Episode 1 The Housing Enforcers

Hello, will you just let me in?

DOG BARKS '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.'

Yeah, this is falling to bits. There's nothing I can do.

'In the battle for decent housing...'

We've just 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 have died here,

you would have 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 in total living in here.

'I'll be with them as they tackle problem properties and slum conditions.'

It really does look shantytown.

Yeah, it's not up to standard.

'As they deal with dodgy landlords, nightmare neighbours

'and everything in between.'

Oh, my God, straightaway 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.'

-Give me a hug.

-THEY LAUGH

That's the one...

'Today we find what could be Britain's filthiest home.'

The overwhelming smell here is disgusting.

Here we are, standing on a house-high pile of faeces and cider cans.

'In Suffolk, prize veg needs protection.'

If there are rats,

then you're going to be sort of responsible to get them dealt with.

-Yeah, I understand, yeah.

-Is that OK?

'And we provide a solution for the problems of this homeless family.

-Give me a hug.

-THEY LAUGH

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

and every year, rents go up.

For those of us choosing 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.

'In Kent, I'm spending the day with Swale Borough Council

'housing officer Glyn Pritchard,

'inspecting a private residence that's now empty

'but has still being attracting complaints from the neighbours.

'Glyn's got 25 years' experience under his belt,

'so it's a pretty safe bet he's seen it all in his time...

'Until today, that is.'

That's the one.

Erm...you can see from the outside

that normally when it looks worse than the rest, there's usually reasons for it.

So, what's the scenario here? Why are we here?

The neighbours complained last year.

The police entered the property to try and find if he was in there,

cos the resident hadn't been seen for a while.

So, there was concerns over him.

They then contacted us to say there was a problem with the condition

of the property, so we then started to try and contact the owner.

He wasn't living at the property.

We couldn't get in, but we could see through the window.

Just so I'm clear again, it was in a state a year ago

-and no-one's been in, we think, in that year?

-No.

We have served legal notice twice to try and resolve the issue

and ultimately he still didn't do the work,

so we've had to get a warrant to get in and now we're actually

executing the warrant to get into the property.

'OK, now I'm really worried.

'Glyn wants us to enter a property that hasn't been touched in over a year with no idea

'of what's inside and he's clearly taking it very seriously.'

Protective mask, gloves...

And what I will do is...

We tend to spray ourselves just in case of any insects,

bugs, fleas or anything like that.

Top to bottom with it.

After doing it 25 years, I cover myself.

THEY LAUGH

-Insurance!

-I've never taken anything home yet.

Right. These are nice, aren't they?

-Here we go. Enter.

-You lead the way.

I'll lead the way and see what we can find.

'Despite the protective gear, I'm still feeling nervous,'

'especially when I discover how Glyn's expecting us to get into the house.'

They've got a window open at the moment, which is...

-Is that the way in?

-That's one way in.

-Right.

And the other way is the door, which is a very tight squeeze.

That's not much of a choice, is it, really?

Glyn, you know what I really like is amongst all this stuff,

which is already humming, there are just...there are two air fresheners.

'Glyn's decided that we're going to have to go through the window with this one.

'I mean, what could possibly go wrong?'

Oh, my God!

Now you've seen it.

That's just like...

It's about four or five foot high.

Oh, my God!

That's incredible.

All I can see is cider cans, videos and tissues.

How can one person drink so much cider?

'And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse...'

Oh, no!

We're not sure,

but those could be full of other things

other than food in Tupperware.

That's not food in there. That's...

Why put it in Tupperware? Why keep it?!

That's the opposite of what you have to do with that!

You're supposed to flush it away, not preserve it!

'Faced with a cocktail of cider cans and human waste,

'I'm not looking forward to going inside.'

-Are you going in that way?

-I'm going to go in...

It is fairly high and we're looking at least five foot in here.

Right.

I'm going to have to... I'm going to have to go in.

If Glyn... If Glyn can do this, I can do this.

I'm going in.

Get in from the outside. Hold on to the top.

'It's not the most graceful way to get in,

'but it's nothing compared to what I'm about to face.'

There's like... The only safe place to step here is on videos.

If you're stepping on videos, DVDs,

then you just about get away with it.

Everything else...

Everything else is disgusting.

The overwhelming smell here...

is of fermenting apples and faeces.

I've never been able to touch a ceiling standing on the rubbish before,

so that's a new one on me.

-It's difficult to avoid it.

-Well...

I mean, at that point there, that's got to be five foot.

It's probably the one I've seen the highest with alcohol cans.

Faeces isn't an issue. I've, you know, that's...

Faeces is an issue, Glyn!

Where are you going to start with this? How can you begin to do this?

'Glyn's experience is doing a good job of keeping him calm -

'well, calmer than me anyway.

'Personally I'm not sure I would ever be able to get used to

'a scene like this, even after 25 years on the job.'

You are kidding me!

I mean, don't get me wrong,

of a weekend, I enjoy watching a film, yeah?

I even enjoy the odd can of cider from time to time.

This is taking it too far!

Do you know what I saw here down here mixed in amongst this?

It's a set of those clippers for doing your nasal hair.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to use them now, though.

No, but I would say that's fine tuning. When you've got a pile...

A five foot pile in your living room of cider cans,

faeces in Tupperware, don't worry about the nasal hair thing.

Where are we going?

Well, at the moment, I think possibly the safest bet is upstairs.

'Join me later to discover if it can possibly get any worse.'

Here we are, standing on a house-high pile of faeces.

There's definitely evidence of mice, rats...

This is like a combat zone.

It's like he's declared war on the house and himself.

Suffolk -

home to picture postcard villages

and quintessential English country gardens,

but today housing officer Andrew Weavers has been called to one of the

most beautifully kept gardens in one of the county's prettiest villages

by a green-fingered tenant having trouble with his prize-winning patch.

We've had a...

a complaint from, er...

..a tenant about another neighbour,

who happens to have an overgrown garden.

I think the person that's made the complaint is a fairly keen gardener,

so he's probably got high standards anyway.

High standards or not, both neighbours are council tenants,

so it's down to Andrew to investigate.

But once he arrives, his first impression of the neighbouring

property is actually pretty good.

I can't really see much of the...

Unless you were looking out the front.

I'll go and have a quick word with the person that made the complaint,

just to let him know I'm dealing with it.

Andrew's been called in by tenant Janet Hubbard...

-Mrs Hubbard? Do you remember me? Andrew from the council?

-Yes.

-Hello.

..and her husband, Ralph.

-You've got a problem with your neighbour.

-Yes.

It's an overgrown garden.

Just had a look at the front quickly

-and I can't see too much going on out there.

-No?

-I know you pride yourself on your garden.

-I do.

So, there's quite a high standard you've set, really,

so I just wanted to know, really, from you,

what's causing you a nuisance and what the problem is.

It's actually all the furniture she's got there.

-Right. Furniture, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

The pile of junk at the end of his neighbour's garden might not

be doing much for the view, but that is not the problem.

-They've been eating my courgettes, my marrows and cucumbers.

-Who has?

-The rats...

-So, the rats are sort of getting into the furnishings...

Yeah. My garden and that.

-If you'd like to have a look, I'll show you.

-I'll have a look.

Obviously if there are some furnishings out there,

then maybe they've got to go, because they are the things that

they find all nice and warm to go and sleep in, isn't it?

And by the look of things, Ralph is a pretty serious gardener.

Although the rest of the neighbour's garden isn't exactly a tip,

the furniture shouldn't be there.

It's not an overgrown garden, by any stretch of the imagination,

-apart from that little bottom bit.

-Yeah, that's it.

-If they can get that cleared up. That's where the rats are, coming off the field into there.

-Mmm.

-Then the rats come from there into my garden.

-Yeah.

I was going to be a bit more panicky

if there was, like, soft furnishings and carpet.

-Well, you don't know what's under that heap.

-No, you don't.

You're sure that's not the predator after your vegetables?

No, that ain't her!

It should be easy enough to sort this situation out.

-It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be, if I'm honest.

-No?

Have you spoken to her about this subject? Have you sort of...?

I was talking to her son-in-law once.

I said, "Would you get it cleared away?"

He said, "I will do in time."

So, there's ways and means through the council,

so you can get that job done.

Yeah, but we're not always the answer. We're not...

You know, it's often the tenant's responsibility.

But after all the hard work he's put into his vegetable patch,

it seems Ralph might be running out of patience.

-What would you say to me if I left all my garden...

-Clear it up.

-..in rubbish?

-Clear it up.

-Grow up.

-Clear it up.

-Yeah, get it up.

-Yeah.

-Tell her that, then.

That's what... OK, that's what I'll do.

And just so he can appreciate exactly what is at stake here,

he's insistent that Andrew samples the quality of his un-nibbled produce.

I hope they are prize-winning vegetables?

RALPH LAUGHS

-That one won't give you indigestion.

-Oh, that's all right, then.

-And that's an ordinary one.

-This is a bit healthy for me!

-ANDREW LAUGHS

-Well, that'll do that.

-Lovely job. Paid me off, thank you very much.

As he heads next door, Andrew's determined to keep things

as friendly as possible, but it seems Ralph might have other ideas.

-We'll have a chat.

-Yeah, have a word.

And see if we can make it as gentle as possible.

-You'd better take that cucumber with you.

-Why is that? Protection?

Yeah, hit her on the head!

I think I might have to declare these when I go back,

cos you're not supposed to really get gifts as a council officer,

but sometimes they are hard to refuse.

I'm not an expert, I don't work in environmental health,

but that's really not as bad as I was expecting.

Coming up - it looks like the rats haven't just come for dinner,

they may also be staying the night.

And obviously this shed with the mattress in

would probably sort of harbour some pests.

Earlier, in Swale, I joined housing officer Glyn Pritchard

inspecting the worst house I've ever seen,

abandoned by its owner more than a year ago.

No!

That's not food in there.

Why put it in Tupperware?

The overwhelming smell here is of fermenting apples and faeces.

'The living room is in an absolutely shocking state.

'And things don't improve as we pick our way upstairs.'

Oh, my God! There's, like, a whole thing of clothes.

-Now, we're into... This is the wardrobe area.

-Yeah.

-Oh, my God.

I think this is probably going to be it,

because every room's the same.

That room you can't get into.

That room is exactly the same as downstairs.

'And it appears the toilet arrangements are the same up here too.'

-All the excrement, everything, is in bags.

-Oh...

-There's an old quilt.

There's definitely evidence of mice, rats...

Even the rats wouldn't live in this.

This is like a combat zone.

It's like he's declared war on the house and himself.

Here we are, standing on a, you know, a house-high pile of faeces

and cider cans.

The smell is overwhelming, cos downstairs it was mostly cider.

-Up here, it's...

-Up here, you've definitely got...

This is where we're into...

This is why I won't go any further now, because you've definitely got

all the excrement up here, which is where the problems have been.

I haven't seen anything like this. It's just the sheer...

quantity...of stuff.

And then I think possibly, the only clear place is the loft.

What do we need to assess, realistically, looking at this job?

Realistically now, this is a full house clearance.

So, it's a contractor in and literally,

they are going to have to strip the whole lot.

There is probably nothing that is salvageable at all in here.

I can't imagine that you could even leave the floorboards in this place.

Everything's got to be deep-cleansed to get it back to any kind of...

We work on a basis... Get the rubbish out first

and then we go from there and then just work on that process.

'It might be because of the shock of the mess or

'the smell of a year's worth of human waste,

'but either way, it's really hard to get my head round what could have

'happened to the owner that would make him treat his own home in this way.'

You know, we've had hoarders before that we've seen, and we've seen,

you know, people who clearly have, you know, illnesses that they're

trying to get past which affect their behaviour and the rest of it.

-What's going on with somebody that lives like this?

-We don't know.

I mean, do you ever, I know this is not your job,

your job is to come here, make it better,

but you can't come in somewhere like this and not think to yourself,

"What on earth is going on in this guy's head?"

The thing is, without being able to talk to him,

usually you can assess, you can find,

but on this instance we just cannot even get that, you know,

dialogue going with him, so we need to work from there.

At what point does he lose the right to have this property?

I mean, it's going to be affecting your next-door neighbours

and if he comes back in and does the same thing again,

at some point do you lose the right to own this property?

If we can get a debt on the property under certain circumstances,

we can go through an enforced sale-type procedure.

We can work with him, being an empty property,

to bring it up to standard and possibly get him to rent it out.

And ultimately compulsory purchase is something that is there,

but that is going to be a long, drawn-out process.

Because the work that it's going to take to put this back

into any kind of habitable form is going to be very expensive, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-I mean, we're talking about thousands.

Just the clearance will probably be in the thousands.

Have we done everything we need to do in this property?

I can't go any further and I can't take you any further!

THEY LAUGH

Can we please go? Can we...?

I can't see any more of this and I certainly can't smell any more.

'It is a tragic situation, but the pressing problem now is how to

'sort this place out so it's no longer affecting the neighbours.'

Oh, God!

MATT GASPS

BOTH PANT

I... I've never seen... I've never seen anything like that.

Tissues, Tupperware...

..and just terrible, terrible filth.

You know, if it was...

If it was standing by itself, freestanding, detached...

My honest...

My honest reaction would just be, "Knock the whole thing down!

"Just put everything into a skip and just get rid of it."

'But fortunately, Glyn's 25 years of experience means

'he's able to offer a more practical solution,

'one that involves making the owner take responsibility for this mess.'

We'll get it cleared.

It will be reasonably expensive,

but we will be recovering it off the owner.

He's had the opportunity to clear it.

We've given him two notices in the past, hasn't done it,

and we're left with no alternative.

That's going to be the next step, to get this place back into use is...

That's our main aim.

To satisfy and keep things from the neighbours so they are happier.

I really appreciate it. And you can have your gloves back.

-We'll find some clean ones for you next time.

-Thank you very much!

'That's the other important thing about this disgusting tale.

'It's one thing to destroy your own standard of living.

'It's quite another to start affecting your neighbours too.'

So, you've lived next door to all of that. How has that been for you?

-It's just awful and it turned into a tourist attraction.

-Really?

-It really did.

-What, you've got people coming here to see that?

They were coming up, strolling up the garden path, looking through

the window, because people could not believe what was in there.

It is quite extraordinary, but just to be clear,

-you've had mice coming across?

-Yeah.

-And...

-Rats in the garden as big as cats.

You knew it was bad when the postman, he said,

"That's it, I'm not delivering any more, cos I cannot get up this garden path."

I mean, the smell coming from there.

-I mean, I can smell it now.

-Yeah.

-You've got that all day every day.

-Well, you get used to it.

'Yeah, no-one should have to get used to it.

'Catch up later to see how Glyn manages to get a grip on the grime.'

It is something that we've got to do and we have got to...

We've just found a dead rat.

He's been dead a fair while by the looks of it.

Back in Suffolk, Housing Officer Andrew Weavers is investigating

the strange case of a tenant who claims rodents

from his neighbour's garden are munching his prize-winning veg.

They've been eating my courgettes, my marrows and cucumbers.

-Who has?

-The rats.

Keen to avoid the situation escalating,

Andrew's heading next door to find out more.

My name's Andrew, I'm from Mid Suffolk District Council.

Ralph's neighbour is a pensioner who's raising two

of her grandchildren herself.

She's happy to talk to us but doesn't want to be identified.

I've spoken to your neighbour.

He obviously knows that...

He says you're a lovely lady, he gets on well with you.

He gave me some carrots, erm, onions.

Yeah, well, he's given me some cucumbers, look!

I know, I've got some as well!

She's clearly been on friendly terms with the Hubbards until now

but it seems this isn't the first time someone has smelled

a rat in her garden.

I think what he's trying to say

and I've got no evidence that there's rats around

-and they're getting...

-Well, I've been told there's rats around.

I've never seen any rats, but I know that the lady who lived here,

the last thing she said to me when she left here,

which I thought was quite weird,

"Good luck with the rat that lives in the shed."

And I thought, "Oh!"

We emptied that all out and cleaned out and I've not seen a rat.

If there are rats, then you're going to be sort of responsible to

-get them dealt with.

-Yeah. No, there's none here.

-OK.

She's adamant the vermin problem isn't coming from her

side of the fence and she has another problem that doesn't make

Andrew's job any easier.

I can probably get Environmental Health just to pop in and see if there's any traces of anything.

I can't get rid of that rubbish because I can't afford a skip.

-I'm bringing up two children on a pension.

-OK, I understand that.

-The only trouble is, you, you...

-I can't afford that.

This is where it ties me a little bit, because,

-you're our tenant, you've signed a tenancy agreement.

-That's right.

And one of the conditions of your tenancy agreement

-is to keep your garden tidy.

-I've never had a complaint in all the years I've been here.

-No.

-You always get one.

With two children to raise on a pension,

money is understandably tight

but the tenant will be responsible for the costs of the clear-up.

So Andrew has to handle the situation gently.

Obviously, I've got to have my tenancy services hat on

and say it's a breach of tenancy conditions.

It's not bad. It's not too bad.

The only issue I can see is at the bottom of the garden there's

-a bit of furniture.

-I can burn that.

Good, and obviously you make sure you tell everybody

and make sure no-one's got their washing out.

Obviously I'm going to upset Tom, Dick and Harry, aren't I?

-If you'd like to come down the bottom.

-Let's do that.

-Let's have a waddle, shall we?

Let's have a waddle. I'll waddle behind you.

Burning the rubbish in a residential area is far from ideal

but more importantly, it seems the problem isn't all down to the tenant.

-There's a lot here.

-This is not all mine.

No, this is an old problem, isn't it? This is not caused by you.

It's caused by the previous tenant, I would imagine.

-I think this is yours, isn't it?

-Yeah, this is.

-It needs clearing out.

-And obviously this shed,

with the mattress in, will probably harbour some pests.

And with Ralph's veggie patch next door,

this place could be the perfect rodent B&B.

Now Andrew has to find a way to shift the rubbish without a bonfire

or a big bill for the hard-pressed pensioner.

First of all I'll ask for a price

that we can send my little man from the council.

I can't say how much it will cost, and that will be your choice then.

If that fails, I'll speak to my colleague about Community Payback.

That wouldn't cost anything if they accept it.

It's not certain that they can use Community Payback

in this situation, but basically

it's unpaid work done by people found guilty of certain offences.

The work can include removing graffiti, clearing wasteland

and decorating public buildings.

But they've got a bit of a criteria on them

where they'll only do most things that are for the good

of the community and you're... as much as you've got a nice, lovely

garden, this probably isn't a hub of the community

where it wouldn't impact on the community apart from your little family.

I'll put a note out. "Anybody want to come down the back of my garden?"

I'm going to keep in contact with you.

I'll give you some options about your garden

so that you know what they are.

If there is anything that can disappear or go in the meantime,

obviously it'll cost less.

-I'll give you a ring with the options and then you can tell me which way you're going to run.

-OK.

-Bye!

-Bye.

-Regardless of her financial situation,

it's a problem that needs sorting.

Ralph's veg must be protected.

The garden's too big for her.

She's been left with the grandchildren to look after.

I think her plate's quite full.

Although we're not offering to do it for her,

but we might be able to find ways and means of getting that cleared

at sort of a reduced price.

And if I can get Community Payback, erm, agreeing to do that work,

then it'll be free.

After a bit more investigation,

it turned out the tenant wasn't eligible for help

from the Community Payback scheme.

But the council cleared the rubbish and, given her financial

circumstances, it was decided not to charge her for the work.

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 somebody 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 a fit place to call a home.

I'm very shocked. This is ridiculous.

You shouldn't have people living in here.

Childhood is supposed to be the happiest time of your life.

But for many of the nearly 100,000 kids living

with their families in temporary accommodation in England alone,

the lack of a safe, settled place to live can make it anything but.

I'm on the Isle of Sheppey with Housing Officer Zana Owen

who's been working with a father from Sittingbourne in desperate

need of a secure home for his sons.

OK, tell me about the family we're about to meet.

Ian and the two boys were living in a family home.

There was a relationship breakdown.

So Ian had to move out of the property

-and the boys have come with him.

-Right.

Ian didn't want to take the boys out of school

and damage their education

so they were sleeping on a family member's floor

in armchairs for a while until the boys finished school.

They then moved into a houseshare,

which is where they are at the moment.

The boys have been living with their father

since the irreparable breakdown of his relationship with their mother.

But with a shortage of temporary accommodation,

the council's had to put them up in Sheerness,

over ten miles from home.

I mean, what's the pressure like on housing in this part of the world,

in Sittingbourne, at the moment?

The housing situation down here is dire.

It's so hard to find somewhere.

Luckily, all that's about to change.

So what is it that we're there to do today?

We're there to let them know today that the temporary

accommodation they're in at the moment, they're going to be

moving out of, and they'll be moving into a three-bed property

in Sittingbourne that's going to be more suitable for their needs.

So this is... It's going to be really good news.

Yeah, the boys will have their own room, they won't all be cramped

into a small space any more.

Hello, Ian. How are you doing? I'm Matt.

-Nice to meet you. Are you all right?

-Yeah.

-Are we all right to come in?

-Yeah. Come in.

-Thank you very much.

'First, I want to know how Ian, who's hard of hearing,

'and his boys have been coping with having to move to a completely

'different town on top of the stress of the family breakdown.'

It sounds, Ian, like you've got quite a full plate here.

You've got a disability you're dealing with,

you're outside your comfort zone, your normal neighbourhood.

How long have you been in this place?

-We've been in this place for five days now.

-Five days?

-Yeah.

And how's it working out?

It's nice, it's a nice property but it's a different area for the boys.

It's alien to them and they don't have the basics,

some the basics, we don't have, that they're used to.

It's a bit of a struggle for them.

Ian and the boys have been sharing one bedroom

and moving miles away from home

has been especially hard for eldest son Chris, who's autistic.

Chris, how are you finding it here?

Well, it's not good, actually.

All my mates and friends and family are in Sittingbourne.

We don't have anyone around in Sheerness

so we're just tired,

fed up and bored, getting depressed

and it's just getting on our nerves, basically.

'Ian's also worried about the distance to the boys' schools

'once the new term starts, particularly as it's much further

'for Chris to get the assisted transport he relies on.'

They've got the two most important years of their lives coming up.

Obviously there's a struggle with school, as well.

The cost involved of getting from here to school

and for Chris to get to Gillingham.

They really need some sort of stability.

What you're really looking for is a stable platform,

a stable home environment for at least the next couple of years.

Yeah.

'Moving from place to place, the boys have lacked stability

'since the breakdown of Ian's relationship with their mother.

'And it's clear he's also worried about the effect that sharing their accommodation with strangers

'could be having on them.'

You've got boys who are going through a really critical period

of their growing up and you're trying to do it by yourself

and then you're in these constantly changing environments.

You've got drug people in there, you've got alcoholics.

So it's not an ideal environment to take two boys to.

I mean, you must be desperate for somewhere where you can just shut

the front door and just say, "Right, at least they can do that bit

"of their adolescence with a bit of...

-"They're coming home to me and I can control home."

-Yeah.

-Cos you can't control home at the moment.

-I can't, no.

Ian's struggled, Chris has struggled.

They've had their moments where they've got angry at the situation.

And me as well, I've despaired as well.

But, like you say, we've got to get on with it.

There's nothing that anyone can do, the situation is what it is.

Later, learning that someone can do something is too much for Ian.

And for the boys.

He's been under a lot of stress.

Too right, Chris.

Earlier, I visited an abandoned house of filth,

so disgusting it even left experienced housing officer, Glyn Pritchard, shocked.

All the excrement, everything is in bags.

I can't go any further and I can't take you any further.

Can we please go?

Well, the good news is that Glyn is back and I'm not.

And he's managed to convince some very brave souls

to help him clear the house.

Today we've got the contractors in and they're busy doing all

the clear-up. The owner still hasn't responded to us

and, as you can see at the moment,

they can't even get into the property still.

We've been here about 45 minutes so far.

How long do we think it's going to take?

-A couple of days.

-Two or three days?

-Two or three days?

And we haven't even made a dent to get in through the front door yet.

But the task is proving a little easier said than done.

I'm actually hitting the floor.

One of the precautions they've got to take is we know there is mice

and rats been in the property,

so they will take that necessary precaution.

They're not going to be eating their sandwiches straight after

being in there without washing their hands, or anything,

but it's something we've got to do

and we have got a... We've just found a dead rat.

He's been dead a fair while by the looks of it.

Given the scale of the challenge,

the team aren't taking any chances.

You just don't know what's in there.

It's all mould and things like that,

and that's what's going to affect your health,

so you do have to take precautions.

I'm not going to go into the property.

I'll let them get on with their job

and I'll go and supervise a bit further into the clean.

Very smart man, Glyn.

Let the experts take charge.

We're getting there slowly.

We'll get in and go as far we can get.

It doesn't really bother me but it's the smell.

The stink of it afterwards, you keep on smelling that smell.

The incredible thing is

that the telly is still on standby.

Where's the remote?

There we are, we've got a telly.

I've got no signal.

While Glyn takes a less hands-on approach,

the guys inside find an interesting clue that tells them

just how long it's been since the place enjoyed a spring clean.

January 2007, eight-and-a-half years ago.

Well, we've managed to get through to some of the furniture,

which, looking at the state of it, is rotted to high heaven.

Whatever's at the bottom there's not going to be anything salvageable,

it is that far gone,

which will probably mean the carpets have gone, as well.

They'll all have to come up.

With the contactors succeeding in clearing safe passage inside,

Glyn decides it's now time to brave going in.

I have to wipe my feet before I come in now, it's that clean so far.

You've made a bit of progress in here.

I was going to say, can we tell what colour the carpet is?

It's pink over here, green there and blue over there.

Nothing worth salvaging at all.

I don't think they'll get a refund for that.

It's clearly a thankless task for everyone involved

and the progress is slow, but sure.

That's the first skip gone, so hopefully, it gets easier.

Someone else who's clearly delighted to see the back of the rubbish

is neighbour, Terry.

Incredible.

I'm so glad the council have really got their act together

on our behalf and have made a good job of it.

It was very deceiving because when you look through the window

you saw what you thought was a fair bit but when it starts

coming out, there was two or three mountains, without a doubt.

As you can see what's in here,

it's just a small part of what's been taken out of this house.

And they're still at it, the boys.

Let's just hope they can keep going.

Look at it.

One week later, and Glyn is back.

The contractors have gone, but what about the rubbish?

They've cleared up and they've done a pretty good job.

There's a path, I didn't even know there was a path here.

It's a good start, but let's see if Glyn can get into the house

using the front door.

He's got his nice jacket on.

And that's what the door actually looks like,

and I can actually open the door.

As they say in all the best makeover shows,

here comes the reveal.

The difference is amazing.

And the staircase, which I think had rubbish up to about here,

you can actually see.

You couldn't get to the kitchen the first time,

because we had to walk down a pile.

And we have a kitchen.

They earned their money doing this job, that was for certain.

No kidding!

Upstairs, where it was, well, horrible...

Just take a look.

The bathroom is a bathroom again.

It's amazing that a mess that took years to create

has been removed in just under a week.

If someone saw it now, they wouldn't realise what was in here or

what had actually happened in here.

Which just leaves the small matter of what happens next.

If the owner did turn up tomorrow, the first thing we'd be doing

is giving him the bill.

If he still chooses not to pay it or doesn't contact us

or discuss it with us,

we have the ability to put it as a charge on the property

and/or take him to court.

Well, even if the owner never bothers to return,

there are plenty of very happy neighbours who I'm sure

would give you a pat on the back, Glyn.

From our point of view, it's a good job well done.

On the Isle of Sheppey, single dad Ian Foster

and his two sons have been in temporary accommodation since

the breakdown of his relationship with their mother left them homeless.

It is a struggle. I've despaired. But we've got to get on with it.

There's nothing that anyone can do. The situation is what it is.

Well, you say that, but today I've come along with

Swale Borough Council Housing Officer Zana Owen to give

Ian and the boys some brilliant news that's going to change everything.

So we've come with a little bit of an update

for where we are, going forwards today.

The council, Swale, has found you a property in Sittingbourne.

We're hopeful that next week, as soon as next week,

you can be moving into a property with three bedrooms.

So a bedroom for each of you,

where you can start again in Sittingbourne, where you know,

and it's in time for term to start as well.

So you've got a week to get yourself sorted before school and college.

'After months of worry,

'finally being able to give his sons a safe, secure place to live

'back in their home town of Sittingbourne

'is all too much for Ian.'

-OK?

-(Yeah.)

Give me a hug. You all right?

-Lovely.

-OK.

'Clearly, Ian isn't the only member of the family

'who's relieved to hear the good news.'

What does this mean now, going forwards?

It's going to be a lot better.

-I'm happier.

-Yeah.

'Worrying about his dad has also clearly taken its toll

'on eldest son Chris, who suffers with autism.'

He's been under a lot of stress.

You all right, Chris?

Just surprised.

I didn't think you'd be able to do it.

'I'll be honest, I was expecting the family to be pleased

'but realising just how relieved they are is heart-breaking to watch.'

This is supposed to be a happy thing, you know.

Everyone's in tears - I don't know what I've done!

LAUGHTER

It was supposed to be a happy thing!

It's sort of like a big weight lifted off your shoulders.

So tears of happiness, knowing that we can start planning for

the future now, rather than thinking, you know,

we're going to be scratching around for the next few months.

It's a fantastic result but I really wasn't prepared

for what a difference it'll make to Ian and his family.

I wasn't expecting the outcome today.

It was quite a surprise.

I wasn't, actually, no. It's a complete shock.

I'm just really happy.

-Well, that was emotional.

-Yeah.

I really didn't expect to have

a room full of sobbing blokes on my hands there.

But I suppose when you hear what Ian's been through with those boys...

-Yeah.

-..actually you can understand the relief...

-Yeah.

-..must be more than anything.

Yeah, and hopefully we can get things rolling quite quickly,

get them in, get them settled

and then the boys can concentrate on school.

Is it too early for a little knuckle bump, like that?

I think that's fair enough, given the circumstances.

Three weeks later,

Ian and the boys have moved back home to Sittingbourne

and are already settled into their new flat.

This is the kitchen.

You've got the basics - cooker, washing machine,

we've got a fridge and a freezer.

It makes a big difference being able to cook different things, you know,

and it's been a pleasure for me,

like, to actually sit down and have a meal with them

and spend time with them.

Struggling to learn how to cook but we'll get there eventually.

After months of moving from place to place,

each of them now has a room they can call their own.

And finally being able to give his sons a safe, secure home

has had just the effect Ian was hoping for.

Yeah, the boys are a lot happier here than they were in Sheerness.

They didn't know anyone in Sheerness.

It is more stable for them.

We're in the area we want to be

and we can, you know, get on with things.

With any luck, this place will be

just the fresh start they've been looking for.

That's it for today.

Join me next time back on the road with the housing enforcers.