Episode 5 The Week the Landlords Moved In

Once a nation of homeowners,

there are now over 11 million people renting in Britain.

And most of this rent is going to private landlords.

The truth is, we buy property for one reason

and one reason only, and that's to make money.

But many landlords have no idea what life is really like

for their tenants.

When you walk in the house,

first thing you can smell is the mould from this room.

For a pensioner to sleep in these kinds of conditions,

I think it's just disgusting.

This episode follows two landlords...

-Bye.

-..as they step out of their lives...

This is like a little holiday.

..and into the homes of tenants, who feel they're stuck renting forever.

I never imagined at the age of 64 that I'd be in this position.

My wage is £1,000 a month.

Near enough half that goes on rent.

People like us haven't got a choice.

This is life. This is what it is for us.

And when the reality of their tenants' lives has hit home...

This is getting really stressful.

-51p.

-That literally is the last of the money.

..they will decide if they could and should

do anything to change it.

Oh, my God.

If I don't help right now, she's going to be there forever.

The best thing about being a landlord, I think,

is that once you've got a certain size of portfolio,

that can generate income whilst you sleep.

Landlord Nick lives in the New Forest with his family.

We like the simple stuff, really.

We like to spend time together as a family.

My daughter Annabella loves to pick blackberries

and we'll often just go for a walk and take a picnic.

Fundamentally, we're simple, outdoorsy, family people.

As the base for their simple family life,

Nick has chosen this four-bed detached house,

with ten acres of land,

where his wife Sarah runs her stud farm with 13 horses.

This is Candy, she's Annabella's pony.

Annabella and Thea absolutely love her.

Their free range approach extends to every part of their lives.

Food is really important to us.

Being vegan, we try and go for things which have been grown

without chemicals, organic, if we can.

Who wants their yummy scrums?

Me!

Nick has created an office in the grounds of his estate

in order to maximise time with his family.

This is lovely, darling, thank you.

If I had to be in a place of work between nine and five,

I would find that very difficult, and I'd find it very stifling.

Cheers.

Nick's property empire extends across the UK,

with hotels, as well as residential lettings.

The hotel business turns over about £50 million a year.

Our buy-to-let portfolio generates about £30,000 per month.

One of my biggest values is freedom.

So, doing what I want to do, when I want to do it...

I started having helicopter lessons last year.

It is quite an efficient way of getting around the country.

For me to get to some of our furthest hotels takes a whole day,

whereas this allows me to get there in the day

and be back home to put the kids to bed.

Nick's way of life now

is far removed from his upbringing on a council estate

in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

Property's definitely been my way out of living

in the way we lived when we were growing up.

It's definitely been my exit from that lifestyle.

Hummus.

Yummy.

I bought my first house at 19.

-Happy Tuesday!

-Cheers!

I didn't focus on trying to amass 51 buy-to-lets and 18 hotels,

I just bought one property,

and I added value to it, and then I sold it.

And that stepping stone, that hard work, has brought me to this place.

It's not about what you have or what you don't have,

it's about working hard, it's about finding value, adding value.

And I think anyone can do it.

Nick is about to return to his roots and move with his family

into one of the rental properties he owns in Barnsley.

-What do you want for tea? Do you want chips and gravy?

-Yeah.

-Cool.

-It's home to 27-year-old Carl, his wife Kerry,

and their two daughters.

Is all we're having chicken dippers as well, or is it just for Chloe?

Give two to Holly, just in case.

Kerry is a stay at home mum, while Carl works at Tesco's.

My wage is £1,000 a month

and £475 on that goes on rent, so near enough half.

-Sit up properly.

-Every penny we get goes on living.

There's no savings, there's no back-up plan.

It makes me a bit upset, but I've got to do what I have to do.

The only way to live is by not being able to save.

Carl and Kerry moved into the house 14 months ago.

It took us quite a while to find a three-bedroomed house,

because there's that many people renting now.

When we came to look at this house,

it only just came out on the market that day,

and they already had six viewings.

It were freshly decorated, brand-new kitchen fitted,

the carpets hadn't even been walked on.

I thought, I can't let this go, I've got to get it.

But, after they moved in, Carl started to find problems.

So, with this window, that's locked.

You can actually get your fingers in.

So, from the outside, you can push it in.

It's a security problem.

This is Holly's bedroom, this is my oldest daughter.

In winter time up here, it is freezing.

There's some remnants of the damp from the winter

that caused all this corner to be black.

This is the only storage we have in the whole house.

And also, this is where our gas meter is,

cos we're on prepayment meters.

The gas meter's actually down in that bottom corner.

There's baby seats in there, kids' bikes.

There's a lawnmower, there's ladders, chairs.

We have to take all that out,

make ourselves a little path and get down into the meter

where that bag is at the back.

We have to do it once a week, something like that.

All right? Let's go.

Carl grew up in a neighbouring village,

in a house owned by his parents.

When I was living with Mum and Dad and I was growing up, I thought,

it's cushty this, I can get used to this.

But it's nothing like that.

Go and get it, then.

Back then, it were a lot, lot easier to get a mortgage.

Houses were cheaper and you didn't have to have 5% deposit.

It's a different generation.

It does worry me, cos there's nothing for my kids.

No savings, there's no house for 'em, there's nothing.

Worrying Carl further is the length of the tenancy agreement

on their home, which is only given to them for 12 months at a time.

We don't feel secure, cos after 12 months,

the landlord can turn around and go, "Right, I'm selling up, it's time to leave."

So, what do we do then?

Despite the insecurity,

Carl has invested time and money in the house and garden.

When I moved in, it were an absolute dump site.

I grew the grass myself, I tidied up all the bottom area,

just to make it a safe little play area for the kids.

What I say is, it's not my house, it's my home.

It's never going to be my house.

Never going to own it.

-Never going to own a house...

-HE SIGHS

We've stayed in so many different places all over the world,

very basic, you know, through to quite luxury.

This, for us, is another amazing adventure

that we can go on and make family memories with.

Nick and Sarah are packing for the unknown.

There's a few things that we definitely must have with us.

One is my food processor.

We make everything with it.

We have smoothies, I make hummus...

If we go anywhere in the world, this comes with us.

-Come on, Beagle. Honey...

-Come on, dog, dog.

-Honey, come.

-And they're about to find out

where in the world they're going.

Let's have a look.

Cudworth.

Cud-arth, we used to call it.

Do you know that?

I do know that. I bought it at auction, it was cheap.

I hadn't seen it before the auction,

it just seemed a really good bargain on the night.

Cudworth is on the outskirts of Barnsley

and a 200-mile drive from Nick's New Forest home.

I'm quite excited. This is like a little holiday.

Shall we sing a little song?

# We're going on an adventure, do, do, do...

Da, da...

# Do, do, do, do, do... #

I feel a bit nervous, me.

It's a stranger, isn't it? Coming into your house.

-Er...

-Sleeping in my bed.

Sleeping in our bed, yeah.

It's weird.

I hope he understands and he sees that we look after the house.

And we're a young family that needs a home.

-Hi, Thomas!

-Hiya.

Nick's son, Thomas, lives in Yorkshire with his mum,

and he's joining them for the week.

-Look who's here!

-Hello, super Thomas!

-THOMAS:

-Hiya.

-You OK?

-Yeah.

It's been over seven years since Nick

has set foot in any of his rentals,

having delegated all the management to his lettings agency.

This is the house we own here.

We bought 11 properties in that development.

And this big block of flats, there's 32 in that,

-and we bought the whole thing.

-All of this?

-All of that, yeah.

-Ha!

I used to consider these houses to be like dream houses.

I always remember thinking, when I grew up,

I wanted to live in a house as big as that

and it's probably a third of the size of ours now.

While Nick and his family are living in their home,

Carl's family will be staying in serviced accommodation

on the other side of Barnsley.

Oh, wow!

Look at this!

There's a cellar.

-CARL LAUGHS

-Now, this is storage.

It is, yeah.

-CARL LAUGHS

-We'll swap houses.

This place is beautiful. It's massive.

We get to live the high life this week and they get to live our life.

CARL LAUGHS

We're right into the heart of where I grew up now.

At the time, it was one of the most deprived parts of Barnsley.

It still probably is,

although there's been quite a lot of investment there.

House prices in Barnsley have risen by over 4% in the past year,

while wages remain below national average.

-So, this is the road. I remember it.

-Yep.

-And it's the one on the end.

-Come on, doggie.

-This is our new house, Annabella, look.

Oh, wow!

This looks nice.

Oh, they've really made it into their...

Oh, they have really made it their home, haven't they?

Come on then, doggies.

Do you want to look at the garden?

-Ah!

-Yes!

It's obviously a lot smaller than we're used to.

-Yeah.

-Less grass.

Oh, wow! Look at this for you!

Oh, my goodness.

Look at this girly bedroom!

It's really sweet, isn't it?

And then this would be our room.

-There's not a lot of storage, is there?

-No.

There's a letter.

"Welcome to our home.

"Here are a few things to help make your stay smoother.

"You will notice some gaffer tape on the front room window.

"I put this on when we leave the house for added security.

"I have left a roll of tape next to the window,

"in case it loses its stickiness."

Gaffer tape for security?

That's odd. "We have a few damp issues in the girls' bedrooms,

"but this should not be a problem now that it's summertime.

"If you use Holly's room,

"you might just want to move the bed away from the wall."

OK.

This is not sounding as good as I first thought.

SHE LAUGHS

There's a little bit of something up in this corner, babe.

That's probably a bit of pointing on the outside.

-Yeah.

-Can I come in here, baby?

-Yeah.

Oh, there, look.

I think that's more condensation

that creates mould from the inside,

because there's no ventilation on the windows.

Let's take it off and have a look.

That's definitely an invitation for someone

that is determined to get in the house.

This is not going to do anything for that at all.

I understand why they've used it,

but it's not going to do any good at all.

I certainly wouldn't be happy with that.

There's some coins in here. Oh, and some cash.

"Our budget is £21.25, daily.

"This covers food, fuel, gas, electric, and any activities.

"We have organised a bank holiday barbecue on Sunday

"with a couple of friends and neighbours." Brilliant.

-Yeah.

-"I hope you don't mind hosting,

"we just did not want to cancel on them."

-That'll be great.

-That's exactly what we would do at home.

Yeah. How much is gas and electricity per day?

I don't know. Is it on a meter here?

I'm not sure. We can find that.

-CHILD CRIES IN BACKGROUND

-Yeah, yeah.

Babe?

-Yeah.

-You're only allowed to get beans and bread.

What about butter?

Or...?

I'll work it out. OK?

It's lunchtime, and before they can do a big weekly shop,

Nick needs to find some fast food on a budget.

-You're going to add up, yeah?

-Yeah.

DOOR BUZZER

See if you can find the cheapest bread.

We need soft white.

That looks like it's the cheapest, yeah?

-Three for...

-Three for...

..£1.39. How much is that per can?

£1.39 divided by three.

That's 46p each.

So, they are definitely the cheapest.

I'm not at all used to this kind of shopping.

I think the last time I went round a supermarket, looked at prices,

did this kind of thing, is 15, 20 years ago.

It's been so long, I've kind of forgotten how to do it really.

-Daddy?

-Yeah?

Fidget spinners are £7.99.

Fidget spinners are £7.99.

Do you think the budget will allow that?

The budget will allow that, cos it's buy one, get one free.

Yeah, it definitely won't.

-It what?

-It definitely won't.

Why not? The budget... What?

The budget won't allow us to buy a fidget spinner for £7.99.

-Yeah?

-The budget tells us what to do and buy?

We can't buy a fidget spinner for £7.99

when we've got a tight budget like we have.

So, you're basically saying...

We can only limit to a thing.

This is how much money I've got.

-And when it's gone, that's it. There's no more.

-Right.

-You're not used to this, are you?

-No.

-What are you used to?

What happens when this money's gone, normally?

You've got your card and then you can put it in the cash machine.

You've got your card and you get it in the cash machine,

but some people can't do that. So, we're living on this.

OK? We're living on this much money till we leave this house, OK?

-Yeah.

-So we can't buy fidget spinners and things like that.

-Yeah?

-Right.

-OK.

-OK?

DOOR BUZZER

I wish I'd brought my own money now.

100 miles away,

another property investor is about to find out

what it's like to live as a tenant.

I am a landlady.

I'm not sure I always think of myself in that light,

because a lot of it is delegated out to other people.

OK, a light switch there.

So, let's put sockets in the corners.

With her husband, Andy, 50-year-old Yvonne

owns a multi-million pound property portfolio.

We have a limited company that's a letting agency,

we have a limited company that's a development company.

We have an electrical installation and contracting business...

-Yeah.

-..we have a coaching business...

-Yeah.

They're all something to do with property.

Apart from the gym.

If Andy and I were incapacitated tomorrow,

then we would have plenty of money coming in

and we wouldn't have to worry

about how we were paying for anything.

What do you spend money on?

-Houses.

-Houses?

-YVONNE LAUGHS

-Definitely houses!

Yvonne and Andy recently renovated this 22-roomed Victorian mansion

in Peterborough, where they now live with their two children.

Here's how we call the kids for lunch.

GONG

-YVONNE LAUGHS

-It's a bit loud, isn't it?

You can get lost easily,

or at least, you can get children lost easily.

-Dinner is served.

-Grab your...

Come and sit down, then.

We've got eight bedrooms,

four of which have en suite bathrooms.

it's got two cloakrooms downstairs, so, seven toilets...

Not my idea of cleaning fun, but that's why we have the cleaners.

So, this is the main bedroom.

And you can see this, really quite a nice size.

Bit of seating area, as well and it's got a fabulous balcony.

I can sit out there with my cup of tea, writing my book, or reading,

whatever I'm doing. We've got a lovely bathroom in here.

It's that sort of ancient, modern look, if you like.

By the time I'd done four bathrooms, we had to do something different.

It's not my ideal home, it's not where I will live forever,

because I prefer something that's a little bit more modern.

I like to, you know, try things out.

Yvonne's latest venture

is to build five detached houses in her back garden,

one of which is for her mum.

-Whoops.

-OK.

So, this is going to be the lounge.

-Yes.

-And then you've got great big, trifold doors here,

out into the garden.

And then this side here will be your dining area.

-Right.

-SHE LAUGHS

As her property empire has grown,

Yvonne has delegated all the management of her rentals.

She doesn't know that for the next week,

she'll be swapping her eight-bed mansion

for the attic room in this shared house, home to pensioner Jill.

What I wanted to do was make this my bedroom area.

I've purchased these...

The table, to try and make it into a dining area.

That's my lounge area.

And then the kitchen. Surprisingly,

I've actually cooked a full Sunday dinner up here.

Along with Jill, there are five others in the house,

mainly young professionals, who rent the rooms out individually.

I never imagined,

at the age of 64 that I'd be in this position,

or this would be my life now.

After getting divorced,

Jill moved to Norway to be close to her son and grandchildren.

Hi.

But, after two years, she decided to move back to Peterborough.

I love you, too, Ben.

When I moved back here to the UK...

..I went to the council.

They said I'd made myself voluntarily homeless

by coming over here without somewhere to live.

So they wouldn't put me on the list.

Jill turned to the private sector,

where she could afford the £475 a month rent for a room

in this shared house.

I must admit, I wasn't sure if it was something I wanted,

cos I like my privacy.

But it seemed the only place that I could get.

Initially, I thought it was only going to be temporary,

but I've now been here four years.

It's not just living in a room that Jill struggles with.

This is the garden.

It's a bit of an eyesore.

If that was nice, I'd be out here much more often,

and I would invite friends and family.

Instead, Jill has to do all her entertaining in her room.

Well, sit on the bed, do what you want.

When I was younger, she used to have, like, her own house,

and she had everything, a car and stuff.

She'd always have people round, she was very sociable.

Pop it in a little bag with some water.

Now that she's gotten a bit older,

and especially living up two flights of stairs, it's hard for her.

Jill has been diagnosed with piriformis,

a condition linked to the sciatic nerve and causing pain in her legs.

Going up and down the stairs is not good for her,

and if she has to take pills to stop the pain so that she can come down

the stairs, that's not really good for her health.

I just wish I didn't live two storeys up.

I never envisaged having any leg problems, at all.

Property websites report that the number of over 65s

requesting house shares has risen by more than 600%

since 2010.

I feel my options are limited, actually.

I don't want to spend the rest of my life here.

-TEXT MESSAGE ALERT

-Oh, got a text.

Let's see where we're going.

Ooh, right. We did a big renovate on this.

There were certainly six rooms in there,

downstairs, lounge...

That's all I can remember, really. Yeah.

When Yvonne stays in her room,

Jill will be staying in a holiday apartment nearby.

I'm excited, going to this new place.

I'm assuming there might be a sofa, a settee or something, to sit on.

With any luck, I won't have any stairs to go up and down.

And to have a bath would be wonderful.

I don't think I've ever met any of the tenants

that have gone into this house at all.

At least, I don't think I have.

It's going to be an experience, I think.

Definitely.

Oh, this is nice.

Ah...

Heaven.

A bath.

Oh, I've got separate rooms, haven't I?

And I'm on one level, so it's going to be easier on my leg.

Feels more like a home...already.

Right.

Ooh. Oh, gosh.

There's a good little table, I recognise that one.

And our old television, I seem to remember that as well, from one of our houses.

Ah, out into the garden.

I think it needs a bit of weeding, doesn't it?

Plastic bags and pipework here.

Hmm.

Yvonne's home for the next few days will be room number six.

Got two, three and four.

Ooh, this is a cute little staircase.

Oh, goodness.

Ooh...

Something to grab hold of.

Goodness.

That's a bit tight, isn't it?

YVONNE PANTS

Right, five and six.

-YVONNE STRAINS

-Right.

Got there. So... OK.

Oh, wow.

Oh, this is cute.

Look at this.

"Home," it says. That's beautiful.

Oh, wow. And it's...

Lovely bed.

Erm...

There we go. Oh, wow.

It's a bit warm up here, though.

May need to open the window and...

I guess on the top floor, it is quite warm, isn't it?

It reminds me of a hotel room that I would stay in,

sometimes, if you don't go to the standard hotels,

and you're out in the middle of the countryside,

there's a little B&B type of thing, a bit quirky.

It's much closer to that than it would be my home.

That really is very different.

There's not a lot of space,

erm, not a lot of light coming in that's natural.

I mean, I've got my balcony,

so I can't really compare this to where I live now.

"Welcome to my room, and I hope you will feel at home here.

"I spend most of my time cooking, eating and watching TV

"in my bedroom and don't use the communal areas much,

"because of the stairs.

"I live on a budget of £93.16 a week,

"which is £13.31 per day."

Goodness me, £13.

Well, I could spend that several times a day if I wasn't careful.

That's not very much, really.

DOG BARKS IN BACKGROUND

In Barnsley, Sarah is returning from doing a big food shop for the week.

-How did you get on?

-Yeah, really good.

Have you got money left?

-I do.

-There's no way you've got money left.

I have money left.

This is going to keep us going for ages.

Show me how much you spent.

-There's a £20 note there...

-No way.

Yeah, we've got about 25 quid left.

Oh, well done. Well done.

What's the most expensive thing on here?

Sauvignon blanc, £3.89?

You got coconut oil?

-I did.

-You got two of them?

-No, I only got one.

-Well, they charged you for two.

No, they haven't, you tease!

They have.

It's two at £2.49.

Oh, my God, they have!

We'll have to go back to the shop and get our £2.49 back.

I wouldn't have even noticed that, ordinarily.

If we weren't on such a budget, I would never check that.

-Mummy...

-On the other side of Barnsley,

Carl and Kerry are wondering how their landlords are getting on.

I bet when they first turned up and saw the budget,

I bet he thought, "Oh, this is going to be easy."

But then you've got to realise we've got two kids,

and obviously the house to keep up,

and the gas and electric is the main thing out of that budget,

the gas and electric. That's when you've got to think,

I've got to hold £10 back, just in case the electric goes,

or the gas goes.

It happens to us a few times,

when it comes to the end of the month before I get paid from work.

It's not as easy as what you think.

YVONNE PANTS

OK.

That's a bit tight with all those bags.

In Peterborough,

Yvonne is finding the practicalities of her food shop a challenge.

A lot of stairs for a lot of bags,

so I guess if you're buying lots of things at a time,

that's hard work, isn't it? So...

Ah, yes, I'll need a sit down after this.

No wonder she doesn't go up and downstairs.

Glass of cold water, cool down and then that's my evening,

I guess I'm not going back downstairs again!

This takes me back a few years, because....

Having something, I suppose this size,

and in a house like this, where I don't know the people,

then the only time I've really done that was when I was 20,

21 and I moved away from home.

Would I like to live here at my age?

Probably not,

but it's not something that really crosses my mind now,

because I've tried hard, by having property,

to make sure that I'm not in the position

where that's going to be, erm, the scenario.

DOG BARKS IN BACKGROUND

It's so hot up here.

After a night in her room,

Yvonne is keen to know who else she is sharing her house with.

-Hello.

-Hiya...

-Hi, I'm Yvonne, so...

-I'm Roslyn.

-Roslyn?

-Yeah.

-Nice to meet you.

-So, have you been here a while?

-I've been here for a month now.

Have you? OK, so you're quite new in.

-And your room works out? It's...?

-Well...

-It's a bit small?

-It's a bit small, but that's how the things are,

-you know?

-Would it be OK for me to have a look at your room and...?

-Of course you can, any time.

-OK.

-Sure.

Oh, OK. That pretty much is, is it.

-Yeah.

-So it's quite small. Gosh, it really does finish

at the end of the bed, doesn't it?

-And...

-It does.

-..you've got a built-in cupboard there.

Pretty much for me, as a single person,

-the room does serve the purpose.

-OK.

Would you always look for a room in an HMO,

or have you considered having a flat?

The rent for a flat would be too high...

-OK.

-You know, renting out a...

Yeah. So it's about the cost?

It's about... For me, it's about the cost.

When I look at my salary, I can't afford to, you know,

-spend 500 quid on a flat.

-No.

There are strict rules about, er, how small rooms can be.

The Government has stipulated they all need to be

6.52 metres squared or above. We stick to seven metres squared,

and so it really is on the limits of the smallest size of room

that we would provide as accommodation.

It's not ideal, is it?

It's not enough, really, for people to live in.

I want it now!

That's not how you get things, by asking like that.

In Yorkshire, Nick and Sarah are also finding

that it's not just the budget that is restricted.

Where we live, there's a sense of space everywhere, in the house,

outside the house.

Whereas here, you know, you've got neighbours immediately opposite,

both sides and immediately behind.

So there's a feeling of...

of being a bit more hemmed in, I guess.

You know, this is the kind of house that I grew up in,

so I'm kind of used to it,

but I've grown used to having so much more space now.

Right, can you just...? Can you take the kids out of here?

Listen, this is getting really stressful.

CHILD CRIES

Oh dear. All hell's breaking loose.

SHE LAUGHS

You love to play in the dirt, don't you?

If I was here now, forever,

I probably would start to feel a little bit claustrophobic.

We're a big believer in vision boards

and creating the life that you want.

I live by the phrase "What the mind can conceive, you can believe

"and achieve," and I really, really believe that.

I've just always...

known that I'm going to live somewhere with lots of space

around me, and I'm just going to make that happen.

Everyone makes a choice every step of the way.

What education they get, what...

car they buy, what mobile phone they get,

you know, what pasta they buy.

If you don't like your life, change it.

There's always a choice.

There's always a choice.

Come on, Belly-boo. Shall I carry you?

CARL STRAINS

Thomas looks snuggly in there, doesn't he?

Yeah!

I love you. You sleep tight, darling.

As Nick, Sarah and the kids settle in for the night,

Carl continues with his usual routine

and is clocking off work at midnight,

following a nine-hour day.

I don't get much choice with what times I work.

It's set hours.

Erm, same hours every day, every week.

When I get home, Kerry's sometimes awake,

but the girls are definitely in bed.

But my eldest, if she's at school,

I don't see her, probably, till the weekend.

It's tough, yeah.

Er... It's tough on her, as well.

In Peterborough, Yvonne's family are keen to find out

how she's getting on in a shared house.

-Hello!

-Hello, Mummy!

Oh, so good to see you!

-Hello.

-So good to see you.

-You all right?

-Hi, mwah.

As Andy managed the renovation of the building,

he was present when the first tenants moved in.

I haven't been here for a while.

Yeah.

Look at this.

You like?

-Meh...

-Lovely, isn't it?

So how long is it since you've been in the room?

Here, probably a couple of years, I guess.

-Oh, right. OK.

-I mean, we've had the house

-just under five years...

-Have we?

..spent about three months renovating, probably...

I said about five or six, I couldn't remember.

This is Jill's room, I think,

and she's been here four-and-a-half years, probably.

Wow, that's a long time, gosh.

-There's a fan.

-Thanks, darling, I need my fan.

Is it hot in our house, as well?

-It's boiling up here.

-Relatively. Relatively cool.

-Yeah.

I'm going to grab a chair or something.

Yeah, grab a chair. So, are you guys hungry?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Starving!

-ANDY LAUGHS

I was trying to work out what on earth I could cook,

and so I found some pizzas, is that OK?

We'll have to make them downstairs,

I don't think pizza's going to fit in the microwave.

Two pizzas.

Let's go. It's a bit cooler downstairs.

Half a mile away,

Jill is enjoying the benefits of living on the ground floor.

My legs have...

They're just fantastic.

Because I'm not dragged down with this pain all the time,

I feel like I'm smiling more, as well.

And I'm happier in myself.

I didn't realise it was such a big issue until I came here

and I'm...pottering about.

I'm loving it.

Oops!

That was close. But try again.

Well recovered, that girl.

Cheers, guys! Here's to, er...

-life in the real world.

-YVONNE LAUGHS

This is a small room.

-A small room?

-Yeah, a very small room.

How would you feel living here if this was your...kind of house?

How would you feel about that?

-Too small.

-It's too small, is it?

So tell me about Jill, then?

She's been here all that time, right from the beginning.

Why...? What's her situation?

-She's a little bit older.

-A little bit older, OK.

-So tell me...?

-She's retired, really.

-OK, is she...?

-She's reached sort of retirement age.

-Oh, OK.

-Mwah. Love you, boo.

-Love you.

-See you later.

-Bye, Dad. Bye, hon. Right.

Bye.

I didn't know Jill was retirement age.

Because I'm not involved on a day-to-day basis,

it's out of my mind a lot of the time.

I might have a panic if I'm looking at a lot of empty rooms,

then I'm looking at it from a business perspective.

I don't spend a lot of time thinking

about the people that are staying here.

It's a bit of a mixture where I want to help people,

and then I'm a landlord as well.

Should I be in the landlord business

if I'm not cut out for the day-to-day?

If I wasn't in the landlord business,

there would be potentially 127 extra people who aren't living in

properties right now. Where would they be?

-Barbecue.

-There is a bit of dog poo down here.

OK, I'll get it.

In Barnsley, Carl's friends and neighbours are arriving

for the barbecue Nick and Sarah are hosting.

-Hiya. I'm Lisa.

-Lisa, nice to meet you.

They've brought food and drink, which is great.

It's lovely of them to do that.

So, yeah, we're going to have loads of food, actually.

Does everyone know each other round here?

The majority of us, yeah.

-Yeah?

-Even if we're not friends,

we all know who lives on the street and whose kids are whose.

Yeah. It is very similar to how I grew up,

like everybody knew each other and, like you said,

even if you weren't best of friends,

everyone kind of looked after each other's kids

and helped each other out.

-It's nice.

-And do you rent?

-Do you mind me asking?

-The property we're in now, we're renting.

You don't plan to move from there?

-Not any time soon.

-No.

What about Carl and Kerry, what do you think their plans are?

-Do you know?

-In the long run, they're wanting to own.

-Right.

-I think they're finding it a bit hard to save.

We're in the same situation as Carl and Kerry.

He works, I don't,

so we're not exactly flush.

So it is difficult at times.

It's hard to save.

Things come up and need to be dealt with.

What do Carl and Kerry do?

-Do they work?

-Karl works, he works at Tesco at the minute.

-Right.

-He did have a job as a hairdresser at one point as well...

-OK.

-He's kind of had to give that up.

Financially, supporting two kids,

he's had to move away from what he loves, sort of thing.

I mean, is money a big issue around here?

Cos, like, I was trying to think back to when I was a kid, and

we never really had any money,

but I don't ever remember it being an issue, it just was as it was,

-kind of thing.

-I think you learn to manage.

-Yeah.

-You learn to manage with what you've got.

Yeah.

We learned a little bit about Carl,

it sounds like the job that he does isn't really what he wants to do,

which I guess...

You know, for us, that's a little bit alien.

All of Carl and Kerry's friends seem to be trying to save for their own

place, trying to get on the property ladder rather than renting, and,

you know, they all talked about the difficulties of that.

I got on the property ladder because I saved, and I sacrificed

other things. I guess it's harder when you've got kids

and you are kind of a bit more established in life.

I was kind of, essentially, living on my own,

so it was a little bit easier to save.

Prices were quite a bit cheaper back then, you know,

23 years ago when I bought my first house.

Now, with these restrictions on getting mortgages,

I guess it's even more difficult.

Home ownership in England has fallen to its lowest level for 30 years,

while the number of people privately renting has steadily risen.

I'm looking to rent a one-bedroom property,

preferably ground floor.

Jill has spent the last four years saving up a deposit of £600

so she can hopefully rent a flat of her own.

That's OK, thank you.

Bye-bye.

The maximum monthly rent she could afford is £500,

made up of her pension and housing benefit.

What is the cheapest you have?

595 is your cheapest?

Do you accept people on housing benefit?

I...don't really need a guarantor, why would I need one?

-Well, thank you.

-Thank you.

-Bye.

-Bye-bye.

I feel very frustrated and banging my head on a brick wall,

because they are all saying the same thing.

It depends on the guarantor, six months upfront,

and that is because the landlords insure...

For insurance purposes against loss of rental.

SHE MUMBLES

As housing benefits are now normally paid directly to tenants,

many landlords are unwilling to take the risk of unpaid rent.

I'm being prejudiced against.

There's definitely prejudice there, I don't care what anybody says.

I started work when I was 16.

I worked all my life, 45 years in total.

I've paid into the system,

and I am struggling to find myself my own home,

that I can stay in for the rest of my life.

I never expected it to be this difficult.

Nick and Sarah have one day left in Barnsley.

BABY FUSSES

I know, getting hungry.

40, 60, 80...

We've got £9.50 left to last us.

But we don't have to buy any more food.

I guess if we were living here, we would, um, put that away.

We'd save it.

Mm.

-No light in here.

-I think the electric's tripped.

Oh, oh, is that what it is?

Yeah.

Oh. No, I think maybe we've run out of electric.

I think the electric's run out.

Oh!

The meter's already in debt by £5.64.

So I'm guessing that if we want to get that back into credit,

I've got to pay at least £5.64 to get it to zero,

and then obviously put some money on.

I should check the gas as well.

I think the Hoover's in the way.

How much junk do you need to put in here?

It's crazy.

HE HUFFS

We're on emergency credit and there's 41p left on the gas.

We've got £9.51.

I think we'll have to have either gas or electricity.

Which one do you want?

I think we'll have to have electricity,

cos it's the fridge and stuff.

Yeah, fridge, freezer...

And the oven's electric, so we can heat stuff up.

If we'd known that the meters were on a prepayment meter,

we'd definitely have checked before,

so I don't think there's anything in the letter... I mean,

it's not their fault, it is just one of those things, but if we'd known,

we'd have bought electricity and gas before we bought wine.

The average is £21.25 daily.

This covers food, fuel, gas, electricity and any activities.

So, yeah, what we should have done is actually worked out what the gas

and electricity was, and took that money out at the start.

But we just kind of assumed that...

I feel like I've already wasted enough time on this.

-I just want to get it sorted.

-Yeah, go for it.

Can live without gas for a short time.

I mean, if it was in the middle of the winter, it would be really hard,

because we would... I mean,

we'd have to borrow some money off someone if it was the middle of the

winter, cos with the gas off, the heating would be non-existent.

They are trying to live on one wage which is,

you know, which is really tough.

It's really hard. And...

I-I expect they're constantly having to make choices...

..between essential things, really.

That's eight, nine, thank you.

15, 20, 25.

-51p.

-51p left.

-Yeah.

-That literally is the last of the money, so, like,

there's no room for emergencies now.

There's no reserves. Yeah, it just makes me feel nervous.

It makes me feel quite vulnerable to something...

..that could happen that I can't do anything about, really.

In Peterborough, it's the night

before Yvonne will meet her tenant, Jill.

I was feeling a little bit teary actually this evening,

just thinking about...

..even how people perceive landlords and am I doing the right thing?

How am I doing it, do I need to do it better?

I'm not doubting what we're doing,

but just questioning those things, and that's been...

..that's been challenging.

Got lots of questions for Jill tomorrow and I want to listen

to how she gets on in the house

and what she thinks of the place where she lives,

and has been her home for 4.5 years.

I'm looking forward to meeting the landlady.

I would like to know how she felt in such a confined space,

because you can feel a bit like you're in prison.

-Hello!

-Hiya!

You must be Jill?

-Yvonne.

-How nice to see you.

-Come and have a seat.

-Thank you.

So how has it been for you, living in my room?

I'm used to quite a lot of space where I live now, um,

and if that was my house

and I lived there for a year, at my age,

I think I would struggle with that.

If I didn't go out every day...

-Yeah.

-..I would go stir crazy.

-Yeah.

-I've got to get out.

If I had my own place...

-Yes.

-..I'd be out in the garden.

I've had so many friends say to me, "When you get your own place,

-"we'll come and visit you more."

-Oh, really?

Because we are restricted.

It is at the top of the house.

I mean, there's a couple of flights of stairs...

That affects me terribly.

-Does it?

-I've got a leg condition called Piriformis.

-OK.

-And it's all the muscles right into your bones.

They cause electrical, like currents, and affects your muscles.

Gosh. Why have you actually chosen to stay in that room for four years?

It's not actually been through choice.

-OK.

-To be honest, I wanted a flat of my own.

Just a ground floor flat, but I can't find a place.

-Yes.

-Sometimes they want six months upfront.

Some do not want housing benefit, retired or not.

-It's a problem, isn't it?

-It gets me down when I'm...

-Does it?

..you know, looking for places and you get knocked back.

Right. There must be a solution,

because I wouldn't like to think that you were going to have to be

in that room for the rest of your life.

All I want at the end of the day is somewhere to call home.

-So, take care.

-You too.

After meeting Jill and hearing about those conditions,

I really can't see for the long-term this would be the right place for

Jill to be. If my mum was living in the top floor flat,

I wouldn't want that for her, but as a landlord,

if I then said, "This room's no longer fit for purpose,"

where is she going to go?

I feel like I'm in limbo.

She does appreciate my situation.

But at the end of the day, what can she do?

In Barnsley, it's Nick's opportunity to meet his tenant

for the first time.

It's quite strange to be meeting someone whose house we've lived in.

It's quite a personal thing to open up your home to some complete

stranger, which is what I am to him.

I'm as much a stranger to him as he is to me.

There's a few questions I want to ask him

about what it's like to live there,

and I really hope that the things that need fixing in the house

have not been ignored by us,

to find they've reported some of those items

and we've kind of ignored them,

that would be the worst thing, really.

Feeling a little bit nervous now.

I just don't know what to expect.

I just hope he's on the same wavelength

and realises that we are a genuine family,

and we're hoping to turn that house into our long-term home.

-Hiya.

-Hey, Carl.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too.

-Have a seat.

-How's it been going?

It's been interesting to see what it's like to live there,

and we've met some of your friends and the neighbours,

and it seems like a really nice street.

What's been the best thing about the house and what's been the worst

-thing?

-The best thing is the size of the house and the area.

Cos I got... I were brought up round there,

I grew up there as a kid.

The worst thing is how cold it is in winter.

-Yeah.

-The little one's bedroom, the tiny bedroom,

that corner near the window were black.

They came out and they treated the wall and repainted it,

which is fine, but as soon as it starts raining

or it's been a bit cold,

it starts showing again.

Right. Tell me about the front window, cos the catch is not...

not fixing into the...

We noticed that

a few months back. We didn't realise until I couldn't shut the window one

-day.

-Have you reported that?

-No.

-OK.

-I don't want to feel like I'm nagging.

I don't want to feel like I'm just being nit-picky.

But you shouldn't feel like you can't report stuff.

You know, it's perfectly normal for you to report stuff

and for us to fix it. That's the deal, really.

The one big issue I have is every 12 months,

we re-sign and you charge us £70.

-Do we really?

-Yeah, it's a £70 charging fee

to sign another 12 months.

I'll check that. I didn't realise it was that much.

Obviously, there's a certain amount of admin, but that does sound like

a lot of money for that. Do you feel like you've got any level

of security renting the house from us?

No, cos we sign every 12 months.

After that 12 months, you might decide you want to sell up.

Do you know why we only give you 12 months?

-No.

-OK, because we're not allowed to.

If we have a mortgage on the property,

we're only allowed to give you a 12-month tenancy.

So how much of your income goes on the rent?

50%. It's not easy.

Yeah, yeah.

-EMOTIONAL:

-Sorry.

It's all right, it's OK.

My kids are wanting something, I can't afford it.

I want to go abroad, I want to take them places,

but my main priority is living.

We have no savings, there's no security.

I don't own the house,

so if anything happens to me and Kerry tomorrow,

our kids have got nothing.

There's a lot of pressure.

That's on you, is it? That's...

Yeah. It's all right.

-Do you want some water?

-Please.

Thank you.

No, that's hard, when the pressure's on you

for, like, three other people.

-Thank you very much.

-Yeah, nice to meet you.

-Hope to see you again soon.

-Take care.

-See you later.

I was a bit surprised about how upset he got,

but I guess he's like most parents.

He's wanting to provide for his girls,

he's wanting to provide for his family,

and all of that pressure is on him.

You know, we're not a charity as a business, but I think there's some

things we can do that will help

Carl and Kerry and the family in the house,

so that's something that we'll look at.

After their time away, the landlords and tenants are going home.

It's been a nice break, a lovely break.

I suppose I'll just have to treat it like a holiday and then I won't feel

saddened by going back.

-Hello!

-Mummy!

-Oh, we've missed you so much!

-Love you.

I know it's been tiring,

but I've really enjoyed it and I'm glad we did it.

It's given me a real appreciation

for what it's actually like to live on a really tight budget,

because we are so lucky.

Kerry.

Oh, my God.

-What?

-The windows.

-Oh, God.

HE LAUGHS IN DISBELIEF

Even though Carl and Kerry might buy their own home in the future,

we'd love to have them as tenants

for as long as they want to live there.

We want them to enjoy the property in which they live.

Wow, no gaffer tape needed now, is there?

We've renewed all the windows and they've now got ventilation

in them to help prevent mould.

Look at that. You can open that one now, Kerry.

We've also installed some wardrobes to give them some more storage.

HE LAUGHS EXCITEDLY

Wow.

It would take me a full year to save up for that.

Oh, wow.

Well, somebody's been busy. This is beautiful.

Look at this.

We can have a proper barbecue without walking over everybody.

What a difference.

"Thank you so much for letting us stay in your home.

"I sensed the pressure you were under when you were talking

"about providing security for your family.

"I can imagine that this must be very difficult,

"especially living on a budget that you do.

"We also recognise that a tenancy renewal fee of £70 every year

"is a lot of money. With this in mind,

"we would like to waive this for your next renewal fee.

"Having you as an ongoing customer makes a lot of sense for us.

HE CRIES

This week's given us very much a sense of a lack of control

and freedom that mainly comes from the lack of budget.

Wow.

It was really clear to see what he's trying to do and achieve for his

kids. Massive pressure to have that constantly, and the things that

we've done will hopefully relieve that pressure.

"The back garden has been turfed..."

-Wow.

-It sure has.

That's amazing.

-We weren't expecting this much, were we?

-No.

A note.

"Dear Jill, thank you so much for letting me stay in your lovely room.

"I was shocked to find that not only had you been in your room for over

"four years, but that you're also going to have to stay there unless

"other suitable accommodation can be found.

"When I came back from my shopping trip,

"I really struggled with the stairs,

"so I can see how this is hard for you

"with your hip problems and how this is going to get worse over time.

"Andy and I will spend some time with you over the next few months

"to see if there is anything on the market that is suitable

"and where the agency and landlord will accept benefits tenants.

"If that is not going to work,

"then we will buy a suitable place for you to rent from us...

"..that is going to suit your needs

"and where the rent is manageable for you."

"Very best wishes, Yvonne."

I was not expecting this.

What a lovely thing to do.

This experience really has made a big impact.

It opened my eyes to say, "Wow,

"people are getting stuck in accommodation that is not suitable."

That's not acceptable, not in Britain.

On the fringes, we know there are problems,

but this has highlighted it for me.

These people not only are just...

They are there needing different accommodation, they're in my houses.

I really can't solve the housing crisis,

but at least in this situation I can help one person.

I feel like I've got a future now.

Something to look forward to, something to work for.

To aim for.

I can't wait.

HE CHUCKLES

Look at the new grass.

It's big.

-Happy?

-Yeah.

I feel like I'm walking on clouds at the moment.

The things that have been done is just unreal.

It just feels like the landlord's on my side.

That's how it feels.

And he's not there just to make money out of me,

he's here to back me up as well.