Episode 15 The Housing Enforcers

-Hello? Can you just let me in?

-BARKING

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

I wouldn't keep my dog there, is the honest truth.

But for thousands of people across the UK,

the reality can be more hovel than home.

The house is falling to bits, there's nothing I can do.

In the battle for decent housing...

We've got conditions that are just appalling.

I don't know how the people are coping, to be quite honest.

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

If somebody had died here, you would've been

standing in Coroner's Court.

I'm Matt Allwright and I'm back with the Housing Enforcers.

-15 people in this house?

-15 people total living in here.

I'll be with them as they tackle problem properties

and slum conditions...

It really does look a shanty town.

Yeah, it's not up to standard.

..as they deal with dodgy landlords, nightmare neighbours

and everything in between...

Oh, my God, straight away there's the smell of dog muck.

You never know what you're going to find.

..doing their best to help those in need of a happy and healthy home.

Today, we find evidence that a property in Newham may have been

unlawfully converted into a shared house.

I don't think there's any way this is an acceptable space,

it's just... You can't have a life here.

In Suffolk, a visit from the council

leaves residents with some tidying up to do.

But what I suggest we do, give that a bit of a clean down the units

so when they come in...

When they inspect it, it won't be so...you know?

-Because I suppose...

-I know what you mean.

-A bit sticky, I guess.

-Yeah.

And an oversized extension looks like it may be breaking the rules.

"Purpose of outbuilding - storage and gymnasium."

Yeah.

It's very large for a storage and gymnasium.

And would you have windows like that in it?

No.

Every year, more of us rent the homes that we live in,

and every year, rents go up.

For those of us chasing cheaper housing, that can mean

enduring living conditions so bad that they break the law.

I'm working alongside the men and women

whose job it is to uphold those laws.

They are the Housing Enforcers.

Here in Newham and I'm on the road with housing officers

Stephen Pavett and Holly Ripp.

We're off to visit a property that's been on their radar for a while now.

It's supposed to be a family home,

but was instead being used unlawfully as a series of bedsits

until the council told the landlord to change it back.

So what's the place we're going to? What's going on?

OK, so this property has an enforcement notice on it which

stated that the use should cease, the locks should come off,

all the usual bits and pieces.

It was actually complied with, the enforcement notice,

at the beginning of the year.

But we've had information through that it's back in breach again.

Right.

So it looked like the enforcement notice worked once

but there are concerns the landlord has now

turned the property back again

and filled it with more people than is safe.

There are a couple of clues already.

Oh, it's got bins full of rubbish,

it's got some kind of weird silver paper up

at the front window as well.

Tinfoil at the front windows, what does that say?

One of them could be that it's

a shared heating bill... KNOCKING

..so you're trying to keep your own room as warm as possible.

Here we go.

Good morning, we're from the planning department of the council,

we're here to have another look around the property, OK?

The dark corridor certainly doesn't have a feel of a family home.

We've got another two doors here.

-Do we want to have a knock on this?

-Yeah, definitely.

-Can we just have a look in your room, please?

-MAN:

-Yes.

Thank you.

It looks like a pretty small room for two people to share.

Milan is one of them,

and he's travelled a long way to find himself cooped up here.

Where are you from?

-I'm from Bulgaria.

-From Bulgaria.

How many people are in this house?

I think 14.

14 people. How much do you pay in rent for this?

£300 per month.

£300 for a month, and you share this

with another guy who's not always here.

Are there any other problems here? Do you see mice or rats or anything?

Mice, yes.

You see mice?

Every day in kitchen.

Right.

Sometimes no electricity.

Go to agency maybe two or three times. Every week, you know.

-So you have no electricity?

-Yeah, for two-three hours.

Do you pay the agency, do you give them money for electricity?

Yeah, yeah.

But they need to put it on a key, put it in the machine,

and then it starts working again,

but you've got two or three hours with no power.

'Sharing a house with 13 other people,

'especially when the electricity runs out, can't be much fun.'

We're going to look round the rest of the house.

Nice to meet you. Good, good, yeah.

Stephen has found a clue where all that electricity might be going.

-We've got a large bank of fridge-freezers...

-Yeah.

We've seen this before.

But this is an impressive wall of refrigeration - I'm just

imagining the draw on the electrics in this household.

-It's no surprise the electricity keeps going off.

-No.

Because it sounds like the agent has to keep filling the key up.

I suppose he's just using his name as the agent

and he is paying the bill,

and it hides the fact that potentially

you've got other people trying to pay a bill.

-Something you would spot quite easily.

-Yeah.

Apparently hoping to present this as a family home, the landlord

is leaving these 14 people without electricity

at certain times of the day.

A big problem, especially with all those fridge-freezers on the go.

Later on, I discover an even larger issue in an even smaller space.

I don't think there's any way that this is an acceptable space.

It's just... You can't have a life here.

There's huge pressure on housing in Oxford, which can lead to some

unlawful methods of cramming more people into a property than is safe.

And that is where today housing officer Will Christian comes in.

We're going to south Oxford to see a potentially unlawful building

at the rear of the property.

It might be in residential use.

Landlords build these "beds in sheds", as we call them,

in the back of properties so they can maximise their income.

Will's joined by colleague Rebecca Jeffries to investigate

a complaint about a building that's sprung up in a garden next door

to Beryl and Doug.

They've lived here happily for the past 53 years.

Until this happened.

I thought it was going to be quite small.

It's the whole of the back garden built on.

And we get flooding, as you know, in this area, and the more

concrete they put down, the more likely we are to get floods.

The building is huge.

And although their neighbours appear to have planning permission,

it's not so much a bed in a shed as potentially a whole dormitory.

It's clearly having a big impact on Beryl and Doug's lives.

All the more distressing as Doug suffers from Parkinson's disease.

I think it's a disgrace.

It overlooks my property

and my privacy's gone.

I'd like to see it knocked down

and going back to what it was before - a garden.

-REBECCA:

-It's like a bungalow, isn't it?

It is a bungalow, really, to look at.

I mean, it's been a big worry what's been going on next door, obviously.

But it is impacting on you, so you're well within your rights...

Planning permission or not, I can't believe the council would

have approved of what looks like another whole house in a garden.

And a quick look through the plans is quite revealing.

"Purpose of outbuilding - storage and gymnasium..." Yeah.

It's very large for a storage and gymnasium.

-And would you have windows like that in it?

-No.

He has two windows and a door in the middle.

This is me here, one little window,

and one bigger window,

blank wall, blank wall.

-Yeah, OK.

-Well, that's not right for a start,

because you can see two doors

and a patio door that go right down to the floor this side.

With confusion over just what this building should be,

Will and Rebecca decide the best course of action now is to confront

the neighbours to see if they can intervene in what is clearly

a very distressing situation for Beryl and Doug.

It's the privacy we've lost and such a big building in the back garden.

The stress that it's causing me is going over to Doug a little bit

because when I have my little moans, obviously it affects him

in some ways.

And you know, "Oh, don't worry,"

but you do - you do worry.

But Will and Rebecca aren't having much luck next door.

After a little impromptu investigation,

it's starting to become clear the building might be designed

for a lot more than storage and lifting weights.

And there's a further clue that this building is going to house

more than treadmills.

It's a gate into this...

Is it new? It looks pretty new.

That looks brand-new, doesn't it?

There's a locked entrance into where the building is being built,

which leads me to believe it's going to be used as a residential purpose.

Will and Rebecca's findings tally with Beryl's worries.

I wasn't too concerned in the very beginning,

but then I saw the size of the footing

and I could see that it was marked

out like a bathroom,

a kitchen area,

a living room area and a bedroom.

Looking at the windows and the front door,

it's just like a home would be.

Although Will and Rebecca failed to get any answers

from the neighbours, the evidence is starting to speak for itself.

I've established that there's plumbing

and sewerage pipes been put in so it leads me

more to believe that it's going to be used as residential purposes.

You don't need that in a gym, do you?

Are there a few people living there?

The daughter and her boyfriend are staying in the front of the house,

nobody in there, but I'm told if they start to put kitchen furniture

or anything like that then I know they're going to make it habitable.

Later on, Beryl decides enough is enough.

I think it's got to be stopped and pulled down.

I'm in Newham, and with housing officers Stephen

and Holly investigating a property that, despite warnings

from the council, has been

turned into a bunch of bedsits for at least 14 people.

Sometimes no electricity.

So you have no electricity?

Yeah, for two-three hours.

Overcrowding a property like this doesn't just impact

on the people living here, it also affects the local neighbourhood,

putting greater demands and strains on local services.

But despite the cramped conditions,

it seems everyone here is at least trying their best.

It looks like a house full of young guys

in their 20s who are all doing...

All trying to work, and the place, actually considering...

I remember my student days - the place is really kept very well,

they've all taken a lot of pride in the way their rooms are and they're

doing the best they can in a house that just feels way over-stuffed.

According to planning permission, this property should be

a family home, not filled to the gills with separate tenants.

But having met Milan and some of his housemates, it makes me worried

about what might happen next.

The chap that I was talking to in the kitchen is really worried

that the result of this visit will be him without a place to live.

That is probably going to be the situation.

When you come around these houses and you look at this

and it's a house that's being well kept by the tenants,

they're all working guys, it's got emergency lighting,

it's got some fire detection as well,

it's easy to look at it and think,

actually, if we let this one go, who's hurt here?

Um... The facilities are not adequate enough

to support 14, 16, 18 people

who are living here and that's got an impact on the neighbourhood

and overstressing the services that are locally around.

So we've got to protect local people as well as people

living here and the council's got to be consistent with its approach

to all of the properties we look at. In six months' time,

this could be a completely different picture,

you could have more people in the property,

the conditions of the property could be deteriorating greatly,

and then the council has decided to let it go previously.

And to prove Stephen's point,

the next room demonstrates what can happen to tenants

if unlawful behaviour from a landlord is left unchecked.

Come in, have a look... I can't quite touch...

So I reckon that's 6.5ft that way, and then...

it's going to be... Yeah, it's about 6.5ft square, this room.

And everything has to fit into this space, he's got a wardrobe stuffed

with his clothes.

He's got a chair right next to his bed,

and he's got a chest of drawers and that's literally it.

It's so small, it's so small.

It's unbelievable -

I'm trying to imagine living in here, I mean...

I don't think there's any way that this is an acceptable space,

even for just one person by themselves to live in.

It's just... You can't have a life here.

The size of that room is totally unacceptable.

Exactly, and he's paying £390 to stay in here, a month.

It's clearly unacceptable trying to cram that many people

into a property.

Seeing Milan and hearing about his dream

and knowing he might now be facing homelessness

puts another human face to the UK's housing crisis.

Milan, really nice to meet you - and good luck with everything.

As we said, the temptation is to go "Well, it seems to be working,

"maybe we should leave it."

But that's just not really an option, is it, Stephen?

No, it's not an option, unfortunately.

They've got to do something with that property now.

After this, we'll have to write to the owner

and basically say, you've had your chance.

The really sad thing is,

they're keeping their end of the bargain. You know,

they're doing the best they can, they're exemplary tenants in many

ways, to walk into that place and seeing it the way it is.

And they're going to be let down by a landlord

who's trying to make the most out of that place,

despite the fact he's already had one slap on the wrist.

He's going to get a rather nasty letter from us,

saying that he's probably going to be prosecuted now.

We've got nothing against the tenants at all in the property,

our action is not against them, it is purely against

the homeowner who has decided to put the property back into this use.

Holls, you've got to feel for those guys in there, you know,

seeing them leading their lives the best way they possibly can,

and an eviction could be just around the corner, really.

I mean, they do have rights but it is unfair

and I do feel for the tenants when we go to these places.

I mean, they don't know

that the property shouldn't be used in that way.

It's difficult to know, isn't it?

Exactly, yeah, they could end up in the exact same position

and keep being moved around, and it's not fair on them.

The council's legal department are deciding what course of action

to take against the landlord.

They also passed the information about the faulty electrics

to the relevant teams, and those concerns are being investigated.

Defending our right to a safe place to live

is the job of housing officers right across the UK.

This is not really an acceptable way of leaving

-the property behind.

-Do you think?!

I'm working alongside the men and women that do exactly that.

-Top marks.

-Yes!

I'm hitting the streets...

Hello, can you open up?

There's definitely someone inside, because we've seen movement.

..finding out what's happening on the front line...

The cistern's in the bath. I don't know how they flush it.

..and learning what it takes to make sure

a house is fit to be called a home.

I'm very shocked. This is ridiculous.

You shouldn't have people living in here.

Back in Oxford and Will Christian is back on the case of a home gym

that's bulked out into a back garden bungalow.

It's the whole of the back garden built on.

This colossal eyesore was not just blotting out the landscape,

it was making neighbours Beryl and Doug's lives a misery.

It overlooks my property

and my privacy has gone.

Will was convinced the owners of the property

were breaching their planning permission by creating

living accommodation in their garden rather than storage and a gym.

And the council clearly agree,

as they've now served an enforcement notice on the building.

I hope that the outbuilding will be completely removed

and then the garden will be put back to its former self.

Will's back to talk to Beryl but it appears things have moved on

at a faster pace than even he was expecting.

He's removed all the windows and the roof, I don't know why.

It seems that once the enforcement notice was served,

the neighbour was keen to try and compromise in an attempt

to keep his building, and, one presumes, his investment, intact.

He said, "I'm going to take the roof down another foot,

"maybe more, and trellis along the top if you need it."

Well, that's not going to wash with Beryl.

It's a residential area,

lovely gardens all around and to have this big blob

built in the garden, I think it's got to be stopped and pulled down.

And it's a sentiment clearly shared by Will.

It's a bigger footprint than the actual building, which is bizarre.

It looks to me like it would have been used

definitely for accommodation.

The council have served the notice on the outbuilding,

to remove the outbuilding and restore the ground

-to its former self.

-Yes.

He's appealed against it.

I don't know whether he's going to bring it down or...

Well, hoping to remove it.

-That's what the condition says.

-Yes.

Although the planning rules are in place

to protect neighbours like Beryl,

they also exist to avoid wider issues such as parking problems

and pressure on local services for the rest of the community.

That also includes protecting local green space.

The whole place is just so big,

it's just taking up the whole garden.

That's right.

A tiny little yard for the main dwelling

and no garden for this building.

You can't build something like that in your garden.

After months of stress, Beryl and her husband Doug are just

happy that someone's listened to their side of the story.

I'm happy that the council's got involved

and have asked for it to be returned to its normal state.

And I hope that this happens.

He's been given time to do it and I hope he will do it.

Yes, I'll be quite happy to see it on its way down

but I understand he's appealed against the decision

it has to be put back to a garden again.

In light of their neighbour's appeal,

Beryl and Doug will have to wait a bit longer to find out

the final fate of this back-garden bungalow.

Since the property was inspected,

the landlord has appealed the notice served by the council,

and the case is now being passed up the chain

to the planning inspectorate,

who deal with planning appeals of this nature.

At this time, no further progress has been made,

and the case could take up to six months to be resolved.

Every day, housing officers have to tread a fine line

between giving tenants help with their homes when they need it

and getting them to take responsibility for themselves.

In Suffolk, housing officer Andrew Weavers is on his way

to a council-owned bungalow

where a routine survey has set off alarm bells

about the way tenants are looking after their home.

We've had a property that's been identified as being cluttered

and dirty through an inspection that one of our contractors did.

So I'm just going to go and check that out and find out why.

Andrew's worried the condition of the bungalow could be a sign

the occupants are struggling to cope.

But it isn't just the welfare of the tenants he has to think about.

You know, if people are not reporting repairs

or the property's getting dirty for whatever reason,

you end up with a rather large bill to put it right.

Tenant Lesley Offord moved into the property 15 years ago

with her late husband.

Despite his poor health, they shared many happy years there.

Peter died in 2008.

He had MS and couldn't get out of bed and then he got leukaemia.

About six weeks after he'd been diagnosed with the leukaemia,

he passed away.

Two years ago, with her own health deteriorating,

Lesley's son Michael moved in, becoming her full-time carer.

Michael could see that I was having more and more problems walking

and getting around.

I've had three or four falls in the bungalow

where they've had to take me to hospital

and I've had a broken hip,

broken ribs, collapsed lungs.

I don't know what I'd do without Michael, quite frankly.

But with concerns being raised that they might not be coping,

it's Andrew's job to find out if there's a problem

and what the council can do to help.

Hello. It's Mrs Offord I'm looking for... Mr Offord?

Oh - Lesley Offord, my mother.

-Yeah.

-I'm Andrew. I'm from Mid Suffolk District Council.

Do you mind just having a very quick chat just

so I can get a few concerns out of the way?

We've had the property inspected, what they call a whole house survey,

but they're a bit troubled by the condition of the property.

They say it isn't in its best condition.

-Erm...

-Would you say that's the case?

It's not the tidiest at the moment.

Telling someone they've been reported for having a dirty,

untidy house is never going to be easy.

Obviously, we've had a survey,

and they were a bit concerned that this property was a bit cluttered

and wasn't the cleanest but, to be fair,

I've got to say it's not bad at all, in my book,

and I've seen a lot of cluttered properties in my time!

-Yeah.

-So I don't want to worry you at all

but I just want to have a quick look myself

to make sure you're all right.

So far, it's proving hard to see exactly why the contractor

was so concerned about the condition of this place.

And even when Andrew does spot a problem,

it isn't just down to Lesley and Michael's housekeeping.

OK, the kitchen's seen better days.

It looks like more or less you need a new kitchen, really.

-That wouldn't do any harm because...

-No.

..we've got a serious problem with storing stuff.

I don't know how old this kitchen is.

-No idea, but it's original since me mum's been here.

-Yeah.

I might ask them whether they would consider looking at this

-and inspecting this.

-Yeah.

But what I suggest we do, give that a bit of a clean down the units

so when they inspect it, it won't be so...you know?

-Because I suppose...

-I know what you mean.

-Yeah. A bit sticky, I guess...

-Yeah.

-..aren't they?

-Some of this is difficult because it's old stuff...

-All old stuff.

But I'm quite happy to send someone round

and see if you are entitled to a new kitchen, then if you are, brilliant.

The kitchen isn't going to win any awards for cleanliness

and it could well be the reason for the bad inspection report,

but Andrew's more concerned it isn't fit for purpose.

-The garden's out here.

-Just a have quick look.

Is that...? Oh, I see, that's not so bad, is it?

I can see from here.

First impressions outside are also good,

but aware Lesley's seriously injured herself falling over

at home before, Andrew's spotted something that won't help.

Yeah, because this is a bit of a trip hazard, here.

That's the main problem for my mother, yeah.

And that's the other little step

-she's worried about.

-Yeah, here, yeah.

It wouldn't take much to do something there.

-That's an easy one but that one there...

-Yeah.

I'm sure they'll come up with something.

But even I would trip over that if I was not looking out.

Making sure Lesley can access the garden safely

is a job for the council, but as the tenant,

she has to take responsibility for keeping it tidy herself.

Obviously you've got some white goods there.

If they can make their way to the dump...

You know, you've got a few bits and pieces

but that's got to go, hasn't it, really?

Yeah, that's all waiting for...

Got to get my sister to get her people carrier to get that sorted.

Yeah. But it's got potential here,

you can have a nice little seated area.

Everything's gone much better than Andrew anticipated.

But coming into someone's home and putting their life under the

microscope is an uncomfortable job that needs to be handled tactfully.

Right. OK, well...

it's not, it's not what I thought it was going to be

but you do understand that

when they flag something up, I've got to go and investigate it.

Although the visit's put to rest any fears the property isn't

being looked after,

it also made it clear that with a little adaptation,

it would be much easier for Lesley to live in.

Luckily, Andrew is on hand to help.

-Obviously you're having falls and things, aren't you?

-Yes.

I don't know if it's worth getting

an occupational therapist to come out.

What they tend to do is, they do an evaluation and then

if there's anything like handrails

or they might have ideas on the type of kitchen you might need

that suits you.

So I'll get someone who knows a bit more about disabled adaptations -

that's what they're called - to give you a call.

-Lovely job. OK?

-We pass the test, do we?

Yes.

Because I don't want to get evicted.

No, I wouldn't dream of evicting you, would I?

Do I look like a man who's going to evict you?

We've got our different levels of cleanliness, haven't we,

and different standards?

I've been in cleaner but it wasn't as bad as I thought

it was going to be and they're very nice people and when you get

someone like that, you'd rather try and help them if you can.

If can encourage her son to tidy up the garden

and have a little bit of a clean-up, then job's a good 'un.

That's it for today - join me

next time back on the road with the Housing Enforcers.