Episode 3 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 here...

-Someone's living down here.

-Yeah.

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.

The happiest residents of this property are the rats.

..as local councils and housing associations battle problem

properties in slum conditions...

It's a scene of Dickensian misery.

It absolutely pen and inks.

..as they deal with dodgy landlords...

-SHOUTING

-What's that?

..nightmare neighbours...

All hell broke loose and I could hear somebody screaming.

Get rid of him.

..and everything in-between...

I feel like we are 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 the neighbourhood, who you gonna call?

Today, we catch up with an old friend who's in danger of

falling back on hard times.

Obviously the Fire Service turned up, didn't they?

-There was no need for them.

-What happened the other Saturday, then?

-Nothing happened.

-Well, you were lying on the floor with the dog.

-You were lying on the floor with the dog.

-I was not, not on your life.

In Havering, housing officers investigate the aftermath of

a garden blaze.

There was a shed here, look. There's the base for it. Oh, dear.

I get suited and booted in Stroud.

A few more I've seen straightaway that were jumping around,

one that missed Matt's leg as he was going up the stairwell.

-Fleas working their way up the stairs.

-Fleas, yeah.

And a tenant's DIY yellow lines causes neighbours to see red.

I'm waiting for someone to move in that has got a car that wants

a garage so they can park it there because I'll gladly give it to them

just to wind him up more than anything.

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 a 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.

Today, I'm in Babergh in Suffolk

spending the day with housing officer Ian Watson

who needs to pay a visit

to a tenant we've had dealings with before.

-Hi, Ian.

-Oh, hi, Matt. How are you?

-I'm all right.

-Good.

So we're going to pop and see an old friend today, is that right?

Yep. Ali Howe.

Last year, we came to the village of Lavenham

to visit council tenant Ali Howe...

-I'm doing the best I can.

-Yeah.

I want to be left alone, I do.

..after worrying reports

from other residents about the condition of his flat.

What we found was shocking.

Pork chop.

INDISTINCT

Another ten minutes, that'll be done.

Ali, I mean, look. Look at the state of your bathroom again.

I can't be here and everywhere.

The place was in an appalling state and the smell was overwhelming.

We are looking at dog muck, aren't we, on almost every ground surface?

For the sake of the property, Ali, and his long-suffering neighbours,

Ian arranged a colossal clean-up operation.

Good old boy.

Dog muck around the washing machine and inside.

I've just had to wipe it all out.

After some seriously hard graft, the flat was sparkling.

Wow, what a difference.

But now Ian's worried, as there have been reports that Ali's flat

has fallen back into disrepair.

We've cleaned that property twice in the last three years

at a total cost of about £4,000.

I've already said to him, we, the council,

are not paying for another clear-up.

You know, you must be struggling to know what to do next really.

Well, eviction is sort of like the end outcome of that.

He just doesn't seem to realise how he's keeping the property

is affecting the neighbours.

-Shall we go and have a look?

-Yeah.

-Let's do it.

It's probably a good thing.

We won't know anything until we get to the flat and see for ourselves.

But if it has fallen back into disrepair, it raises the question

of whether Ali is capable of living independently.

Whilst he hasn't been threatened with eviction yet,

Ian will have to consider the impact Ali's bad habits might still

be having on the other tenants in the block.

Seems like we are faced, or you're faced, with some pretty stark

choices really at this stage because you've got to listen

to the other residents as well, haven't you?

Yes, it's not fair on those.

-I mean, at 87, it's very hard to adopt new habits, isn't it?

-Yes.

You've got to think that you've pretty much worked out who

you are and how you are going to live your life when you get to 87.

Yeah, and he's lived it well. He's certainly survived.

Let's go and see whether he's there.

Ali?

Last time I was here, the smell coming from the flat was really bad.

Ali?

And today, it's feeling worryingly familiar.

Yeah, I know the smell's not so good.

-I don't reckon he's here at the moment.

-Shall we wait?

Shall we go and scout and see if we can find him?

We won't know how bad things are until we get inside though.

Ali's proving somewhat elusive today.

Just when we're about to call it a day...

Ali makes his grand entrance.

Lorry drivers.

Hello, Ali.

How are you? I'm with Matt today.

We want to come back and see how you were getting on.

-Are you happy for us to go in?

-Huh?

-Happy for us to go in?

-I reckon so, yes.

-All right.

Well, you get round and we'll go and have a look.

I really hope it's not in the same state as before...

Been and done your shopping?

..or Ian may have no option but to consider evicting him.

Well, Ali, I'm pleasantly surprised.

It's a lot better than what it was cos you know what the situation was.

It's a huge relief. First impressions aren't bad at all.

-Are you trying to keep the place a bit cleaner?

-Huh?

Are you trying to keep the place a bit cleaner?

Are you worried about it?

You're just getting on with it. All right.

It definitely doesn't look or smell anywhere near as bad

as my last visit, and Ali's even looking quite dapper himself.

-Are you getting help with the flat?

-Yes.

Somebody's coming in regularly for you?

-You're paying her to come in and sort you out?

-Yeah.

-That's good.

-That is good.

-Is it all right if we have a look at the rest of the flat?

-Yeah, go on.

-Here we go.

Now he's got help cleaning up his act and it seems to be paying off.

A year ago, the flat was in a really terrible state.

The kitchen was covered in mould, rubbish and grime.

Now, admittedly, it's not exactly spotless, but it is all relative.

Although the flat certainly isn't going to win

any Good Housekeeping awards,

thankfully it's much, much better than before.

Ali, when I came to see you last time,

it was much worse than this, wasn't it?

Yes.

But before we head off,

it seems Ali wants a top-to-toe inspection from Ian too.

Oh, crikey.

That looks bad.

Giving you trouble, Ali?

I'll bet.

When did you last see the doctor?

You're waiting to hear from the hospital.

Can you phone them up?

Perhaps I can make a few phone calls later.

All right, then, Ali. I'll come and see you in a couple of weeks.

-So Ian, that is much better than maybe we were expecting.

-Far better.

It's not the Ritz, let's face facts,

but it's certainly better than when I last saw it.

-Actually a big improvement.

-Clear floors.

There's not as much evidence of the dog, it's not as overwhelming,

the smell was overwhelming last time we were there.

I'm really pleasantly surprised.

I don't quite understand how you, as a housing officer,

get responsibility for his big toe.

He's obviously struggling a bit there.

Look, I try and help out where I can.

-So, status at the moment is relatively positive?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Really pleased.

-Good stuff.

It's a good result. The visit's

gone some way to allaying Ian's concerns about the flat

and, more importantly, Ali's ability to look after himself.

All he can do for now is keep a close eye on the situation.

So there's Ali over a year later, still here and living in

slightly better conditions than he has been recently.

Whenever I come here, I'm always really torn, you know,

there's two ways to look at this, you can say, "Here's a guy that

"clearly makes life for his neighbours very difficult,

"he's a nuisance, his flat smells,

"he's got a dog that... is evident everywhere."

There's that side, you know - should be sanctioned,

should be kicked out. You can start thinking down that road.

Or you can look at Ali as about the healthiest 87-year-old I think I've

ever seen and just an incredibly resilient character, you know.

And that's another way to look at it. You can take your pick.

It's been lovely to see you again.

-Lovely to see you too.

-Cheers, Ali.

But later, Ali's situation takes a turn for the worse.

Unfortunately, Ali had a fire.

Residents were reporting there was a load of smoke,

somebody called the Fire Service.

Obviously the Fire Service turned up, didn't they?

-There was no need for them.

-Your doors were locked.

-The door was never locked. Get your

-BLEEP

-facts right.

Here in the UK, we don't need too much of an excuse to take

advantage of those rare occasions when the sun shines.

For those lucky enough to have a garden, throwing on a pair of

shorts and firing up the barbecue is one of life's great pleasures.

But if the barbie gets out of hand,

it's not a lot of fun for the neighbours.

That's where Liam and Gael come in.

They're part of Havering Council's community warden team.

They've had complaints about an impromptu party at one of

the houses they look after.

This is one of the HMO properties we normally visit once a month.

We don't normally have any problems.

But over the weekend, they had a barbecue, the barbecue got out

of control so we are going to have a look and see what the damage is.

The property is a house of multiple occupation or an HMO, meaning

it's not a family home but occupied by a number of individual tenants.

No-one seems to be at home at the moment or maybe they're hiding,

given the fire damage Liam and Gael find out the back.

-This is the barbecue.

-That's the barbecue it must have started from.

Somehow it's set... I don't know what they had here.

Look at that fence panel there.

No, but look, the door's there, what was here?

There was a shed here, look, there's the base for it. Oh, dear.

Oh, dear, indeed.

Especially if you are unlucky enough to live next door.

Neighbour's garden. Took down half of that garden.

Took down the fence to that garden. That garden.

-So that's four properties.

-Yes. That's burnt in there, look.

-That's burnt bad as well. Oh, dear.

-There's a mattress.

So there must have been stuff in there that was highly flammable.

-I can see three, four doors. Absolutely shocking.

-Shocking.

The barbecue's there. How did it set fire to there?

If you're cooking a burger, I can't see how you're going

to set something on fire from there to here.

It's a good question and potentially a worrying answer too.

-Nitrous oxide.

-That's nitrous oxide, that's laughing gas.

Suck it in and it gives them a short-term high

for a matter of seconds.

And, as you may see,

there's a barbecue and there's a bottle of Bell's whisky.

It's a potent set of ingredients that may have set this

barbecue off in a very bad and expensive direction.

As you can see, they must have been having a party.

There's evidence of cans. Nitrous oxide, barbecue, fire equals damage.

So, you know, they've not even tried to hide it,

they've virtually just left the canisters on the floor, they've not

even tried to clean it up, they've just gone about their business.

They're not helping themselves here by doing this.

I can see this costing a lot of money, replacing fences,

neighbours' sheds.

It's not actually our property,

it's rented to us by a private landlord, then we rent it out

and anything that happens to it from then is down to us to repair.

So any damages, as in fires, things broken,

comes down to the council to repair.

The bill don't go to the actual landlord

so all of this is down to us to fix.

I wouldn't imagine that the neighbours are very happy,

that's even if they're home. They might be on holiday.

They might come home and find half a fence gone.

The Fire Brigade have been in and they've already done

a check and said that it was, you know, done by the barbecue,

so it's down to really the residents now so there's a good chance

that people will be getting evicted in the future regarding this.

For the residents of the property, the morning after the night

of the party before is going to provide a very serious wake-up call.

But for Liam and Gael, there's also the relief -

it could have been much worse.

We'll have to get a notice of seeking possession on

whoever started the fire.

Obviously what they do is ask everybody,

if they're all saying nobody's done it, they'll evict all of them,

so somebody hopefully will own up to it and we can give them

a notice of seeking possession for starting a fire.

When Havering Council followed up on that visit,

thankfully someone did own up to causing the damage.

But it turns out the fire wasn't actually started by a barbecue.

The guilty party had set fire to a sofa in the garden.

Unsurprisingly, it got out of hand, caused all that damage

and the tenant in question is now facing eviction.

There's definitely a lesson in there somewhere.

Housing officers work hard to ensure the properties they're

responsible for are fit for purpose

and don't contain any nasty surprises for the tenants.

In Stroud, I'm working with housing officer Shane Reece,

heading to a property which has recently been vacated.

Well, nearly.

Apparently the property isn't in a really horrendous condition

but it's certainly not had any work done there for a long time

and there's been reports that there's quite a heavy flea

infestation as well at the property.

-Fleas?

-Fleas, yes.

I'm feeling itchy already.

The problem is, if they're not treated quickly,

especially with heat and everything, they become prevalent quite quick,

it could become quite a heavy infestation, sort of thing.

So today obviously the intention is to get in there

suited and booted for whoever needs to be accessing the property

and then we can get in there as quickly as possible

to get it re-let, sort of thing.

Suited and booted - I'm not sure I like the sound of that.

It seems Shane is no stranger to fleas though.

Quite often, I come out of properties and I'm itching

back in the car and I think, "Oh, no, I've brought one with me."

-There has been instances where I've got home and found fleas.

-Oh, no.

So it's really worrying, and especially with kids.

-What does your missus think of that?

-She was not happy in the slightest.

I'm not surprised.

Most fleas in the home are associated with cats and dogs

but they'll feed on all sorts of warm-blooded hosts, including us.

So if there is an infestation,

it needs to be dealt with before any other tenants set foot in the house.

This is the property then, Shane,

and I can see there's a cat box outside.

-Do we know what's happened to the occupant?

-Yeah.

From what I can tell and from the information I've been given,

the previous occupant may well have gone into a nursing home, so

I think she was perhaps struggling to cope with the property.

As we are aware at the moment, there might still be

a cat at the property, so what we need to make sure is,

if we can tell that for definite, we can get that report through

to our animal welfare section and they can try and deal with that in

terms of, come and get the cat and make sure it's being looked after

and everything else and try and contact the family or ex-tenants

and see what the plans are with the cat as such cos

we certainly wouldn't want it to be living on its own, sort of thing.

No, I think it would struggle.

I'm glad the cat's being looked out for,

but we still need to deal with what it might have left behind.

Luckily, the council's crack flea team are already here.

Looks quite serious.

It is quite serious, yes.

I think the thing is with fleas, you can't really take any chances

and if it's quite a bad infestation, they will get in every little nook

and cranny, so we want to make sure we're basically fully suited up,

there's not really any chance that they can get to skin and everything

else and hopefully we'll be fully protecting themselves.

As fleas are known for quite happily biting humans around the feet

and ankles, a full body suit suddenly seems like a good idea.

But to ensure any infestation is completely dealt with,

Liam has come armed and ready.

What is inside there? What's the liquid that goes in there?

It's just mainly water,

so five parts water to a powder form poison that we use.

And that gets the lot, does it, that does the job?

That does the job, definitely.

Once it's in there, you don't want to be in the property

they say for four hours minimum.

It's not nice to get it down into your lungs.

I'm interested, why do you go for the full beard? Because that

can trap, you can get things in there, you know.

Given the job that you do...

-I try to tuck it all up in the mask, it's not too bad.

-OK.

Now, crucially, have you got spare suits for us?

-Yes, you'll be suited and booted.

-Shall we do that now?

-Yes.

I'm definitely not taking any chances.

Where's the arm gone?

-Got it.

-There it is.

It's too much?

-Got the keys?

-Got the keys.

-Ready?

-Yes. Ready?

Well, now I'm all kitted up,

the next step is to actually brave going in.

There's another one. There's another one.

All joking aside, I hope this suit does its job.

Defending our right to a safe place to live is the job of housing

officers right across the UK.

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

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

-Yes.

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

You got insulted, we got kicked out.

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

..hitting the streets,

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

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

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

The place is clearly being plagued by rats,

raw sewage in the back garden.

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

-No.

-..for anyone to live in.

Earlier, we went to see council tenant Ali Howe who we met last year

after complaints by neighbours about the appalling state of his flat.

Ali, how many months ago was it we had this place cleaned?

-I don't know.

-We had everything out of the bedroom, the lot, didn't we?

Housing officer Ian Watson's concerns Ali had slipped

back into his old habits seemed to be unfounded.

Well, Ali, I'm pleasantly surprised.

Ali, when I came to see you last time,

-it was much worse than this, wasn't it?

-Yes.

But since then, a more disturbing problem has come to light.

Unfortunately, a week ago, Ali had a fire, residents were

reporting there was a load of smoke, somebody called the Fire Service.

They attended and he was on the floor asleep, cuddling the dog.

He was taken to hospital and they've kept him in since and

hopefully he's being released this afternoon.

It's a very worrying situation.

The flat above is home to a lady with a young child.

The consequences just don't bear thinking about.

Ian's responsible for the welfare of all the residents, not just Ali.

As soon as he's home from hospital,

he needs to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.

All right if I come in?

She's pleased to see you.

At least someone's glad he's home.

But he isn't about to make Ian's detective job any easier.

-What have the hospital said?

-I went to hospital, nothing wrong.

-What happened the other Saturday then?

-Nothing happened.

Well, you were lying on the floor with the dog.

-Huh?

-You were lying on the floor with the dog.

-I was not, not on your life. Get your

-BLEEP

-facts right.

-Look, that's why I'm here to speak to you.

-I know.

Because obviously the Fire Service turned up, didn't they?

There was no need for them.

When the fire engine come, he said there was nothing wrong, mate.

They walked in here, walked in and walked out,

they said there was nothing wrong.

-But you'd left something on.

-I had not left nothing on.

-You understand how serious it could be?

-Yes.

You know, because it's not just you.

And what about the safety of the other people?

I don't think that would ever happen in my life.

But we can't guarantee that, and that's my concern.

-We can't guarantee.

-You say there wasn't one the other Saturday...

-Nothing at all.

-All right, then, Ali.

He's getting nowhere and a situation like this could easily lead

to Ali getting evicted so Ian tracks down Ali's granddaughter

Tammy to discuss his concerns.

If it's going to get worse, you know,

I mean, my consideration is not only for Ali, cos I do care

for him, but what about the other neighbours? You know,

what happens if next time there's a pan full of oil? Young kiddies

in the flat above. If we can't do anything, I need to know what

else or who I can try and apply some pressure to,

to say, "Hold on a minute."

When Tammy arrives,

it's clear her grandad hasn't been giving Ian the full story.

-He's insistent he had no fire.

-He has had a fire.

-Was anything burnt then?

-All the cooker.

-Right.

There was frying pans that I've chucked out.

The cooker was totally burnt and there was ash all up the wall

that we've tried to clear down as much as we can.

He's insisting to me that he didn't have one.

I said, "Why were the Fire Service called

"and why was your door locked?"

-He insisted the door weren't locked.

-The door was locked.

-If it was a pan of oil...

-It could have been a different story.

It could have been a different story and that's the trouble.

You've got the same concerns as I have, as have the neighbours -

what if...?

Another time. I need to know... Well, on this one,

whether to speak to social care.

-You've done all you can do.

-Yeah.

-I've done all I can do.

-Yeah.

-I'm just trying to get something in place.

-I know.

Although she tries to be on hand to help whenever she can,

Tammy can't be there round-the-clock and she's only too aware how serious

the situation is as she reveals this isn't the first time it's happened.

We've had four fires in the space of six weeks and I'm scared for

the neighbours, I'm scared for him,

I'm scared for everyone around because he's adamant he hasn't

had a fire or that everything's OK and clearly it's not.

I came over and there was fire engines here

and the house smelt of smoke.

-They'd put the fire out.

-There was no... Nobody put no fire out.

-OK.

-God's honest truth, I never move out of this

-BLEEP

-place no more.

Mm-hm. OK.

-I know.

-There was a fire.

-There was not.

-OK. There was no fire.

-Stop telling

-BLEEP

-lies.

With Ali refusing to accept there is a problem,

it's a heartbreaking situation.

No matter how much he wants to live life on his own terms,

his safety and the safety of the other tenants needs to come first.

Although a last resort, eviction is very much on the cards.

I get frustrated but I also get very, very upset.

He's my grandfather. no matter how much he tells me to

go away, leave him alone and nothing's wrong,

he's still my grandfather and I can't just walk away.

As much as people say, "Walk away," I can't do it.

He loves living here, he loves being with the dog,

but I think at the moment he needs more help.

The question for Ian is where that help is going to come from.

I'll probably speak to social care, and they say they can't do

any more unless he's prepared to accept help and I can find

out perhaps who's been dealing with him and we'll take it from there.

-All right, Ali, I'll be in touch.

-I hope so.

-All right. Yes.

Bear in mind what we've all said - think of other people.

Finding a solution that's right for everyone isn't going to be easy.

But it's clear things can't carry on the way they are.

Four times in a matter of six, seven weeks, it's a lot.

You know, he's nearly 87,

he is in reasonable health so he can look after himself to that extent,

but he just still won't accept that there was a problem and

it's serious enough for us to have to consider what can we do with him.

Ultimately though,

the final decision on Ali's future won't just be down to Ian.

I think I'm going to contact the Fire Service and see whether

they've got any photographs, or what their report says,

because, as you've heard, Ali denies there was a fire

and therefore even more reason to say is he safe to be there?

From a housing point of view, I don't know that

there's anything we can enforce, but I don't know the full powers of

social care and what their situation is, so I need to speak to them.

Well, luckily for Ali, thanks to the additional support he's been

getting from his granddaughter Tammy,

he's been given another chance to make things work at home.

Ian is obviously still going to be keeping a close eye on things,

but, for the time being at least,

Ali and his beloved dog are staying put.

Parking - it's a pain at the best of times and unsurprisingly can

be a regular source of disputes between tenants too.

In Suffolk, housing officer

Andrew Weavers has a tenant who's

so fed up with people parking outside his own flat,

he's decided to take the law into his own hands...

..using a paint brush and some very bright yellow paint

to create a personal parking bay.

It's not very subtle is it, Andrew, what he's done? It's...

I thought I'd struggle to find his bay, but apparently this is...

I thought he'd put on "no parking" yellow lines but I didn't

quite realise he was marking his own little car park.

What he's done is, he's marked a very big...

I'd say you can get a minibus in here.

It's very long and very wide and it's on both sides he's stuck the

yellow lines, as if to say,

"Don't park here. This is my parking space."

We've parked right in it. We're asking for trouble.

I know, but I'm like that, if I see a space, you know, I'll park in it.

-It's the best space.

-I think so, it's a good space.

Plenty of room to get in and out of the car, I'm happy.

Yes, it's a lovely, big space and you can certainly see

the temptation to want to keep it all to yourself,

but creating your own bespoke parking arrangements isn't lawful

and it can wind the neighbours up something rotten.

It just aggravates everybody and he certainly didn't come and ask

us for permission to do it and I certainly wouldn't have given

him permission to do it.

We need a chat with the tenant before

he does any more damage with his paint pot.

But finding the culprit is proving harder than

finding the illegal parking space.

It must be. I reckon he's upstairs and that way.

Oh, no, we've got to go to the next block, I think.

We've temporarily mislaid the flat!

Got to be here somewhere.

Look for the smell of spray paint.

No sign of the tenant.

But we do find a disgruntled neighbour.

He doesn't have a car but does use one of the garages which

he claims will be obstructed thanks to his neighbour's handiwork.

If I had a car, no-one would be able

-to park in the two spaces, simple as that.

-No. Oh, well.

I'm waiting for someone to move in that has got a car

that wants a garage so they can park it in there because

I'll gladly give it to them just to wind him up more than anything.

THEY LAUGH

Trouble is, I have to unravel the wind-ups, don't I?

I have to try and keep peace, yes. There's no designated spaces.

Oh, no, there isn't, no, it's a free-for-all.

Everyone gets a fair crack of where they want to park.

It's clear feelings in the block are running quite high and it

probably wouldn't take too much more for things to get out of hand.

Andrew needs to try to nip the situation in the bud.

But when we finally find the correct flat...

No.

..the tenant responsible for trying to mark his territory isn't at home.

What's going to happen next?

We're going to tell him he shouldn't have done it,

talk to him, get to have a chat with him and possibly say to him

that we might have to charge for cleaning it off the car park

cos he's got absolutely no right to do that.

It's like a red rag to a bull isn't it, doing something like that?

-You clearly can't do it.

-No.

And all he's doing is annoying all his neighbours cos

-everyone we've spoke to said exactly that.

-Yes.

And so inevitably, someone's going to come and say he can't do it.

If there were designated spaces here, fine,

we could put numbers on it and do it in a nice, proper way.

But we don't have that many places that you would have

designated parking - it's first come, first served.

It's people taking the law into their own hands and doing

what they want to do, you know.

It upsets people along the way. People get annoyed with each other.

It ends in fisticuffs or someone is going to get in trouble and

there's people like me to unravel it.

You've got to get in there early,

-nip it in the bud.

-Nip it in the bud.

So Andrew needs to draw a line under this,

and later returns to the scene of the crime

where he comes face-to-face with the troublesome tenant.

Andrew from Mid Suffolk District Council. Thank you.

That car park belongs to us,

it's our land and I'd get them off if I were you.

Back in Stroud, I'm with housing officer Shane Reece

and the council pest control team, dealing with a flea infestation in

a property recently vacated by an elderly tenant and their cat.

It's an unusual but crucial assignment for Shane, who won't

be able to get any new tenants in until the house is completely clear.

-Is that one there?

-There you go.

-Oh, look at that.

Making its way up towards my, er...

See that one crawling there?

-They're sort of there and then gone, aren't they?

-Yeah.

Is there enough of an environment here for them, you know?

Cos there's probably bits of food and stuff but I always

think that they need to live in a fibrous carpety sort of...

Yes, you will find them anywhere but, to be honest,

from my previous experience as well,

I've seen a lot more heavy infestations

in carpeted areas and skirtings and all that sort of stuff.

What we might find obviously after a short time of being in the

property, we might see more and more and more, you know, hopping around.

No, it's not quite the full-on flea circus I was expecting,

but they do need to be dealt with.

In terms of public health, what is the danger that comes from them?

Obviously, with fleas, you're going to get bites and everything else.

They will try and feed on humans, as such.

Really, for us, obviously, once there is an infestation there,

these things tend to get worse,

they lay eggs that lay dormant and it will only get worse.

Time to take a look upstairs.

Straight away, on the stairwell where obviously there was some

carpeted areas, there's a few more I've seen straightaway that

were jumping around, one that just missed Matt's leg actually as

he was going up the stairwell.

'Kept that quiet then, Shane, thanks.'

With a bit of movement now, it's starting to become more evident.

-Fleas are working their way up the stairs?

-Fleas are working here, yes.

As we tread carefully, I can't help thinking about the elderly

tenant who must have been living with a flea infestation far

worse than what we found, probably thanks to their much-loved pet.

We've seen, you know, how much people love their animals,

especially if people feel lonely or isolated,

their animals mean a huge amount to them,

but in this case, obviously, that's what's bringing the fleas in.

It's going to have a cause, definitely.

A lot of the time with us, it's animals and what you tend to

find is, unfortunately, if people are in a position where the animals

are not well-kept, it can quickly escalate if it's not picked up.

In fairness to a tenant of whatever age, they're hard to spot.

We can spot them because we're wearing white suits,

we have been made aware of it, we see it on a weekly basis,

so it's easy for us to understand.

As a person living here normally, if you weren't looking out for them,

you might not even notice. It's just one of those things.

Thankfully it seems whatever fleas are here have migrated to

the ground floor, where I'm still keeping my eyes peeled.

I'm seeing imaginary fleas now, just little bits of movement.

They're not really there.

-There's another one.

-There's another one.

It's obviously more than enough evidence for us to get a full clean

done on the property, obviously not to take any chances then whatsoever.

We have certainly seen fleas and it's interesting that

-actually we have had to look quite hard for them.

-Yeah.

Then once you start looking hard for them,

they are almost everywhere, aren't they?

Yes, exactly, yes.

It turns out fleas are quite small

and quite hard to identify and they move and jump.

There are definitely fleas here,

there is an infestation and it was worth putting all this clobber on.

Whilst Liam gets to work to rid the property

of the fleas that are still here,

Shane and I want to see if we can track down the possible culprit.

-The cat's still here somewhere then?

-Yes.

As I came in through the front garden earlier,

something came down off the top of the shed, obviously, a cat came

down, which shocked me a little bit coming through the front garden.

What I think I'm tempted to do is be in touch with the welfare

officer anyway and get them to come out and do a visit.

The house is going to get sprayed so presumably it has

to be locked down during that time so the cat can't come in.

We definitely wouldn't want the cat having access to the house at

that time so it can't come back in.

Either the cat can come back and damage itself or the cat

could come back and bring fleas with it.

-Anyway we need to contact that cat.

-Yes, definitely.

Let's get out of Dodge.

-Let's FLEA the scene!

-Ah, good.

-Thank you.

With the whole house being treated and a call put out for the cat,

it's now all about the new occupants.

So realistically how long do you think before we get someone

-else back in that property?

-So I think realistically if we

haven't got the flea infestation in there tomorrow, with the works

that need doing internally, we're probably looking at about

ten days' work, so sort of just over two weeks really and we can have

a new person sign up to come back into this property.

-That's good, isn't it?

-Yes.

-A pretty quick turn around.

-Yes, it is.

The good news is that the cat is reported to be safe and well

with the neighbours keeping an eye on it.

The property is currently being refurbished in preparation

for a new tenant.

Meanwhile back in Suffolk, Andrew Weavers was attempting to

deal with a tenant whose spot of DIY with some yellow lines was

making his neighbours see red.

I'm waiting for someone to move in that has got a car

who wants a garage so they can park it in there

cos I'll gladly give it to them just to wind him up more than anything.

THEY LAUGH

Trouble is, I have to unravel the wind-ups, don't I?

I have to try and keep peace, yes.

Unfortunately, we had no luck finding the culprit,

but, soon after our visit, things escalated.

The police got involved, suggesting that the new impromptu parking space

could be classed as criminal damage.

In a bid to defuse the situation before any charges are brought,

a couple of days later, Andrew heads back.

We spoke to a couple of people that said that this

gentleman had been quite horrible to them and abusive.

I do know how they feel cos I've been on the other end of it

myself, so I'm sort of not looking forward to going and seeing

him today because I know he gets a little bit grumpy with me.

It seems there is a very big clue that the tenant is at home.

It looks like his car is parked neatly in his space.

If there's a parking issue here,

he's going to need to work with us and we are going to have to

try and find better ways of dealing with it than this.

This time, Andrew knows the correct route to the flat first time.

Luckily, the tenant is in.

Andrew from Mid Suffolk District Council. Thank you.

The tenant claims that inconsiderate parking by both the neighbours

and non-residents have driven him to, well,

paint himself into a corner.

That car park belongs to us, it's our land.

There isn't anything that we can do to police who parks in it.

Now, there are ways and means of going about it and putting

your own yellow lines down isn't the way.

Those lines have got to come off and I'd get them off if I were you.

So what I want to do is work with you, rather than against you.

I think I caught him in a better mood.

As soon as I walked through the door he knew I was coming in.

Andrew needs to ensure that the council's position on

antisocial behaviour like this remains crystal clear.

People are saying you've been quite aggressive in your manner and

I've witnessed that myself because you were aggressive towards me.

Now you've said, "I'm sorry about that," and I accept that, right,

that's fine.

But if you do speak to other people the way you spoke to me,

there's a distinct possibility that you are breaching your

tenancy conditions and we don't want that,

we want people to live happily amongst one another.

The yellow line has been reported as criminal damage.

That will be dropped obviously if it's cleaned off and you are

willing to do that, yes.

So I'll inform the police that we've had this conversation and if you

are willing to get that cleaned off, I'm willing to get that dropped, OK?

You know, there's nothing wrong with you parking there obviously

if you can get that space, but we have got to get these...

We can't take the law into our own hands and I'm happy that we

have had this conversation.

He knows he's done wrong and he says he's going to clean it,

get it cleaned. If he can't clean it himself,

he's going to pay for us to go and do it for him.

It seems Andrew's intervention has paid off.

There's ways and means of letting us know there's

a problem and taking things into your own hands isn't the way.

Just hopefully we'll see if he quietens down a little bit.

Let's hope the paint-happy private parker has learnt his lesson.

Since Andrew's visit, the tenant has agreed to remove the yellow lines.

The council cleaned up the car park

and passed on the invoice to the tenant.

Andrew also agreed to withdraw the report of criminal damage.

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

a daily dose of tough choices and difficult decisions.

But it's all in a day's work for the men and women fighting

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

That's it for today but join me again next time

when I'll be back on the front line with The Housing Enforcers.