'The Block' features teams renovating apartments or houses while competing for prize money linked to their finished properties.
The Australian reality series premiered in 2003. Contestants are usually couples who receive a property to renovate within strict time and budget limits. Weekly room reveals are judged by experts, while the completed properties may later be sold at auction. The team that earns the strongest auction result can receive a major cash prize, often based on the amount achieved above a reserve price.
The programme combines renovation, interior design, project management and real-estate competition. Its rules and property types have changed over the years, but the central idea remains a race to transform a shared development or group of buildings.
The Block is sometimes confused with 'House Rules', another Australian renovation format. 'House Rules' focuses on teams renovating one another’s homes under a set of rules, whereas 'The Block' traditionally places couples in a common renovation project and connects the final result to an auction.