Episode 6 The Housing Enforcers

Hello? Can you just let me in?

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've died here,

you would've been standing in Coroner's Court.

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

-15 people in this house?

-15 people total living in here.

I'll be with them as they tackle problem properties

and slum conditions...

-It really does look shanty town.

-Yeah, it's not up to standard.

..as they deal with dodgy landlords, nightmare neighbours

and everything in between...

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

You never know what you're going to find.

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

Today, housing officers help a man with a back injury so severe

he's been eating and sleeping on the floor for years.

Took me ages to pluck up enough courage to ask for help.

I tried to get along on me own but, in the end, I couldn't.

Suspicions that a house in a residential street is being

used as a brothel lead to a council investigation.

We've got a full body massage card here.

It just sort of degrades the whole area, really,

just makes it look as though it's a real slum area.

And officers and police crack down on overcrowding

and dangerous meter fixing.

Anything that goes wrong in this house can very quickly affect

what's going on to the neighbours either side.

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

And, every year, rents go up.

For those of us chasing cheaper housing, that can mean

enduring living conditions so bad that they break the law.

I'm working alongside the men

and women whose job it is to uphold those laws.

They are the Housing Enforcers.

In Swale,

the council actively supports disabled or vulnerable clients

who want to remain living in their own homes.

With housing officers Susan Hughes

and Sue Spice, we're heading to meet Peter.

Five years ago, he fell off a ramp whilst working as an MOT

examiner, seriously damaging the nerves in his left knee and back.

Unsurprisingly, it's left him

unable to keep up the maintenance on his house.

He's now been awarded a council repair loan,

but before the builders move in,

we'll need to assess Peter's needs and make sure the place is safe

and clutter-free, although,

it does look like he's already made a start.

-This is good already - look.

-Mmm, that is.

So, we've got a little mini skip here,

and it's got a lot of the stuff

that Peter doesn't feel he needs any more.

That's good. So, hopefully, we're going to find it nice

and clear inside.

-Hi, Peter, it's Susan Hughes here.

-Hello, there.

-We've Matt and Sue.

-Hi!

-Hello, Peter.

-Just come to have a look at how things are going.

-Is that all right?

-Yep.

-Do you want to go first?

Sorry about this, cos I have to wall-walk.

His injury also forces Peter to lie down on a hard surface,

as he finds it difficult to get out of a bed or sit in a chair.

Sue was saying about how you needed to clear stuff.

-I can see you've started to do that.

-I've started doing that.

-That's very good.

-I've got a skip out there.

It's good that Peter's making an effort, but it's clearly a struggle.

Before the accident, he was leading an active life.

I was a motor mechanic, MOT tester.

Used to go for walks, fishing. I used to go swimming a lot.

Quite active.

But that knocked on me on the head.

Peter struggled on, reluctant to ask for help,

until the constant pain made him severely depressed.

-You all right?

-You all right?

-Yeah.

You seem like you're in a lot of pain all the time,

and I can't quite work out how you're moving around.

-You have to get up and then wall-walk everywhere?

-Yes.

-That's the only way you can do it.

-Yes.

So, for you, there's no real sitting down. There's either...

-I can't sit, no.

-..lying down as you are right now,

-or there's walking using the walls for support.

-Yeah.

-It's like I can't sit too long. It's about 15, 20 minutes...

-Yeah.

..and the pain's unbearable. I've got to get up.

The most shocking thing is that

Peter's been living like this for five years.

The way I've been brought up is the old-fashioned way.

I don't like to ask.

I like to get on and try to do things myself.

Trying to be independent.

And I understand that.

Because, as a bloke, you think to yourself,

"I'm self-reliant and I'm, you know, I don't want to be a bother to anyone."

-That's right.

-But what's going to happen is, it's going to go

further down the road, and then it's going to be a big problem.

It's easy to see how cleaning and maintenance around the house

has become impossible for Peter to manage.

So, I can see how it's going to be hard for you to keep it clean.

Have you ever thought about talking to Age Concern about getting

somebody in to help you with the housework?

Yes, I'm still waiting for that to come through.

Peter, just behind there,

what we can see there, with the leaves,

-does that go right back? Is that...?

-Yeah. A massive garden.

-So it's like

-a jungle, basically, outside your window?

-Yes.

-Because you've got no light coming in here at all, have you?

-No.

That can't be good for your state of mind.

-Well, we've got some good news about the garden.

-Oh!

So, there's a scheme that we can refer you to,

and they will come in and do a one-off clearance,

a one-off big clearance.

Somewhere under all those brambles is a greenhouse

and a fish pond. It's a garden that's been left untended for years.

But you can see why.

-You all right?

-Yeah. Ooh.

-You all right?

-Yeah. Go on.

So, how often are you getting up and getting down like that?

-When I go to the toilet.

-Yeah.

I do all me cooking in the front room.

Me kettle. I've got...

me toaster's in there, I've got a little oven in there.

-Oh!

-Cos I can't stand. If I go in the kitchen standing,

I can't do nothing.

I eat a lot of takeaways, put it that way.

It gets worse - as well as eating on the floor,

Peter also sleeps there.

I think it's time we had a look at what needs doing,

starting with the kitchen.

Crikey.

This is a long way down the list, because he doesn't actually

use it. He can't stand in here, so he cooks in the other room.

Right, so there's no point ripping this out and giving him

-a new kitchen if he's not going to use it.

-Not yet, no.

Cos he's got no way of being able to use it, to get in here and stand up.

No, so, we just need to make him safe in the rooms that he's actually using.

And then gradually as he gets more mobility, maybe.

Yeah, get him back in here.

Keeping Peter safe is our priority.

The conditions in here leave a lot to be desired.

The ceiling has effectively caved in, the plasterboard's gone,

and it's being supported by this plank,

and, then, at right angles to it, this plank,

which then goes down to this dining room chair,

-here, so I would suggest...

-Don't move the chair!

-Let's not move that chair.

-Yeah, let's not!

The bathroom's also been neglected and, more importantly, it's

so difficult for Peter to use, he's been having to pop over to the local

Age Concern just to have a shower.

The bathroom is one that we are going to completely rip out.

Once we've done this, which is going to start in a couple of weeks,

cos it's clean enough for the builders to come in,

rip it all out and do this, so there's no problem.

That should really help him, boost his confidence, because it'll be a lovely shower room.

Do you know, what I find almost the most upsetting thing

about Peter's house is on that wall there,

because what you can see there is years

and years of using that wall as support to walk,

when...he just needs...

..something else, he needs just, what, 50 quid for a grab rail?

Yeah, definitely so that's one thing we can do, again,

pretty quick, we can put some rails along there.

Inspection over, it's time to talk to Peter.

We've got quite a few things to do to help you.

First thing is the bathroom,

and then we'll start doing on the ceilings, once we talk.

We'll also get that rail done.

We'll also refer you to this falls clinic,

and we'll also get your garden cleared.

So, they're the first few things.

But we'll go at your pace, so don't worry, and then after that,

I'll come back and we'll see how we're going.

-You've got our number if you need anything.

-Yeah, it's on speed dial.

Peter, lovely to meet you. Really nice to meet you. Thank you.

See you later on, Sue.

Peter owns this house, but he qualifies for a council loan

offset against the property because he's on benefits.

It does feel like Peter's totally slipped through the net, hasn't he?

It does. That's what's worrying, you know, when he had his accident,

where was everything in place, you know, there?

It should have been all put in place and he shouldn't have got this bad.

But now we're there, now he's on our radar,

we're not going to let him go.

It's not the system, necessarily, that's completely failed.

-Also, it's partly Peter not really being willing to engage...

-It is.

..cos of that pride thing, never wanting to ask for help.

That is the problem with lots of things, is that people are proud

and they don't want to ask for help,

so you need somebody with a bit of time to encourage them,

and give them more confidence and realise how much difference

it is going to make, so that's what we can do in our service.

Man, there but for the grace of God.

-Seriously. It could so easily happen.

-Yeah.

A bad afternoon at work and then you find yourself like that.

-Yeah, it's so sad.

-But I really want to know what happens next.

But there is a lot that we can do,

and it all starts in a couple of weeks, so that'll be good.

Coming up: The council's offer of support pays off for Peter.

So, out here, our handy person has come along

and put this rail up now, which I think is going to help.

Here in Newham, East London,

you can't help but notice that alongside the area's vibrant

city culture, there's also a less salubrious side,

all too visible on the street's walls and lampposts.

These stickers advertising "massage parlours"

are often a front for prostitution,

operating out of respectable-looking properties in the borough.

And this brings it under the remit

of Housing Officers, Stephen Pavett and Holly Ripp.

All right, we're off to a new case now.

It's been reported that a property's being used as a brothel.

So, we're going to be first on the scene

from the Planning Department from the council

to have a look at this one.

The council doesn't really want to see that sort of use of a family

house in this borough, so we'll see if that's the case.

If it is, then it's likely that we'll get an enforcement notice

on the property to have the current use removed and returned back to

its lawful use, which is probably

going to be a single family dwelling.

And the council's planning department

is involved in this police operation because there are concerns that

if the house is being used for unlawful business activities,

that's one less much needed family home available.

And, of course, there's also the added impact on the community,

with the associated antisocial issues

that this kind of profession can attract.

We've just seen a guy shoot out of this property here, the one we're

hoping to get access to. The police are just having a word to him now.

He scarpered rather quickly.

That's a prime example of what residents in this street

have had to put up with,

and a good clue that Stephen and Holly are in the right place.

Hello, we're from the council Planning Department.

We need to come and have a look around the property.

The property's suspected of being used as a brothel,

so we need to come and have a quick look around, OK?

Once inside, the team needs to collect enough

evidence that the property's no longer operating as a family home.

OK, well, we've gained access.

We've got a number of girls at the property.

All done up and in nice outfits.

There's nothing in this room apart from a couple of beds.

Nothing what you'd expect to see as a family house.

No TV, no dining table, no sofas.

It's simply got a single bed here, and we've got a double bed here.

Let's have a look in some of the drawers.

We've got a "full body massage" card here.

Let's go upstairs.

Again, very similar situation.

Not much furniture in the room.

We've got a double bed here. Over on the side, we've got a single bed.

Again, you know, there's no duvets, no pillows, no anything.

Nothing you'd expect for someone

who's actually sleeping here during the night.

The wardrobe here, this wardrobe is particularly...

there's no clothing, for example, in this wardrobe.

So this room really isn't used at all to live in.

The absence of home comforts

is a good clue that all is not what it should be.

Oh, we've got some, definitely some underwear, haven't we?

Some bras and knickers up there.

And there's something else.

There's some sort of weekly rota here.

Days of the week, looks like.

And you've got possibly girls' names associated with them.

Stephen's discovered more evidence this property is

responsible for bringing down the community.

Got a roll of massage stickers there.

These are commonly placed on bits of street furniture around Newham,

we're finding, at the moment. These are everywhere.

So, phone booths, lampposts, everything.

These are everywhere at the moment.

It just sort of degrades the whole area, really. It just makes it

look as though it's a real slum area when you've got all these stickers

everywhere. It's a real blight on the sort of, the streets of Newham.

It looks like the house is operating an illegal business,

and regardless of what you might think about what should

or shouldn't be allowed to go on behind closed doors,

there's little doubt that living

next door to it is far from acceptable.

We have got a ladder there - that looks rather suspicious.

That's so someone can get a quick getaway, what's the bet?

They can jump out onto here, onto the ladder,

perhaps onto the neighbour's property and get away.

Stephen and Holly have seen enough to make their case that this

property is breaking planning law.

It needs to be turned back into a much needed family home.

From our point of view, that went really well. Clearly evidence there.

The number of girls dressed up

for propositioning, full make-up.

Yeah, and all of the rooms laid out in exactly the format that

we've come to know. Unfortunately, it's another single family dwelling

we've lost, at the moment, to that use, but we should be able to turn

that back around when we get an enforcement notice served.

Basically, we'll serve the enforcement notice, so if we go

back after the date when they should have complied with that notice,

and it is still operating as a brothel,

then we can look to prosecute.

The planning department will investigate

and take action against anyone using a property unlawfully.

In due course, this house should be returned to its proper

use as a family home.

In Swale, after a fall at work damaged the nerves in his knee

and back, Peter now has to lie on the floor to get comfortable.

It's also left him incapable of looking after his property.

The ceiling has effectively caved in, the plasterboard's gone.

Housing Officers Susan Hughes

and Sue Spice wanted to ensure Peter could continue to live

independently at home.

Three weeks later, Susan and Sue have returned.

We're going to see Peter again today. Some of the work's been done.

There's a little bit extra that we could do on it,

so we're talking as well about the kitchen - some work that we can

do for him for him so he can use the kitchen now,

and just see how he's going and what else we can do.

Thanks to a council repair loan, a team of builders have now

started work on the property.

-Hi!

-Morning!

-You all right?

How's it all going? Oh, I can see you're working now.

I was shocked at how Peter had spent years using the wall as a support

to walk through his house. Happily, that's now been sorted.

So, out here, a handyperson has come along and put this rail up now,

which he can hold to get along to the door.

Before, he was sort of trying to walk along the wall

and there was all the marks on the wall, so we've had it painted

and got a nice sturdy rail for him to use,

which I think is going to help.

Peter's bathroom was in such a state,

he'd been travelling to a local Age Concern centre for a shower.

But it looks like those days will soon be over.

Well, it's looking good already.

It's looking lovely and clean and everything.

So, it will just be nice once the shower's in.

Peter's disability, caused by a fall at work, forced him to cook

and eat while lying on the lounge floor.

But a new kitchen design should put an end to that.

They are going to literally gut it all, take everything out,

put new worktops with nothing underneath,

so he can sit on a perching stool under it, and then maybe along

here, put some cupboards without doors on that he can actually reach.

And then he can get all his cooking equipment, which is on the floor

in the other room, at the moment, in here, so he can cook safely.

It's a bit worrying he's got a kettle and the cooker

and all that on the floor down there.

Fires, as well, with the cooker and the toaster down on the floor.

That wasn't the only health hazard in the house - a leaking water tank

had left some of the ceilings close to collapse.

In this room, then, the ceiling's being done. That's very good.

So, that's a lot better.

And, then, as you can see, it's still very dark.

We do need that garden cleared cos it makes this room very dark.

-And Peter, hello!

-Hello!

All right? I'm coming back to see how the work's going.

Right, so are you happy with what's being done so far?

Yep? You've got two nice ceilings.

-Just cleaning it up.

-Just want the bathroom.

Yeah, they reckon next week that'll be up and running,

but it's nearly there - it's just the shower in,

-change the toilet height so it suits you better.

-Yeah.

And then we're going to look at adding some more to the kitchen,

some more bits,

so make it so that you can use the kitchen with a worktop.

After years of sleeping on the floor, Peter's had some good news.

-OK?

-Yeah, they're going to get me some stuff

so I can get in and out of bed.

Right, yep, that's great. Hoists and rails and things.

It was all right getting in it, it was getting out.

Yeah. Then you can sleep in a bed. So, yeah, that'll make it easier

for you if you've got a good night's sleep, rather than...

-This is where you're sleeping now, is it?

-Yeah.

I normally get to sleep about four in the morning.

Yeah, so it's trying to make your living condition as best as you can.

But I'm sure a bed's going to help,

rather than sort of living on the floor like you are.

-It is.

-Yeah.

That's gone really well, so there's a bit more done than what I thought.

He seems pretty happy about it, so hopefully this is going to

improve his life, make it a lot better for him and enable him

to live a lot more independent in his own home, and safe.

Took me ages to pluck up enough courage to ask for help.

Cos I'm the old sort where I try to get on with me own.

But, in the end, I couldn't.

They can put new rails in for me,

when I do have a shower, which will be great.

It's shocking that someone could have been struggling to

cope on their own for as long as Peter has, and thank goodness

he finally plucked up the courage to ask for help.

With work about to start on clearing his overgrown garden,

Peter's already pitching in.

I'm here in Wolverhampton, and I'm learning that providing

people with safe and secure homes is only part of the challenge.

Keeping people safe in their properties is just as important.

So, today, there's a joint operation with police to tackle

some of the worst dangers to residents' health and security.

I'm joining Housing Officer Ravi Phull

on patrol for the day of action.

I'm not sure it's supposed to be top secret,

but I'm already feeling very excited.

This may look like a block of flats, but it conceals a cunningly

hidden police station. Right down there, look at that.

That's the only way you'd know it's a police station -

look at that tiny little sign.

All right, this is not quite

the James Bond scenario I was hoping for,

but the plan for today is no less important for local residents.

There are plenty of us here ready to go,

and we've all got a part to play.

Right, we'd like to welcome you all to our day of action, which

has come about due to the issues raised by our local community.

These issues that we've got are very many and varied,

including a lot of antisocial behaviour, overcrowding,

illegal vehicles and utilities misuse.

The aim is to patrol the area with the local police team

and, obviously, your invited agencies, to visit

a number of identified premises and streets to tackle the above issues.

Well, overcrowding definitely comes under our remit,

but the "utilities misuse" element also catches my attention.

This rather harmless sounding term is anything but.

It means some people are rewiring their gas and electricity meters,

with potentially lethal consequences.

So, we've got lots of photographs provided here by Western Power,

which will show you how they bypass the system

and the kind of things that we're actually looking out for today,

because, obviously, it's very dangerous at the moment.

If we get in to premises, I'm going to request that we're

able to see the electricity meter for safety reasons.

At which point, then, the utility company will come in...

They will come out and make them safe.

Will they cut off the supply?

-Disconnection's normally the last resort.

-Right.

And they don't generally do that first. Brilliant. On the first case.

Because, then, that falls back on us, then, if they've got no

-electricity...

-Yes. Absolutely.

-..be it of their own doing,

I've then got a duty to make sure that they're safe.

-OK. Are we all set?

-Yep.

-Great.

It's time to establish some facts.

So, Ravi and I are on the lookout for dodgy electric meters

and overcrowding.

And Ravi's got some tips on how to spot a house that's being

shared by too many people.

So, there's small, telltale signs that you can find - if you've got a lot of litter,

if you're generating more than what a normal household would

-generate...

-Yeah.

-..you know, you've got more households.

The other small little tweaks that you would look for are things like

if you've got different curtains downstairs and upstairs,

that means potentially you've got different households

living in different types of decor.

Do you know what I've started to look for as well, is toothbrushes

-in the front window...

-Right.

-..or a packet of Hobnobs.

Because that's where they're storing their...

Why would you have that if you had a bathroom?

-That you weren't sharing with other people.

-Exactly.

-Yeah.

So, after following the advice...

As I'm saying, telltale signs.

-We ready to give it a crack?

-I think so.

..we're ready to hit our first house.

-Hello there. I'm from Wolverhampton City Council.

-Yes?

I'm from Environmental Health.

I just wanted to get an idea of how the property is being lived in.

Are you renting?

It's a rented house and looks to be a well looked after family home.

But there are some safety concerns.

So, you've got a smoke alarm.

The backing plate is there and the wires and nothing else.

And there's evidence that there are a lot of people

squeezed into this property.

And that's just one bedroom, that's the front bedroom.

If we go, work our way backwards.

So now we've got a double bed in here.

One cot, one baby buggy.

-Any more people in the cupboard?

-No.

-No!

THEY LAUGH

So, we have quite a few children, right?

That's visit my son yesterday. He sleep in here.

So, we've got five in there.

SPEECH INDISTINCT

Are these all your children and your grandchildren?

-Yeah, my grandchildren.

-Yeah?

-For... children.

-So, there aren't other people here, who aren't members...?

-No.

We've got overcrowding, but in a single occupied property.

-But we're just talking about sheer numbers here...

-Yes.

..the numbers of people in each room, which is, in itself,

part of the health and safety rating system, isn't it?

That's going to be there as a hazard.

So, definitely some issues that need addressing, but at least,

as a family, they're more likely to take good care of the property.

Currently, there are a lot of people in this house.

We can't establish whether that's a permanent thing,

or whether that's just for a weekend, or, you know,

for a short time. In the meantime, we have to contact the landlord

and make sure that the things we can see that need sorting out,

are sorted out as soon as possible.

-OK.

-Can I check your electric meter, please, while I'm here?

-Yeah.

-Yes, it's over there.

Both the meters in this house were running properly,

but - coming up:

In the next house, we discover just how dangerous

meter tampering can be.

He described it as a bomb.

Defending our right to a safe place to live is

the job of Housing Officers right across the UK.

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

Do you think?!

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

-Top marks.

-Yes!

I'm hitting the streets...

Hello? Can you open up?

Definitely somebody inside, because we've seen movement.

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

The cistern's in the bath.

I don't know how they flush it.

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

is fit to be called a home.

I'm very shocked. This is ridiculous.

You shouldn't have people living in here.

I'm in Wolverhampton, taking part in a joint housing operation

with the police and other local council agencies.

They're hitting the streets to try

and tackle some of the underlying problems that are affecting

the health and wellbeing of this community.

So far, there's been evidence of overcrowding.

I just wanted to get an idea of how the property is being lived in.

We've got five...in there. Five people in there.

But the team's on the lookout for other potentially more

dangerous issues.

And, at the next house, we find something much more worrying.

I think they've found a bypassed meter.

We're not allowed to film inside, but they've now just

discovered, in there, there is a bypassed meter.

I don't know if it's gas or electric.

That's something I need to find out.

So, the numbers on the meter aren't moving.

She's not paying an electric bill.

We've got an abstraction of electricity. It's a really

dangerous thing - it can cause so many fires. There's already

fire damage in some of the boxes.

-Right.

-And you can smell gas as well, so...

OK, so why is Ravi getting involved?

Because, clearly, that's something the electricity company

-will come out and sort.

-Yeah.

-But she's on the phone right now.

She has to make sure they've got somewhere safe to live,

and that they've got some kind of power with them as well.

-It's her right...

-So, even though that meter's been bypassed...

-Yes.

-..it's still a responsibility from the council...

-Absolutely.

-..to make sure they have power.

-Yeah, absolutely,

and they've got to safeguard the residents there as well, make sure

-they're safe.

-Right.

-And they've got somewhere suitable to live.

Given the potential danger of the situation,

Ravi's not wasting any time getting the landlord down here.

So, I've just spoken to your father on the phone. What we've basically

got here is, the...I'm not sure, either yourselves or the tenants

have bypassed the electric meter. Right now, we need to safeguard.

We've got an electrician in there,

and the only way, at the moment, he can look to safeguard

is by disconnecting, which we don't want to do.

So, Ravi's now gone inside with the landlord to inspect

the tampered-with electric and gas meters,

which, having chatted to the electrician,

he says it's phenomenally dangerous because you've got the two both

being tampered on. He described it as a bomb.

It's where it gets rather serious this, because you look at this.

This...anything that happens in this house is not isolated to this house.

You've got houses either side of it, very closely.

Anything that goes wrong in this house can very quickly affect

what's going on to the neighbours either side.

Ravi's main priority is clearly making this property safe.

It's less clear who's to blame.

Right, at the moment, we can't ascertain who's

responsible for it. Potentially, could be the people

who are living in there but, right now, it's a safeguarding issue.

There's children, there's vulnerable people here. You know, I can't walk

away with them having no electricity whatsoever.

When does the landlord take responsibility for knowing

when there's something? Is it ever his responsibility,

if, let's say, something's happened by the tenants,

-if they've been responsible?

-It's a difficult one,

but, right now, the emergency prohibition order is looking

to be served, and that will be served on him and on the tenants.

-It feels quite hard on the landlord.

-Yes, I agree.

-Do you know what

-I mean?

-Yes, yes.

-Because he's being told, "sort this out now".

-Yes.

Because it's dangerous. Because, realistically, you can't leave it

in this state. But he's like, "well, I've just walked in here

-"and I didn't know anything about this."

-That's right.

No, I appreciate that but, at the end of the day, you have to

remember, this is me doing everything in my power

to keep his property ticking over, to not have the electric supply

cut off, so, yes, it does look like we're being harsh, but we're saying,

"look - it's dangerous and we need to get it done now."

So, benefit of the doubt is,

they didn't know anything at the point of today. If I come

out in another month or two's time and this is still going on, he knew

about it and he should have been a bit more savvy about what was going

on. The issue isn't about who did it and why and what.

-Right now, it's about making it safe.

-Safe.

Later on, Ravi has a landlord of a different property in her sights.

Can you see how your vagueness is quite worrying?

No, it's not vague! I'm not going to give you the information.

You worry me, Mr Patel.

Now, they say moving house is one of the most stressful things

you can do. Imagine what it must be like if you don't want to

move in the first place.

Fortunately, in Stroud, Housing Officer Chris Eadie

is on hand help some council tenants who've been left no alternative.

Well, we're going out today to see Mr and Mrs Tucker, because we're

redeveloping, we're knocking down their property so they have to move.

The demolition is part of a multimillion pound plan to

replace 59 houses that were only ever meant to be temporary,

and now have serious structural defects.

They were built after the war

because there was a lot of people needing houses.

But I don't think they were ever intended to be long term,

but they have lasted well,

but they are concrete and they have a limited life.

Affectionately known as prefabs,

because of the prefabricated concrete panels used to

build them, they were a quick solution to replacing

some of the estimated one million homes destroyed in the Blitz.

Sadly, they haven't stood the test of time.

They're pre-cast concrete houses and they get concrete cancer.

When we say concrete cancer, what it means is that the metal poles,

the metal struts rust,

and if they rust, they then will burst the concrete.

So, they've come to the end of their useful life,

and they need to come down because of that reason.

It's a decision the council hasn't taken lightly.

But that doesn't make losing their homes any

easier for the tenants living in them.

Obviously, for a lot of people, it's distressing to be moving,

so a lot of my role, I feel, is to be partly an emotional support,

really, as well as a practical support.

Support to tenants like Maureen Tucker.

We're going up the stairs, of course.

We actually moved into this house on December 3rd, 1960,

and I vowed I would never, never, ever move again!

So, unfortunately, that's all gone out the window.

Maureen's lived in the house for most of her life

and raised a family there.

The news she'd have to leave came like a bolt out of the blue.

This is the bathroom, which is quite adequate

for our needs - even though we had six children, we managed quite well.

It's always been such a lovely neighbourhood to live in.

I've always loved it and I still do.

But once we got the letters explaining that our houses

were due for demolition, it really struck home, then.

It's not just Maureen's memories

that have made the unwanted move a difficult one.

This is our second bedroom, which I use, at the moment,

and, as you can see, when I wake up

in the mornings, this is the view that I have.

Well, it's just the open countryside I like.

It just feels so open, you know.

I couldn't bear to live in one of these places

where there's houses to the left, right and centre.

It's like living in a box.

And if they wouldn't pull it down, I'd be very happy.

I never envisaged ever, ever moving from this house, I really didn't.

And it was such a shock, you know,

when I realised, yes, this is going to happen,

and it was very, very hard to come to terms with for a long time.

Fortunately, there's a happy compromise.

Maureen and husband Tommy are being moved to a new house being

built just around the corner,

allowing the council to demolish their current home

and build a new one on the same site.

If all goes according to plan,

in two years' time, they'll be able to move back to a brand-new

home in the very spot they've loved for nearly 60 years.

When we come back, obviously, my house will not necessarily be here,

so I've already told Chris I'm putting two pegs out there,

and that's where I want my house to be!

Maureen's big move is fast approaching,

and it's down to Chris to make sure it's as stress-free as possible.

-Chris, have a seat, my dear.

-Thank you very much, Mrs Tucker.

I just wanted to talk about,

-you know, are you feeling ready now to move across?

-Oh, yeah.

When I think about it, my son-in-law said to me

"Mum, just think of it - you're going off on an adventure."

She seems to be taking a philosophical approach to

the upheaval, but there's one thing that has been troubling her.

And I just wondered if you've got any kind of concerns,

or any questions about any other aspects of the move.

I know this sounds really stupid,

but I've never handled central heating before,

so, please, please can I have some instruction on how to use it?

You definitely will. I know you haven't had central heating here,

-because you didn't...

-No, it was my...oh, yes, it was my choice.

To avoid any more disruption than is absolutely necessary,

their new temporary home is only five minutes' walk away.

It's still being built,

but Chris wants to give Maureen a better idea of what it'll

be like, to get rid of any lingering worries she might have.

I can't actually show you the property itself,

because that's a little way off...

-Right.

-..but I can show you the outside of a similar two bed

property, just to give you an idea and a sense of where you're going.

Yeah. Right, OK, Chris. I'll just get my coat.

The Tuckers will be last tenants to move out of the street.

Right, off we go, Christopher.

Just around the corner,

first impressions of the new temporary homes are good.

I like the look of them. They look very, very nice.

What you can see here is, so on the right-hand side of this one,

-that's where your sitting room is.

-Oh, that window is the lounge, yeah.

At the back, we normally, we'll always have the sink looking

-out the window, so when you're doing the washing up you can see out.

-Yeah.

So, is the garden, then, at the back - obviously, at the back

-of the house?

-The garden's at the back, yeah.

-Yeah.

They're sort of small to medium sized gardens.

Now I've seen what the houses are like, I feel a lot

happier about it, you know, because I, when you don't, it's fear

of the unknown, isn't it, really?

-I've never known anything but that one.

-Yes.

But seeing, and you explaining sort of roughly which bits goes

where, I think I could quite like it round here.

So Maureen can relax, safe in the knowledge it's only

a temporary move. Chris wants to make the arrangement official.

If you want to open that letter,

that just tells you about going back.

I thought it was going to tell me I've won the lottery.

Yeah, that's next week, I think.

-Don't forget me, though, if you do win!

-No, no, I won't.

I'll put it through your letterbox for you.

Oh, very official, Chris.

It's a proper district council letter.

I do feel a lot happier now.

When I move from there, I'm over a barrel, basically, aren't I,

because, really, you've given me a brand-new house - why should you

-give me another one, you know.

-Yeah.

-But this is just my assurance

-that I will be able to come back.

-This is your assurance.

So, that's there. Whatever happens, you can definitely have that.

I shall keep that in with my money!

Saying goodbye to a home full of love

and happy memories is never going to be easy,

but with Chris's help, Maureen's ready to start her new adventure.

I do feel a lot better now about having to move.

I found it all very daunting to begin with,

but, over a period of time, having come round here and seen for

myself exactly what I'm coming into, I don't really mind at all now.

And Chris couldn't be happier either.

With the Tucker family, they're such a friendly family

and they've been here a long time, and we want to make sure

that they've got the option to go back because her heart is

where she lives, and she wants to go back to that area.

And, in that way, I feel, in my job, I'm looking after them,

and I feel the council's looking after them in a professional manner.

Back in Wolverhampton, this police operation to tackle

neighbourhood problems is winding down.

Housing Officer Ravi Phull has been on the lookout for any

potentially dangerous housing issues.

And, safe to say, there were some,

including a very dodgy electricity meter.

Having chatted with the electrician, he says it's phenomenally dangerous.

He described it as a bomb.

But, for Ravi, this operation isn't quite yet over.

A week later, she's back to follow up on another

house in the area with a similar problem.

So, we were subsequently called back to the property by the police,

because they'd found the gas meter

and the electric meter had been bypassed.

The tenants were alleging that was the condition that they'd found

the property in. A large portion of the work

should have been done by today,

and hopefully the electric supply should be back on

and the tenants should be on their way to move back in again,

in a safer condition than they were when we left them.

This is a very serious issue.

Both the gas and electric meters were so dangerous,

the tenants were evacuated from the property.

Ravi demanded that the landlord, Mr Patel, sort it out within five days.

-Npower came Saturday evening...

-Right.

-..and they've now fixed that

-meter, so there's gas supply to the property.

-OK.

-Yeah?

-And with regards to the electric?

So, the electric's out.

There's no work actually been started as yet.

There's no work started to the electric?

Now, when is this work looking to be done?

-Because the notice was served on you on Thursday...

-Yeah.

..and that was for five days, which runs out tomorrow.

Yeah, so, the work is to be done today. He said he'll get me

the certificate by the end of play tomorrow, that's what he's told me.

So, he's going to be able to bring the whole installation up to

-regs by end of play tomorrow?

-End of play tomorrow.

Mr Patel seems confident

he can make the repairs in time for the tenants to move back in.

What's less clear is how the meters got like this in the first place.

How do we check, how do we check, like these tenants have said,

that all the meters were bypassed before they moved in?

How did you check that that wasn't the case?

I didn't check for meter being bypassed.

It's not something you check for.

They had left this electrical installation

-in a dangerous condition.

-No, we don't know whether it was

the previous tenants or the current tenants.

-That's right.

-We've got no evidence either way.

-We don't, do we?

When you ended the last tenancy and you started this tenancy,

you would have had a handover procedure. You would have finished

the last set of tenants, you would have done their meter readings,

you would have done everything, you would have finished that off.

So, you've got a procedure, you know what the procedure is.

Because no checks were carried out, there's no way of finding out

who's responsible for tampering with the meters at this house.

But it's up to the landlord to ensure that electrical

and gas installations at a property are safe.

What I know is you've potentially given a tenancy to new tenants

with a dangerous electrical installation.

Now, if somebody had died here, you would have been

standing in Coroners' Court. Not the last tenants and not these tenants.

Because you were the one who didn't carry out your checks.

Can you see how your vagueness is quite worrying?

No, it's not vague! I'm not going to give you the information.

We just have to walk ten steps down

to Marcus and I can show you the contracts.

-But you worry me. You've opened a management agents.

-Yeah.

You're working on behalf of other landlords. You worry me, Mr Patel.

And Ravi's spotted another serious problem with the property.

So, we've got a few issues here. We had no working smoke alarms

-on the day that I came in.

-Now, yeah, OK. Smoke alarms,

I don't understand, because smoke alarms...is something

that's quite a passion to me,

and I make sure there's smoke alarms in every property.

They've obviously taken it off,

because you can see where the smoke alarm was before,

so it's actually been pulled off.

Right. With regards to all the other smoke alarms, they were just

-literally hanging off the ceiling.

-Yeah, these smoke alarms here,

-these are what they call hard-wired smoke alarms.

-That's right.

Now, what I'm going to do now is, which is why it's going to take

longer, is going to put these back into service,

because, obviously, then, there's no

issue with the tenants then ripping the battery out.

-Well, no, there is. They can still...

-Well, they can rip

the whole thing off, but you can't do anything about that.

Right, OK, I think we're just very, very grateful this

time around that we haven't got a death on our hands.

Ravi's dished out quite a battering, and it may have left Mr Patel

bruised, but certainly better informed, too.

This is a wake-up call, as the landlord was saying,

where he's going to have to start really actively managing

his own properties and properties that he's managing for other people.

It also demonstrates some of the difficulties landlords can face

when trying to provide safe accommodation.

You get good tenants, you get bad tenants.

You get good landlords and you get bad landlords.

The law is there to protect the tenants,

but it, I think we, personally,

something like this, we should be working together

with the council, rather than this constant battery of information.

When I spoke to the gas engineers, they said they wouldn't have known.

So, even if they fiddle the gas now, they wouldn't have known.

So, if the gas engineers don't know, what chance has a landlord got?

I'm pleased to say that Mr Patel did

get the work done to the electricity meters the following day,

so the council didn't need to take any action against him.

The tenants have now moved back into the house.

That's it for today.

Join me next time back on the road with The Housing Enforcers.