Grand Designs' Kevin McCloud reveals biggest change to show in 25 years

Grand Designs has been running for 25 years now and Kevin McCloud has opened up about the future of the show and how different it is

Kevin McCloud has shared insights into how Grand Designs has changed over its 25-year run.

As the iconic Channel 4 series marks 25 years, Kevin has exclusively revealed the transformations that have occurred throughout the show's history. Having been at the helm of Grand Designs for a quarter of a century, Kevin has witnessed first-hand the shifts in the programme, noting significant changes in the property market and construction dynamics.

"I think what's happened is - the numbers have changed. The dynamic of the market has changed, partly because of Covid and partly because of Brexit," he said, detailing the impact these events have had on the show.

He added: "Projects we get in are often very very slow to get off the ground, much slower than they used to be. Prices have gone up; that doesn't help. The big hurdle - the success of projects now - is how long they take to build."

Tracking the progress of builds has become more complex, according to Kevin, especially in the wake of the pandemic. He shared: "It's tricky for us to follow. There's been a really big sticky patch, coming out of Covid where projects were thin on the ground. But now we've got a backlog of stuff that was going to be three years ago but still isn't finished."

He also mentioned the constraints of the show's format: "We can only broadcast what's been finished and some of them take much longer than others. We've always had to go out there and look for stuff; there's always been lots of research."

In addition, Kevin touched upon the financial aspect for participants, stating that while they are not paid for their participation, they do receive compensation for any inconvenience caused, reports Devon Live.

"They do not get paid for being on the show," he said. "They get a very very small amount of money to cover the stop-and-start nature of filming. So when we film scenes and want half an hour quiet, which means asking every builder on site to put their tools down and go for a tea break, they get paid for that.

"We film for about 20 days and over time that can build up and can impact a building project so we contribute a small amount to cover that and that's it," he shared.

Explaining why he thinks they do the programme, he joked: "I think they do it because they're going to get a really high-quality home video and they're also sensible enough to realise the weight of the journey they're going on.

"Therefore, they want to have it documented. In giving them the film, we give them a truth, we give them an account of what they'll always recognise as their story. They've got to recognise themselves and recognise their story."

*Grand Designs is celebrating 25 years on screen with a new series on Channel 4.