Should you buy a cut-price chateau? This couple did and swapped a two-bed in East London for 47 rooms, a private forest and a moat - and YOU could exchange a pokey flat for an 18th-century castle

Dick Strawbridge and his wife Angel sold their two-bedroom flat in Bethnal Green in East London for £400,000 and have now just bought a giant 47-room property in France for just £280,000.

Mr Strawbridge, a retired lieutenant colonel who forged a TV career on Channel 4's Scrapheap Challenge, said he bought the unique home in Pays de la Loire for the 'lifestyle and the space'. His wife added that the cash they paid for the home in France is the sort of cash you pay for a one-bedroom flat in London. Other historic buildings, including converted castles, cost the same as significantly smaller homes in the UK. Meanwhile, a turreted 18th century mansion with a pool and woodland garden costs £700,000 in France - the same amount as four bedroom home in Edinburgh.