Episode 5 The Housing Enforcers


Episode 5

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Transcript


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-We'll have to force access.

-DOG BARKS

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

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

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But for thousands of people across the UK,

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the reality can be more hovel than home.

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

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In the battle for decent housing...

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-It really does look a shanty town.

-Yeah, it's not up to standard.

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

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If someone had died here,

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you would've been standing in a coroner's court.

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'I'm Matt Allwright

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'and I'm back with the housing enforcers.'

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-15 people in this house?

-15 people total living in here.

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'I'll be with them

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'as they tackle problem properties and slum conditions...'

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MATT LAUGHS

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That's a new design that I haven't seen before.

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'..as they deal with dodgy landlords, nightmare neighbours

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'and everything in between...'

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My God, straightaway, there's the smell of dog muck.

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You never know what you're going to find.

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

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Today, we discover a house so overcrowded

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that even the housing officer is shocked.

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We've just got conditions that are just appalling.

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I wouldn't want to stay in here more than a couple of hours.

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

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One man calls in the council

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after his neighbours take a unique approach

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to landscaping in the back garden.

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I couldn't believe it. That's it, I'll just pile through the house

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and into the back garden without any disregard to nobody else.

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'And we visit what I think might be the smallest home in the country.'

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I don't know if you can see, but that there,

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that is the width of the whole house.

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That's all you get.

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When was the last time you heard anyone use the phrase

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"slum landlord"?

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Not that recently, right?

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Well, that's because we live in a country with laws

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that make sure housing meets basic standards.

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And it's not just landlords.

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There are laws that mean that tenants need to behave too.

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I'm working alongside the men and women from councils

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across the UK who enforce those laws.

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They are the housing enforcers.

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We're in Newham, East London,

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a borough which attracts a high number of immigrants

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who all need somewhere to live.

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But that also leaves them open to exploitation by greedy landlords.

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'I'm with housing officers Christine Lyons and Holly Ripp.

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'They're checking up on a privately rented property

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'they suspect to be seriously overcrowded.

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'By making an unannounced visit,

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'the officers hope to see the real conditions inside.

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'But first, they have to get in.'

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Hello, can you just let me in?

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Hi?

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Excuse me?

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Mm, definitely somebody inside, cos we've seen movement,

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but they don't appear to be answering the door.

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KNOCK ON DOOR

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-Must be in.

-Don't knock that one, it's broken.

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Christine's wisely gone straight past the doorbell.

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Just from a quick visual inspection,

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I would say is non-functioning.

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Please, just let me in. Open the door.

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Excuse me.

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'The landlord of this property only has planning permission

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'to rent it out as a single family home.'

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Hello, can you open up?

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But Holly and Christine think it's actually being used to house

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a number of people who don't know each other.

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The landlord's already been served with an enforcement notice,

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ordering him to comply with planning permission.

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If it isn't being rented to just one family,

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'he'll be breaching the notice and committing a criminal offence.'

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If they're not regulated by the council,

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'large shared homes like these are often rundown,

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'overcrowded and sometimes dangerous.'

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Hi? Excuse me?

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Can you just open the door for a minute?

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We just want to talk to you about the property, that's all.

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It's not a problem, it'll be five minutes of your time.

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Definitely people inside,

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definitely not really interested in talking to us.

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We think, in fact we're fairly sure,

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that there's somebody in the here but they're not answering the door,

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possibly, who knows, because the landlord has told them

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not to open the door to...

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er, people like Christine from the council.

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Having said that, there are clues here.

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Overflowing wheelie bins, always a good sign.

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Also if you look through the letterbox up,

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you can see a sort of photocopied sign

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Sellotaped to the bathroom door.

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Not the sort of thing that families leave for each other.

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It's a sign that there are

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too many people living in the space available

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and it needs regulating by leaving messages for each other.

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Oh, well.

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-Yep.

-Nope.

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'Because we haven't got a warrant, we can't demand entry,

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'so for now, it looks like it's a no-go.'

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Realistically, we're not getting in there,

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but there are lots of clues, aren't there?

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With this kind of property,

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in some cases the landlord has told them not to answer the door.

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With any case of overcrowding, it's also a question of safety.

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There are issues, you know, fire safety,

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poor quality, overcrowding.

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You know, our real aims are to ensure they're safe

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and we don't know, do we?

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We don't know what's going on, and if we're not allowed in,

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and we're only allowed in with the landlord,

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what you'll see with the landlord is different

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than what we see when we knock on the doors.

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You can only imagine what it is that's preventing them

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from letting people in who could help them.

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It must be, one would imagine, a fear of eviction,

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a fear of what happens to them if, you know,

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they bring some kind of trouble to bear on the landlord.

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It must be, whatever it is, it must be quite effective and strong.

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Yeah, they would probably be evicted, wouldn't they?

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That's what they see as being the worst, worst thing to happen,

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to look again for somewhere to live and maybe find another deposit.

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There's lots of questions that go through their minds when

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they've been told not to do something.

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Coming up, our worst fears are realised

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as the Newham team finally get into the house.

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I don't know what I'm going to find in the rest of the house,

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but it's not looking good so far.

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The high demand for housing in London

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means people will sometimes settle for a smaller living space

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just to be in the capital. But there are limits.

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Back in Newham,

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'I'm joining James Burton and Ellen Nicholson

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'from the council's planning department.

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'They've had a complaint about cramped conditions

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'in a privately rented home,

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'and this time, it's come from the tenants themselves.'

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OK, so what's on the list?

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A garage that's been converted into a studio flat.

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Right, and what information have we got?

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Is there any kind of permission on it at all?

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Yeah, there was planning permission in 1991

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for an erection of a two-storey extension.

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It should be part of the family house, though,

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and not necessarily being used as separate accommodation.

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So, have we got any idea of who might be living there right now?

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Yeah, we do, actually.

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The complainant in this case was the actual tenant

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of this particular new flat,

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and he's living there with his wife and small baby.

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So, a couple and a small baby

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in what should have possibly been an extension

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to an existing building.

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-Yeah, by the sounds of it.

-Let's go and have a look.

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The tenants have been here for a while,

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but they say they're now struggling to manage.

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And even at first glance, it's not hard to see why.

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I don't know if you can see, but that there,

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that is the width of the whole house.

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So, from drainpipe to wall, that's all you get.

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'Unbelievably, this house, if you can call it a house,

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'is home to a family of three.'

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Is that it?

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-Tiny.

-There's a tiny, tiny kitchen.

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It's so narrow.

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And then you've got a single room above that.

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This is a very small place, isn't it?

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The landlord is the next-door neighbour.

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And it looks like this house was once part of an extension.

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You can see the little door,

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uPVC door that's been chucked on the side of the property,

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but then where does it go?

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Yeah. Absolutely, that's what we have to find out.

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OK, the owner here doesn't want to show his face

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and doesn't want to be on television,

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but he has allowed us to do a tour of...

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..just the most incredibly tiny property I've seen so far

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on this programme.

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And it's... You just have to come see it.

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You just have to come.

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The problems of living somewhere like this are obvious,

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even before you step inside.

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So, you go through this lean-to, kind of alleyway thing

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with its own front door here...

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which, by the way, has got no way of opening it

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in the case of an emergency, cos it's got a key shut.

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And then you have this wall, which is quite visibly falling down,

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so this is where you go every day with your child,

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past a...

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dangerously bowing wall.

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Anyway, come on through.

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'And the reality of the living conditions indoors

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'for a family with a small child is even worse.'

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OK, so this is the living area, as such,

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and in here we've got two chairs,

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and a table, microwave. We've got two arm chairs as well.

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And then straightaway, we move into the kitchen,

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and in here you've got an electric hob and a sink.

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That's the downstairs. That's your whole downstairs, right here.

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OK, a tiny staircase...

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leads you up to this, which is

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a bedroom for Mum, Dad and Baby.

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(That's it. That's it for the bedroom.)

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There's a wardrobe wedged into the corner.

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MATT SIGHS

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And then we've got...its en-suite.

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I can't open the door fully, even.

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You've got a sink, toilet and a shower room.

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There's no central heating in here,

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so the guys are relying on a... you can't see it -

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I'm going to have to go out so you can see it -

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an oil-fired little radiator down there.

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Have a look.

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OK?

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That's the only way you can get to see everything

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is if I step out of the way,

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so there's clothes hanging off everything trying to get them dry.

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How you get them dry, I don't know.

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You just can't live like this.

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You can't do it.

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It's obviously quite an undersized flat.

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It's just over two metres width across

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and looks slightly longer than that long.

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For three people, it's drastically undersized.

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A one-bedroom flat like this to meet minimum requirements

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would have to be pretty well over 50 square metres

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and there's no way this gets even close.

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It's obvious this place is not fit for one person to live,

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never mind a family.

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It would never have got planning permission to let out

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'as a separate unit.' Newham never ceases to amaze me.

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The housing market never ceases to amaze me,

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the way it is at the moment.

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The things that people are being forced to accept.

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Erm, I'd say this is almost the smallest family house

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in the country right now.

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If you've got one that's smaller with three people in it,

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let me know cos I can't imagine how you'd do it.

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Fortunately, James has managed to get hold of the landlord.

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As the owner of the property next door, he may be able to shed

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some light on how his tenants came to be living like this.

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Hi there, we're from the council, from the planning department.

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And after a quick chat, it seems we have some answers.

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So let me get this clear, James, cos it's quite a complex situation.

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It was already, the extension was there when he bought the place.

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-Yeah.

-But he recently put in that kitchen

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which effectively makes it a separate unit, a separate dwelling.

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Yeah, exactly.

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Until the time that he put that kitchen in,

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it was just part of the main dwelling.

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The kitchen went in and he let it out separately a year ago.

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From planning terms, even though the main structure has been there for a

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long time, it's still a new use and something we can enforce against.

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So when you change the use and then let it out, in this case,

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that's the crucial bit when you need to get on the phone

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and say, "Can I do this?"

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Always check with Planning and make sure, can I do this?

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He will probably get a notice to return the use

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of that side extension for the main property.

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-So we just keep an eye on that, make sure he does follow through.

-Exactly.

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So it looks like the house will soon return to being what it

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was supposed to be - an extension,

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and not a home for a family of three.

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I've been to Britain's smallest house, I think it's in North Wales,

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but it's a tourist attraction, no-one lives there.

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That place is not much bigger, if at all,

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and yet there are three people there, a couple and their child,

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a family, and it's hard to imagine how on earth they cope.

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The landlord's attempt to turn this extension into a profit also

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highlights a very real problem faced by housing officers

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and tenants in this part of the world.

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The result of all of this, sadly,

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is that he'll probably make it what it should have been all along,

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which is one family home, and that means that our couple with

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their baby next door could well be looking for somewhere new to live.

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That's the pressure of Newham and on London generally.

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Earlier, I accompanied Newham Council housing officers

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Holly and Christine to check up on a private rented property which

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only has planning permission for one family

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and is thought to be seriously overcrowded.

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But, despite our best efforts...

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Hello, can you just let me in?

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..we couldn't get access.

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Holly's back, armed with a warrant and colleague Stephen Pavett

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to find out what's really happening inside.

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-Is there someone in there?

-Hello.

-Hello, sir,

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we're from the planning department from Newham Council.

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We're here to do an inspection of the property.

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Are we all right to come in?

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The landlord has already been served with an enforcement notice to

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make sure the property only houses one family.

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Anything other than that and he's breaking the law.

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-So how many people are living in your room here?

-My daughter.

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-Your daughter?

-Yes.

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-And your wife.

-Yes.

-In this room here?

-Yes.

-OK.

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How long have you been living in this room?

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-Three years.

-Three years? It's a long time to be in one room.

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And how much rent do you pay for this room?

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-400.

-£400 per month?

-Yeah.

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So that's two adults and a teenage child, crammed into one room,

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complete with all their worldly possessions, for three years!

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Does this pull out, and you sleep on...?

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It's hard, it must be.

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Yeah, OK.

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It's hard to believe that this man thinks there's no better alternative

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to living in conditions like this than to be on the streets.

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-Thank you very much.

-Sorry to disturb you.

-OK, no problem.

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They've got a pull-out sofa that's the main bed

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and then a mattress or a duvet that's on the floor.

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It's quite appalling to be in those sort of conditions for that long.

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I don't know what I'm going to find in the rest of the house,

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but it's not looking good so far.

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The next even-smaller room has two beds and a lock on the door,

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another classic sign of a house being shared by strangers.

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And things don't get any better in the kitchen.

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It's not in a very good condition, we can see the ceiling is

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in a terrible mess here.

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I don't know what's happening, it must have been a leak, probably

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from the upstairs bathroom that's all caved in.

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We've got a number of fridges,

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another good indication that this is a shared home.

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So I think we're going down the back here.

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We've got this extension here, this is someone's room.

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I wouldn't be particularly happy to have it as my room,

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it doesn't look in particularly good shape.

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Do you know how many people live in here?

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-Two.

-Two people in this bed here?

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It's...

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Yes.

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Yeah, I noticed in the kitchen

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the ceiling has come down recently from the bathroom,

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a leak or something, and the landlord does nothing, really,

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-to maintain?

-He don't care.

-No.

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-He's just after getting his rent from you?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

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The landlord is pocketing almost three grand a month

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for this property, including £320 quid

0:17:210:17:24

for what is not much more than a lean-to.

0:17:240:17:26

It's quite a small room.

0:17:280:17:30

-And this is your heating?

-Yes.

0:17:320:17:33

Does it get quite cold in here?

0:17:330:17:35

-Sometimes.

-It feels quite damp.

0:17:350:17:38

Cramped, cold and damp, not what any of us are looking for

0:17:380:17:42

in a home.

0:17:420:17:44

Planning and housing restrictions are there to ensure safe,

0:17:440:17:47

acceptable conditions, but judging by the state of the bathroom

0:17:470:17:50

it's an epic fail on both counts.

0:17:500:17:53

The whole floor is wet and I can't actually tell

0:17:540:17:57

where that's coming from.

0:17:570:17:59

There seems to be a bit of movement to the floor.

0:17:590:18:01

I would say that the floorboards underneath are sodden

0:18:010:18:04

and this probably may collapse.

0:18:040:18:06

We've got signs on the door saying what you should and shouldn't do.

0:18:060:18:10

So good on them for trying to do something about it,

0:18:100:18:13

but with the amount of people that we think have been told to us

0:18:130:18:16

are living in this property, which is 14,

0:18:160:18:18

that's going to be a very hard thing to do.

0:18:180:18:20

And you can see from the bathroom's condition, it's just,

0:18:200:18:24

it's just a no-win situation.

0:18:240:18:26

It's not hard to see just how the landlord has managed

0:18:260:18:30

to cram 14 people into this place.

0:18:300:18:32

-This is a tiny room.

-Yeah.

0:18:320:18:35

I can nearly touch the walls either side,

0:18:350:18:39

so you're probably looking at about six by eight foot.

0:18:390:18:41

We've just got conditions that are just appalling.

0:18:410:18:44

I wouldn't want to be in here.

0:18:440:18:45

I wouldn't want to stay in here more than a couple of hours

0:18:450:18:48

and breathe the air in because it feels damp.

0:18:480:18:50

There's mould everywhere.

0:18:500:18:52

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

0:18:520:18:55

It's one of the worst overcrowded properties I've seen.

0:18:550:18:58

The conditions are not great,

0:18:580:19:00

so it would have to rate as one of them, yeah.

0:19:000:19:03

Depressingly, there's yet another family of three living in this room.

0:19:030:19:07

And how much do you pay for renting the room?

0:19:070:19:11

500.

0:19:110:19:13

£500 altogether for the room. OK.

0:19:130:19:17

When you pay the money, have you got a contract or tenancy agreement

0:19:170:19:23

saying that you stay here?

0:19:230:19:25

Nothing, you don't have any tenancy agreement?

0:19:250:19:28

So with three people in a number of the rooms,

0:19:280:19:30

no tenancy agreements and unsafe conditions, it's enough to

0:19:300:19:34

make any housing officer's toes curl.

0:19:340:19:36

But although the landlord could face prosecution,

0:19:360:19:39

it's the tenants who have to deal with the fallout.

0:19:390:19:42

Does that mean, then, that we will have to look for new places to live?

0:19:430:19:47

There's a good chance that that will have to happen.

0:19:470:19:50

He would have to give you what's called a Section 21 notice

0:19:500:19:53

under the Housing Act.

0:19:530:19:54

A Section 21 notice is part of the Housing Act of 1988

0:19:540:19:59

and it gives the tenant a minimum of two months' notice

0:19:590:20:02

before they have to vacate a property.

0:20:020:20:04

Although that's probably small comfort to the tenants.

0:20:040:20:07

I'm seeing...

0:20:100:20:11

People there genuinely are nice and you've got families in there.

0:20:110:20:15

They're just trying to make a life for themselves,

0:20:150:20:17

paying a lot of money and for not a lot of return.

0:20:170:20:21

It's not being kept up at all by the owner of the property,

0:20:210:20:25

you've got damage and leaks and issues everywhere.

0:20:250:20:27

Yeah, we'll look to take further action on this one

0:20:270:20:30

by probably going for a prosecution.

0:20:300:20:32

In three months during 2015, local housing authorities received

0:20:370:20:41

over 27,000 applications for housing assistance from homeless people,

0:20:410:20:46

but with high demand or council properties throughout

0:20:460:20:49

the country, this can be a challenging, time-consuming process,

0:20:490:20:53

that can often include long stays in temporary accommodation.

0:20:530:20:56

In the Gloucestershire town of Stroud,

0:20:590:21:02

housing officer Vicky Stephenson is helping one young woman

0:21:020:21:05

leave her past behind,

0:21:050:21:07

to start a new life in her own home.

0:21:070:21:09

We've picked her up as a priority because of medical problems.

0:21:110:21:15

And, erm...

0:21:150:21:18

She's been bidding regularly on Home Seekers,

0:21:180:21:20

which is the council waiting list

0:21:200:21:23

and, fortunately, we've been able to secure a private rental

0:21:230:21:27

through our Homeless Prevention Fund.

0:21:270:21:30

Vicky's client is Sally-Anne.

0:21:330:21:36

After losing close family members, Sally-Anne was homeless

0:21:360:21:39

and became addicted to drugs.

0:21:390:21:41

The drastic change was, in my life,

0:21:430:21:46

was my brother getting killed, yeah.

0:21:460:21:49

My nan and grandad passed away in 2009

0:21:490:21:53

and that just sent me off the hook, yeah.

0:21:530:21:58

That broke me.

0:21:580:21:59

Over the past few months Sally-Anne has been battling her addictions,

0:22:010:22:04

living in temporary accommodation, whilst she and Vicky

0:22:040:22:07

try to find her a place of her own,

0:22:070:22:09

but it hasn't been an easy time.

0:22:090:22:11

I'm in a bed and breakfast in Gloucester,

0:22:130:22:16

where I don't want to be.

0:22:160:22:18

Erm...

0:22:180:22:19

Choices I've made, I've fought for this, I've fought so hard

0:22:210:22:25

to get, erm, where I'm at now,

0:22:250:22:28

but I've let myself down.

0:22:280:22:30

Obviously with my addiction, it's so powerful and cunning.

0:22:300:22:35

And I feel lonely, I feel weak...

0:22:350:22:38

..depressed,

0:22:390:22:41

and I have contemplated suicide, put it that way.

0:22:410:22:46

In England, at the end of June 2015,

0:22:460:22:49

more than 66,000 households were in temporary accommodation.

0:22:490:22:54

Sally-Anne believes that leaving this world behind is her best

0:22:540:22:57

chance for a fresh start at life away from her addictions.

0:22:570:23:01

I'm hoping for a secure accommodation, to be settled, happy.

0:23:010:23:06

What I would like to achieve is comfort, security,

0:23:080:23:13

knowing that I've got somewhere that I can lock the door,

0:23:130:23:17

have my own serenity and peace and quiet.

0:23:170:23:20

It's been a tough journey for Sally-Anne,

0:23:200:23:22

but thanks to Vicky and her team, the prospect of a life

0:23:220:23:25

out of the B&B and in her own flat

0:23:250:23:27

is now just a few weeks away.

0:23:270:23:29

I don't want to ruin this chance

0:23:290:23:32

because the council aren't going to keep helping me.

0:23:320:23:36

They can't keep doing it for me.

0:23:360:23:39

I'm getting a flat, I am getting a flat,

0:23:390:23:42

and it's just worked out so perfectly.

0:23:420:23:46

I'm excited, it's a new chapter.

0:23:460:23:48

Getting her own place to live might not seem like a big change,

0:23:490:23:53

but for Sally-Anne it's allowing her to let go of the past

0:23:530:23:56

and look towards a positive future.

0:23:560:23:58

And on a wet morning in Stroud, Sally-Anne is on her way to

0:23:590:24:03

a meeting that's another milestone in her recovery.

0:24:030:24:06

Vicky's team have found a private landlord

0:24:060:24:08

who's willing to take her on as a tenant.

0:24:080:24:10

So after all of the waiting and planning, the time has come

0:24:100:24:13

for her to collect the keys to her very own flat.

0:24:130:24:16

Signing my papers,

0:24:160:24:18

getting out of the B&B.

0:24:180:24:20

Yes! Erm, getting my own space,

0:24:200:24:23

my sanctuary,

0:24:230:24:24

and a lot, a lot of, erm, excitement.

0:24:240:24:29

Between April and June 2015, over 13,000 households were

0:24:300:24:34

registered as homeless by the government,

0:24:340:24:37

but for Sally-Anne there is a positive future ahead.

0:24:370:24:40

-Hi, Sally, morning.

-Thank you.

0:24:410:24:44

-See what you think of the flat.

-Thank you.

0:24:440:24:47

-Hi, Mark.

-How are you?

-I'm Vicky.

0:24:470:24:50

This is Sally-Anne.

0:24:500:24:51

-What do you think, Sally?

-What I like about the flat - it's mine.

0:24:510:24:55

I'm not sharing.

0:24:550:24:56

Erm, yeah, it's my own, it'll be my own security.

0:24:560:24:59

It's a step, like, huge stepping stone

0:25:010:25:03

and I need my own space now.

0:25:030:25:06

This is the supplemental agreement

0:25:060:25:08

and this is between your landlord,

0:25:080:25:11

yourself and Stroud District Council.

0:25:110:25:15

So if you're happy with all that, if we could get you to sign there.

0:25:150:25:18

Perfect. Yeah.

0:25:180:25:20

For Sally-Anne, it comes down to this moment,

0:25:200:25:23

all she has to do now is sign and then sign again.

0:25:230:25:27

And then...another signature.

0:25:270:25:29

It's not just the signature, this is like, erm, a new life.

0:25:290:25:33

-That's that done.

-Excited. I've got butterflies.

0:25:350:25:37

I can't wait to get in, give it a good clean.

0:25:370:25:40

Erm, yeah, and then it's mine.

0:25:400:25:42

I got my own key, then. Not a B&B key.

0:25:420:25:45

Yeah.

0:25:450:25:47

I want to come back in six months to see what you've done.

0:25:470:25:50

-I'd give it a couple of weeks.

-I'd like to do that.

0:25:500:25:52

-Yeah, give it a couple of weeks.

-To see the difference.

0:25:520:25:56

It's out with the old and in with the new.

0:25:560:25:58

I have to, it's a fresh start for me.

0:25:580:26:00

This is the beginning of the end, if that makes sense.

0:26:000:26:02

-Well, I hope you'll be very happy.

-Does that make sense?

0:26:020:26:05

-The beginning of the end?

-Yeah, it does. A new start.

0:26:050:26:08

Thanks to Vicky, Sally-Anne has signed

0:26:080:26:11

a 12-month tenancy agreement on the flat,

0:26:110:26:13

allowing her to really make the place her own.

0:26:130:26:16

I wouldn't get this property if it wasn't for Vicky

0:26:160:26:19

and the Homeless Prevention Team.

0:26:190:26:21

She's getting things done that I probably wouldn't have got done.

0:26:210:26:24

I'm over the moon, absolutely dead proud.

0:26:240:26:29

Two weeks later, and Sally-Anne's house

0:26:320:26:34

is starting to look like a home.

0:26:340:26:36

As a future home, I could see it as a homely home

0:26:370:26:40

and a place of sanctuary and security.

0:26:400:26:44

It's not just Sally-Anne that's delighted.

0:26:440:26:46

It's also a job well done for housing officer, Vicky.

0:26:460:26:49

It was really nice to see how happy Sally-Anne was,

0:26:500:26:54

getting herself settled into her new property,

0:26:540:26:57

having gone through such a tough time.

0:26:570:26:59

I feel very proud of myself.

0:26:590:27:01

No, I do. I do feel very proud of myself,

0:27:010:27:03

but, yeah, no, I'm more than content.

0:27:030:27:06

That's the reasons for doing this job,

0:27:060:27:08

when you get a good result.

0:27:080:27:10

Defending our right to a safe place to live is

0:27:130:27:16

the job of housing officers right across the UK.

0:27:160:27:19

This is not really an acceptable way of leaving the property behind.

0:27:190:27:23

Do you think?

0:27:230:27:24

I'm working alongside the men and women

0:27:240:27:27

that do exactly that.

0:27:270:27:29

-Top marks.

-Yes!

0:27:290:27:30

I'm hitting the streets...

0:27:300:27:33

That's ready to collapse.

0:27:330:27:35

Finding out what's happening on the front line

0:27:350:27:37

The cistern's in the bath.

0:27:370:27:39

I don't know how they flush it.

0:27:390:27:41

..and learning what it takes to make sure a house

0:27:410:27:44

is fit to be called a home.

0:27:440:27:47

I'm very shocked. This is ridiculous.

0:27:470:27:49

You shouldn't have people living in here.

0:27:490:27:51

North Wales has some of the most stunning scenery

0:27:550:27:58

in the British Isles...

0:27:580:28:00

..with the Snowdonia National Park

0:28:010:28:03

attracting people who want a small piece of this relaxed lifestyle

0:28:030:28:07

and everything that comes with it.

0:28:070:28:10

Gwynedd Council housing officer Carwyn Roberts is on his way

0:28:100:28:13

to a house that's been causing problems for neighbours after

0:28:130:28:17

a new owner bought it and started work on the property.

0:28:170:28:20

So we're going to a property in a small village

0:28:220:28:26

called Llan Ffestiniog.

0:28:260:28:28

The property in question is a small, little miner's cottage

0:28:280:28:33

which has been empty for a number of years.

0:28:330:28:37

The current owner started work on landscaping the garden.

0:28:370:28:40

He couldn't get the digger in through the garden,

0:28:400:28:43

so he drove the digger right through the middle of the house.

0:28:430:28:47

That's right. Unable to gain access to the rear of his property,

0:28:480:28:52

the owner thought it would be a good idea to smash through the house

0:28:520:28:55

from front to back.

0:28:550:28:57

He didn't just wreck his own property,

0:29:000:29:02

his neighbours are worried it's damaged the structural integrity

0:29:020:29:06

of their homes too. Noel Rhys Owen owns the house next door,

0:29:060:29:10

but conditions have got so bad, he's had to move out.

0:29:100:29:13

I couldn't believe it that he could get away

0:29:130:29:16

without any thought actually of just...

0:29:160:29:20

"Oh, that's it, I'll just pile through the house

0:29:200:29:22

"and into the back garden without any disregard to nobody else."

0:29:220:29:25

It's a shock to see such a beautiful old cottage being demolished

0:29:250:29:30

and being left as it is for such a long time.

0:29:300:29:34

There's a massive gaping hole on the front and the rear,

0:29:340:29:37

and the gable end is on the verge of coming down.

0:29:370:29:41

So today's visit is basically to have a look at

0:29:410:29:45

the state of the property now.

0:29:450:29:47

What condition it's in.

0:29:470:29:48

The new owner was given planning permission for the work

0:29:500:29:53

on the cottage by Snowdonia National Park Authority,

0:29:530:29:55

not Gwynedd Council.

0:29:550:29:58

So Carwyn can't compel the owner to make good on the works needed

0:29:580:30:01

to put the house right, but he can intervene in the neighbour dispute.

0:30:010:30:06

Although looking at the property,

0:30:060:30:08

it's difficult to see what he can do.

0:30:080:30:10

There's not a lot of structure of the property left to hold

0:30:100:30:13

the whole thing up, and that's my main concern.

0:30:130:30:16

The owner of the property started the work over three years ago.

0:30:180:30:21

It's caused a great deal of stress for Noel,

0:30:210:30:24

who's now moved out and put his house on the market.

0:30:240:30:28

But it gets worse because it's estimated that empty properties

0:30:280:30:32

can devalue neighbouring homes by up to 18%.

0:30:320:30:35

He's had it on the market,

0:30:370:30:39

people come for viewings, they're not interested.

0:30:390:30:42

Erm...and why would they with this next door?

0:30:420:30:47

You can't hide what's actually behind the boarding

0:30:470:30:50

and the scaffolding. So, yeah, that's basically it.

0:30:500:30:53

Later Carwyn discovers things are even worse than he thought.

0:30:530:30:58

He's dug down so deep now, the foundations have started to cave in.

0:31:000:31:04

I'm in Oxford, a property hot spot where rising house prices

0:31:090:31:13

have led to an increased demand for rental properties.

0:31:130:31:17

So to help protect the growing number of sometimes desperate

0:31:170:31:20

tenants looking for a roof over their heads, larger properties

0:31:200:31:24

that offer shared accommodation need to have a licence from the council.

0:31:240:31:29

This allows housing officers like Adrian Chowns to keep

0:31:290:31:32

an eye on them to make sure that a reasonable number of people

0:31:320:31:35

live in the property and that the landlord is providing a safe

0:31:350:31:38

and sanitary environment.

0:31:380:31:41

So the property that we're looking at, what are the issues there?

0:31:410:31:43

This is one that's been licensed before,

0:31:430:31:46

but the owner's failed to renew the licence.

0:31:460:31:48

So either it's gone back to an acceptable amount of people,

0:31:480:31:52

so it doesn't require a licence, or they've just not bothered.

0:31:520:31:56

Anything else I should know about?

0:31:560:31:57

We've had a report there's some rats been seen,

0:31:570:32:01

so, obviously, there's an issue with conditions.

0:32:010:32:03

OK, let's check it out.

0:32:030:32:05

The council needs to find out

0:32:050:32:07

if there are still a number of people sharing this house.

0:32:070:32:10

There are a lot of bins here,

0:32:100:32:12

and that's often a sign of an overcrowded property.

0:32:120:32:14

-Hello there.

-Hi there, how are you doing?

-I'm from the council.

0:32:160:32:19

How long have you been here?

0:32:190:32:21

'The tenant didn't want to speak on camera,'

0:32:210:32:23

but has confirmed Adrian's suspicions.

0:32:230:32:26

There are four people renting separate rooms inside.

0:32:260:32:30

In Oxford, any more than three unrelated people sharing

0:32:300:32:33

a house means the landlord must have a licence,

0:32:330:32:36

allowing the council to regulate health and safety.

0:32:360:32:40

The good news is, this landlord's proudly got one on display.

0:32:400:32:43

The bad news is, it's out of date.

0:32:430:32:46

That expired on 2nd April 2015.

0:32:460:32:49

And that means he's now breaking the law.

0:32:490:32:52

The licence has lapsed but then also we don't know how good

0:32:520:32:56

the management's been since that time.

0:32:560:32:58

I mean, you know, we need to have a look round.

0:32:580:33:00

So, no licence and it looks like the landlord hasn't

0:33:000:33:03

kept on top of the conditions in the property either.

0:33:030:33:07

You've got evidence of a lot of condensation

0:33:070:33:11

going on in that corner there, it's gone black and spotty.

0:33:110:33:14

So maybe the ventilation's either not working

0:33:140:33:17

or not working very well.

0:33:170:33:19

And it might be easy to understand why there have been

0:33:190:33:21

reports of vermin around this house.

0:33:210:33:23

If I was a rat I'd love that big bag of flour there.

0:33:230:33:26

Or even a nice cockroach.

0:33:260:33:29

I'm not sure we can blame the landlord entirely

0:33:290:33:32

for this one, though.

0:33:320:33:33

Typically in a shared rental house,

0:33:330:33:36

the tenants are expected to keep the communal areas clean.

0:33:360:33:39

But it's the responsibility of the landlord to make this practical.

0:33:390:33:43

That means kitchen surfaces

0:33:430:33:45

and floors should all be in a good state of repair.

0:33:450:33:48

Waste storage should be provided inside and out.

0:33:480:33:51

And key areas, such as bathroom walls and sanitaryware,

0:33:510:33:55

should be kept up to scratch

0:33:550:33:56

to give tenants a fighting chance

0:33:560:33:58

of keeping them clean,

0:33:580:34:00

unlike what we find next.

0:34:000:34:02

In the bathroom here we've got a really grubby floor.

0:34:020:34:06

-The state of the whole place...

-Just generally grotty.

0:34:060:34:09

Generally grotty.

0:34:090:34:11

We're looking at the management regulations here.

0:34:110:34:13

It's the efforts that the landlord is making to

0:34:130:34:16

regulate their behaviour in each other's interest.

0:34:160:34:20

Yeah, and to manage the house and to keep it in a reasonable condition.

0:34:200:34:24

But Adrian doesn't seem to have found any significant issues yet,

0:34:240:34:28

and at least the fire precautions seem to be up to scratch.

0:34:280:34:32

So it's odd that the landlord did have a licence

0:34:320:34:35

but then didn't renew it.

0:34:350:34:37

As we head outside, though, it seems the answer

0:34:370:34:40

might be staring us in the face.

0:34:400:34:43

See, what's THIS? Hold on, hold on, what's this?

0:34:430:34:47

Later, we discover that despite not having a licence for his tenants

0:34:470:34:51

inside, this landlord seems to be growing his empire outdoors too.

0:34:510:34:55

In here it even looks like someone's about ready to move in.

0:34:550:34:59

We're back in Llan Ffestiniog in North Wales,

0:35:020:35:06

where housing officer Carwyn Roberts

0:35:060:35:08

has been investigating a half-demolished house

0:35:080:35:11

which has been making the neighbours' lives a nightmare.

0:35:110:35:14

There's a massive gaping hole on the front and the rear,

0:35:140:35:18

and the gable end is on the verge of coming down.

0:35:180:35:22

Carwyn's been here before, but Noel's told him that the

0:35:220:35:26

state of the building next door has deteriorated.

0:35:260:35:30

The best view is from Noel's back garden.

0:35:300:35:32

I can see that part of the roof has been taken off now.

0:35:330:35:37

Last time I was here it was half-demolished.

0:35:370:35:40

This used to be my border wall.

0:35:400:35:43

He's knocked this down without any permission or agreement by myself.

0:35:430:35:47

Three-and-a-half years like this.

0:35:470:35:50

I call it my own battlefield, to be honest.

0:35:500:35:53

He's dug down so deep now the foundations on the end of the house

0:35:530:35:58

apparently have started to cave in and it's just a pity to see one

0:35:580:36:02

of the oldest houses in the village literally being torn to pieces.

0:36:020:36:06

I'm trying to sell the house

0:36:060:36:08

and this is the biggest drawback.

0:36:080:36:11

-This demolition job next door.

-Yeah, it's not helping.

0:36:110:36:14

The owner's tried to board up the front of the property to try

0:36:140:36:18

and hide, really, the massive hole at the front.

0:36:180:36:21

It's quite shocking to see it.

0:36:210:36:22

It's certainly one of our worst ones we've got.

0:36:220:36:24

My concern is obviously that this is going to eventually

0:36:240:36:28

drag down the roof of this house.

0:36:280:36:31

If it was done up properly, this could be a lovely house.

0:36:310:36:34

You know, it's got stunning location, stunning views

0:36:340:36:37

but to have it, seeing it getting worse

0:36:370:36:40

and worse like this every time I come here is very disheartening.

0:36:400:36:44

Erm, and frustrating, really, that the owner's, you know,

0:36:440:36:47

not doing any substantial amount of works with the property.

0:36:470:36:51

The issue at the heart of this dispute is that planning permission

0:36:530:36:56

was given by the Snowdonia National Park authority, not Gwynedd Council.

0:36:560:37:01

And that means Carwyn can't compel the owner to complete

0:37:010:37:04

the work required and restore the house.

0:37:040:37:07

Carwyn's tried to get the best solution for Noel

0:37:090:37:12

but his hands are tied. All he can do is maintain a dialogue with

0:37:120:37:15

the owner of the crumbling property.

0:37:150:37:17

Well, we've contacted the owner to try and see, you know,

0:37:190:37:22

what's going on.

0:37:220:37:23

He says it's works in progress

0:37:230:37:26

and although it's works in progress, to have it go on for so long

0:37:260:37:29

is not reasonable.

0:37:290:37:31

There is a recent planning permission gone in to erect

0:37:310:37:34

an extension on the back.

0:37:340:37:36

Erm, so whether that will spur him on to do the works, who knows?

0:37:360:37:41

But I certainly think it needs...

0:37:410:37:42

it needs to be a lot quicker than what it's going at the moment.

0:37:420:37:47

Despite battling on with the sale of his house,

0:37:480:37:51

Noel thinks he's going to have to cut his losses, and soon.

0:37:510:37:55

I've been here for 13, 14 years and, er,

0:37:550:37:59

when we moved in it was a beautiful little cottage with a lovely garden.

0:37:590:38:03

I might have to reduce the price drastically, put it on auction.

0:38:030:38:07

I'd just love to sell the house but I seem to be getting

0:38:070:38:10

a lot of difficulty selling it because of next door's problem.

0:38:100:38:14

This is quite a frustrating case that we've got

0:38:140:38:17

because we're really not able to do much.

0:38:170:38:20

It's just a waiting game, crank up a little

0:38:200:38:23

bit of pressure and see, you know, if we can get him to move quicker.

0:38:230:38:27

The Snowdonia National Park Authority tells us that

0:38:290:38:33

while it understands the neighbour's frustrations,

0:38:330:38:36

they don't have the power to compel the owner to work faster.

0:38:360:38:39

They say a notice can only be served on the owner

0:38:390:38:42

if no work had been carried out at the property,

0:38:420:38:44

or if the work was in breach of planning,

0:38:440:38:47

which at the moment, it isn't.

0:38:470:38:49

Back in Oxford, and I'm with housing officer Adrian Chowns.

0:38:540:38:59

We're at a property that we've learnt

0:38:590:39:01

is unlawfully home to four tenants.

0:39:010:39:03

That expired on 2nd April 2015.

0:39:030:39:07

But as well as an expired licence

0:39:070:39:09

and grotty conditions inside the house,

0:39:090:39:12

we discovered there's a much bigger mystery at the bottom of the garden.

0:39:120:39:16

What's this?

0:39:160:39:18

Oh, look at this.

0:39:190:39:21

I think we might, here, have stumbled on

0:39:210:39:26

an interesting bit of development that's going on.

0:39:260:39:29

Yeah, definitely.

0:39:290:39:30

I mean, we're walking in here and straightaway it

0:39:300:39:34

appears like we have everything we need in here for a bathroom.

0:39:340:39:37

That suggests to me that there's going to be some toilet

0:39:370:39:40

or, yeah, there's drains.

0:39:400:39:43

Really, you don't put a bathroom into a storage area

0:39:430:39:46

in your back garden, do you?

0:39:460:39:48

It seems the presence of this building

0:39:480:39:51

is as much of a shock to Adrian as it is to me.

0:39:510:39:54

We had no notice of this place here at all, did we?

0:39:540:39:58

There's nothing on the books?

0:39:580:40:00

No, I mean this is the thing, isn't it?

0:40:000:40:02

I mean, we come to these places and you find something like this

0:40:020:40:05

being constructed in the back garden.

0:40:050:40:07

And with two centrally heated, double-glazed rooms...

0:40:070:40:11

This is feeling quite residential, I'd say.

0:40:110:40:14

It seems our landlord is definitely looking to expand his accommodation.

0:40:140:40:17

In here it even looks like someone's about ready to move in.

0:40:190:40:22

-Yeah.

-We've got bedding, and we've got suitcases and chairs.

0:40:220:40:27

We've got clothes there, as well.

0:40:270:40:29

I'd say this is maybe three or four weeks off actually being inhabited.

0:40:290:40:33

-So this was a good time to call round.

-Yeah, definitely.

0:40:330:40:36

With this, it goes straight to Planning, I'd say,

0:40:360:40:39

and say we found this.

0:40:390:40:41

Is there any record at all of this being given planning permission?

0:40:410:40:45

And Adrian's got another concern about this glorified garden shed.

0:40:450:40:49

One that could make life for the tenants inside the house

0:40:490:40:52

even more uncomfortable.

0:40:520:40:54

The thing for me is that we haven't got a kitchen.

0:40:540:40:58

So my assumption would be that whoever's staying in this building

0:40:580:41:04

-would use the kitchen in the main house.

-Yeah.

0:41:040:41:07

That would push it beyond acceptability.

0:41:070:41:10

Adrian's concern is that extra tenants put pressure on all

0:41:100:41:14

the facilities in a house and make the property officially overcrowded.

0:41:140:41:18

So even if planning permission exists for this outbuilding,

0:41:180:41:21

Adrian would still look to take action.

0:41:210:41:24

We can serve a prohibition order on here

0:41:260:41:29

and we can put a condition on the licence

0:41:290:41:32

so that this building can't be used for sleeping accommodation.

0:41:320:41:36

And that's the important thing to remember about visits like this.

0:41:360:41:39

There's a reason the council want to licence rented accommodation.

0:41:390:41:43

They need to ensure everyone has a safe place to live.

0:41:430:41:46

We saw the licence and you know he's clearly not renewed that, so...

0:41:460:41:50

And the reason for that could be because he didn't want anyone

0:41:500:41:54

coming round seeing the fact that he's building a palace

0:41:540:41:57

in the back garden for even more residents.

0:41:570:42:00

I think we need to start a formal investigation into the landlord

0:42:000:42:05

and into the way he's been operating this property.

0:42:050:42:08

And true to his word, a couple of weeks later,

0:42:080:42:11

Adrian has completed his investigation.

0:42:110:42:14

It seems that paperwork really isn't this landlord's strong suit.

0:42:140:42:17

Not only has he not got the right licence to house his four tenants,

0:42:170:42:21

there's nothing in the files for his mystery garden building either.

0:42:210:42:24

In terms of the actual outbuilding that we went into,

0:42:240:42:27

there doesn't appear to be planning permission.

0:42:270:42:31

And that's more bad news for the landlord.

0:42:310:42:34

We'll let our Planning colleagues know.

0:42:340:42:37

They will potentially be looking at taking enforcement action

0:42:370:42:40

against him for an unlawful development.

0:42:400:42:43

We've now heard that the council is taking action

0:42:440:42:47

against the landlord for failing to renew his licence.

0:42:470:42:50

Meanwhile, the planning department have invited him to put his

0:42:500:42:53

side of the story about the building at the bottom of the garden

0:42:530:42:56

in a formal interview.

0:42:560:42:58

That's it for today.

0:43:010:43:02

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

0:43:020:43:07

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