Episode 18 The Housing Enforcers

The law says everyone has the right to a safe place to live.

I worry about the fire risk here.

But for thousands of people across Britain,

the reality can be more hovel than home.

How many months ago was it we had this place cleaned?

The whole of that bit was black with mould.

Hello?

In the battle between tenants and landlords...

It's your fault, not the door's fault. I don't care!

-It's local housing officers...

-What's causing that smell?

..who are on the front line.

The son's come out with baseball bats and knives on occasions.

'I'm Matt Allwright.'

A lot of this problem is caused by the dogs.

-That's YOUR responsibility.

-Yeah.

'I'm back on the job once again,

'joining the ranks of the Housing Enforcers.'

It's got that mouse smell.

'They are tackling problem properties...'

This feels like an accident waiting to happen.

'..dealing with the consequences of nightmare neighbours...'

I need to tell you that you're committing an offence under the Housing Act.

'..and doing their best to help those in need.'

Good old boy.

'Today, I'm faced with some of the worst housing conditions

'I've ever come across.'

Oh, my God!

She does still cook for herself and obviously cold air that's

going to come in from the door is going to freeze this.

It's really bad...

One young mum can't believe her good fortune.

It will be my home and it will be Clara's home.

She'll grow up here with her friends

and I really am grateful for what I've been given.

'And I find out why an ex-offender

'relies on the help of a housing officer.'

What are you trying to achieve?

Somewhere stable for me to live so I can go back to social services

and...see me kids.

They say that an Englishman's home is his castle.

But if it's a rented castle, then it's the job of housing officers

to make sure that it is a safe and decent place to live.

One of the hardest things any of us

will face as we grow old is making the heartbreaking decision

we are no longer able to look after ourselves and the home we've come to love.

In Kent, Swale Council's Staying Put Manager, Susan Hughes, is there to

help the elderly live independently for as long as they can.

But sometimes people are just too proud to admit that

staying put isn't in their best interests any more.

And that's when the job gets really tough.

So, Susan, I'm carrying a great big fire, radiator thing.

-What's going on?

-Erm, this is a scheme that we're doing.

It's called the Winter Warmth.

We are able to give out fires

and all different things to help people keep warm.

We've got blankets and that.

Keeping this house warm is just part of a much bigger problem.

We've been called in by a neighbour,

who is concerned its elderly owner is living in squalid conditions.

This particular client is one I called a few weeks ago

and we are looking at doing a grant for various issues

because her house is in quite a big disrepair.

Because this scheme is set up, I thought I would pop in and see

if there's anything we can do to keep her warm.

Even though her house is in disrepair, this is still the best place for her, do you think?

It's her own property and she's lived in it all her life,

so she doesn't want to move. She's also got a little dog,

who is the sort of life of her life,

so she won't move unless the dog can go with her.

'Up to now, the woman, who doesn't want to be identified,

'has refused to admit she needs help

'and Susan's had to work hard to convince her to accept the heater,

'even though her only form of heating is a dangerous electric fire.'

Hello!

-We come bearing gifts.

-WOMAN:

-Ooh!

It's the radiator I spoke to you about.

-Oh!

-OK? So, we'll put it down.

-Thank you. It's quite heavy!

-LAUGHTER

-And that hopefully should be safer for you to use, OK?

-Thank you very much.

And then there's your blanket that we said that you can put over yourself.

-Oh, lovely. Thank you very much. Put them down there...

-And some gloves.

-OK?

-Yeah.

So, all of this is provided using this scheme.

Yeah, the Winter Warmth scheme. Yes.

Just to make sure you're keeping warm.

Before we can get this house warm, there is a major problem that

needs sorting, or no number of heaters are going to help.

Right, this is her back door, which as you can see,

has got big gaps in it.

And with the winter and the frosty nights,

I am really concerned about that.

Even making urgent repairs isn't straightforward

because we are not dealing with the welfare of a tenant

and a landlord, who can be forced to make things better.

This is a homeowner

and she's determined to maintain her independence.

She owns her property and is very proud of it

and wants to continue living here.

We're actually called Staying Put,

so, we're here trying to help people stay in their own home.

Sometimes you can see that it's not the best ideal situation,

but all we can do is advise.

It's obvious this place has seen better days, but nothing

prepares me for the sights and smells waiting for us in the kitchen.

As you can see, round here,

there has been a leak under the kitchen sink.

Erm, and this is what I'm really worried about.

She does still cook for herself and obviously do some work in here.

So, you've only got that cold air that's going to come in from

the door and it's going to freeze this and make it a real big hazard.

'Water leaking onto the filthy floor has created a serious hazard.

'Amazingly, the NHS spends on average £4.6 million a day

'as a result of the over-65s suffering a fall.

'So, if the council can help prevent the fall in the first place,

'it will keep that cost down.'

I mean, I don't...

-What is this we are standing...? Is this a mat?

-Yeah, that is a mat.

I think, put down to stop her slipping.

'I'm genuinely shocked that someone would CHOOSE to live in conditions like this

'but it's got me wondering - at what point does the council have the right to step in?'

This kind of goes beyond the remit of the housing officer, doesn't it?

Because this is a private home. This is someone's own home.

And yet, we can... I can see things in here

-which really seem to be dangerous for the occupant.

-Yeah.

And, you know, at that point where you take that responsibility away

from that person and say that where you're living is putting your life at risk.

-Yeah, yeah.

-That's beyond our remit and yet we're standing here, witnessing it.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, we do... I try and explain things

and once I've gained a bit more trust,

I will come out with the environmental health officer as well

and we'll talk again about what we can do.

-But again, when it's the person's own home...

-You've got to take it so slowly.

-Mm.

-Because it's a matter of pride.

-Yeah.

'Later, I'll be catching up with the worried neighbour,

'who is also trying to help convince our homeowner to accept

'the fact she isn't coping.'

I thought, "God..." I just burst into tears, you know?

Next, we head over to the beautiful Cotswolds...

One of the most quintessentially English

and unspoiled regions of the UK...

..to join up with the Stroud District Council housing team.

Currently, Stroud has almost 50,000 homes,

just over 10% of which are owned by the local authority.

Making sure this limited supply is used to the best

of their ability is down to housing officers like Sara-Jane Weaver.

We are off to carry out a five-month introductory

tenancy home visit.

If they are new to the council,

they are put on an introductory tenancy,

which lasts for the first 12 months,

and we carry out three visits,

just to keep a check on them, basically,

find out how they're doing,

making sure they've got no problems, concerns...

It makes it easier for us to pick up on any rent issues.

For some, moving into a new property can be a daunting prospect,

with new responsibilities to tackle.

For others, it's a welcome fresh start to an independent future.

What have you got? She's got a poorly cold, haven't you?

One new tenant is single mother Karen Appleton,

who recently moved to this two-bedroom house.

Until now she's always worked and supported herself.

This is her first experience of a council-owned property.

When I first saw the house, it was still a building site.

No carpet, all sort of just wooden floors.

Yeah. It was just empty. So it was quite daunting.

I've never had a council related property, I've always

sort of worked and been able to afford my own properties and things.

Moving to this house couldn't have come at a better time.

Always having lived independently, the last few years have dealt her several blows.

I spent my 20s trying to have a baby.

Um... I had five miscarriages...

through that time.

Depression was the first...

First sort of symptoms I was getting.

They diagnosed me with bipolar, um,

and psychosis.

I was fairly low.

Well, sort of...at the end of my tether, really.

With support from her family and her GP,

Karen got on the road to recovery.

Over the last three years, since that diagnosis, I've basically been working

and doing therapy groups and things,

and then Clara came along.

Here she is. I have a future now, I've got something to look forward to.

With her life back on track,

Karen was delighted to be offered this property by the council, who

felt the space and secluded garden would be perfect for her and Clara.

-Hello.

-Hi. Come on in.

-A bit early.

-That's OK.

By inspecting the properties on a regular basis,

housing officers can gauge whether the tenants are coping

on their own or whether they need extra support.

-Right. OK.

-You can see it.

It is actually turning mouldy now at the top.

Sometimes it can be one of two things.

It can be the guttering or it could be the insulation in the roof.

Inside, apart from the small patch of mould,

it looks as though Karen has really begun to turn this house into her home.

It is a homely house, it makes me...

It has made me happy.

I notice you have been doing some stuff out in the garden.

We have started the garden now.

-The mattress. Whose is that?

-That was hidden.

Do you know what we found? We found a chainsaw, a grinder,

some sort of axe, I don't know. All in the hedge, hidden.

Like a lot of council-owned properties, this house comes

with a decent size garden, but as budgets are tight across the board,

the garden is often the last thing to see any real investment, leaving

it up to the tenant to either tackle it or let nature take its course.

You know, we have to point out that it is actually a tenancy condition

that they maintain their garden.

Some of them do struggle.

A lot of our properties have got big gardens.

For Karen, though, far from being a struggle, getting stuck into the

garden is turning out to be another big help on her road to recovery.

-All that at the back will be burned.

-So are you doing a patio out there?

-Yeah...

-The slabs are already there.

-They were all hidden under here.

-Excellent.

Because they are quite expensive.

'When the garden is finished, it will be really nice.

'I think there is a lot of benefits to being outside.'

I find the council a lot more easy-going.

I think they try and make the property yours.

Um, they are still the owners, but they want it to be yours

and for you to make it into a family home and look after it.

She wants a bigger garden, she can see the potential there.

She is clearing it, and I think she will do a really good job.

But we'll see... when I come back at ten months.

I'm hoping it is going to be very nice.

I've been really lucky...

I really am grateful for what I've been given, I am.

-'In Swale, Staying Put scheme manager Susan Hughes...'

-Hello!

'..has been dealing with a case of an elderly woman who refuses to move

'out of the dilapidated home she owns,

'despite living in some of the worst conditions I've ever seen.'

It's really bad, isn't it?

'It's a difficult situation that needs delicate handling,

'because the owner is too proud to admit

'she can no longer look after the house or herself.'

-I'd take it so slowly because it is a matter of pride.

-Yeah.

'I want to try and find out how things have become so bad,

'so I tracked down Eve, the neighbour who raised the alarm after

'being shocked by the condition of the house.'

Came round one day, I thought, "God!"

I knocked on the door and I went in.

I just burst into tears, you know?

Do you think she is coping in there?

Um... I'm not too sure at the moment.

Since her partner's died, she just can't...

cope on her own.

We'll all get to that stage at one point, where you just need a bit of help.

Oh, yeah, that's what I said.

I will help her as much as I possibly can

because she was a good friend to me

when I needed one, and I don't forget things like that, you know?

Although the owner hasn't accepted that she needs to move out, Susan

has at least made some progress and convinced her to let the

council help with repairs that will make the house safe for the time being.

So, money from the Staying Put scheme will pay for a new back door,

and an emergency grant from the council will be used to

renovate that filthy kitchen.

Are there many places like that? Because that feels to me,

you know, close to the worst thing I've seen in terms of living

conditions in this country.

Unfortunately, we do see quite a few a year.

-It's quite an eye-opener.

-Yeah.

Very, very difficult job, Susan, I think,

-and, you know, the very best of luck.

-Thank you.

A few weeks later, it seems the gentle touch has definitely paid off.

With the homeowner's agreement,

the emergency repairs are well under way, and Susan's back

to check on progress with building contractor Richard.

-Hi, Richard.

-Hi, Susan.

Wow, look at that!

-It's a bit different, isn't it?

-God, that is really good.

The leaky sink has been replaced,

and the house is also being kitted out with one essential

amenity that will dramatically improve life for its elderly owner.

-And what's that down there, that's the hot water?

-Hot water heater.

-That's a new hot water heater.

-She will so love that.

She hasn't had hot water in years.

It's a huge improvement, but it has come at a price.

The bill for the work has been higher than the value of the grant,

but builder Richard was so horrified by the state of the house,

he's generously helped out with the extra cost.

The particular house we have come into is probably one of the worst

we've been into for some time.

Not pleasant for us to work in, not pleasant for the person to live in.

It is still a million miles away from anyone's idea of a dream kitchen,

but there's one person who is absolutely thrilled with it.

-Look what you've got.

-Wow!

-I say!

-That's a nice sink there.

We've got a bit of worktop here that you can work on, make it safer.

Thank you very much.

-Brilliant.

-Absolutely lovely.

It's a small change, but a big result.

Once she's back in the office,

the reality is she's only won the battle, not the war.

I'm happy I've left her better off than when I first met her.

Still not happy about the state she is living in,

so I am rather concerned, so I will take out the environmental

health officer, and social services, and we are going to

discuss with her the situation and the risks that are at the house.

It's good to know that housing officers like Susan Hughes

are prepared to go above and beyond the call of duty to help

people like the lady I met.

Since we last visited her, Susan's arranged for Age Concern to pay her a visit.

Hopefully that will become a regular thing.

The next step is to get her out of the house

and off to the day centre now and then, and Susan is hopeful this

will happen very soon, but it will of course be the lady's own choice.

Finding suitable accommodation for someone who is homeless can be

challenging at the best of times.

But what if that person has just been released from prison?

In Salford, Greater Manchester, housing officer Lisa Fitton and I

are heading to a local drop-in centre to meet ex-offender Alan.

What do we know about Alan at this stage?

From the paperwork that we've got, he had nowhere else to live,

so he came to the local authority to ask for help regarding housing

and homelessness. Following that, he was

moved into temporary accommodation.

33-year-old Alan has spent the last ten years in and out of prison.

Like many ex-offenders, when he was released, he had no job

and no home to go to.

But everyone has the right to somewhere to live,

and as housing officers, we want to find Alan permanent

accommodation that is right for him and for the wider community.

What we want to do is make sure you are rehoused into a place that

you will be able to manage and maintain,

so we need to just try and make sure the tenancy you move into now

is going to be sustainable for you and manageable for you.

-So, before Magnolia Court, where were you directly before that?

-Jail.

-You were in prison before. Which prison was it?

-Strangeways.

-And how long were you in prison for?

-Four months.

So...that was between

August and December last year.

-Can I ask why you were there?

-Robbery.

-Right.

Obviously, you've been in prison before, twice.

-Is that something that you feel you've addressed, is that something you...?

-Yeah.

'Alan's certainly no angel,'

but research suggests that stable accommodation is a key factor

in reducing the chances of someone's reoffending.

So it's in everybody's interests that we can make this work.

The idea of today is just to find out what we need to do now, where we

need to look for accommodation and what we need to do to help you get moved into your own place,

and what things you need in place, so furniture, benefits and things like that.

So at the minute, the money you're getting, is that enabling you to top

up your gas and electric and buy the food you need and things like that?

-OK.

-I'm skint once it's done, like.

Aren't we all? SHE LAUGHS

What about general support to make your tenancy successful? Is there anything you are worried about?

Living in your own place, being responsible for your own stuff,

-bills, anything like?

-No.

No. What about speaking to a housing officer or landlord,

are you confident in reporting repairs

-and going in and speaking to people and stuff?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Helping someone integrate into the community is one thing,

but Alan faces another challenge.

He suffers from schizophrenia,

a debilitating mental illness which requires ongoing medication

and monitoring through regular blood tests.

So is that to monitor the levels or make sure you're taking it?

-Monitor the levels, innit?

-OK.

-They can give you heart problems.

-Oh, right, OK.

-If you have the wrong dose?

-Yeah, if I don't keep up with it.

With one thing and another, with prison and hospital, you must

-have been through a lot of systems, a lot of different processes.

-Yeah.

-Do you get tired of it?

-It gets tiresome, yeah.

I just want to be left alone sometimes. Do you know what I mean?

'With the paperwork out of the way, I'm keen to find out a bit

'more about what is motivating Alan to go straight.'

What is it you want from this process, Alan? What are you trying to achieve?

Somewhere stable for me to live so I can go back to social services

-and...see me kids.

-How long is it since you have seen your kids?

-Two year ago now.

-How is that?

It's heart-wrenching.

-Yeah.

-Because I was going off me head because

of what I had been diagnosed with. A paranoid schizophrenic.

I was not acting normal round me girlfriend,

round me kids, round anyone.

I was doing weird things.

Like sitting on a graveyard, sitting on me dad's grave for two, three days at a time.

Not moving, just talking to myself. Do you know what I mean?

I think people thought I was off me nut.

Because of the things I was doing and that. Do you know what I mean?

People did try and help me.

But since I've been put on medication

and been in hospital,

-it's like I've evened out a bit.

-Yeah.

At the bottom of all of this, what you are trying to achieve is just

that degree of stability, where you'll be able to see your kids.

-How many kids have you got?

-Two little boys.

-Yeah.

That's the main thing, do you know what I mean?

I mean, it sounds like you've had a real roller-coaster ride.

Yeah, places like this help, though.

-If it weren't for places like this, I would have ended up in jail not long ago.

-Yeah.

Because I would have ended up doing something stupid,

-do you know what I mean?

-You've spent a long time in prison already.

How important is...

-..a stable place to live? Because it is only bricks...

-Paramount.

-Paramount.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

If you haven't got somewhere to live,

you end up doing things to get somewhere to stay.

And then, in the wrong crowd, and end up back in mischief.

Yeah.

So the main thing is somewhere to live, a stable accommodation

and stable people around me.

'It seems that Alan is really trying to turn his life around.

'But it's not going to be easy.'

If you put down on paper his history and his background, no-one's going to...

That's not a reference, no-one is going to want to give him accommodation.

Ten years in prison, Meadowbrook... Prison, violence, robbery.

That's not a reference you would want to give to a landlord,

and it is about trying to break that down, give him the support he needs, and challenge that.

If he finds difficulties in securing accommodation, the idea is

we are there to try and help him.

People would look at him as being the worst possible neighbour you

could imagine, if you look at it on paper. But actually...

When you meet him...

You meet him, and under medication, in the right circumstances,

he is desperately trying to make things work for him,

for his family, to re-establish those bonds.

He's got to go somewhere. Alan has to be somewhere.

The thing is, that people don't see how keenly aware

he is of his own problems.

-He wants to address them and he wants to make them better.

-Yeah.

'After living in temporary accommodation,

'Alan is on the verge of being accepted

'into a permanent flat of his own...

'But the next time I catch up with Lisa, something's happened.'

Myself and a colleague went to visit Alan on Monday evening

and we found out that he'd passed away on Sunday evening.

Right.

I mean, that's terrible news

because it really felt like Alan was making some progress.

He knew that he'd got challenges ahead

and he knew that it wasn't going to be straightforward,

but he was using this new place as a platform to try and build

and get a bit more stability in his life.

It's just really sad that this is the outcome that he's got,

cos I don't think anybody was prepared for that,

and I think, certainly, he seemed to have a lot

to look forward to in going forward

and making things better for himself and giving him some stability.

He had such a clear goal as well,

-which was to get back in contact with his kids.

-Yeah.

That was absolutely paramount to him

-and it's sad that that wasn't able to happen.

-No.

He was looking forward to everything.

He seemed to be at the point where everything was coming together for him.

Alan's family have given us permission to feature his story.

I can't help regretting that we weren't able to see Alan rebuild

his life and his relationship with his kids, for all of their sakes.

But I do know that it's given me

a whole new perspective on what it means to be a housing officer,

and a glimpse of the realities that they face every day.

The post-war years saw a boom in the building of social housing

and nowhere more so than in Stevenage...

..the UK's first new town,

built as a large council estate in the late 1940s.

This means the majority of the homes were originally social

housing, and even today, the borough council has a larger-than-average

and ageing housing stock.

What we've found in Stevenage is that some people moved in

when the properties were built 50, 55 years ago, and they are now

coming back to us and they haven't had any work done at all.

They've still got a very old kitchen, very old bathroom.

In 2006, central government introduced the Decent Homes initiative,

with a fund of £1.6 billion for the period 2011 to 2015.

At the helm in Stevenage is Steve Annetts.

Decent Homes is effectively a process whereby

we are looking at our council housing

and we're improving the various elements that are in those,

such as kitchens, bathrooms, heating systems, electrical systems...

And in charge of putting the plan into action in Stevenage

is clerk of works Gerry O'Keeffe.

Work started last Monday.

The electrics have been redone in the property.

We're now in the middle of fitting the bathroom and the kitchen.

In 2012 to '13, Stevenage Borough Council spent nearly

£9 million on over 1,300 properties.

That's an average of nearly £6,500 per home.

Council tenant Michelle Carson is having a boiler

and a bathroom fitted, as well as a new kitchen.

The bathroom really did need to be upgraded.

That's why I was like, I was over the moon about that one.

So, yeah, I've been very pleased with it.

The Decent Homes initiative states that social housing should:

It sounds...reasonable.

But at the beginning of 2011, nationwide,

there were 217,000 council houses that weren't up to scratch.

No, you're doing a real good job today. You've done loads already.

You haven't been here that long.

My daughter says I'm OCD about my house,

so I was, like, a little bit nervous, but they've been brilliant.

It's nice to do a nice job for nice people,

and walk out and think, "Yeah, I've done well there."

'The blokes doing the work have all got good manners, you know?'

They're not just builders on building sites,

they're in people's homes, which is a completely different ball game.

'It is a very satisfying job'

because you are effectively improving not only our housing

stock, but you are improving the lives of our residents.

So it's a win for the tenant and a win for the council.

Two weeks later, the builders' dust has settled.

Is Michelle happy with the work?

Oh, I'm really happy with it.

They've done a really good job and they let me

buy my own tiles for the kitchen, so I've put my own stamp on it.

I'm ecstatic with the whole work that's been done.

I'm so happy about it.

That's it for today.

Join me next time, when I'll be finding out what it takes to become

a front-line housing officer.