Episode 14 The Housing Enforcers

You could be down there without anybody knowing.

'Everyone deserves a safe place to live.'

Your home is falling apart, you're going to fall apart.

'But with rents rising and demand increasing,

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

-It's a stinky little hole.

-It is indeed.

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

Phew! It stinks.

If I'm honest with you, I'm not sure

whether I would want Grace going into that house.

'I'm on the front line

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

Oh - this place is a bit of a mess.

They usually urinate in that corner.

'..as local councils and housing associations

'battle problem properties and slum conditions...'

The smell in there, everything just reeks.

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

Probably here is about as far as it's safe to go.

'..nightmare neighbours...'

-She was kicking you?

-Yeah.

-Do you want either side evicting?

-No.

'..and everything in-between...'

OK...

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

Behind every door, it's a little bit of a detective story.

Today, in Stroud,

a routine inspection leads us into a shock discovery.

Basically, every time it rains, all the water comes down the walls.

This one spent all last winter

on inhalers and steroids for his chest.

In Suffolk, there's an eviction that turns into a smash-and-grab.

Hello?

When we first served notice, I think they did admit

there was a few unauthorised alterations here

and they would put it right and make sure the property's handed back in decent condition.

But, as you see, that didn't quite happen.

A neighbour complaint about noisy home improvements

causes headaches in Babergh.

-I sort of know who it is, anyway.

-But I don't.

-To put it blunt, it ain't your property, it's ours.

-Yeah.

And there's a race against time to save pets trapped in a flat.

There are quite a few occasions when we've gone in

and they haven't survived at all.

KNOCK ON DOOR

It used to be so straightforward - you leave education,

you get yourself a job and then settle down,

once you 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.

There's nothing like a spot of DIY

to help make your house feel more like a home.

But if you're a social housing tenant,

the rules of making a few home improvements here and there

are a little different.

No matter how long you've lived in your property,

ultimately, the council or housing association

remains the landlord,

and may take a dim view of any major alterations.

In Babergh, Suffolk,

housing officer Ian Watson

is on his way to investigate reports

that one of his tenants may have taken his DIY

a step too far.

I've heard reports that there's been

a few unauthorised tenant alterations -

there's a driveway being done,

there's a patio round the back.

I've checked our system and there are no permissions on there.

No permission - doesn't sound too good for our tenant,

Tony Constantine,

whose building site Ian's on the way to investigate.

I didn't realise that I had to get permission

for the outside of the property.

I knew it was everything inside,

like fixings and things like that, you know.

But I didn't realise if we had to put up a fence or something,

we had to get permission.

Tony's pleading ignorance to council rules,

none of which is going to cut any ice with Ian.

When you rent a council house, it's quite crude,

but actually, it isn't their house, it's ours, ie the council's.

So if they want to do anything other than normal redecoration

or put a couple of shelves up, they need our permission to do so.

And it definitely looks like Tony's handiwork

has gone a long way past a few shelves and cupboards.

The rear of the property was basically a vegetable patch.

So I've been digging it out and things like that

and just trying to get bits done.

The plan for the property is basically get the garden done,

so the kids have got somewhere to play,

a bit of storage for the bikes and things like that.

If Ian decides the renovations have gone further than he likes

or, worse, are unsafe,

he has the power to demand that Tony returns the property

to its original condition,

and that could prove very expensive, and also put the tenancy at risk.

The most obvious work is the dropped kerb and driveway.

There's also a new fence around the front garden.

It certainly looks OK,

but Ian won't be satisfied until he's got some answers.

-Hello.

-Mr Constantine.

-Nice to meet you.

-Pleased to meet you.

-Thanks very much for seeing me.

-No worries, mate.

Just makes it easier and everything.

Obviously we'd just like a chat, get some paperwork and everything.

You'll have to dig the thing out, for the dropped kerb.

For the dropped kerb, etc, I can take that back with me.

Tony says he's spoken to the council about permission for this new kerb,

but that's not Ian's biggest concern.

The issue that we might have is with your drive itself.

-Right.

-Because we've...

-Obviously, it ain't much of a drive at the moment.

-No.

-It's just stone put on there.

-I know, and that's the thing,

because there are issues with driveways and everything

in terms of water, etc.

A garden soaks up rain,

but hard paving can cause water to run off into the street

and that can create flooding.

That's why Ian's so keen to make sure Tony's work is done correctly.

Normally, we ask for block paving.

It's expensive, isn't it?

I know it is, when you've spent an awful lot of money already,

I can see that.

But in terms of it, normally, block paving,

and it has to be the ones that allow the water through.

-This is the problem.

-Yeah.

-These days...

That'll let the water through, anyway, because it's just shingle.

But it's coming onto your land, so it's not going onto the highway,

which is the where the issue is.

Cos if everybody does drives, all the water goes off.

But apart from the worries about flooding,

there's also complaints from neighbours to contend with.

So it did all start off with a complaint.

I don't know who it come from, it's anonymous.

Patio being done, grinding and God knows what

up until ten o'clock at night on a Saturday.

No, that was a lie.

-I sort of know who it is, anyway.

-But I don't.

I do, I do know, yeah.

Just a grumpy neighbour that's got a bit of the hump.

He's basically been cursing me off, telling me to get my property done,

and then when I start doing it, he's got the hump.

So... Can't win, can you?

While the relationship with the neighbours might need some work,

it's the rest of the DIY that Ian needs to inspect.

This time, round the back.

All right. Can we just go and have a look?

At what? What do you want to have a look at?

He finds there's more than just a dropped kerb to contend with.

In the worst case scenario,

we have the right, actually, to remove it

and recharge them for the cost of removing.

-To put it blunt, it ain't your property, it's ours.

-Yeah, yeah.

Evictions in England and Wales are currently at an all-time high,

with more than 170 tenants being forced from their homes each day.

That's a shocking statistic

and one that troubles councils and housing associations.

'Trying to prevent that number from getting any higher

'is the work of housing officers across the UK.

'I'm here in Stroud with Joe Phillips,

'who's off to see a number of tenants

'who might be in danger of falling into the eviction trap.'

-So we're in Stroud today.

-Yeah.

-And what's the mission?

-What's the task?

-Today, we're doing rent visits,

people who I've tried to contact by various means

and had no success in doing so.

Just hoping we're going to catch some people in this way

and hopefully get some debt sorted out.

So these are people that are in arrears a bit?

Yeah, some people in arrears a bit,

some people in arrears a bit more than a bit.

-Right.

-We've got a couple of people we're visiting today

who are in breach of court orders,

so we need to try and get those sorted out,

or else we might be taking them back to court

and seeking possession of the property again.

Obviously, eviction is not the desired result

for either the tenant or the council,

and Joe's hoping today's visits

might be able to prevent legal action and bailiff visits

in the future.

Rent's one of the debts that some people let slip first,

there's no interest accrued on it.

-Yeah.

-It's actually kind of a low-risk debt to have,

to a certain degree,

because until you go to court, there's no added charges.

Of course, the risk is there if you let it slide too long,

cos you risk losing your home, so not advisable.

Presumably, most councils' approach to rent is a bit more understanding,

perhaps, also, than other creditors, they might be trying to understand

before they actually take sanction or punishment.

Yeah, that's absolutely right,

cos we're there to provide people with housing.

So if we're taking it away from people, we're not doing our job.

'So today's visits are more about prevention than punishment.

'But given that these tenants are in rent arrears,

'they might not be too keen to answer the door

'to a man in council uniform.

'I think we're going to have to be at our most charming.'

Which block is it that we're looking at?

Can't remember. I've not been to see this guy before.

I only took over this area in May, I've not been to see everyone.

There's a good chance that these people won't want to talk to us, will they?

Yeah, pretty good.

'Ever get the feeling you're being watched?'

I mean, some of them might. This guy's a universal credit one,

so I have a feeling he'll just want to whinge about people.

So he might actually want to.

'Yes, we're definitely being watched.'

Excuse me.

-Hiya.

-Are you from the council?

-That's right, yeah.

-For picking up some rubbish?

No, I can talk about picking up rubbish, though, where is it?

-I'll show you.

-Yeah, OK.

-Bit of a nightmare round here.

-Yeah, no worries, no worries.

Thanks.

Back in a sec.

'It looks like the house call might have to wait.'

Joe's been asked to go and...

..look at a big pile of rubbish.

It's not all about the rent.

This has been here for a few months now.

Oh, the sofas and things?

And the bollards and things, yeah.

It's another illustration of the unique role

of the housing officer.

One minute, you're dealing with impending evictions,

the next, it's sofas and soft furnishings in the street.

So you come to talk about rent and end up talking about rubbish.

-Part of the job.

-What's going to happen to that?

We'll get this collected as soon as possible.

Normally I'd go through items to see if I can identify who it belongs to,

make the responsibility theirs.

However, with an old sofa like that, there isn't going to be anything

that gives any sort of identification.

I think you could possibly identify it based on the dog.

So if you take DNA from the dog hair,

then you just have to match that to all the dogs in this close.

Yeah, probably cost a bit more than the £15 removal job!

Yes, calling in the doggie detectives might be a step too far.

But now the fly tipping's on Joe's radar,

he can take steps to make sure it's removed.

Now, back to those tenant visits.

The resident here doesn't want to be identified.

Hi, this is Joe Phillips, Stroud City Council.

I need to have a chat with you about your rent, if possible.

But with her debts mounting,

Joe needs to impress just what's at stake

if she doesn't get to grips with her finances.

16.10 was your weekly rent,

but you obviously need to pay a bit extra

to clear off the arrears you've got as well.

Now, you might need to get in touch with benefits,

cos obviously if that's going to be unfeasible for you,

you need to get that sorted out, all right?

That's what we're looking for.

'Joe's done his best to paint a clear picture

'of the consequences of non-payment.

'But, as I'm learning, the reasons for missing your rent

'are rarely simple or straightforward.'

Our tenant there, Joe, not too keen to be filmed.

Seemed like she was unaware of the fact that the rent...

There was an additional element to the rent

that she was missing out this time.

Yeah, it looks like it.

I'm pretty sure the tenant has some problems with literacy,

probably struggles with letters,

which is why I've tried to contact her by phone,

by letter as well, and then obviously the visit today

to make sure she understands what's going on with that.

I've had issues before. She's in a small amount of rent arrears, it's not a huge amount,

and it's because she's not understood the amount

she's supposed to be paying.

So as soon as she's had it explained to her,

she set up a standing order, she's been paying fine since then.

Change of benefit means she's actually got to pay a bit more,

but she hasn't understood that,

so hasn't adjusted her payments accordingly.

Not really a high-risk debt.

However, she's the kind of person

who, if I hadn't been to visit her in person,

probably wouldn't have made any changes.

It just goes to show the kind of assumptions you make.

On my part, it's like, "Come on..."

You sent a letter. "You should know what's going on."

-But a letter for that tenant is not really much use.

-No, not at all.

'Hopefully, after Joe's intervention,

'this tenant now has more than a fighting chance

'of keeping hold of her property.

'But before we get a chance to move on...'

Yes.

-Can I?

-Yes.

'The day takes another unexpected turn.'

In the kids' bedrooms, basically, every time it rains,

all the water comes down the walls.

This one's spent all last winter

on inhalers and steroids for his chest.

-Right.

-But no-one's doing nothing.

Back in Babergh,

social housing tenant Tony Constantine

has been carrying out improvements on his property

without the correct council permissions,

and that's prompted complaints from his neighbours.

-I sort of know who it is, anyway.

-But I don't.

If the work's done to a proper standard,

the council usually have no concerns

about tenants seeking to make a few minor alterations.

Out front, the new driveway and fence

have already come under scrutiny.

Time to take a look at the work around the back.

Yep, I'd say that was a little bit more than just a small spot of DIY.

I've weeded it all and it's all...

Taken some trees out, by the looks of it,

-which is not a problem.

-If I was to put another fence up,

-I'd put one up similar to the one at the back.

-Yeah.

-You know?

-Tenant's permission.

-Yeah.

-We'll get a load of forms, I'll just put them all in.

-Yeah. OK.

It seems that Tony's invested a lot of time and money

to create a new garden for his family,

but that's not the issue for Ian today.

To it put blunt, and this is how I tell people when I do the sign up,

-it ain't your property, it's ours.

-Yeah, yeah.

So we need to know anything that goes on in there

in terms of if you want to do anything

other than normal redecoration or putting a few shelves up,

you need tenant's authority.

There's definitely no permission for the patio.

If Ian isn't happy that it is up to standard,

he can ask for it to be rectified or even removed completely.

-Huge, huge patio.

-It is, yeah.

Where is your water running off?

This way. So running away from the property.

My brother helped me, he's a professional landscape gardener.

-So all I've got to do now is put the edging kerbs on.

-Yeah.

So the patio seems to be on solid ground,

but what is Ian's verdict?

I am quite happy and obviously I can see, you know,

you've spent a lot of time doing stuff.

Ian seems satisfied with Tony's work so far,

but there's still the matter of the disgruntled neighbours.

When you're doing building works, it does upset neighbours.

I do have this problem. People moan about gardens

and then when people start to do it, you know, start having bonfires...

-So what do I do now?

-You can't win.

-Just leave it.

No, you carry on. I'm quite happy you're doing a decent job.

It is nice to see someone looking after the property.

Ian's thumbs up is great news for Tony and his family,

but he is keen to make sure he doesn't get too carried away

with the celebrations.

Just as an aside, in that complaint that I received,

it also mentioned outside drinking and noise and everything like that.

-Right.

-I just have to mention it.

-Everybody sits out in the garden and has a little drink.

-I know.

In particular, during the summertime...yeah.

And everybody is entitled

to have a little fun now and again, you know?

If you were doing that every week

and I was getting complaints every week...

It's only just started happening

as someone has fallen out with me, you know. We've been here two years.

Yeah, and have I ever met you before?

-No.

-So I've had no complaints.

-I know, I know.

-So, anyway...

But it is good, in a way, cos it prompted me to come out.

We've now met. We know what the situation is.

And you understand about tenant alterations.

And we don't drink every week.

I'm not an alcoholic or nothing like that.

-So nothing to worry about.

-All right.

-OK.

-Thanks very much. Lovely.

-Cheers, then. We'll be in touch.

It is a good result for Ian and he can leave in the knowledge

that the house is in safe hands with the current tenants.

Everything has been done to a good standard.

It is nice to see people in council properties

actually improving the property.

Half of my job is going round because people haven't done things.

The garden is untidy, etc.

So it is nice to meet somebody nice

who is actually trying their best to improve.

Although the role of a housing officer

is usually to get people into a home,

unfortunately, sometimes, they have no option

but to try and remove a tenant.

Evictions are always a last resort.

It is never a pleasant experience for anyone involved.

But with the demand for properties on the rise,

it is vital the housing teams get the home back

as quickly as possible.

Sometimes, that is easier said than done.

Here in the London Borough of Havering,

community wardens Liam and Gael

are on their way to an address

that's recently had to become

part of their regular beat.

We are about to go to a property

where a resident has been on the verge of being evicted

and it is being used as a party house.

He did sign a contract, a tenancy contract,

to say that he will not have people in there after ten o'clock at night.

He has breached that.

The past week, the police went there,

had a phone call late at night, and they went there

caught them in the property, so he's breached that

and he's on the verge of being evicted.

It is a pretty depressing list of complaints

and must be particularly hard on the neighbours

who have to live next door to it.

It has got to a point now where we have to go on a daily basis

to reassure the residents as well that we're there.

Just a visual, orange shirts, being seen,

sometimes makes them feel a lot better in themselves.

With the number of complaints still rising,

Liam and Gael want to speak to the tenant face-to-face

to ask if he can tone down his antisocial behaviour.

It might be a problem, though, if he doesn't answer the door.

In order to make a case for evicting a tenant like this,

the council needs to collect evidence of antisocial behaviour.

Complaints from the neighbours, that's one way,

but Liam and Gael also come armed

with another, more hi-tech, solution.

Sometimes we might get some noise. We might turn up,

they might be shouting, screaming, playing music.

We don't even have to knock, then. We can just film it from the outside

and we will catch it on a camera and then we will just go away.

KNOCKING, DOG BARKING

Well, the dog might now be wide awake,

but there's still no sign of the tenant.

It looks like there may be a slightly more unorthodox approach

to entering this flat. DOG BARKING

That's how he gains access to his property.

That's his balcony, so he'll climb through that

and get onto his balcony and what they do is,

when they can't get in or can't gain access to the property,

they break things like that to get in them.

-So they will climb through this.

-Yeah.

DOG BARKING

He'll climb through there, there is a door to get into the property,

so he probably leaves it open.

So if he loses his keys...

The front door was wedged open as well.

Yeah, I don't know why,

but it's screaming "health and safety" at me.

The noise from people scrambling in and out at all hours

must present another problem for the poor neighbours

and Liam and Gael are still no closer

to tackling the tenant about his behaviour.

But just as they're about to give up gaining entry,

there is the arrival of a potential lead.

BUZZER SOUNDS

That is the girlfriend of the tenant

that we have just knocked on the door and got no answer from.

So if no-one is in the flat, who has just buzzed the visitor inside?

-He is obviously in there.

-Watching us out the window, yeah.

So not exactly a criminal mastermind, then.

But it is still frustrating for our housing enforcers.

First off, they would answer the door and speak to us,

but once they know they've been caught,

they know they're on the verge of being evicted,

they'll just stop responding.

So we'll just keep on going back there on a daily basis.

And there goes the visitor, who Gael believes is the tenant's girlfriend,

this time exiting out of the back gate.

The buzzer went off so he let her in the block

and she has gone up the staircase, he spoke to her,

and now she has walked off via another gate

so she didn't have to be put on camera, and walked away,

so it looks like he's not in

cos they wanted it to look like there is no-one there

but there is someone there, but he just won't answer the door, so...

Although Liam and Gael haven't been able to speak to the tenant,

their presence on site should help reassure

the other residents that they are taking the complaints seriously.

And when it comes to antisocial behaviour of this type,

the council are keen to demonstrate their zero-tolerance policy.

Fingers crossed, this one is getting there now

and we can get to the end of it and get them out

and give that property to someone that deserves it

and who'll look after it and treat it the way it should be treated.

Well, it looks like Liam and Gael's visit had the desired effect.

The tenant successfully applied to remain in the property

and there have been no further breaches

or reports of bad behaviour since.

Defending our right to a safe place to live

is the job of housing officers right across the UK.

This is how they live.

It's almost like he's declared war on everybody that's living here.

It is not just you guys.

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

Let's say whoever was here had their last couple of parties

and then decided to give it up.

Hitting the streets,

finding out what is happening on the front line...

This is a good example of a good old waste of council time.

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

There is a strong smell of damp and you can notice it

as soon as you come in the property.

We're going to have no choice but to take them to court.

Job well done.

Meanwhile, back in Stroud,

I'm with housing officer Joe Phillips

on a mission to meet tenants who are falling so far behind

on their rent, they are in real danger of eviction.

But after a quick sidestep

to help deal with some illegal fly-tipping...

This has been here for a few months now.

..the day has taken another interesting turn.

This rose is sticking out a bit there, isn't it?

Bit of front garden work required.

Yes.

-Can I?

-Yes.

Somebody wants to talk to us and that is good.

-Is she a council tenant?

-I'm guessing so.

Right, got some toys in the front garden.

Like all good housing officers,

Joe is only too happy to make an unscheduled house-call.

-Hello. How are you? Are you all right?

-Yeah.

-Hiya!

Jodie is not in rent arrears, but she's got a more immediate problem

she wants to share with the council -

the current state of her property.

Basically, we did a home swap about five years ago.

-Right.

-The house was a state.

And we were told last year

that the roof and the loft are all under regs.

-Right.

-And we were also told

we were going to get new re-rendering in April.

-Mm-hm.

-Um...

In the kids' bedrooms, basically, every time it rains,

all the water comes down the walls.

This one spent all last winter

on inhalers and steroids for his chest.

But no-one is doing nothing.

I know it's not you.

-No. It's fine.

-But if he gets ill again this year,

I will be camping out in reception at the council.

Yeah, no, I understand that completely.

No offence, but it is our palace, you know.

It's just I go to bed worrying that roof's going to cave in.

'With the problems affecting the health of her children,

'it is unsurprising Jodie was so keen to grab our attention.'

Are we going left, right?

Left. Into the blue one.

This one here, right.

There is a little bit you can just see in the corners there.

WATER TRICKLES

Is that where it is, Jodie? Just in that corner there?

Yeah. Up on my little girl's wardrobe, it was smelling there.

Everything just reeks.

-That is the main corners...

-Yeah.

..and then it was coming through in here as well.

Cos we have established it isn't condensation.

There are holes in the roof.

They said light is coming through so even a hairline crack,

water can come through.

Well, we've made such improvements with the double glazing,

it unfortunately keeps all the moisture in

so adding extra vents, like fans, is never a bad thing,

especially in the young ones' room.

As Jodie says, this place is her palace,

and hopefully now with Joe on the case,

it means she and her children will be able to enjoy it

even more in the future.

It is another example of how an average day

in the life of a housing officer can prove to be anything but.

Well, there you go, you see.

When you leave the office wearing the fleece,

you're kind of...

You are there, aren't you?

You're in the firing line straightaway.

You're in the target. So with that place there,

obviously, she is a bit upset about the state of the roof

and what is happening, so is that your role?

Or do you pass that one straight on?

It is not my role, but I'll pass it on to someone

who I know can make contact.

They might not be the person who ends up resolving it,

but at least it is someone I know

who can sort out where it needs to go.

So after our second detour of the day,

time to get back on track

and another tenant who is struggling with debt.

What about the next one on the list?

Yeah, so the next one is a young chap

who lives in a one-bed flat.

He's had a few problems with rent arrears

to the point where we've issued a notice on him

and since that notice, we have had a review

which has said we are going to allow him to stay under certain terms,

as long as he meets the criteria for meeting his rent

plus paying a little bit extra to clear off the rent arrears.

Now, the problem is the chap has had a motor vehicle accident

and has got some brain injuries

which may mean that he has memory problems.

And the main problem with that

is that it is very hard to deal with the rent arrears

and understand whether he is not paying the rent

because of his brain injury,

or because it is some other reason

and it is really difficult to understand that

without having a chat.

This visit is a perfect illustration

of the daily challenge people like Joe face in their role.

The reasons for tenants getting into rent arrears

are rarely black and white

and Joe is dealing with people often with complicated needs.

-These are great, aren't they?

-Yeah.

Really unique as well in Stroud.

-They don't build any more like this.

-No.

It is the end of a long day, so we're hoping this final trip

is going to prove nice and straightforward

without any further distraction.

-SIGHING:

-Oh, God...!

Yeah, spoke too soon.

Before we do anything,

I'm just going to take a photo of this.

Another illegally dumped sofa and another unscheduled task.

These items in the corridor are a clear fire risk,

so Joe will make sure this gets reported back

to the right people at the council.

And further inspection reveals another shocking crime.

Engelbert Humperdinck.

I'm not sure it's in VGC, though.

Yeah...

There's probably a couple of tracks you could play on it.

Anyway, back to the task at hand.

Joe has come for a face-to-face meeting

with a tenant who is in real danger

of finding himself on the wrong end of the eviction process.

But with any luck, Joe's intervention

could help put him back on the right track.

I know he's not in because there is a padlock

on the outside of the door, which means that...

-You can't lock that from the inside, so he must be out.

-So that's that.

That's that, yeah. I'll leave my card,

as I do with all people who aren't in,

letting him know I need to speak to him about his rent urgently.

And hopefully he will get back in touch with me.

For now, that is all Joe can do.

He will look to follow up on all his attempts

to speak to the tenants he couldn't find today

as well as deal with illegal fly-tipping,

removal of fire hazards and treatment of damp bedrooms.

All in all, the end of a typical, normal day.

Well, after Joe's long and eventful walkabout,

he reported back his findings.

Firstly, all the people on his list who were in danger of eviction

have now been contacted and each one is making arrangements

to clear their debts.

That discarded furniture was removed from the street

and at Jodie's property,

a follow-up inspection discovered the cause of the damp

was linked to the problems with the rendering.

The council are now in the process of fixing this up,

which is great news for her young family.

Sadly, though, the Engelbert Humperdinck LP

was revealed to be beyond repair.

Owning your own home is the dream of many of us here in the UK,

which is why the government created legislation

called the Right To Buy scheme.

Introduced in 1980,

it allowed tenants the chance to buy their council house,

often at a big discount on the market value.

As you can imagine, this provided quite an opportunity,

and councils have been keen to make sure the rule is not abused.

Today, Andrew Weavers is visiting a house in Suffolk

after suspicions were raised

when the tenant applied to purchase the property.

Right, we're going to one of our more rural villages

called Fressingfield, on the Suffolk-Norfolk border.

We've got a property there, a three-bedroom house.

Tenant has put in a right to buy on the property.

Because our right to buy team found it difficult

to contact our tenant, the alarm bells rang.

They did quite a lot of delving and digging

and found out that she had private rented in a property

about 40 minutes away from the house they were a tenant of.

With more than 1.8 million council homes bought by tenants

since its inception,

the scheme has certainly proved popular.

However, one of the central pillars of Right To Buy

is that you are only able to purchase your council house

if it is your only or principal home.

So, with this tenant living elsewhere,

instead of becoming a proud new homeowner,

she got a visit from Andrew at her new house.

I told her who I was,

said that I had two bits of bad news for her,

one being we were cancelling the right to buy,

and the other bit of bad news

was I was serving a notice to quit the property.

I think she was a bit stunned I was on the doorstep, to be honest.

I am sure she was, Andrew.

And after this timely intervention,

the tenant and her son were given four weeks

to remove their belongings from their former property.

I'm not sure if it is empty.

I don't know what I'm going to find there

but if there is evidence that the people have gone,

then we will change the locks and take the property back

and make sure a family gets hold of that property

and is able to rent it.

Andrew has arranged for a locksmith to meet him at the property.

Going to try and knock at the door, go and see if there is anyone in,

cos I don't know what's going to happen,

and then I'm going to sort of...

We've got a key to get in, so we don't have to break in.

And if I think that there's no-one living there,

then I think we'll change the locks.

-OK.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Cool beans.

So I'll go and have a little snout round first.

The four-week deadline has already passed,

so the property is supposed to be empty,

but Andrew is taking no chances.

Just look through the window. It seems really quite basic in there.

I'm just going to go and have a look round the back.

If I find someone in there,

I'll have to have a little chat, but it looks reasonably empty,

but I'm keen to get these windows shut

because you can obviously get on this flat roof and get in there,

so I want to get this property secure.

After gaining entry to the property...

Hello?

..it all seems very quiet.

I'll just have a quick snoop around

and see if there's anybody, any sign of life.

There's definitely nobody at home.

All that remains is the remnants of the former tenants' lives

and although they have left quite a lot of rubbish behind,

it seems they've taken most of the kitchen with them.

They've really ripped this all out. A lot of kitchen...

Kitchen bits and pieces out, right off the wall.

But there's a more permanent addition to the property

that's caused the biggest shock -

a conservatory.

This was put up without any permission.

I imagine it's a tenant's alteration. We'll check it out.

It looks as if they've built onto the back of the house

without seeking approval from the council.

When we first served notice,

I think they did admit there were a few unauthorised alterations here

and they would kindly put it right

and make sure the property was handed back in decent condition,

but, as you see, that didn't quite happen.

If Andrew was hoping conditions might improve upstairs,

he is about to be disappointed.

They've not left it in prime condition,

ready for re-let, I'm afraid.

There's a lot of work to do here and a lot of money to be spent.

We will try and recharge the tenant for that.

Whether we get any money out of them, or not,

remains to be seen, but we know where they are.

But as you can see, there is no-one living here now.

I can safely say that they've gone.

If there's anything worth anything, I'll put a sign on the door to say

that they've got 28 days to come and collect.

But I think we're quite safe to take the property back.

It's so frustrating to see a council property

left in such poor condition by the outgoing tenants.

Their actions mean that families in genuine need of housing

will be on the waiting list even longer.

The next step for this house will be an assessment

of what work needs to be done before it is fit to be let to a new family.

Yeah, there's quite a lot of money spent on here.

It looks like a brand-new kitchen.

Quite possibly bathroom, maybe.

Getting everything out and cleaned up a bit,

I think that will be the biggest cost.

All right, just go and have a chat with our carpenter

and see if he'll come and change the locks.

Hi, mate. I've been in. They seem to have gone.

I got in through the back door, so that's the back door key there.

I think that might be the front, but we'll get those locks changed

cos I'm confident they are not... Well, they're gone now.

So if we can get those locks changed that would be excellent.

-Will do.

-Thank you, mate.

Evicting tenants is always a last resort,

but here in Mid-Suffolk,

there are more than 2,000 households on the council home waiting list,

so it is vital to turn this property around as fast as possible

for a family in genuine need.

What we do now is we make sure

the tenant knows that they have got 28 days

to pick up anything that they want.

The rest of the stuff here will be disposed of.

If there was anything worth any money,

then we'd sell it and try and retrieve some of the costs,

but I don't think there will be anything.

While we are doing that, we will get our team in

to go and get this place up to a lettable standard.

I don't want to muddle them up. Have I got the right keys?

I've got the back door in one pocket,

and the front door in another.

There you are. Back door in that pocket,

front door, I'll put into that pocket

and then I'll just put a lovely little reminder on the door

that if they want all their beautiful stuff back,

all they've got to do is give us a ring. They get 28 days.

So I will put one on the front and one on the back,

just so that we are covered.

Right. That's that job done.

After Andrew's inspection,

he did some digging through the council's paperwork

and discovered the former tenant of the property

didn't have permission to build the conservatory.

Work was carried out to have it removed

and repairs have also had to be made to the kitchen, bathroom and garden,

at a cost of more than £11,500.

That bill has been sent to the former tenant

and, in the meantime, the newly repaired property

has been re-let to a new family.

It is estimated that almost half the households in the UK have a pet,

with animals almost outnumbering people -

that's if you include fish.

And let's face it, why wouldn't you include fish?

But what happens when a tenant

has to vacate their property unexpectedly,

leaving their pets to fend for themselves?

Well, here in Berwick-upon-Tweed,

that is the challenge facing housing officer Lindsay Jones.

We have been given information by the local police

that a tenant of ours is no longer in the property

and they have a concern about animal welfare,

so we have arranged for a joiner

from the property services department this morning

to gain access

and I have also been in touch with a local animal rescue centre

who are potentially going to take the animals

if they are in the property.

The information that Lindsay has received

suggests that the absent tenant

won't be returning to the property any time soon.

So she is hoping to rescue the pets before it is too late.

But she is also a little bit nervous of reports of squawking noises

coming from inside.

Don't really do birds.

And I'm not sure how I'm going to catch it.

So hopefully that is going to be in a cage

and I'll be able to carry that out in a cage.

I have got a key to get into the communal block.

That is why the joiner is here, because we are going to gain entry.

He'll drill out the locks and we'll do a lock change

and make sure the property is then secure.

Rescuing pets is not part of a normal day for a housing officer,

but with time being of the essence,

it is left to Lindsay to try and resolve

this particularly worrying homelessness case.

Is anybody in? It is Isos Housing.

There are quite a few occasions where we've gone in

and there has been pets in the property

and they've been locked in for quite a time.

They are either in a very, sort of, malnourished state

or they haven't survived at all.

The joiner has managed to gain entry.

Hello?

There's no telling if the animals will be in distress,

so Lindsay is going to have to tread very carefully.

There's definitely no sign of the tenants, but thankfully,

she does find the pets.

It is a bird.

The cat is here somewhere.

Oh! There it is.

Both the cat and the budgie appear safe and well,

and after a little scramble trying to bring them to heel...

Come on. In you go.

..the pets have been rescued.

It is a shame that we had to force entry into someone's property,

but on the plus side, we were made aware the pets were here.

Could have been a lot worse.

So glad the bird was in the cage.

I just don't do birds at all.

I'm not running around after that.

With the animals now safety collected,

Lindsay's next task is to see

about getting her furry and feathered friends a new home.

-We've got a finch, we suspect.

-Right, OK.

-And a cat.

Quite a young cat.

-It's very, very feisty.

-It will be. It will be very frightened as well.

We should have a towel, maybe, to put over it.

No, the bird is fine. It's the cat that has been feisty.

-Come on, sweetheart.

-I know.

Pets, for most people,

are considered to be a part of the family

and part of what makes a house a home.

But in cases like these, sadly, they must end up here,

in an animal shelter.

If we take her through and let her out the crate,

we can check to see if she's chipped.

You, Tweetie, will have to wait.

I don't normally like...

Hello, gorgeous.

Oh, darling. Bless her.

We'll leave her in peace for a little while.

We'll come back later - I'd quite like to keep the skin on my hand.

But she will probably be quite frightened

for the first sort of couple days.

-She was fine when I first picked her up.

-Well, yes.

"What are you doing?"

-But then she got very agitated.

-Which is fair enough.

Bless her. She will be frightened.

She is very pretty.

But what we'll have to do

is we'll have to take her in as a stray.

-Yes.

-So what we have to do, we have to advertise her as a stray

for seven days, to see if an owner comes forward.

The pets do appear to be well looked after,

so the rescue centre will hold the animals for a week

and give the current owner a chance to reclaim them.

But if they're not, they will be offered up to caring new owners.

Then if you could just sign...that one for the bird as well.

-She will be a nice cat.

-She's lovely.

-She's just frightened.

All good. She's having breakfast, so that's quite good.

-I will ring up and check on them.

-Yes, give us a ring. Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Lovely. Thank you.

Has Lindsay bonded with the cat sufficiently

to consider adopting it herself?

I've got one cat already. That is certainly enough for me, thank you.

And it was a very, very feisty cat, so no,

I am quite happy to leave it in there,

but I'm sure it won't take long before someone else snaps it up.

Well, the good news is that,

thanks to Lindsay's timely intervention,

both animals were cared for at the shelter

and both found new, welcoming homes,

proving that it is not just people

that housing officers can help to get rehoused.

Well, as we have just seen, being a housing officer

means a daily dose of tough choices and difficult decisions,

but it is all in a day's work for the men and women

fighting to ensure we can enjoy a safe place to call home.

That is it for today, but join me again next time

when I'll be back on the front line with the housing enforcers.