The Block’s biggest auction-day secret could soon be a thing of the past, with new Victorian laws set to require vendors to publicly disclose their reserve price at least seven days before an auction. The changes are proposed to come into effect on October 1, just weeks before this year’s Block auctions.
For contestants who have spent months hoping to maximise their final sale price, the rule change has added another layer of uncertainty to an already nerve-wracking end to the competition. That uncertainty is only heightened by last year’s disastrous auction, when two homes passed in after failing to meet high reserve prices.
House One’s Adam, 48, and Jolene, 42, married cattle station managers from South Australia, admit they’re feeling the pressure.
“Of course we’re all a little nervous,” Jolene tells TV WEEK. “I think you’d be lying if you said you weren’t. But at the end of the day, the houses are amazing, the views are incredible, and we can’t control the rules. We can only control what we do from here.”
Adam is trying to see the funny side.
“The Block wouldn’t be The Block without a few challenges and curveballs thrown at us,” he says. “And that’s exactly how we’re looking at the new reserve price laws.”
But their neighbours, married couple paramedic Lisa, 34, and FIFO worker Roscoe, 38, from Western Australia are also conscious that knowing a reserve ahead of time could fundamentally change the auction experience.
“If a reserve is disclosed, it does change the way obviously an auction unfolds,” Lisa says. “It takes a bit of the surprise out of it, and whether or not Channel Nine will take that into consideration when they announce their reserves, I don’t know.”
Still, the married couple say they’re refusing to let the uncertainty overshadow what they’ve achieved.
“We feel like we’ve won the lottery anyway, with the beautiful house we got to do and the people we got to meet.”
The Block airs Monday to Wednesday, 7.30pm, and Sunday at 7pm on the Nine Network and 9Now.
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