Episode 11 The Housing Enforcers

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.

The house 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 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 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. 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.'

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

'Today, terrible living conditions leave a mother fearing for her

'family's health...'

It's not safe for you, it's not safe for the children.

That just makes it even more upsetting.

..a terminally ill tenant is trapped in his own home

by vandals...

He's totally reliant on the lift here.

He needs to enjoy the time he's got left.

'..an overcrowded flat puts lives in danger...'

-Today there was five people living here.

-OK.

So someone's lying to me then.

'..and a neighbour's nuisance letters disturb the peace.'

-Obviously, you called the police?

-Yes.

We might not always know it, but there are people from every local

council whose job it is to make sure we have a safe roof over our heads.

I'm working alongside the men and the women who use the law to make

sure we don't live in slums,

but in homes fit to raise a family or enjoy our retirement.

They can make sure that you have the facilities you need

as you get older.

They also have the power to start the process that can send

a bad landlord to prison or help evict a bad tenant.

They are the housing enforcers.

The whole of the UK is struggling with the housing crisis,

but in our capital the problem is at its worst.

Sky-high rents plus a cap on benefits means that people have to

move from the area where they live,

because they can no longer afford to live and pay the rent.

And it's not just people living in the posh postcodes,

it's also affected single mums and others in London's satellite towns,

places like Croydon.

By March 2015, councils in the capital had relocated more

than 15,000 families to a different area.

At Swale Borough Council, housing officer David Dale is helping

a mum-of-three from Croydon,

who was moved 45 miles from friends and family.

She's now bringing up her kids in a dangerously run-down property.

Anne-Marie is worried that severe damp, rotten windows

and leaks are putting her children's health at serious risk.

What's the purpose of the visit?

We've served notice on the owner.

Attached to that was a list of works that we would want done.

We should, therefore,

see quite a lot of this work either under way or completed?

That would be our hope, yeah.

'David's asked housing officer Glyn Pritchard to join us

'at the terraced house in Sittingbourne.

'The tenant, Anne-Marie, was relocated here, 45 miles

'away from friends and family in Croydon, nearly two years ago.'

I'm interested to hear a bit about your story, then,

how you ended up here.

If you were in Croydon, how does that work?

It was because of the benefit cap.

I had a three-bedroom flat on top of a shop in Croydon.

And it was £1,300 a month.

I actually asked the council if they could help me.

The rent was so high, they wouldn't pay that much rent.

They said they would relocate me out of Croydon.

Anne-Marie's on the waiting list for a council property

back in Croydon, but high rents mean her benefits would only just

cover the cost of accommodation, leaving nothing for food and bills.

To make things worse, her current home is in a shocking state.

I wouldn't mind it so much if the place was actually suitable.

You feel it's not safe for the children,

you feel that it's not safe for you and you don't want to be in there.

That just makes it even more upsetting.

'The deadline for the council's improvement notice is

'fast approaching,

'so David, Glyn and I are here to check the landlord's progress.

'And with winter coming, the heating system is a priority.'

Have you got any hot water or heat in the house at the moment?

Just cos the boiler looks like it's got no pressure on it.

Yeah, I keep having trouble with that.

I have to keep turning it on and off and touching all the buttons

to try and get the hot water going.

Have you got a gas safety certificate?

I haven't received a gas safety certificate.

When I first moved in at the property,

I never actually had any hot water or heating.

But, at the moment, you can get hot water

-and you can get central heating?

-Yes.

-If you keep topping it up, if you keep keeping the pressure up?

-Yes.

OK. This floor feels like it's ready to go.

Yeah, every time I come down, there's water.

I have to mop it all the time.

What we think has happened is there's been a leak from under

-the sink.

-Yeah.

-It hasn't been repaired

and it's just seeped through under the floor.

'It seems like there's just one problem on top of another.

'It's not an ideal environment for her kids.'

It's almost impossible to clean the house in the state that it's in.

This is the problem, this is why we want to get the floors done, we want

to get the doors done, we want to get the leaks fixed,

we want to get the work surfaces done.

These are all things that are outstanding on this list.

'Later, we find problems with the house that could cause

'serious injury to young children.'

A child, standing on the end of the bed, could go straight through.

In Hertfordshire, like many local authorities across the UK,

Stevenage council works really hard to tackle vandalism

and antisocial behaviour, which can blight the lives of residents.

It's an ongoing problem for housing officers like Natasha Best,

who's dealing with a particularly heartbreaking situation today.

She's been called in to help a man with cancer who's just a few

months left to live.

He's become trapped in his own home because of vandals.

Where he lives, there's only access by one lift

and we've had a lot of problems with youths, recently, damaging the lift.

So, because of his health problems, if the lift is damaged,

he can't leave his flat.

It's Natasha's job to find a new flat quickly for someone who

now has no choice but to leave the place he's called home for 23 years.

He's simply too ill to walk down the stairs.

Moving is one of the most stressful things in anybody's life

and being ill is just going to make it that much harder for him.

As you can see, it's not a very disability-friendly flat block.

There's steps, there's only one lift, it's not good, really.

Today Natasha is calling in to see Neil...

-Hi, Chris.

-Hey, Natasha.

-Hi.

-Come on in.

..and his brother, Chris, who's been a constant support through

months of treatment and surgery.

Hi, Neil.

Neil's had a problem eating for a long time,

but, at the beginning of this year,

really, he had cancer diagnosed.

Neil can't speak any more,

but he wanted to tell us in his own words what he's been going through.

He was diagnosed with cancer in the voice box.

Then he had six weeks of radiotherapy

at Mount Vernon Hospital.

He went up on his own. He was independent, took his own car up.

But the treatment didn't kill it.

The radiotherapy had not worked at all, so he had to have surgery.

Neil's voice box and windpipe were removed,

but there was worse news to come.

It led to finding cancer at the base of his tongue.

For Neil, the loss of the tongue means not only has

he lost the ability to speak, but he can't taste anything.

He can't smile, he can't do so many things that we all take

so much for granted.

And then it wasn't too long after that final diagnosis that

Neil was told that there was nothing that could be done.

Neil knows he's got six months left and things aren't going to

get any easier, there's nothing he can do about it.

I was at the meeting when he was told that,

and he was much braver than I was.

He's incredibly brave.

I wanted to give him a cuddle and I reached forward to hold both

his shoulders and because he was frightened,

he jerked and that hurt, didn't it?

So silly little things, like that, can create problems.

You can't cuddle him.

Desperately want to, but can't.

CHRIS LAUGHS

Don't!

"That'll stop him blubbing."

THEY LAUGH

Clearly, the brothers are supporting each other through a very

difficult time.

And Chris knows that being stuck in the flat is making life even

more miserable for Neil.

Well, he's totally reliant on the lift here,

he can't get up and down the stairs without it.

Do you feel kind of lonely and depressed being here?

-"Trapped," yeah.

-Yeah.

Living in the flat, currently, it takes us

half an hour to get down to the car park.

It's dependent on a lift, but also stairs.

There's no wheelchair access and, eventually,

Neil will need a wheelchair.

If Neil was here for much longer,

he would become totally marooned.

He needs to enjoy the time he's got left.

"It might mean I can start to get out and about a bit, yes."

It's not much to ask for a man in Neil's situation.

And his family and friends are determined to make

the transition as easy as possible for him.

Neil's condition is going to get worse,

so it will assist everybody,

-I think, in the future.

-Mm.

I mean, Neil's been here for 23 years

and there are lots of memories and everything else here.

Making the move is quite difficult for him.

Natasha wants to move Neil into a sheltered home on the ground

floor, where he'll still be independent

but have a warden on hand if he needs help.

How do you think that you're going to manage with the move,

do you think you're going to cope OK?

"No problem."

No problem, I'll see you on Thursday.

And that's the nearest I've seen of a smile for a long time.

Later, we'll find out whether Natasha has found Neil the new

home he needs in order to make the most of his last few months.

How are you feeling in yourself now?

"At this minute, very good."

Back in Sittingbourne, Anne-Marie's unhappy with her rented home,

after being relocated here by Croydon Council

because the benefits cap means rents there were too high.

..knowing you've left your family, left your friends into a house

that you feel is not safe for the children.

'We're checking to see if the landlord has fixed a long list of

'potentially dangerous problems with the property.'

Just hold on to the handrail.

HE GASPS Look at that.

It's not just the dodgy banister we're concerned about.

We've got a damp wall there, we've got a rotting window.

If there's a child standing on the end of the bed,

could go straight through.

-Looking at the back window, where the glass has fallen out...

-Yeah.

..same sort of thing.

-This one is just waiting.

-It's just waiting to happen.

It's totally rotten.

'Anne-Marie was absolutely right to complain to the council.

'All the problems she's pointed out are genuine

'areas of concern for David and Glyn.'

You've got a single light bulb here,

the rose is not fixed to the ceiling at all.

What's happened to the piping over there?

These are hot-water pipes for the radiator upstairs.

They could be pulled away from the top,

so that, before you know it, you're going

to get water coming down, if they are damaged any further.

-They should be boxed in, ideally.

-They should be boxed in, yeah.

This place obviously needs a lot of money spent on it.

Anne-Marie first complained to the landlord.

By law he has to ensure that the property is maintained and safe.

When the work required wasn't done, she complained to the council.

But the landlord told the council that the

problems are caused by Anne-Marie herself.

Tell me about the practicality of living in a house like this.

What's it like?

It's one thing after another,

you think you've sorted one problem out and then...

It's just so horrible and depressing.

I feel like I'm stuck and I can't get out.

Part of what he's claiming is that the state the house is in

is because of you and your kids and the way that you behave.

How would you react to him saying that?

You can't blame me,

because you can see for yourself how bad the house is.

It hasn't just been like it, it's been like it for a long time.

What Anne-Marie says makes sense when you see her bathroom.

It's in a small extension at the back of the house

and the problem is obvious as soon as we walk in.

-So, you can smell the damp.

-Yeah, the damp is overwhelming in here.

-All the paper is peeling off cos it's so damp on the walls.

-Yeah.

An absolute minimum of care

and attention has been paid to this property in the way it's been

put together.

'And it's not only in the bathroom.

'We noticed that where the landlord has put a new back

'door on the house, it's created yet another problem.'

This is the new door that was fitted just a matter of weeks ago.

And already, the damp is creeping up it.

-This is an internal fire door.

-Right.

So it's not meant to be mounted on the outside of the house.

They saved money, chucked in an internal door that they might

-have had already...

-Yeah.

-..and there we have the result.

And it's starting to degrade.

'This place is clearly badly maintained

'and it doesn't look to me like it's the fault of Anne-Marie

'or her kids.'

The landlord is claiming that all of these things are down to

tenant behaviour and the house was pristine, supposedly,

before this tenant moved in.

But sash windows don't rot from the outside because of tenant neglect.

-No.

-This is something that's directly attributable

to the landlord, surely.

If people are desperate or need housing in a hurry,

they can end up with landlords who really don't feel the same

responsibility towards them.

As rents in parts of the south-east go up and up,

more and more people, like Anne-Marie, are forced to

settle for living conditions which just aren't good enough.

I think they grab the first property they can,

because they don't want to end up homeless.

As you can appreciate, she's got children.

Unfortunately, she came here from a London borough.

In our area, we check the property,

so we know that there's no category hazards in there.

What we're talking about, it sounds like, is boroughs outside London

being a dumping ground for the responsibilities of London

boroughs who just can't cope, maybe.

I would say it's probably going to be on the increase,

because the closer you get to London, the higher the prices.

Here, the lower the prices, but the rent seems to be going up and up.

But then you only find out about it

when they present themselves as homeless or there's a problem

with the property, because the original deal is with

the private landlord and you don't get involved at all.

-No, no.

-Wow.

I know AnneMarie has limited options, but I am surprised

she hasn't tried to find an alternative to this place.

Why are you still here? I mean, it's in such a shocking condition,

I'm just interested to know what your other options are and why you

choose to stay somewhere which seems to have so many problems attached.

Well, I'm not choosing to stay here at the moment,

I am trying to get as much support and help as possible.

But Croydon Council is helping me. As soon as they find me

somewhere, then I will be moving out as soon as possible.

'You can't blame Anne-Marie for wanting a more suitable

'home for her kids.

'In the meantime, the landlord has a further two weeks to sort out

'the problems at the house or face prosecution.'

Hopefully, the threat of prosecution at the end might get him to do it.

If not, then, yeah, we will go down that route.

Later, David returns to see if the work has been done.

It hasn't been replaced and it actually seems to have got

a little bit worse since we were last here.

In Stevenage, a vandalised lift left terminally ill tenant Neil

feeling like a prisoner in his own flat.

He was just too ill to manage the stairs.

Housing officer Natasha Best is on the case, finding him

a new home so his final months are as comfortable as possible.

Do you feel kind of depressed being here?

-"Trapped," yeah.

-Yeah.

These sorts of cases do pull on your heartstrings a little bit,

because it's really difficult to see someone in a state and stuck

and just being able to help them.

Cos not all cases you can do anything.

Luckily for Neil, she has been able to help, finding him

a sheltered ground-floor home with everything he needs.

The importance of getting all of this done...

so he could move and actually live a little bit

of the last of his life

in this accommodation,

hopefully, is going to make him happy.

Neil's recently moved into the flat.

It has easy wheelchair access

and, even better, no sign of the vandals

who damaged the lift and kept him housebound.

Today Natasha's paying him a visit with support worker Sarah

to see how he's settling into his new home.

And they're not alone -

Neil's friend Bob has popped in too.

Hi, Neil. You all right?

How was the move?

Did it go OK?

"Because I was helpless, it was really hard for me."

Are you happy here? Have you managed to settle in OK?

"Yes. No more antisocial...lift

"and people nice here."

That's really good.

So have you been through all the care plan with Neil

and organised what support he's going to get?

Yeah, we've done a settling-in plan

and we'll do a daily visit every day to see if he's OK

and if there's any support he needs.

And does she do all right, Neil?

"Spot-on." Brilliant.

So, do you mind if Sarah just shows me around the flat?

-Yeah, that's fine.

-Is that all right?

'Although Neil is frail,

'it's clear that he's much happier and more comfortable here.

'The flat has much better facilities

'and emergency pull cords in every room

'so he can summon help whenever he needs it.'

OK, this is the wet room.

Obviously he's got a nice, big shower.

It's really good that he's got the walk-in shower,

because at his last property

he obviously had to contend with a bath and...

as well as the stairs and everything else

it wasn't suitable for him,

so it's great that he's got this facility as well now.

The shower has got easy buttons to push.

There's also a chair there so that he hasn't got to stand,

he can always sit down.

-Brilliant. Grab rails.

-Yeah, a lot of grab rails.

-Yeah. All nicely decorated.

-Yeah.

Being on the ground floor

means that Neil can now get out and about with his friends and family

when he feels up to it.

This might seem like a small thing,

but it's transforming the time he has left.

So I'm really glad the move went good for you.

How are you feeling in yourself now?

'"This minute - very good."

'You have to admire Neil's spirit.

'And Natasha is delighted to have been able to help improve his life.'

This is one of the cases

that is going to make me feel a sense of satisfaction,

because I know that I've managed to help him.

He obviously is in a lot of need

so it's really good

when you can manage to help someone right to the end

with what they need to make their life better.

Sadly, Neil's now passed away.

Neil's brother Chris told us having the new flat,

even for a short time,

had made a huge difference to Neil's final months.

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.

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?

Definitely somebody inside, cos 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 that 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.

Oxford, a seat of learning

and one of the most beautiful cities in Britain.

But for one in five of its residents,

life might not quite live up to that image.

They're living in shared houses -

one kitchen and lots of bedrooms.

Housing officer Adrian Chowns is the council's top man

when it comes to ensuring everyone in Oxford is safe in their own home.

To keep them safe,

the council started a licensing scheme for landlords,

to make sure basic things like proper fire alarms are fitted.

Family homes are excluded from this.

If a house has three or more unrelated people living in it

the landlord needs a licence

to show he or she is complying with safety legislation.

We're strolling. I like that, Adrian.

-We're strolling through the streets of Oxford.

-Yes.

-What's our purpose?

We're going to have a look at a property above a restaurant.

Apparently the leaseholder of the restaurant

has put in some of his staff

into the accommodation above.

-Right.

-And also, allegedly,

he's renting some other rooms out to foreign students.

So what's the issue with that?

Well, we've got the licensing issue,

so, you know, we've got a multi-occupied property.

So this could need a licence and we haven't got a record of one?

The restaurant staff are living above their place of work.

We'll need to find out if they're related.

If not, then the landlord will need a licence.

The fee for that helps fund inspections like this.

Interesting, interesting. Rent a flat above a shop.

Do you remember that? It's a lyric from a song.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-Oh, OK.

-It's Pulp. Jarvis Cocker.

Probably a bit too old for Pulp.

-No, never too old for Pulp.

-More of a Cure fan.

-Oh, OK.

# Rent a flat above a shop

# Cut your hair and get a job... #

Well, Adrian might not be terribly good at recognising song lyrics,

but he is an expert

when it comes to spotting potential problem properties.

'To do that, first, we need to get in.'

MATT SNIFFS Takeaway land.

Yeah. Oh, most definitely.

MATT SNIFFS AGAIN

-It smells...

-The thing is...

-It smells good up here.

There's no way in up here.

ADRIAN LAUGHS

Can't find a way into the premises.

That's what we're trying to get into, there.

There are times when you just have to shout through a window.

I'm from the council.

How do I get access to do an inspection of this flat?

Where's the door?

-Go that way.

-The door's that way?

-Yeah.

Can you just open it for me and let me in, then, please?

They're obviously going down some stairs there.

Is it not through the front of the shop,

if they want to get in that way?

METALLIC CLANG

-I'm baffled.

-ADRIAN LAUGHS

Is it this one here, do you reckon?

It feels like we might have diluted the element of surprise

-a little bit by now.

-Yeah.

'Well, after we find the front door...'

KNOCK ON DOOR

'..we can finally get to work on assessing the property.'

Hello?

-Hello. Hi.

-Hello.

So I just need to get some details from you first, if that's OK?

How many people have we got living here at the moment?

Just the three?

And what's their names, please?

You don't know their names here?

OK. So who have we got?

We've got you and your friend here?

You both live here?

And you said there's "those people",

-which suggests there's more than one.

-Yeah.

Do you pay any rent?

No, I don't pay that.

You work in the restaurant, do you? Yeah?

'It seems that Adrian's suspicions may be correct.

'There are definitely people living here,

'and they don't seem to be family members.

'Time for some further investigation.'

Other than you, how many people live here?

-Five? Today, there was five people living here?

-Yeah.

OK. So someone's lying to me, then, in other words.

'There seems to be a little confusion

'about exactly how many people are staying here

'but, looking round, there are a few pointers that could help.'

(Toothbrush test.)

-One year.

-One year?

(Three beds. There's three beds. One, two, three.)

'With four toothbrushes and three beds in just this one room,

'it seems very unlikely the whole flat is shared by just three people.

'And things could be even worse than Adrian suspected.'

I don't think it's debatable at all.

-You're looking at the state of the ceiling...

-Yeah.

..that's ready to collapse.

-It's completely bowed across the surface.

-Yeah.

-I wouldn't want to be sleeping here at night.

-No.

'Coming up, we discover dangerous wiring and faulty smoke alarms.'

It says here, "Important, disconnect mains before removing the jacket."

Is that the jacket that's already off?

-Looking at that, I would be asking for a gas safety certificate.

-Yeah.

Earlier, urgent repairs to Anne-Marie's rented home

still hadn't been made, despite the council serving her landlord

with a notice to improve the house.

It's just so horrible and depressing.

I feel like I'm stuck and I can't get out.

Two weeks later, the notice has expired

and housing officer David Dale

is back to see if there's been any progress since our last visit.

Hi, Anne-Marie. You OK? Just here to check on the works.

The first thing David wants to check is the back door.

OK, so this is the door we saw last time.

Obviously, it hasn't been replaced,

and it actually seems to have got a little bit worse

since we were last here.

And it's starting to peel all along the bottom,

where the water's getting into it.

The door isn't the only thing left undone.

The last time we were here,

the bathroom was damp, with peeling wallpaper,

the electrics needed attention,

and the windows were rotten.

So I've had a quick look around the place.

Everything is still exactly the same as it was last time we were here.

But, despite all that, David has made progress.

The landlord hasn't carried out any repairs yet,

but he HAS finally agreed to get the work that needs doing done.

I'm meeting a contractor round here on Monday.

I will go through our entire schedule of works

with the contractor.

So not just the door, which is being fixed on Monday,

but the floor, the windows,

the carpet on the stairs, the electrical faults.

I am happy that someone is coming around to actually have a look

and price up the works. So hopefully the landlord will do the work.

And there's more good news for Anne-Marie.

Because high rents in Croydon

led to the council there relocating her to Kent,

they're still responsible for her.

And they're trying to find her a home in Croydon she can afford,

so she's closer to her relatives.

I'm just really happy within myself,

knowing that Croydon council won't leave me after the two years,

and knowing that they would move me somewhere where I want to be.

That's kind of lifted my spirits, and made me really happy,

knowing that they're really trying to help.

I'm enormously sympathetic to Anne-Marie.

She's been trapped here for two years.

I just really hope she finds somewhere nice to live.

And we can get on and deal with the property,

cos the works needed are quite extensive.

Swale council have had an estimate for necessary repairs to the house -

it's going to cost £20,000

to bring it up to the basic standard required by law.

The council's prosecuting the landlord

for failing to comply with improvement notices.

Croydon Council, who moved Anne-Marie and her kids to the area,

told us, "We were disappointed to learn that this property

"was not maintained to the standards we expect.

"We've found a suitable new home for Ms Hardcastle

"near close family in Margate."

Anne-Marie and the children have, indeed,

been moved again by Croydon Council to be near to her sisters.

Not back to Croydon, as she'd hoped, so she could be near to her mum -

the combination of the benefit cap

and soaring housing prices have made that impossible.

While Croydon may have found a happy compromise in Margate,

the council there do say cheap accommodation

has led to other councils dumping their dependent population

into the area, exacerbating serious social problems.

MUSIC: Common People by Pulp

Back in Oxford,

we need to find out if this flat above an Indian restaurant is safe

and suitable accommodation for the restaurant workers who live there.

And, just as importantly, how many of them do.

Once again, we find ourselves in a flat in a property,

trying to establish the truth.

And trying to work out what set of rules apply to this place.

If it's a family, a single family living here,

it's different to if you have a series of individuals, unrelated,

even if they are all working in the same place. The rules are different.

And we're getting different stories from different people.

-So there's just you three that you know of?

-Yeah.

-Bit difficult.

-You, this gentleman and the other guy that lives here?

Are you sure that there's only you three here?

Yeah, only three guys.

Because the guy in that other room

has just told me that there's five people living here.

Five people? No, these other people have gone already.

Well, they were here yesterday, they were here this morning, he said.

So either he doesn't know or you don't know.

'The council insist that landlords in the city are licensed

'before renting rooms out to more than two tenants,

'something the leaseholder of this property has so far failed to do.

'And, on top of the confusion about numbers,

'we're also more than a bit concerned

'about the state of the property.'

It says here, "Important, disconnect mains before removing the jacket."

-Yeah.

-Is that the jacket that's already off?

Looking at that, I would be asking for a gas safety certificate.

Yeah, yeah.

-We can do the bathroom if you want.

-Let's do the bathroom next.

-Yeah.

A shower. Electric shower.

Toilet.

We've got a hot-water heater that is...

jerry-rigged onto that.

-No, the wiring's not brilliant, really.

-Oh, my God, yeah.

You'd really want that behind the tiles.

It's enough to suggest that we need an electrical safety check

-doing on the flat.

-Yeah.

'Potentially dangerous wiring in a bathroom can be deadly.

'And, in the next room we check, the news is even worse.'

Anything of concern on this one?

We've got a smoke alarm. We can give that a check.

BUTTON CLICKS QUIETLY

-BOTH:

-Nothing.

-That's a dud.

From our point of view, this would be what we would call

-an inner room, in terms of in a fire situation.

-Right.

Um, so the fact that that smoke alarm's not working is not good.

I look at it and I think,

-"You've got to give people living here a chance."

-Yeah.

And this room in particular is not giving them that chance

if something happened.

'There's already a number of concerns.

'That's before we can get behind the other two locked doors.'

I'm going to speak to the owner now.

I'm going to come back, I'm going to need to get into these two rooms.

All right, that's fine. Yeah.

I mean, if we don't get into these two rooms,

we might have to come back with a warrant

and do the old breaking in...

Is this feeling quite serious to you?

I mean, it's beyond the licence, isn't it?

There are other matters here that need looking at, it seems.

I mean, realistically, even if these guys were related to each other

and we were saying it's not a house of multiple occupation,

we'd want something doing with the gas and the electrics

and the fire safety, just from a general point of view,

because it's an occupied property in the private sector.

'Adrian doesn't just want access to the two rooms.

'He also wants some answers from the leaseholder of the restaurant

'about the state of the property.'

-The door is open, isn't it?

-No, it's not.

'Unfortunately, there's no response, and I'm starting to worry

'about what our visit could mean for the tenants upstairs.'

The feeling that I got from those guys was one of intense nervousness.

Cos their jobs are linked to that place,

they could end up losing accommodation and job

if the landlord doesn't like what they've...

you know, what they've said.

It's not their fault, you know,

the conditions that they're living in, it's the landlord's.

And, you know, we're trying to be... You know, we're on their side.

-We're trying to make it better for them.

-It's really difficult

-when you've got accommodation tied to employment, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Because it's almost like you're getting something for free,

therefore you have no rights.

But of course you do. Of course you have rights, just like anybody else.

-Yeah.

-You've got to. You shouldn't be living in a hellhole

just because it's tied to your job.

'With the leaseholder nowhere to be found,

'there's not much more we can do here.'

-Another day.

-Yeah, definitely.

-Right, nice one.

But Adrian is not a man to give up.

And, a few weeks later,

he's on his way back to check on this shared house,

known to the council as a house in multiple occupation, or HMO.

So we're going to go and have a chat with this leaseholder, um...

about this property that we inspected,

those two locked rooms we couldn't get into.

So we're going to go back now and see what the situation is.

We've got enough information

to actually proceed with the HMO requirements,

but it's just to check that if it's actually five people and not three,

cos the original report was

that there were also two foreign students living there as well,

and I suspect that those two foreign students

are possibly occupying those two locked rooms

that we couldn't get into.

And the good news was that the leaseholder was there this time,

and allowed Adrian into the flat.

But not our cameras.

So he's let me into the two rooms

that were locked last time we did the inspection.

One of them looks like it's being occupied as an office -

there's a desk and some computers and that sort of stuff.

The other one is a bedroom.

There's definitely someone else, you know, there,

which just confirms our suspicions that it is an unlicensed HMO.

There's been some work been carried out.

Two of the smoke alarms that we saw when we went last time,

which were broken, they are brand-new,

they've been replaced now.

That's not, you know, to say that

we're not going to do anything about the fact it's unlicensed,

but at least, you know, we've had an impact.

You know, we've made something happen.

And he's told me he's not prepared to speak to me.

We've got to go through his solicitor.

So that's what we'll have to do. You know, take it from there.

The leaseholder's reluctance to talk to housing officers

hasn't stopped the city council from still pursuing its investigations.

And the leaseholder will be brought in for an interview.

He'll be questioned about both conditions at the property

and the lack of a licence.

What happens after that will be partly dependent on him.

Mid Suffolk, and all is not as it seems.

In this quiet pocket of rural England,

there's been a strange delivery.

It's unsettling a small community.

So housing officer Andrew Weavers is on his way to investigate.

We're going to Stowmarket.

A gentleman complained a couple of weeks ago that his neighbour

had been putting some very strange notes through his door.

The trouble I have with this area -

there's a lot of flats and small houses in a very small circle,

so everybody can see what's going on.

There is a mixture of council tenants and homeowners

in this well-kept corner of Stowmarket.

And, with everyone living so close together,

it's vital that neighbours treat each other with respect.

-Sit down.

-Thank you very much.

-I'm in the middle of cleaning.

-Are you?

I'll tell you what, I'll employ you to come round my place.

Cos this is spotless anyway. It's always this spotless, isn't it?

That's what I always say.

There was nothing much to disturb Sidney and his wife Barbara's world

until something dropped through their letterbox

in the middle of the night.

Just have a quiet read of those.

So these just came out of the blue?

-There was no precedent at all for it.

-Yeah?

They were posted through our letterbox

-at four o'clock in the morning.

-OK...

-Four o'clock in the morning?!

-Yes.

-Wow.

Andrew's a regular visitor to this community,

and he knows that a neighbour with grievances

can seriously disturb the peace.

Wow. It's all quite a ramble, really.

There's talk about other people being on benefits,

there's talk about privacy

and "Genuine people, the truth is the only law."

Don't forget, there's stuff on the other side

-of some of those pages as well.

-Oh, is there?

-Yes.

Got "Sid 'n' Barbara, Village of the Damned." I don't know what that is.

-This man is clearly unwell.

-Yes.

Poor Sid and Barbara.

Clearly, this has come as a bit of a shock.

We felt really aggrieved

that we'd had these letters pushed through our letterbox

by somebody who had had no contact with us previously.

You know, apart from the odd hello, sort of thing.

And it was quite a shock to our systems, to be honest.

-Obviously, you called the police?

-Yes.

-Yeah?

-And you had one of the local PCSOs out to see you?

-We did indeed, yes.

What was the result of that?

-He phoned us up on the Sunday...

-Yeah?

..and said he'd had a word with the man, you know? And, er...

he was going to sort out some, er...

problem with the mental health people.

-Oh, are they going to just refer him across?

-I think so, yes.

I will get to speak to the PCSO

and just sort of see what support he's put in place,

-or who he has referred who to.

-Of course.

But if it's all nice and quiet, I think we'll leave it here.

-Fine, yeah.

-I will take this, just in case it flares up again

-and we might need to sort of be more involved.

-Yes, that's right.

-All right?

-Yes, that's fine by me, you know?

Sidney has let the matter drop so, for now at least, it's case closed.

Goodbye.

You know, having a few letters come in

at about four o'clock in the morning,

I think it would put the wind up anybody, really.

But they're not directed to him,

and they seem to be directed about other people

in the grand scheme of things.

Anything that upsets the neighbours in this close-knit community

is something that concerns Andrew.

But sometimes a visit and a chat is all it takes to keep the peace.

That's it for today.

Join me next time, when I'll be learning more about what it takes

to be a front-line housing officer.