #1 is a corner lot which appears to be being used for demolition rubbish, while an old apartment block sits beside #4. At the end of the street is busy Church Street and nearby are a suburban footy ground, Victoria Street’s Asian restaurants, Richmond Plaza, a gay pub and the home of Molly Meldrum (he is even within earshot of The Block).

This is the first time the series has located outside Sydney, and the first time it has abandoned its apartment block setting. With the Melbourne winter on the way, contestants will want to start thinking about heating sooner rather than later.

The series will again be hosted by Scott Cam.

48 Responses

  1. I live around the corner and renovating myself so can’t wait to see what they do with these and how well they sell at auction. Nice to see houses being restored and not knocked down and turned into town houses. Richmond is getting a bit borning with every new developement a town house or appartment – bring back the “home”

  2. I live in this street and had to put up with the tight_fisted / tight_a*sed slumlord who rented these houses to anyone and everyone over the years.

    They were so run down I referred to them as “Da Crack Houses” cos you would have to be drugs to live in such filth and squalor.

    I went to an auction last week of a house that sold in Cameron Street for 1.368 million dollars. I spoke to the producer shortly after Channel 9 bought these houses and he intends to sell them all for over a million dollars each after the renovation are completed.

  3. “while an old apartment block sits beside #4.” I own and occupy a unit in that old apartment block and have to put up with the noise for weeks on end. They could offer to paint our on the outside to add street appeal for them

  4. ” while an old apartment block sits beside #4.” I live in that apartment block, do you think they may offer to paint the outside of ours to add value? lol

  5. When you refer to a “block” it doesn’t necessarily have to be a block of apartments. Like a ‘block of houses’ or there are ‘ten houses on my block.’

    But it will be interesting because in previous years we got to see water dripping from upstairs to down – arguments over common areas and courtyard division etc. This year they may not have much to fight about (although there’ll still probably be heaps of fighting.

    And what’s with Number 2’s front door?!?! It’s very bright.

  6. Good excuse to move to Melbourne, and get 5 minutes of fame on TV.

    By skylarking around, and being a general nuisance. And Hopefully get this stupid program shut down, before it’s even aired 🙂

  7. @David: I take it by your comments that you don’t renovate at all? Property so close to the city, any city, is always going to hold value.

    Scott Cam is a tradey cliche.

    Not sad to see the back of Maurello, or whatever his name was.

    1. Jaye: I am sure they will look lovely when completed, and they are supposed to look like a mess now. But the earlier Block shows had an aspirational location element. The Richmond street looks a bit glum staring at a car park. Producers are smart cookies, let’s wait and see.

  8. While they are at it, I hope they dump the judges (belle magazine I think?) who seemed far more interested in awarding prizes to arty farty room designs that held little practical value to potential buyers.

    Who in their right mind awards first prize too a bathroom with no shower screen, a shower head that points at the sink cabinets, and a freestanding bath that dominates a corner so you can’t clean behind it??

  9. Great. Without all those visually appealing location shots The Block has used in past series, it will give the producers more time to shoe-horn in more product placement advertising.

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