More people are buying fixer-uppers amid a housing shortage. But do the sums add up? 8 May 2021 • 5:00am Grade II listed Mercia Lodge in Spalding, Lincolnshire, needs a total overhaul. It has a three-bedroom annexe and a gated driveway. It is £750,000 with Fine & Country Some people busied themselves perfecting their baking skills during lockdowns. Others, like Adam Vernon and Abbey Budd, used their spare time more productively: to create their first home together. The couple, both 24, bought a three-bedroom semi-detached house in the Cumbrian market town of Brampton in October. As first-time buyers their budget was limited, so they opted for a £124,000 project house, which had been empty since 2013.