Episode 1 The Housing Enforcers

It's difficult to imagine calling this a home.

'Everyone deserves a safe place to live.'

So that's a dead rat.

'But with rents rising and demand increasing,

'it's getting harder and harder to find a secure place to call home.'

You can actually see the floorboards of the bathroom there.

There's clear evidence...

-There's clearly someone living down here.

-Yep.

'I'm Matt Allwright, and I'm back with the housing enforcers.'

Someone nicked your wheelchair?

'I'm on the front line

'with those fighting for the right to decent housing...'

The amount of mould is quite shocking.

Happiest residents of this property are the rats.

'..as local councils and housing associations

'battle problem properties and slum conditions...'

I mean, that is just a scene of Dickensian misery.

It, um, absolutely pen and inks.

'..as they deal with dodgy landlords...'

Whoa, sir!

'..nightmare neighbours...'

There's a good chance people will be getting evicted.

'..and everything in between...'

It does feel like we're close to the bottom of the housing ladder here.

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

If there's something strange in your neighbourhood...

who you going to call?

'Today, I turn rat-catcher in Jaywick.'

God, it stinks.

'One man's dream of escaping outdoors

'looks over before it's even begun.'

-So we've got out here the biggest stinging nettles in the world.

-Yep.

'In Newcastle, things get feisty

'over plans for a glorified garden pond.'

The main concern is it doesn't look great at the minute.

It's been there since October or something,

and you've not really done anything with it.

'And tempers start to fray when a demand for council tax hits home.'

Take me to court.

You have been taken to court.

It used to be so straightforward -

you leave education, you get yourself a job

and then settle down once you've found a house or flat.

And even though happily ever after wasn't guaranteed,

you could usually depend on getting

an affordable and safe place to live.

Well, it's no secret that thanks to the housing crisis,

today, things are a bit more complicated.

But there are men and women across the UK whose job it is

to ensure that everyone has the opportunity

to enjoy a safe roof over their heads.

Every day, they're out fighting for your rights.

They are the housing enforcers.

'Here in Suffolk, housing officer Andrew Weavers

'has been called to a property in Stowmarket.

'A fairly typical bungalow, by the looks of it,

'and home to Mr Peck, an elderly resident.

'Andrew's been asked by Mr Peck's occupational therapist

'to see whether the council

'could provide wheelchair access to the garden.'

-Hello. You must be Mrs Howard?

-Yes.

I'm Andrew from Mid Suffolk District Council.

-I want to come and talk to you about your ramp.

-Yeah.

-Is that all right, if I have a chat with you?

-Yes.

'Mr Peck is currently being looked after by his niece, Mrs Howard.

'Although Andrew was aware the tenant suffered mobility issues,

'the extent of his condition is clearly a shock to both of us.'

Hello, my name's Andrew. How are you?

Yeah? Not too bad?

You're late up?

Did you? Been out partying?

On the booze?

THEY LAUGH

So we've got the camera here.

You could be on telly. You could be on telly.

Now, we've had an occupational therapist come round, haven't we?

Are you hot?

It's horrible out there at the moment, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

Are you... Are you...

Are you...mobile at all?

Can you...? Are you able to get up and out?

Yeah?

Right.

'The main reason for today's visit

'was to measure up for wheelchair access into the back garden,

'but given Mr Peck's condition,

'it's now seeming a rather over-ambitious idea.'

-I guess you're feeling a bit trapped in here, are you?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

In here?

-Haven't you been out?

-No.

'That's right. Mr Peck hasn't left this room for five years.

'It's not often words fail me.'

I didn't realise you'd been in here

and not been able to get out for five years.

So you'd push him out in a wheelchair,

would you, out on the ramp?

No, you won't.

Would you be able to manage, would you?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

'It's a desperate situation.

'Being confined to his bed must feel like a jail sentence,

'but Mr Peck is not ready to give up on his dream of freedom just yet.'

You want to get out in the back garden, don't you?

Get some fresh air.

'Before Andrew can give the green light to the wheelchair ramp,

'he needs to assess how the access might work.

'But as we make our way through to the back,

'we find another big problem.'

So we've got out here,

-I mean, we've got the biggest stinging nettles in the world.

-Yep.

-We have, haven't we?

-Basically taking up the entire space.

-Yeah.

I didn't quite expect to see it quite like this, if I'm honest,

and quite as bad as that, but, er...

-So the dog has basically made the place his own, hasn't he?

-Yeah.

Because this isn't just, you know, the odd pile of poo, is it?

-There's quite...

-It's the dominant colour.

-Yeah, absolutely.

Even the dog is a bit messy, so...

Just watch where you step.

If we put a ramp in here, it's not going to solve the issues.

'The garden is in a truly dismal state.

'Even if Andrew could arrange for access for Mr Peck's wheelchair,

'there's very little chance

'he'd be able to enjoy himself out here in...this.'

I don't feel like you can blame either of those tenants

-for the state of this.

-No.

It just feels like they're not able,

-certainly in the state it is now, to keep it the way it should be.

-No.

-Did Mr Peck say he's not been out of that room for five years?

-Yeah.

(That can't be allowed to carry on.)

No, it can't.

The trouble is, it's a balance here,

because there's a breach of tenancy conditions here,

but there's also people that are quite...

well, as you can see, frail, you know?

The thing I'm wondering is

where's the rest of the family support, friends, other people?

Yeah.

Because for him to be in one room for five years,

if I was a son or even an interested neighbour, I'd be saying,

"We need to get you outside," you know?

This is the next part of the conversation, I think,

because you find out what the extent of the problem is.

It's clear that they can't do it,

but then the conversation goes on to,

"Are you in the right accommodation? Have you got family support?"

Maybe family support first.

'Today's visit is another example of the demanding role

'of the housing officer.

'Andrew thought he was walking into a very straightforward case

'of adapting a house for wheelchair access,

'but he's discovered a much bigger problem.'

Obviously, we do want to put your ramp in,

but the difficulty we've got is you've got a very overgrown garden.

Right. Have you got the ability to pay for a gardener?

Not really. If I could try and find someone to do it for you,

would you be able to find someone to maintain it and keep it cut back?

What sort of dog have you got?

You've got to keep on top of the clearing up after the dog.

It's not been done for a while.

-Do you have any family?

-No.

-No? Anyone that can help you?

-No.

-No?

-No.

No? No friends?

Have you not?

-Yeah.

-Long time to be without anybody.

'With no friends or family to help,

'Andrew has to question whether keeping Mr Peck in his own home

'is really an option.'

The other thought I had,

which you'll probably chuck me out the room for,

but is, you know, would a sheltered property be better for you?

You'll have all the ramps in place

and it'll have communal gardens, which we cut back for the residents.

I just wondered...

Well, there might be some sheltered bungalows

that are attached to these places.

MR PECK SOBS

No, no, no, I'm not asking you to lose your dog, you know,

but that's your choice.

I'm trying to think of other ways of dealing with this, you know?

-So we're going to have to do this together, yeah?

-Yeah.

We'll try and meet you halfway.

'It's a really difficult line for Andrew to walk.

'He has to balance

'keeping the tenant in their own familiar surroundings

'against considering the impact on their health.

'It's a problem even more acute with Mr Peck.'

-OK.

-What we might do...

I think it's probably wise, if it's all right with you, Andrew,

if we just leave for a bit, let Mr Peck come back down.

'It's at times like this that I really don't envy Andrew's role

'as housing officer at all.'

So was that what you were expecting?

Oh, no. No, I didn't quite expect that.

It's a scene of...

to be honest with you, Dickensian misery.

It's horrible, isn't it?

Somebody who's not been out of that room for five years.

So upsetting, really, do you know what I mean? It's, er...

She's not well, he's not well.

The dog that they both clearly love to bits is only making things worse,

because he's a health hazard, because they can't pick up,

or they're not picking up after him,

and yet that's... what he got most upset about,

was the idea that he wouldn't be able to live with his dog

and he doesn't want to go anywhere just in case the dog's taken away.

-Yeah.

-I think the reality is

that if you showed that to anybody, you know,

with a pair of shears and the ability to help,

they'd want to fix it,

but because it stays behind a locked door until you come in,

or until the guys who want to fit the ramp point it out to you,

then it stays like that for five years.

-Yeah.

-It over grows.

I'm sure we can... There must be a way we can just get that cleared

and give them a start.

-I mean, we're in the middle of summer right now.

-Yeah.

And this is the point at which

he could really do with getting some fresh air,

-getting out into the open.

-Yeah.

-After five years.

It's five summers like this,

worse than this and he's not been able to get out.

-It's more a prison sentence, isn't it?

-It really is.

-Yeah.

'Coming up - Andrew lets his green fingers do the walking.'

Yeah, that's me done. Phew! That's hard work, isn't it? Huh?

HE LAUGHS

Look, I've got a sweat on!

They say that death and taxes

are the two things that are impossible to avoid,

but that doesn't stop some people from trying.

Owning or renting a property comes with certain responsibilities

and paying your council tax is one of them.

Councils can't do their jobs properly if it isn't collected.

So, here in the London Borough of Havering,

when some residents refuse to cough up,

they call in the enforcement team.

People like John and Shane.

And today, they're on an early morning mission

to call in some particularly large debts

that the council have been chasing for quite some time.

Let's get going.

We're going to a traveller site.

There's a few sites, they're all sort of close together

and, to be honest, they've not paid any council tax for about 13 years.

The amount of money they owe is in excess of £100,000,

so the council's had enough. They've issued warrants.

We're the enforcement agents who are off there today

to enforce the warrants.

Ideally, we're there to recover the debt in full,

but, to be honest with you, if we can just get some of it, you know,

it's a start. Sometimes you can get a lot of trouble,

especially when you're on your own,

but because we've got the police with us,

hopefully things should go well.

The guys are here to enforce warrants

against a number of suspected individuals.

I think we'll try this one, because it looks more like the main address.

These are the main buildings.

But, despite the early hour,

finding the culprits is proving a little tougher than they'd hoped.

Thankfully, the boys do finally manage to find a tenant at home.

The resident has confirmed they're in the right place.

Even though this tenant isn't on the warrant list for today,

it's possible he might be in the future.

You've been here four years,

-but you're not registered with the council?

-No.

It's meant to be done properly.

You're supposed to have a tenancy agreement,

you're supposed to be registered with the council,

because otherwise enforcement agents come in and start snooping about

-and start taking people's goods away, yeah?

-All right.

You need to do that today, sir, yeah?

Cheers. Thanks very much.

Just spoke to that guy. Apparently he's a tenant,

he's been here four years.

No tenancy agreement, not registered with the council,

has confirmed the landlord is one of the guys that we're after,

but unfortunately doesn't know which caravan he lives in, so, er...

But I gave him information, told him he needs to register

with the council today, otherwise, you know,

we'll end up coming back for him as well.

Although it's not strictly a legal requirement

to have a tenancy agreement,

possessing one provides a greater degree of protection

and security for the tenant,

something John and Shane are keen to bring up with the landlord,

if only they could find him.

PHONE RINGS

We've had confirmation...

Hello?

OK. Can I ask your name, please, sir?

Could it be the elusive landlord himself?

Unfortunately, though, warrants have been issued

and they can be enforced, whether these people are at the site or not.

So we have no choice but to continue

with recovery action, sir, I'm afraid.

He just said take whatever we want to take.

Apparently everyone that we're after is in Canada or America.

It turns out the man on the phone

claims he isn't the landlord they're looking for,

so the search continues.

It's pretty much what you expect when you come to a site like this.

Everyone that you're after has gone away, you know?

They're on holiday or they don't live here,

and they're not known at the address.

It's been a frustrating morning so far.

Later on, though, John and Shane make a dash and grab.

This is a good tool that we have, you know.

We are able to take control of people's vehicles

and remove them if necessary.

Down in Essex, on the east coast, is a beautiful stretch of seaside.

With its golden sands and stunning coastline,

it's an almost idyllic British scene.

So it's quite a shock when you find out

it's home to one of the most deprived areas in the country.

Many of Jaywick's coastal accommodations

are temporary holiday homes that were never meant to provide

a permanent solution to the local housing problems,

but with demand outstripping supply, many people now call them home,

and that presents challenges to both tenants

and Tendring Council's housing officer, Rob Goswell.

So what's the specific reason that we're going down today?

Why we're going down today is we've had a complaint from the occupant

regarding rats within the property.

They've recently put some internal flood measures

to help prevent the flooding and what that's done is

all the rats have come out of the ditches.

So they've now, basically, gone into people's houses.

There's nothing like the mention of rats to make your skin crawl,

although it hasn't put Rob off.

'He grew up in this area

'and I'm guessing he's worried that given Jaywick's geography,

'with the houses so close together, the presence of rats in one home

'could soon lead to problems for the rest of the street.

'The tenant has lived at this address

'with her partner for three years.

'She's asked us to hide her identity.'

What are the problems then in this room, in this house as a whole?

-Just rat holes.

-Rat holes?

-Yes.

Can you show me the rat holes? Where would they be?

That's a hole you've covered up with a brick

-to try and stop the rats getting in?

-Yes.

So you've got... This is a wooden floor, suspended floor,

and you've got rats coming in through the wooden floors here.

Er...

And then what? Do you see them on the floor of the kitchen?

Yeah, they just run everywhere.

Right.

'Rats in the house are nobody's idea of fun,

'made all the worse by what comes along

'with an infestation of vermin.'

Also noticed your house...

You seem to have a problem with a lot of flies.

Do you know what that's from? Do you know where that's coming from?

I don't know, but there's a smell underneath the house.

'It's clearly a terrible situation for the tenant.

'I'm getting worried not just about the house,

'but also about her wellbeing, too.'

Your situation, your health...

Yeah, I'm not healthy.

What is your condition? What is it?

-I've got cerebral palsy.

-Right.

So you've got cerebral palsy,

and I noticed that you've got big steps coming up here to the house.

How do you find those?

My partner has to lift me up and down.

So you have to be carried into your house and out your house every day?

Yes, and I recently had my wheelchair nicked.

Someone nicked your wheelchair?

-Yeah, someone nicked my wheelchair from outside.

-Right.

'I really should've learned

'from my couple of years following the work of housing officers

'that they rarely encounter a situation

'that can't somehow be made worse.'

This just does feel like the wrong house for you.

Wrong house.

'The tenant here is clearly struggling

'and I want to get to the bottom

'of where the flies might be coming from,

'but outside I'm facing a struggle of my own.'

All white goods. I used to work for Currys, you know.

'After following my nose, I think I may have found the answer.'

(Oh, dear.) HE SNIFFS

The smell round here is...

is really strong.

This is where part of the problem is, it seems,

with these houses in Jaywick, is that they're all on stilts.

They're all suspended, so you get this space under the houses, which...

is home to anything that likes dark, warm spaces.

'It's another illustration of why these temporary accommodations

'aren't really well-suited for permanent residence.'

(Oh, Christ, it stinks.)

I can't see one, mate.

Oh, yeah. Oh, God, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

So that's a dead rat.

So it's been baited under here

and that's killed the rats,

but then the rats just stay there and then they rot

and so that could well be...

Wow. God, it stinks!

I'm not kidding. It absolutely pen and inks under there.

So there's a good chance that that's the rats dying under there

and then rotting. So you get flies,

you get the smell and everything else.

'The rat poison has clearly done its job below,

'but I'm not sure it's really improved things much

'for the tenant above.'

This is one of the most, um...

difficult, desperate situations I've come across.

The tenant here...

..has a disability which means that she finds it difficult to walk

and yet she has to get up and down stairs,

so her partner's carrying her up and down the stairs,

and that's before you get to the problems with the house.

A lot of which you, you know,

struggle to see how you're going to solve them.

I do not envy Rob this job at all.

I would keep your dog away from the back,

because there are poisons under there

and I've seen evidence your dog has been under there,

because he's left a little present, but there are rats there.

'Although the landlord can't be held responsible

'for the rats under the floorboards,

'the property still seems to be a poor fit for this tenant.'

That felt like we were close to the bottom rung

-of the housing ladder there.

-Mm.

You know, there was a tenant who didn't really have any choices left.

The house really wasn't adequate for her,

but we've got such an issue with housing, you take what you can get,

you know, and I've got real concerns with her being in there.

It's very difficult for us.

Nine times out of ten, I think a lot of officers

would love to get these people

and put them into somewhere a bit more adequate, but we can't.

It must be frustrating for you.

It is frustrating, you know, we will go, we'll inspect

and we'll come back in a few months' time for a similar issue

or a different issue.

We go and see individual problems in Jaywick, but actually,

a lot of the stuff that's happening is affecting all of them

just because it's a tight community.

The houses are right on top of each other

and something like rats is not going to be limited to one house, is it?

Yeah, we've seen a prime example. We have had one complaint, you know,

but I'm almost certain that the rest of them are dealing with it,

the issues as well. What you'd love to do is go in there,

that's the problem, get it done and you never have to go back there

and you've got a happy tenant and a happy landlord

and that really is an ideal situation, which we can't have here.

We can only deal with very small little bits as it's presented

and hopefully, over that time,

we can make their housing conditions better in the short-term

and, in the long-term,

the big strategic minds can work out a way forward.

Well, since that visit, Rob's been busy looking into rehousing

the unfortunate tenant into council accommodation.

He's hoping to find her somewhere much more practical for her needs,

and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed

that she doesn't get any more unwanted visitors in the meantime.

Defending our right to a safe place to live

is the job of housing officers right across the UK.

It is unusual for us to find a tenanted property in this condition.

-You can smell that rubbish still, can't you? Even from here.

-Yeah.

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

-You got insulted, we got kicked out.

-Yep.

A bit of a red letter day, really, isn't it?

'Hitting the streets,

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

You've done a great thing,

you've done a superb thing, you really have.

..as we make sure a house is a fit place to call home.

-The place is clearly being plagued by rats.

-Yeah.

Raw sewage in the back garden.

It's just apparent that this is not an OK environment...

-No.

-..for ANYONE to live in.

Back in Havering, enforcement agents John and Shane

are on the hunt for unpaid council tax.

They've got a number of warrants

for people registered to three local traveller sites.

It's all supposed to be done properly.

You're supposed to have a tenancy agreement,

supposed to be registered with the council.

Between them, they owe more than £100,000.

But, so far, the boys haven't had much joy finding the culprits.

Just keep an eye out, see how big the dogs are.

They're hoping for more luck at site number two.

Hello?

But they don't seem to be winning

at what is a particularly challenging game of hide-and-seek.

Someone... There's someone lying on the sofa.

We're enforcement agents, sir. Havering Council.

Can we just ask, do you know who your landlord is?

He lives next door?

Although John and Shane are here as part of an enforcement team,

they're also keen to make sure these residents are offered

the same security as others in the borough.

You should be on a tenancy agreement.

OK? It's an agreement, a contract, to say you live here

and you pay the landlord X amount of money every week or month.

You need to register yourself with Havering Council.

Right, so you make sure you contact the council today

and register yourself with council tax.

Also you need to get a tenancy agreement off your landlord.

Cheers, thank you.

For the guys, this is a depressingly familiar scene.

They'll get told to pay rent, all bills included,

they'll pay the rent and, as far as they're concerned,

-everything's included.

-Yeah.

-But they don't include the council tax.

-This is exactly the problem.

-No tenancy agreement,

so it's just money in the landlord's pocket.

And at the second site, one of the accompanying police team

has discovered someone else who could need protection.

So we've got a horse in the trailer there.

What we're basically looking to do is get the wildlife officer

to come down so he can have a look at the horse

and make sure it's got enough space inside the trailer,

and also got enough space to graze.

Obviously, it's enclosed a bit there.

So we'll get him to come down, have a look

and then, if needs be, we'll refer it onto the RSPCA

to come down as well.

While the call is placed with animal welfare,

John and Shane have decided to get a little bit more creative

in their methods of collecting funds.

That vehicle there, in the windscreen, there's a schoolbook.

Belonging to a dad, mum, that wouldn't be there for no reason.

We DVLA-checked the van.

It's not registered to the person that we're after.

However, they are on the insurance,

so therefore we have reason to believe

the vehicle is owned by the person.

John and Shane have powers to collect

the unpaid council tax arrears by impounding possessions

of suspected perpetrators.

This is a good tool that we have, you know,

we are able to take control of people's vehicles

and remove them if necessary. You can't get in the buildings,

they're in there, looking at you through the window.

They don't have to open the door and they know that.

But the one thing they can't do is put their van in their front room.

So, yeah...

97% of the people pay their council tax.

3% don't.

And out of that 3%, there's the ones that don't want to pay it,

can't pay it and the ones that just don't think they have to pay it

and, unfortunately, this is the place

where they don't think they have to pay it, so...

But, yeah, we should be getting something today with the van.

It's been a tricky one. It's common when you go to places like this.

You will get some people saying they've moved on,

they're travelling,

tenants coming and going,

not finding out official agreements with the council,

so it is a bit difficult, but we will get there.

We will make visits onto the other site.

If it takes a few hours, then it will,

but we are here to do a job today.

Well, the boys seem satisfied they've got something

out of their first couple of stops, but coming up,

their quest for unpaid council tax hits a bit of a wall.

We've got the council with us, we've got the police with us,

we're here today to enforce it.

Meanwhile, back in Suffolk, housing officer Andrew Weavers,

found himself facing one of the biggest challenges of his career

when he discovered a trapped tenant in a Stowmarket bungalow.

-He hasn't been able to get out.

-Haven't you been out?

-No.

I didn't realise you'd been in here, not able to get out for five years.

Mr Peck's predicament was clearly a desperate one,

so Andrew has sprung into action.

It hit a nerve with me, really, because...

..it was quite grim and to know that he's off our radar

and the only reason that I'd actually got to meet him

was because we were going to put a ramp in,

I think that upset me a little bit.

Andrew's returned a few days later and this time he's not alone.

He's got some good news for Mr Peck and his niece, Mrs Howard.

All right, fella? How are you doing today?

-We're all right to do this, aren't we?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

So I've pulled in a few favours

and someone's going to cut back the stinging nettles, yeah?

So we can see what we've got. But I don't know

what your capabilities are going in a wheelchair,

but you said you want to self-propel, don't you?

But you can't always do it, can you, push him?

Yes, can you manage that?

You've never tried one. OK.

-13 years.

-That's right.

So do you go out of this room?

Yeah. But you've not been out of the bungalow...

for 13 years?

With Mr Peck confined to the room for five years

and not able to leave the house for 13 years,

access to the garden is clearly going to make a huge difference

to his life, so the guys get busy making short work of the long grass.

Fortunately, much of the dog muck has been removed,

leaving the path clear for Andrew and the team.

Don't tell everyone. Look at this, look at that, look.

Yeah, that's me done. Phew! That's hard work, isn't it? Huh?

HE LAUGHS

Look, I've got a sweat on, a right sweat on.

What do you think of it so far, then?

Yeah? You can see what they're going to do.

What they're going to do is they're going to weed-kill all this, yeah?

They're going to try and find some slabs,

because it's pointless us putting in all of these ramps and things

if this gets overgrown again,

and then we'll see what we can do

about how we get Mr Peck into the garden,

so we're trying to figure out now where we can...

how we can get him out.

With the garden looking more like somewhere

you could now sit out and enjoy, Andrew's next task is to work out

how to sort out the wheelchair access.

Right, the path is going to...

We're going to get rid of the shrubbery here

and the path will come along the side of the bungalow...

..out to about here and then cut in along here,

to the flat part of this path here.

Unfortunately, my idea of getting it out the back door isn't possible,

so it's got to be the plan B, which is go out the front.

LEAF BLOWER REVS

My worry is Mr Peck hasn't been out for 13 years,

so I don't quite know what he's capable of, so, you know...

..we can only hope that he does...

is able to get into that wheelchair and get into the garden.

Well, then, Mr Peck. Are you all right?

All done.

I've done all that garden for you myself.

Yeah, I got a bit sweaty, but I cleared that all by myself.

I do, don't I? If you believe that, you'll believe anything.

Yeah?

Yeah. There's a couple, two or three chaps out there,

but I did a very good job at pointing what needs to be done.

That was hard work.

I did crack the whip, yeah.

It's got a nice bit of garden there now.

-Thank you very much.

-It's really nice.

So the next thing is to try and plan for this pathway.

You could be sitting out there in a month's time, in a wheelchair.

In some fresh air. What do you think?

Yeah? I've got everything crossed,

but I obviously can't make any major promises,

but if I keep watching it, hopefully we'll get it done, all right?

OK.

Andrew's clearly feeling much more optimistic

than after our first visit.

There's still some way to go before Mr Peck has the chance

to return to the simple pleasures of a life outside his four walls.

My objective here today was to get the garden cut back

to see what we've got. We've done that today.

We've had the place measured, we can see what we need to do,

so the next job is to get that path put in

and get the garden...

Get those slabs in the garden.

So, in theory...

what I'm hoping to achieve now

is to go and sit in the garden with Mr Peck.

There's not many job satisfaction days like this,

but you've got to grab them when you can and, er...

..it'll be nice if he can get out

and get some fresh air for the first time in 13 years.

Well, a few weeks later and Andrew's returned.

The good news is the work is now complete,

allowing Mr Peck safe access to the garden.

After 13 long years confined to his bungalow,

he now has the chance to feel the sunshine on his face.

I'll tell you what, this isn't in my job description.

You're all right, don't you worry.

And he's nearly there.

Right, full steam ahead.

Yep, that's wide enough.

That is warm, look. There's your gate, look.

Here we go.

Well, well, well.

It's clearly an emotional moment.

You've got to get a bit used to it, won't you, fella, huh?

Hey?

And it's another example of how the life of a housing officer

can be anything but ordinary.

There you go, fella. Let's celebrate, shall we?

There you go, cheers.

Good health.

Yeah, it's a shandy. I've got the same as you.

Happy days.

Here's going out into the garden, yeah?

Oh, dear. Better not have too much of that!

HE LAUGHS

Cheerio, Mr Peck.

Bye, thanks.

All the best, yeah? Thank you.

It was all a bit too much for Mr Peck.

I think he's quite pleased.

He's not been out for 13 years,

so I think it probably got to him a little bit.

I just hope he can make use of it, I really do.

In the north-east of England, just before you hit Scotland,

lies the beautiful county of Northumberland.

It's a gorgeous setting

and you can't blame local residents for wanting to capture

a unique slice of this outdoor heaven in their own back yard.

But, today, housing officers Laura Barnett and Lindsay Jones

are out on their rounds, forced into the role of garden inspectors,

as one of their housing association tenants

may be guilty of letting her taste for the tranquil

go a little bit too far.

We're going to visit a lady who we've been working with

over the last couple of months

and there's been a number of issues in her garden -

grass, branches, trees, etc.

As well as a rather large structure.

Mrs Crisp has lived in her property for more than 30 years

and is clearly very house-proud.

But it's her plans to add an outdoor fish tank

that are the cause of today's trip.

I mean, a fish tank -

what could possibly be wrong with that?

It is just literally like a skip just in her garden.

It's not been filled with anything as yet...

..but she insists she wants to put koi carp in it.

It is a bit of an eyesore.

I mean, no, it doesn't quite blend in with the rest of the surroundings,

but surely it's Mrs Crisp's back garden,

and it should be up to her what she puts in it.

Well, yes and no.

As it's a housing association property,

they still remain the landlord,

which means Laura and Lindsay have a responsibility

to check all the correct safety and planning measures are put in place.

Mrs Crisp is joined by her neighbour, Craig,

who's keen to see his friend is given a fair hearing

when it comes to retaining her own private fishing rights.

The main concern is it doesn't look great at the minute.

It's been there since October or something

and you've not really done anything with it.

No, because you said we couldn't have the fish,

so that's why the fish aren't there.

But it was there for a good couple of months before we...

Oh, yes, it was there.

I just want to understand from a health and safety perspective,

I live next door and I have an ornamental pond in my garden...

Ah, but the rules are different for Craig next door.

But we're a landlord, it's different for private.

It's different to a private resident to a landlord,

because we have different things.

Like, if somebody comes into the garden,

was to climb in the tank and fall and drown...

That's the main reason why we're asking all these questions.

We've got trip hazards, you've got trees,

you've got any number of items in this garden

that could potentially injure somebody.

You're not telling me that all of those aspects

have got to be mitigated under health and safety?

The questions that we've asked...

In the same way that I next door have an ornamental pond,

which is a risk,

but I control who goes in and out of my garden

and if there are young children, I would warn them of the risk.

That's why we're saying at the moment,

-we're not out here today to give you an answer, yes or no.

-Right.

What we could be saying is that could be seen as an eyesore.

It's clear Lindsay and Laura are still keeping an open mind

on whether the fish tank gets the thumbs up or not,

but they are suggesting other ways Mrs Crisp could proceed.

If we were to actually grant permission,

one of the conditions is we would be asking you to fully submerge it.

Wouldn't that make it more of a risk?

No, because when it's submerged,

the cover is what we're saying is not an eyesore.

It's not an eyesore then.

But it's not an eyesore to me, I don't mind that tank here.

That's where we are on the realms of what is in the tenancy agreement.

So submerging the tank might be one way around the problem.

Mrs Crisp might have another.

If it was fenced up, you know, if it was done properly,

not just an eyesore, is that not classed as my garden furniture?

We could take that back and see if that would be acceptable,

whether there would be an acceptable approach to it.

If you don't mind, am I all right to measure it up?

So there are a couple of options for Mrs Crisp

which Lindsay and Laura promise to look into.

-Thank you.

-Thank you for coming out.

-Thank you.

-As long as I know how we stand.

Buried underground or disguised with cladding -

either way the decision could finally be an answer

to that age-old question,

fish pond or fish tank?

It's quite a large tank!

And I think that is our issue at the moment,

as is it a pond or is it a tank?

We would certainly say at the moment, yeah, that is a tank.

If it was a private property,

you would only have to deal with planning permission,

so that's a lot different to being a local tenant, I would guess,

to social housing.

We will obviously go back with the information that we've got

and go back to our health and safety officer again,

and we obviously have to go with whatever advice he gives us.

Obviously, we want the tenants to, you know, enjoy their home

and have the use of their garden,

but they signed a tenancy agreement at the start of their tenancy

and they do have to comply with what is in that, unfortunately.

Well, Mrs Crisp was granted permission for the tank to remain,

as long as it was clad to make it less obtrusive,

and a new fence was erected to prevent access to the garden

from the side of the house.

We're in the London Borough of Havering.

John and Shane are part of the council's enforcement team

who are looking to recover more than £100,000 in unpaid council tax.

After finding a creative way of recovering part of the debt...

The one thing they can't do is put their van in the front rooms.

..the boys are now at their third and final location for the day.

Unfortunately, getting inside is proving a problem.

The resident is a little bit camera-shy,

but John and Shane believe he is one of the people on their list.

It's not an arrest warrant, it's a warrant for us to remove goods

for not paying the council tax.

The thing is, sir, if you refuse access,

we can apply to the courts for a warrant to break it.

If you want to come out, we'll talk to you, fine, it's not a problem.

At the moment, he is refusing access.

He's asking us to go back to the court to get a warrant to enter.

He's not going to allow us in, but he's going to come out now

and we're going to try and discuss some sort of...

Stop pointing the camera at me.

He's here to video us, sir, so that's fine.

Don't point it at me.

All my council tax affairs are in order.

I've paid it. I know it is.

The man might not be keen to show his face,

but he does want John and Shane to know that, today,

it's a case of mistaken identity.

We've got one mobile home at Hogbar Farm West.

This isn't Hogbar Farm, you jackass. Hogbar Farm is up there.

No, I appreciate... Please, you don't have to call me a jackass.

I'm just explaining this to you.

Have you got some ID I can have a quick look at, please?

Want to see the spelling of your name,

make sure they've got it right, that's all.

Well, they definitely have issued warrants in your name...

..for a mobile home at Hogbar Farm West.

That's the wrong...

-I don't live in Hogbar Farm.

-Sorry, let me give you that back.

But these have been issued by the court.

I don't care who's issued them. I'll go to court with you.

I don't live in Hogbar Farm, I've nothing to do with Hogbar Farm.

-Have you ever lived on Hogbar Farm?

-No, never did.

-But you still are liable.

-I'm not liable.

That's what the council is saying.

Take me to court.

You have been taken to court. There is a warrant issued...

The next stage, sir, would be committal proceedings,

arrest warrants and things like that.

-That's what they'd be looking at, yeah?

-Arrest me.

I'll come down to the council office with you.

We've got no choice, we have to enforce it, sir, I'm afraid,

so we do need to come in and...

-You're not coming in here.

-Can I have a look?

-You, yourself, come in. You stay there.

-OK.

With John at least allowed inside, but not Shane or our cameras,

it's a chance to find out the whereabouts

of the other names on the warrant.

He's registered for council tax. Gone? Gone?

John's clearly not having much luck

and eventually Shane's allowed in to help,

but it seems the result is the same.

Not really getting much response.

He has shown me identification that showed the spelling of his name

is different to the one that we've got,

but we haven't actually got any warrants

for his name at this address,

so the other people that we're after,

apparently they don't live there.

We can't break into any of the flats,

we can't DVLA check the cars,

so there's pretty much not much we can do,

so we'll leave all the details and hopefully, you know,

we'll contact them and, you know, get the matter resolved.

It'll start the process,

it'll start the ball rolling of eventually getting it sorted out,

because they know, at the end of the day now, we're not messing about.

If they don't pay it,

we'll just come back with warrants to gain entry.

To be honest with you, we've come out alive, so we're all right.

It's not been too bad.

We didn't get any payments, but I'm pretty confident

that the council will get some phone calls

and payments will start getting made.

Well, the good news is that it seems that John and Shane's day out

wasn't a wasted trip. After their little run-around,

council tax for two of the properties

was paid in full for this year,

as well as a direct debit put in place to reduce the arrears.

In addition, the owners of the site are now working with the council

so that the occupants of the homes are identified

to ensure that council tax demands are made to the correct people.

This should lead to regular payments being monitored by the council

and will allow remaining arrears to be recouped,

which is a great result for John and Shane,

and for the other 97% of people in Havering

who DO pay their council tax.