Team NSW Steve and Tiana get $250,000 mortgage paid as 2015 House Rules winners

Team NSW Steve and Tiana get $250,000 mortgage paid as 2015 House Rules winners
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

Team NSW won House Rules 2015. Some 1.99 million nationally watched the Channel 7 series grand final, with 1.29 million across the five metro cities, Oztam ratings noted.

Viewers would have expected the Sydney contestants to have the highest mortgage but Steve Falzon - of the father and Tiana, daughter team - bought his Shalvey house, near Mt Druitt for $130,000 around 23 years ago. 

He has a $250,000 mortgage that will now be wiped as they won the Johanna Griggs' hosted series. Shalvey prices have meanwhile soared during the filming from $366,000 earlier this year to $391,500.

The Brisbane couple grand finalists Ben and Danielle's mortgage was $405,000. They are the newlywed who bought the Brisbane home four years ago.

House Rules premiered in May 2013 with the state-versus-state renovation series.

Steve's wife Danielle died 19 years ago, leaving him, then 28, to raise Tiana and son Andrew.

Being a single dad, there was no extra money to do work on the house. 

He lives in the house with his new partner, Deanne and their son, Rory, 6.

Steve, a metal fabricator, admitted to feeling embarrassed by the unrenovated state of his home.

"I would like to feel proud of this house again. It's been a long-time dream to have this house renovated. And to have my mortgage paid off would be mind-blowing."

Tiana, a childcare director, now lives 20 minutes away with husband Dean.

Shalvey is located 48 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, with around a $391,500 median house price, according to CoreLogic RP Data.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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