Episode 2 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 right now,

the reality can be more hovel than home.

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

-The whole of that bit goes black with mould.

-Hello?

In the battle between tenants

and landlords, it's local housing officers who are on the front line.

-I don't care.

-What do you care?

What is causing that smell?

The son has come 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.

'I'm back on the job,

'once again joining the ranks of the housing enforcers.'

It has 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 are committing an offence under

the Housing Act.

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

Just good old work.

Today I'm in at the deep end,

at a property in a truly shocking state.

The gentleman in there is paying £140 a month to share that room,

that front room. For that, he gets

bedbugs and cockroaches and a kitchen that

you wouldn't want to walk through, let alone use as a kitchen.

One housing officer has an unusual encounter.

ROOSTER CROWS

-You can take my roosters.

-Right.

If you come and catch them.

HE LAUGHS

They say an Englishman's home is his castle,

but if that place is rented it is the job of housing officers

to make sure it's a decent place to live.

They keep an eye on landlords to make sure the property is up

to scratch, and on some tenants to make sure they're

keeping their half of the bargain.

It is 7am, and I'm hitting the streets of Newham in East London.

With a crack team led by housing officer Paul Oatt,

and accompanied by the police...

..we are on the trail of houses of multiple occupation, or HMOs,

-that are operating without licences.

-Newham Council.

An HMO is a property being rented out to five or more unrelated people.

In Newham, all privately rented properties,

whatever their size, are required to have licences to prove

that their accommodation meets vital safety requirements.

Despite being the Olympic 2012 borough,

Newham is one of the most deprived parts of the UK.

With many private tenants in the borough coming from overseas,

unscrupulous landlords look to take

advantage by cramming as many people as possible into a property.

-Do you pay rent?

-Yes.

-Does your landlord live here?

-Yes.

In Newham, any private landlord who doesn't have the correct

licence for his property can face a fine of up to £20,000.

-How many people live here, sir?

-My cousin...

While Paul investigates that house, it is next door that catches my eye.

I tell you what I am worried about, Paul, is next door.

-I mean, that's terrible, isn't it?

-That's really awful.

-Yeah.

-I am looking at that upstairs window, look at that.

So that is a single pane.

-It is vented at the top.

-Yeah.

-It is probably damp, look under that window, see all there?

-Yeah.

-Imagine what life is like in there right now.

-Yes.

-It is pretty grim.

There is no reason why we just can't go and have a word with them.

-Should we give them a little knock?

-KNOCKING ON DOOR

Hi, there, I'm from London Borough, from Newham Council, environmental health.

I was here visiting a property just next door to you, actually,

but I couldn't help noticing a problem with your window.

-Windows is OK.

-Yes?

-It is a single place.

-Yeah.

-So...

-It is quite cold, then, yeah? Do you rent the property?

-Yeah.

Who is your landlord?

'I think we might be onto something here.

'This is a rented property, we know that, so the gentleman'

in there says he is paying £1,100 a month for this property.

I mean, it looks, from the outside it looks awful.

I would like to get inside and find out what it

looks like in there as well.

We'll be as quick as we can.

'It soon becomes clear that my intuition was bang on.'

There is barely a kitchen, isn't it?

It is barely functioning as a kitchen.

The fridge is decrepit.

-Yeah.

-On the till.

This is typical of multi-occupied properties

where you have to put rules up in the kitchen, so...

"Don't leave dirty things in the sink."

"Don't leave any food for cockroaches on the table."

-So clearly they've got a pest problem here as well.

-Yeah.

They've got a real problem with cockroaches.

Which is, to be honest, you'd be surprised if they didn't.

This is what £1,100 a month can get you in this part of London.

Of the 36,000 private rented properties in Newham, the council

reckons that half don't meet acceptable standards,

with around 5,000 believed to be in an intolerable condition.

And it looks like we've found one of them.

Coming up, the house has more horrors to reveal.

-You've got ceramic tiles...

-Ceramic tiles.

..which just cut up into these really sharp shards.

-Yeah.

-And this is somebody's playground.

-Yes.

Over in rural Suffolk, there is

something entirely different to deal with.

Housing officers never know what they are going to be investigating next.

Meet Andrew Weavers, who is off to visit the tenant

of a council property who's been upsetting her neighbours.

We're going to an address that it is claimed

that the lady is breeding pigs,

has chickens and cockerels and I've had two complaints.

One that the pigs escape, chew through the fence and escape,

another one is about the cockerels making so much noise.

Time to introduce himself to lady of the house Amanda Jackson,

and to find out if her neighbours have got a point.

-Good morning. How are you, sir?

-Not so bad.

-Very nice to see you.

Obviously, I spoke to you on the phone to say I'd come

and do a visit about your tenancy.

You know that we've had a couple of complaints and I just really want

to come and visit and have a look for myself to see what's going on.

That's absolutely fine.

-I mean, obviously, I'd like to know the basis of the complaints.

-OK.

And it would be fortuitous for me to know where they came from.

-Not from a point of view of retribution.

-No.

You might appreciate, for me as a landlord, all complaints are

confidential and so, I can't really tell you who's made the complaint.

I've got my shiny shoes on. Will they be all right, do you think?

-What size are you, sir?

-Ten.

Oh, well, I can furnish you with a pair of wellingtons.

THEY LAUGH

If you'd like to go through the side door.

I don't actually have another entrance.

Guests of distinction may use the front door.

Council officials must proceed to the tradesman's entrance.

-Right, forward.

-Ooh, hello! Look at him, look!

-Yes.

-You've got a big garden.

Extraordinarily large garden.

-Mostly bereft by the wind, I have to say.

-Yeah.

-So, you don't keep the chickens in a pen, they run free.

-Absolutely.

The sign on the door outside my house says, "Free to roam."

An estimated three quarters of a million of us

keep chickens at home in the UK,

and it's the council's job to make sure we stick to the rules

and regulations in terms of animal welfare,

hygiene and nuisance to neighbours.

-Shall we go and have a look at the pigs?

-Yeah.

Come on, show me the pigs. Do they ever escape?

I'm going back about three or four years ago and, yes,

I did have that issue.

Hello.

Hello. Bit muddy, I'm afraid, at the moment. Yes, I know.

So this is their little pen and that's where they stay, is it?

Yeah, that's right. I've got three at the moment.

I never have more than that.

You're not being overlooked by anyone at the back...

-I'm not overlooked at all.

-Do you have any rat problems?

I did have rat problems last year,

-which were dealt with in the appropriate manner.

-Pest control?

Yeah.

Now Andrew's got to get his housing officer hat on

and start laying down the straw...law!

Because you are a tenant of a council property,

-you have got a set of rules to abide by.

-Absolutely!

I'm not saying you're breaching them at the moment,

-but to be fair...

-So, what are you actually saying?

What I'm saying is that I'm happy to give people permission to keep

animals as long as they don't cause a nuisance.

My problem could be a complaint about your cockerels.

SHE LAUGHS

-Because...

-Yes, yes. Well, I fully agree with you.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, yeah.

-So I, um...

-He's doing well, isn't he?

-He's...he's... Yeah, yeah.

At the end of the day, if someone's causing a nuisance,

it's up to me to prove it.

And to be honest,

you've got to have evidence that someone's causing a nuisance.

-It's also about being fair, isn't it?

-It is.

And I like to meet people a little bit halfway if I can

and try and make everyone happy.

I can't always make everyone happy, but in this instance,

my problem that I can witness is the cockerels.

I think we might have to come to an agreement

that you might have to say goodbye to the cockerels.

Well, they'll just have to have their balls chopped off, won't they?

-Will that shut them up, will it?

-THEY LAUGH

-That'd shut me up!

-THEY LAUGH

Coming up, we meet a Hollywood A-lister whose days are numbered.

I didn't think I'd have to say we're going to have to lose Bruce Willis!

HE LAUGHS

Back in Newham, East London,

I've discovered a privately-rented three-bedroom house

into which it appears the landlord has crammed

eight people in appalling conditions.

'But what housing officer Paul

'and I have seen on the inside is even worse.'

"Don't leave any food for cockroaches on the table."

-So clearly, they've got a pest problem here.

-Yeah.

-This is the bathroom.

-'Things are no better in the bathroom.'

-There's lots of mould there.

-There's no radiator in here at all.

All the windows I've seen so far are single-glazed.

Um...it's so cold. My feet are just like blocks of ice in this place.

'This is the only bathroom for a house of eight people.'

There's a sign here that says,

"Please don't drop water on the floor, it's winter season.

"We're not opening doors and windows frequently.

"The floor is not getting dry over the night. Please don't drop water."

There's a radiator here, but it's not on.

'This place is bad enough for adults...'

God!

'..but the thought of kids having to live in these conditions

'is almost unbearable.'

These are ordinary...

..kitchen/bathroom tiles.

-So you've got ceramic tiles here...

-Ceramic tiles.

-..just cut up into these really sharp shards.

-Yeah.

-And this is somebody's playground.

-Yes.

-This is where someone's coming out here.

-It's just not on at all.

I get the feeling that living in this house are people that

haven't got many other choices.

Someone's making money from this place.

And either in complete ignorance of the conditions in here,

or in the knowledge and just...

negligence, just not caring

about the way people are living in here. Cold and in squalor.

'This is certainly no place

'for a child to have spent their first birthday.'

You can still see in all the corners here, a thick, thick black mould.

There's nowhere to dry your clothes,

so all the clothes are being dried on the banisters here.

'Living in damp conditions can exacerbate health issues like asthma,

'but there's even worse to come.'

The guys in there have just discovered cockroaches.

I don't know if it's in the wardrobes or in the clothes.

The gentleman in there is paying £140 a month

to share that front room without double-glazing, anything like that.

For that, he gets bedbugs and cockroaches and extreme cold

and a kitchen that you wouldn't want to walk through,

let alone use as a kitchen.

Even though the room's being sublet for £140 a month, which isn't a lot

by London standards, nobody should have to suffer these conditions.

What do you think we should do with the conditions in this property?

OK, so there is always this tension here between your gut instinct,

and my gut instinct with that place is, get anybody living in there out

as soon as possible, and the reality of making sure people have

somewhere to live, not creating another problem elsewhere.

Because you make somebody homeless

and you've got a duty to look after them.

These people are living separate lives.

In the case of a fire, they won't be looking out for each other.

It just feels like a time bomb.

-It feels like an accident waiting to happen.

-Yeah.

-Someone's bringing up their children.

-It's heartbreaking.

There's just no other word for it, really.

£1,100, they're paying, to live in that property.

It's more than my mortgage!

And they're living in such squalor.

So we're going to do a proper risk assessment on that

and then we can go from there.

It was worth a knock on the door, then?

-It was absolutely worth a knock on the door, yeah.

-Good stuff. Come on.

The landlord told us they've had ongoing problems with

the tenant concerning hygiene and overcrowding.

They say the tenant is responsible for the state of the property.

They also claim they were refused access to the property,

so it was impossible to carry out an inspection,

or for workmen to do any repairs.

The tenant has now been served with an order that means he'll

have to leave the house so that vital improvements can be made.

But let's just hope that after this work, the house is in a safe

and habitable condition

and is only rented to an appropriate number of people.

With Britain suffering a housing shortage, it's really vital that

our homes continue to work for us as our needs change, or we get older.

It's where people like Swale Borough Council's Susan Hughes come in.

-Morning, Susan.

-Oh, hi.

-How are you?

-All right.

'A Staying Put manager,

'Susan provides practical assistance to those in need to repair,

'adapt, or improve their homes rather than move.

'And I'm in Kent to work with her for the day.'

I'm properly doing the job explaining some...easy stuff?

Easy stuff. This is very easy.

It's all really to do with disabled grants.

All these people are applying for a disabled grant

because they've got some sort of disability.

You can talk to the clients and explain various things,

-if you're OK with that.

-Yes.

-I'll be there if you need any help.

I'm glad to know that.

So the very first one we're visiting has filled in a means test to see

whether she's eligible and we're going back with the results.

So she will be given a letter that actually explains what she has

to pay towards it and when she'll be seen, which is actually a year away.

-So it's kind of good news, but not great news.

-Yes.

84-year-old Margaret has been granted funds towards

a much-needed new bathroom.

But not everyone who applies gets the funding they need.

Luckily for me, today, I'll be delivering mostly good news.

With this lady, um...it's a flush floor shower.

-That means you can walk straight into the shower...

-Yes.

-..without any hindrance or having to climb over anything.

-Yep.

I think it's just making sure she understands that it's a year.

A year does go quick. I always tell them that, actually.

I say, "Think about a year ago, what you were doing.

"Hasn't the time gone quick?"

So, yeah, I thought it should be easy enough to do,

if you're the apprentice.

It should be easy enough to do.

It should, really. No, that's fine.

'It's great that Margaret's getting a grant.

'I just hope she doesn't mind shelling out her part of

'the cost of adapting the house.'

"Dodgy bell. Rattle letterbox, or tap window."

Rattle letterbox.

She's expecting us, so hopefully, she'll be listening out.

-It does help...

-Mrs Crabb?

-Yes.

-How do you do?

'Margaret's husband, Roy, passed away several months ago.

'Living on her own isn't easy

'and the bathroom is a particular problem.'

You see, I can't get my legs over into the bath...

-Yeah.

-..now.

Roy used to have to lift one leg over,

then have to lift the other leg over.

So, what we're talking about is perfect, then,

because you can walk straight into the shower

and you don't have to worry about climbing over anything.

No. And to me, that is so desperate.

'This is clearly a fairly urgent need for Margaret.

'Breaking the news that work won't start for a while isn't easy.'

-The problem is, it's not going to happen immediately.

-No.

It is going to be a year.

That's what we're here to tell you.

So you're going to have to wait for it.

I know there's others more in need than I am, but...

..but I-I, you know, I was, um...expecting to wait.

'That's not all I need to tell her.'

OK, the other thing you need to know is that there is an amount

-that you'll have to pay towards it.

-I-I-I know that.

It's £483.72.

That's the amount you'll have to pay towards the work.

-Really? That's terrific.

-Yeah.

What were you thinking? Were you thinking it was going to be more?

-£2,000, or something.

-OK. Right.

-So that's a smaller amount than you thought.

-Much. Much smaller.

God, I was worried then!

Now, I've got all of this in a letter for you, as well,

so that's your copy there.

-Sorry, is that too strong?

-That's lovely.

That's really nice. Thank you.

'After a nice cup of tea, Susan and I head upstairs to check

'if any smaller jobs can be done in the meantime.'

Ooh! It's quite a small bathroom.

It is rather, but then actually, once the bath is out...

It'll be lovely. It will. Give her a lot more space to get around.

Toilet's a standard toilet. Quite low, actually, so it'll be very hard.

I think the temptation here will be for her to lean forward

-and pull on that rail, as well.

-Oh, yeah, yeah.

-Um...

-That's not going to work. So there's things we could do here.

-There is.

There's a rail to go there.

I think we'll go down and have a discussion with her and see

if she does want anything done here.

-So, Margaret, we've had a look in your bathroom.

-Yeah.

-And we can see how maybe it would help to have a rail.

-I think so.

I've been thinking about that while you went upstairs.

We'll get Paul back, our handy person, who you know very well...

Ladies will start talking!

-THEY LAUGH

-Won't they?

'For people like Margaret, simple improvements mean

'they don't have to leave the family homes that they love.'

OK, so you've got your letter,

make sure you have a read of that just so you're absolutely clear.

This is the first...

-Oh, Margaret!

-..time I've had a smile on my face!

Oh, Margaret!

Oh, Margaret!

That's good, isn't it? That's really good.

'That's what job satisfaction feels like.'

-Lovely to meet you.

-OK. All right, then. All right.

-So, how was that?

-Yeah, you done very well.

So you learnt about the first stage and about how we have to

explain that there is a wait, which can be hard in some circumstances.

I didn't know how it was going to go when I said,

you have to pay this much money.

Then Margaret's face dropped and I thought it was terrible news,

but it turns out she was surprised how little

-she was supposed to pay towards it.

-Yeah. Which is very good.

I get the feeling she's very grateful

-and it's going to make a huge difference.

-Yep.

'I just hope our next visit is as successful.'

Oh, look at this! So now I understand what we've been doing.

-So, how does this work for you? Is it better?

-Oh, much easier.

-Is it?

Back in deepest Suffolk, housing officer Andrew Weavers

is visiting a tenant whose noisy cockerels

have been waking up the neighbourhood like this.

COCKEREL CROWS

I think we might have to come to some agreement that

they might have to say goodbye to the cockerels.

It didn't look like Amanda's pigs were causing any problems.

But what about her birds?

What's he doing? He's giving me a funny look.

He doesn't do a lot because he's son of Scottish Willie.

Scottish Willie had a little bit of a leg deformity

and he always looked like he'd just fallen out of a Glaswegian pub.

Is he the noisy one?

-Are you the noisy one?

-Yeah, that's Bruce Willis.

-Bruce Willis?

Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Fought that many foxes.

All right, Bruce? Bruce?

-Bruce? He doesn't come back when you call him.

-No.

-Quite clearly, he's off on some covert operation.

-Bruce?

-Yes.

-OK.

But this is his little harem.

The fact of the matter is the role of a rooster

is to protect his harem from the foxes and predators.

You see, at the moment, he's patrolling the perimeter.

He's there for a reason.

Mm. Not good enough for Andrew.

Looks like this movie star's career is about to come to an abrupt end.

How are we going to stop him making a lot of noise?

Are we going to get rid of him? Are we going to get rid of Bruce?

-Well, do you want to take him home with you?

-No. I haven't got any room.

I'm quite happy for the chickens.

I can see they're not causing a nuisance.

The pigs aren't really causing too much of a nuisance.

You're all fenced off.

So according to the tenancy, I'm sort of happy with that.

But we can't have the cockerels.

So I will have to say they'll have to go, if you wouldn't mind.

But Amanda's got more projects in the pipeline for Bruce.

She's going to fight this one. It's Farmageddon!

-I mean, look at him! For goodness' sakes!

-That's upsetting me.

-Oh, dear!

-Yeah, I know.

I have to say, whilst somebody might have complained about the noise

of a cockerel crowing, this is the countryside.

And that's what goes on.

It's a bit like moving in next to a church

and complaining about the church bells ringing.

It is the countryside and if you'd planted yourself next door

-to a farm, I would agree with you.

-Absolutely.

But when you're on a small housing cul-de-sac,

you wouldn't expect there to be a cockerel in the garden

waking you up in the morning and making lots of noise.

COCKEREL CROWS

-If you want to come and take them away...

-No, I don't.

I don't want to take them away. I want you to say goodbye to them.

-Well, I'll say goodbye and you can take them away.

-No.

THEY LAUGH

What I'll do is I'll give you a bit of time, I'll come back

-and see you...

-Oh, really?!

Hopefully, by that time, you've caught them

and had them for dinner or something.

-I don't know what you'll do with them, but...

-No.

-No?

-No.

-But this is a feisty tenant with one more trick up her sleeve.

-OK.

-Well, I'll have a deal with you on this one.

-Go on, then.

You can take my roosters if you come and catch them.

HE LAUGHS

-OK.

-All right?

That's a challenge, isn't it? So, what are we going to do?

Are we going to lose them? Just so that we're clear.

-If we must.

-I think we should.

Just to say that we've come to some sort of compromise in this.

-I can wring a few necks.

-OK. Lovely.

-It's not a problem.

-All right, then.

I'd better stand back if you're going to wring necks.

Bruce's goose may be cooked.

COCKEREL CROWS

Unless her friends have got room for a rooster.

He may have got the result he wanted,

but Andrew's still feeling a bit guilty.

No, I-I felt dreadful there.

I think naming them has sort of brought it into context, really.

I didn't think I'd have to say,

we're going to have to lose Bruce Willis.

HE LAUGHS

So Bruce Willis is a goner.

In situations like this,

being a housing officer is all about diplomacy.

Treating people how they...how you'd want to be treated yourself.

I wouldn't want to go steaming in with a big stick and saying,

"This is what you've got to do."

It's best to strike up a relationship.

'I think they won't be any noise, the complainants might be happy

'that we've come to some sort of compromise.'

'I've been spending the day with Susan Hughes,

'the Staying Put manager at Swale Borough Council.

'She's in charge of helping people in need adapt their homes

'so they don't have to move.'

-That rail, as well.

-That's not going to work.

-So there's things we could do here.

-Definitely.

There's a rail to go there.

'It's been a good day so far.

'84-year-old Margaret was delighted to get her grant.

'And even the 12-month wait didn't take the shine off.

'I hope our final visit of the day will be just as good.

'The last part of Susan's job when it comes to awarding the disability

'grants is to check that all the work completed is up to standard.'

-How do you do? My name's Matt. Shall we go straight up?

-Yes.

-Is that all right?

-Is that all right?

'Sittingbourne resident Elizabeth Thurtle

'has just had a new wet room installed.

'We are here to check she's happy with it.'

Oh, look at this! So now I understand what we've been doing.

-So, how does this work for you? Is it better?

-Oh, much easier.

-Is it?

Because I couldn't sit in the bath, anyway. I had to sit on there.

Well, of course, I was above the bath, anyway.

So you only get your feet clean.

THEY LAUGH

-That wouldn't have worked at all.

-And a long back brush.

-Yeah.

That's the only way you can do it.

-You can just stroll straight in here.

-Yes. I've got the chair.

-You've got the chair. That's fantastic.

-That's the drain.

-Any problems with this at all? Have you had any trouble?

-No.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Well, that's very easy, isn't it?

'Job done. Helping people stay put has given me a nice warm glow.'

-You can see when it's like that that it makes perfect sense.

-Yeah.

She can stroll straight into the shower,

do what she needs to do and it could prevent an accident or something,

which, quite frankly, would cost a lot of money.

Definitely. If you broke a bone or ended up in hospital.

-She was overjoyed.

-Yeah.

These things, I mean, it is money, but at the end of the day,

if it helps somebody stay in their home, it's going to save money

in the long run and make their lives much happier.

It gives them more independence and keeps them safe in their own home.

You've done very well. When can you start, then?

THEY LAUGH

That's it for today.

Join me next time on the front line with Britain's housing officers.