When they bought the house, it was boarded up and in need of a total renovation. But Chris Benn and Rebecca Dennis knew they were getting their potential dream home at a bargain – for it cost them just £1. Now, after six months of hard work, they have a property worth £60,000. However the couple are not in a hurry to cash in – which is just as well because to get the two-bed mid-terrace for such a low price they had to agree not to sell it or rent it out for five years. Through the keyhole: This is the refurbished interior of the house that Rebecca Dennis, 21, and Chris Benn, 22, bought for just £1 . Rebecca Dennis, 21, and Chris Benn, 22, pictured left, are quids in after the property in Stoke-on-Trent, pictured right, is now believed to be worth £60,000 . Car factory worker Mr Benn, 22, and his 21-year-old fiancee bought the house in Stoke-on-Trent under a regeneration scheme. The city council has been offering homes for less than the cost of two first-class stamps as it seeks to turn around swathes of its run-down or unwanted housing stock. Buyers receive a £30,000 interest-free council loan to help cover the cost of essential repairs and refurbishment. The new homeowners agree to repay it over ten years – by which time the property will be worth far more than £30,000. Photography student Miss Dennis, who is eight years younger than the average first-time buyer, said: ‘It’s a dream come true to have a house of our own. ‘We would never have been able to afford a house without the scheme. We had been engaged for four years but the prospect of us actually getting married would have been years away if we were saving for a house as well as a wedding. ‘It would have been years before we could have afforded a house alone. ‘My grandad heard about the scheme on TV and suggested we apply. We didn’t fit the criteria during the first round of the scheme. When it reopened a year and a half later, we decided to do whatever it took to get a place. 'My mum and dad wanted us to get married before we got a house together but now they’ve seen it even they agree that it was too good an opportunity to pass up.’ The couple has transformed the property, which was just a shell when they bought it, and turned it into a home that they can be proud of . To qualify for the scheme, Miss Dennis had to get a regular part-time job as Mr Benn is self-employed. Since they moved in last September, they have transformed the property. They had to insulate the whole house and put up a supporting wall on the ground floor. The house had previously been a three-bed, but the pipes for the bathroom ran through the third bedroom, and the council deemed this unsafe. So the couple took a wall out upstairs and boxed off the pipes, making the bathroom bigger and giving the master bedroom a walk-in wardrobe. They put in a new kitchen and redecorated throughout. Mr Benn and Miss Dennis now believe the house is worth around £60,000 as a similar but slightly smaller property in the same road – which was not part of the regeneration project – sold for £55,000. The £3million scheme, funded by the council and central government, was announced in 2012 following the success of similar projects in Liverpool and Rotterdam. It aims to create new communities in areas blighted by empty or boarded-up houses and a high turnover of tenants. So far more than 120 homes have been sold under the scheme and the Cobridge district of the city – the first area to be improved – has been nicknamed ‘Poundland’. The council had to complete some structural work on the mid-terraced property before the couple could begin updating the inside . The small but modern kitchen the couple has installed in their new home after buying the property for just £1 in Stoke-on-Trent . The couple told how they had to fight to get onto the popular council run scheme, which saw Miss Dennis take a third job . Working hard: The couple has said all the hours of work it took to get the two-bedroom property and then to transform it has been worth it . To support the transformation, police have increased the number of patrols, while the Labour-run council has installed CCTV to deter crime and improved other services. Miss Dennis said: ‘Although the area used to be really good it gradually got a bad reputation. But we haven’t had any problems. The streets are really quiet. Our neighbour is great – he’s an older gentleman from Italy who has lived here since the 1950s. ‘We’re looking forward to it becoming a family area again where we can bring up children and people know their neighbours. To get it all sorted is lovely –though we are still working on the garden!’ Miss Dennis and Mr Benn, who have been engaged for four years, have now completed the work on their dream home . Miss Dennis said her parents had hoped she would marry Mr Benn before they moved in together, but they understand this offer was just too good to miss . A proud Miss Dennis said 'We would never have been able to afford a house without the scheme,' as she showed off her new home . The couple took out a £30,000 loan with the council for 10 years to carry out the work on the rundown property . Miss Dennis said: 'We're looking forward to it becoming a family area again where we can bring up children and people know their neighbours' One of the streets in Stoke-on-Trent where boarded up properties have been sold for just £1 in a bid by the city council to improve rundown areas (file picture)
Rebecca Dennis and Chris Benn bought their first home together in Stoke-on-Trent for the bargain price of just £1 . The young couple have spent the last four months doing up the terraced property and it is now worth £60,000 . They bought the property together as part of Stoke-on-Trent City Council's home ownership scheme . The council invested £30,000 in the two bedroom mid-terrace property that they will pay back over next 10 years . Miss Dennis, 21,  said they would never have been able to afford their own home without the council scheme .