The first ever episode of the stubbornly popular Channel 4 property show Location, Location, Location aired on 17 May 2000, with a sprightly Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer bouncing around London, as they tried to give a young copywriter a leg up onto a property ladder that was already becoming financially challenging.
Here are 25 things we learned from the 25-year-old episode.
1. London was still bloody expensive 25 years ago
"London one of the most lucrative property markets in the entire world!" grins a fresh-faced Phil Spencer in the opening gambit of a show he has no idea will run for three-and-a-half-million episodes (or thereabouts).
2. Some house prices had doubled since 1998...
Enter Kirstie Allsopp, her first point of order to show us a handsome suburban house in London that's doubled in value in the last two years. Christ, was it hexed by a young Liz Truss?! We later learn that the average London house price has risen 40% since 1995. Not quite as dramatic, but still a lot.
3. In fact house prices were going up so quickly, you could buy then sell on again within six months
"It can be an idea to buy a house with a garden or a flat with a roof terrace in November and December, and sell it again in the spring or the summer," suggests Phil, "You can make yourselves good money." Blimey — that's what you call an overly healthy housing market.
4. Even so, everything was relatively cheap compared to 2025
That Victorian terrace Kirstie's pointed out, for instance, has rocketed from £120k to £240k in 24 months. We're not told where in London this particular house is, but wherever it was, that higher price would still be a pipe dream anywhere in Greater London in 2025.
5. L,L,L had top bants from the start
"How do you get on the property ladder?" asks Kirstie, while scaling a small staircase, and signalling the quarter century of top TV banter that is to come. Someone give that director a BAFTA.
6. £100k for a place in central London was still doable
Kirstie and Phil's maiden quest is to find a flat for "serial renter" and copywriter, 28-year-old Kate Pybus. Her budget is £100k, and for this she wants somewhere with a great location... and space. Thus nullifying the show's very mantra two minutes into its on-air existence.
7. People had some interesting art on their walls in 2000
Kate shows us around her rented Islington flat, pointing out a life drawing she's done of a perky nude. "It reminds me of my mum", she smiles, "It looks like her." They were different times, people!
8. Some of the early L,L,L camerawork was horrific
Like, properly nausea-inducing Blair Witch cam stuff (and to be fair, The Blair Witch Project was released the year before, so maybe its influence was still rippling through the industry). Someone take away that director's BAFTA.
9. You could still bag a bargain in up-and-coming Hackney
With some old warehouses and factories still laying vacant in what was then sometimes nicknamed the 'Murder Mile'. But not for much longer. "Prices in Hackney have risen a whopping 80% in the last five years" says Phil. (That's still nothing compared to the house Kirstie showed us earlier which rose 100% in two years. Where the hell WAS that house?!) Anyway, the first flat they view for Kate is a one-bedroom studio in Homerton's Digby Works for £130,000, with wriggle room for haggling. A studio space there now will set you back around £1,875 pcm.
10. Meanwhile, the UK average for a two-bed flat in the UK in 2000 was £79k
You'd struggle to get a parking space for that now. Speaking of which...
11. If you couldn't afford a flat, a parking space would do
"Any kind of property in London, however small, has got more and more expensive," advises Kirstie, "to a point where you've got a very small amount of money to invest, you could actually buy a parking space and it will go up in value." She wasn't wrong; some parking spaces in Hackney in 2025 cost in excess of £30k.
12. Rightmove was founded the day before this episode aired
If the launch of L,L,L wasn't a sign that property was about to become a thing, Rightmove was incorporated on 16 May 2000 — the day before the first L,L,L aired — although the website wasn't up till July. Hence why Kirstie and Phil suggest snapping pictures of properties with a Polaroid, to remind you what you've seen.
13. Phil is not always entirely accurate...
At one point, Phil mentions that Arcadia Court in Hackney is "perfectly situated just one minute away from Liverpool Street station". I mean, it is if you're teleporting, but otherwise, it's a 14-minute walk/11-minute drive. A Touch of classic estate agent embellishment perhaps? This bald-faced lie discrepancy would pave the way for future L,L,L claims that places which are categorically inside Greater London are in fact in Kent/Surrey. Wouldn't surprise us if they've claimed Middlesex is a place in, in one or two of their episodes, too.
14. ...All the same you could still get an apartment 14 minutes' walk from Liverpool Street station for £120k...
Let that sink in, as some multi billionaire twerp might say.
15. ...But Kate's budget is £100k
Which, by now, she has to stress to her two TV aides, in the hope they'll stop showing her places priced £30k north of that.
16. There's some really iffy advice going on
"How much you can afford is irrelative to how much you want this place," suggests Phil brazenly. "Perhaps we shouldn't be thinking about how much you can afford, but how much you like it." Which sounds like... terrible advice??
17. Greggs were already bloody everywhere
Including directly below one of the flats they look at (a £90k one-bed on Hackney high Street, in case you're interested. Bet the sausage rolls were cheap too). Phil flags the risk that the Greggs might be turned into a curry or chip shop. But let's be honest, the most real danger is that it'll spawn into two Greggs.
18. You had to act blinking fast
After deciding to go for the Arcadia Court flat near/sort-of-near Liverpool Street the next day, they call up to put in an offer... only to find an offer's already been accepted on it. Back to the drawing board!
19. If all else failed, you could walk around looking for skips
So fast did you have to act in fact, Phil even suggests pounding the pavements, looking for skips and scaffolding, and chatting up builders in an attempt to get the jump on a newly developed property yet to hit the market. "Get out there and find properties before estate agents get their hands on them," says Phil. (Sadly this time Phil's skip ruse doesn't pay off .)
20. TfL didn't have a website in May 2000
Rightmove might've been embryonic, but TfL didn't yet have a website. Instead Phil puts in a phone call to find out how long Kate's new commute will be.
21. Actually, TfL didn't exist in May 2000
It was formed two months after this episode aired. A lot of things were happening in the summer of 2000. David Bowie headlined Glastonbury FFS.
22. You could buy some seriously nice places outside London...
An eye-opening interlude shows what £100k can buy you outside of London back in 2000, including a castle tower in County Cork with stunning views and 10 acres of land...
23. ...Some SERIOUSLY nice places...
...or a 16th century castle in Scotland with 34 acres of land and the possibility of a barony title. Goes to show how insane London's property market already was 25 years ago.
24. Stoke Newington wasn't even on first time buyers' radars
Not Kate's anyway. "While I would never have thought of Stoke Newington before, it's quite nice," says Kate, as she hones in on her new property. Got a feeling that since this was made, a few more people have thought of Stoke Newington.
25. People were very wasteful with champagne
Or Kate was, anyway — shaking up and spraying a bottle all over the pavement. Who does she think she is, current F1 champion Mika Häkkinen? Then again, you'd probably spray bubbly all over the kerb if you'd just bagged a flat in Stokey for £103k...
You can watch the first ever episode of Location, Location, Location (and thousands more) for free on the Channel 4 website.
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