Episode 1 Britain's Empty Homes Revisited

Over the years,

Britain's Empty Homes have been on a mission

to show what can be done to revitalise and transform

some of the UK's estimated one million empty properties.

Hi, it's good to see you.

In this series, I'll be catching up with some of the people

who took the plunge and staked everything

on turning unloved houses into bespoke family homes.

Today, I'll be catching up with a couple from an earlier series,

who made the brave move of taking on an empty property.

I'll see just how far they've got with creating their dream home.

We love being here.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Definitely.

-It's really comfortable.

It's a space that we can enjoy with our family.

We'll also visit some of the derelict dwellings

our property detectives have been working hard

to save, in order to prevent their owners

from leaving these buildings as a blot on the landscape.

Hey, look at this.

It's so different.

And we'll be finding out how one man

has made it his mission to preserve and protect

historic buildings.

When you buy an old building, or live in one,

it's very much like being a custodian.

Ten months ago, I met David and Hannah Ohandjanian,

who'd stumbled across a disused commercial property,

right here in the heart of Rugby.

The rundown office didn't appeal to other buyers,

but David and Hannah saw an opportunity here to create

a large family home, along with an office space for David.

When we first saw it, we saw that it was in a bit of a state,

but then we also immediately saw the opportunity to turn it

into something beautiful and exactly what we wanted, because it

had the space and it had the light, and also the location was perfect.

Hannah and David had outgrown their own house

and felt that with some considered renovation,

this period place would fit their family perfectly.

We've got three small children.

They're just going to be getting bigger,

and Dave hires an office at the moment, so we kind of thought

that we could get a house that he can have an office at the home.

We could combine the two.

We could have the extra space, the extra living space for a family,

and also combine and save costs.

Following a successful application to change the status of the building

from commercial to residential status,

they bought the property for £174,000,

and had plans to transform it.

It was a lot cheaper than anything else

we could have got for that size, and we've got the funds then

that we can decorate it exactly how we want it.

It's got the potential to be a really comfortable family home, right in

the centre of town, and it's really perfect for what we were looking for.

'When I first met up with David and Hannah at their new home,

'I was keen to see just what their options were

'and hear their ideas for renovation.'

-Hello, nice to meet you.

-Joe. Hi, Hannah.

-Hi, Joe. You all right?

-Hi, David.

Now, guys. This is your place. So, tell me about it.

For a start, you got it for an absolute steal. How?

Well, it's been offices, but that was three years ago.

It's been empty for three years.

Right, I can see a skip outside. Work's started, has it?

We got the keys about two weeks ago, and that's actually the third skip.

-Third skip?

-Yes.

Brilliant. Let's see what you've been up to.

OK.

'With a budget of £50,000,

'the couple plan to turn this three-storey building

'into a four-bedroomed family home with an office for David.'

Goodness me, look at this.

So, where were things when you first came in here?

Well, where Dave is, that would have been a little reception area,

so there was a wall here.

Right.

And there, so we've taken all that out.

-That's the little reception window.

-Yeah.

That's where the receptionist was.

And once you've got a big space here,

what do you want to do with it?

OK, so, down here, where we're standing,

is going to be part of my office.

We're going to have a meeting room where we're standing around here,

and then through here's going to be a big, open-plan office.

So, have you done this before?

Not really. We've done a bit of work on our current house,

but nothing to this scale.

Brilliant. Let's continue, shall we?

-Shall we look through there?

-Yes, why not?

Well, this is a really good space.

So, this is, what, going to be a kitchen-diner?

-Yeah, we're going to have the dining room table there.

-Yeah.

Galley kitchen here.

-At the back, we're going to have a couple of sofas.

-Right.

And then the back wall is going to come out,

and we're going to have bi-fold doors.

It's our place we're really excited about, living space for the family.

Great, and you're working on this now.

How soon, in terms of timescale, do you need all this to be done?

We've got six weeks.

Six weeks?

Yeah, so we've got a lot of work to do.

Wow. What's dictating that?

-You've got to get out of your current place?

-Yeah.

And so, you're prepared, are you, to be living in a building site?

You want a few areas to be nice, but you're going to just try

and cope and get by with other work going on when you're here?

Yeah.

In this area and the office that we've seen, as well, it does look

a bit of a building site, but the rest of the house is not too bad.

-It is liveable.

-OK.

'It was a big job to tackle, and it needed a lot of hard work,

'especially on the ground floor,

'to make this once-commercial premises into a comfortable home.'

When you look ahead to the six weeks and beyond, what are your worries?

What are your concerns about this project?

I think mainly the timescale, isn't it? We haven't got long.

We need to get a kitchen in, we need to get a bathroom in.

Relating to that is scheduling correctly so that we have things

in place, workmen in place that will turn up,

and also keeping it within budget.

Later, we'll see what happened

'when I took David and Hannah to meet a couple

'who'd also taken on an ambitious project,

'completely renovating a boarded up a Grade II listed townhouse.'

Just keep asking questions.

There'll be other things where you have to fight

because you know that's what you want.

It's not just private buyers like David and Hannah

rising to the challenge of turning deserted properties

into functioning family homes.

Local council Empty Property Officers work tirelessly

to track down the owners of abandoned houses

and use everything in their power

to get them back into circulation.

'Back in 2011, Empty Property Officer

'Sue Li was on a mission

'to save abandoned homes in Amber Valley.

'Top of her list was an empty house in an affluent area

'outside Derby, that she'd received some complaints about.'

I can see why

the neighbours are concerned about the overgrown garden at the front.

And it all just adds to the view that it's not cared for,

that nobody's been here for a while

and that nobody's trying to maintain it.

'Sue's main objective was to check if the house was secure.'

There's a window that's been smashed here.

The back door is open.

So you can just wander straight into the house.

'As Sue continued to explore,

'it seemed that whoever had broken in, had not left empty-handed.'

Oh, right. It looks like...

..somebody's tried to take the copper piping at some point.

The ceiling's obviously come down as they've ripped the piping out.

Because there's pipes still remaining,

I really need to get this property secured and get that window boarded,

um, so there's no access again into the house.

'Today, over a year on, Sue Li

'has come back to visit the house on the outskirts of Derby.

'Since she was last here, it's been bought

'and the renovation is finished.'

The frontage has been completely transformed.

It looks so different with the new windows...

and doors.

It's really changed how it looks.

'Sue has kept in touch with the new owner, Mark.

'And he's invited her round

'to show her just how different the property now looks.'

-Hi, Sue. Come on in.

-Hi. Thank you.

-Are you all right?

-I'm well, thank you. Yourself?

-Yeah, I'm fine.

DOG BARKS

Hey, look at this.

-It's so different. Oh, my word.

-Yeah.

-A bit different, isn't it?

-Yeah. There was a big hole, here,

where all the piping had been ripped out.

Um, there was a wall, here, dividing these two rooms.

Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

-It's created loads of space.

-Yeah, we wanted to open it up,

you know, to create that feeling, yeah,

-which has worked.

-And the rear wall, here, you've taken out.

-That's right, yeah.

-And extended further out.

-Yeah.

We extended to have the kitchen there,

because that was the old lean-to.

-Yes.

-It's given us a bit of room, a bit of light.

Um, and we've managed to put as much glass as we can.

We're really chuffed with that. Do you want to see

-any of the other rooms, at all?

-Yes, please!

Wow, this looks great.

-You like it?

-I do. Yeah. Wonderful room.

-And I love the fireplace.

-Yeah.

I remember the times I'd have to visit this property,

and I'd look through the window and wonder what this room

would look like. This has far exceeded

what I thought it would look like.

That's good. Yeah, thanks.

So, have you managed to meet the people around here,

or have you been too busy?

-They've welcomed us and I think are pleased with what we've done.

-Great.

'Mark's renovations have continued right the way through the house.

-Good to see it back into use.

-Yeah.

-And I hope you enjoy yourselves here.

-Thanks for coming round.

-Thank you.

-Lovely to see you. OK.

-OK. Bye.

-See you. Bye, Sue.

This couple have got such a vision

and had the appetite for taking on an empty property.

And we've been able to address the wider community concerns about

people poking around and breaking into properties.

Um, it's a good success story all round.

Breathing new life back into an empty property

can be a difficult and delicate balancing act,

particularly if you are squeezing a renovation

around the demands of work and family life.

But when you speak to people who've come through it

to create their perfect home,

then, suddenly, all that effort makes perfect sense.

Seasoned renovators Michael and Jill Willits

stumbled upon an opportunity they could not miss

when they spotted two rundown 17th-century mill cottages for sale.

No-one had lived in the house for about three years - it was dark,

it was damp.

It was falling apart, but I think we could see through that

and with plenty of work we could turn it into something.

This house was built in 1683, and we wanted to retain the history

and the character of it, but bring it into the 21st century.

The couple had spent over £600,000 buying the cottages set on two

acres of garden and woodland.

15 months and £300,000 later,

they had a stunning yet sympathetic modern home.

And the icing on the cake was that the River Rother ran right

through the garden.

Even with four previous renovations under their belt,

the Willits weren't immune to the trials

and tribulations of a project of this scale.

Probably the biggest low point was on my 50th birthday, my mother,

sister and brother-in-law had come down from York.

My mother couldn't see or envisage what we were trying to do.

I remember we came to the back door and she said to me,

"I can hear water running." I thought, "Yeah, isn't it wonderful.

"We have a river running through the garden, that's what you can hear."

She said, "No, I'm sure the water is coming from inside the house."

I opened the door and sure enough, the ceiling had come down,

floods everywhere, pipes had burst.

It was a really cold winter

and that was probably the down point on my 50th birthday.

What have we really taken on here?

But with the renovation behind them,

Michael and Jill couldn't have hoped for a better outcome.

We've achieved what we set out to do.

This house will be standing in another 350 years, most likely,

long after we've gone.

I think we have done our bit in its history

and we have brought it up to date.

It's a really beautiful family home in an absolutely stunning

part of the world. We're very, very lucky to live here.

Earlier we met Hannah and David who had spent £174,000 on a former

commercial building in the centre of Rugby in Warwickshire.

They'd secured permission to turn the offices into a family home

and were eager to get started.

It's got the potential to be a really comfortable family home.

It's really perfect for what we've been looking for.

To inspire Hannah and David, I took them to see Lorraine

and Matt Chamberlain, who faced a similar

battle against the clock constructing their dream home.

Back in 2008, Lorraine Chamberlain and her husband Matt bought

this impressive rundown Regency townhouse for £494,000.

We bought the building at auction.

It hadn't been lived in for quite a while and was boarded up.

Even when it was derelict,

you could see it could be quite a nice building.

Also the size of the garden, because we are in the middle of town

the size of the garden is pretty rare.

The Grade II listed building had been divided up into four flats

so it required a lot of reconfiguring

and planning to turn it into one family home.

Planning was the easiest process and we didn't think

we would get everything through planning and we did.

They were very happy we were turning it into a family house.

So, it was going from four flats, which were a real eyesore

and derelict, back to what it used to be.

The full renovation of this four-bedroom,

three-bathroom house had taken two years and we visited Lorraine

and Matt so they could share the benefit of their experience

with David and Hannah.

So, here we are. Really large, open kitchen-diner.

-What do you guys make of this?

-It's wonderful.

-Similar to your vision, yeah?

-It's gorgeous.

Just the kind of thing we were looking to do in our place.

Start at the beginning and tell us how this came about

because I'm pretty sure you didn't come into

lovely granite work surfaces in your kitchen,

and nice range, a good space.

What was this place like when you took it on?

It was derelict, boarded-up, wet inside.

It was very closed in and dark.

The old windows at the back of the house were really small

compared to the big ones at the front.

We knew that we would be living in the family area at the back

so we wanted to change the kitchen, make it more open.

-And overlooking the garden for the kids.

-And any advice?

You must have worked for quite a long time.

-This was a long project, wasn't it?

-It was, yes.

We finally got the builders on-site March,

-with the plan of being a six-seven month project.

-And how long was it?

We were in by Christmas which was good, that was nine months.

Then it was another year until we got the outside and basement done,

so it was very optimistic I think.

When it comes to builders and going through that process, any advice you would pass over?

Anything you'd want to make sure the builders did next time?

How did you find working with them?

The biggest problem we had

was communication between everybody at times.

Especially when things don't always go right,

you need to make sure the builder has a foreman on-site

that you can actually talk one to one with rather than talking

to six people, miscommunication, I guess, would be the thing.

Good advice there. Keep on top of the communication.

In your case, it's going to be on slightly smaller scale

and you will be on site all the time

so just keeping a regular eye on exactly what's going on.

It's hit home a little bit that we need to be there.

We've seen the kitchen, lovely it is too.

-Can we go through and look at some of the rest of the house?

-Yeah.

Lead the way.

Tell us about the money and the budget involved.

This was such a big project. It's a big property.

What did you budget for a total renovation on this size?

We budgeted about 280,

then during the project we added a few things on, found a few things.

But not much more than that. Probably only ten per cent.

These guys are doing it on a slightly smaller scale.

What would be your advice on where you can cut back

or where you can pinch the budget slightly to make it go further?

It's really just prioritising everything.

If you can put stuff off for a later phase, we tended to do that as well.

Keep asking questions, because when they say,

"We can't do this because...",

or "No, no, no, you want to do it this way."

Just keep asking them why, because there will be some things they

will just say categorically you can't do that,

and there'll be other things where you've got to fight

because you know that's what you want.

We wanted a slate floor in the kitchen. Maybe we could have

compromised on the slate floor, but in the long run we didn't want to.

I think it's good that you pushed through with what you wanted.

It's a big project and one of the things

we really wanted to do is make sure that when we do it, it's right,

-but then also be smart about what we ask for.

-Thank you, guys.

I'm pleased it's turned out so well and great advice as well.

-Thank you for showing us around.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks, guys.

Later on I'll catch up with Hannah and David

to see if everything they learned helped them

to put their plans for their unique renovation into practice.

Across the UK, all sorts of buildings can become derelict

and abandoned, from office blocks to former family homes.

12 months ago I met Douglas Kent,

and man who was helping people protect and update listed buildings.

This Grade I listed building in Essex dates back to the 14th century.

It was originally a medieval hall before becoming an inn.

Despite later becoming a residential house,

it retained its Grade I listing.

The inn belonged to Douglas Kent, who was the technical

director for the Society For The Protection Of Ancient Buildings

and he had some invaluable advice about taking on a listed building.

-This is great. Clearly a renovation in progress.

-Very much so.

When it comes to renovating a building like this,

you have to study, learn and I suppose understand what's here

to begin with before you can restore it or add to it or conserve it.

That's exactly right. It's a whole extra stage.

The idea is you work out what's important about the building

so you can appreciate and protect it.

It's not about fossilising a building

or creating some kind of museum,

but about understanding what's important about it

and making it suitably fit for the 21st century, really.

Then when you decide to make changes,

you have to be very sensitive with materials, don't you?

The main thing... The absolute key thing with an old building

is to retain as much as you can of the physical fabric

and the overall spirit of the building.

And you do that by carrying out only essential work

that's essential to the life and wellbeing of the house

and also using compatible methods and materials.

You can't just apply new techniques to the old building?

That's exactly right.

Old buildings don't just differ in their architectural look,

they differ in the way they're constructed

and in their whole performance.

Today, one year on, Douglas is still determined

to realise his dream of making the Sun Inn his home.

But renovating a historic building such as this

tends to be a long and painstaking process.

Douglas quickly discovered the external plasterwork,

or pargeting, was so delicate he was forced to rescue the exterior

first or risk losing it for ever.

Last winter we decided that the pargeting was so fragile,

particularly above the carriageway,

that we boarded it over to protect it.

Sadly, it meant it was out of view and people couldn't see it.

But then last summer scaffolding went up

and a specialist conservator spent several months

working on the scaffolding doing really intricate repairs.

The gable here above the carriageway

with the two figures and the circular motif in the middle there,

this was where a lot of our attention had to focus.

This is really the area that was at risk of being lost

if we didn't get in and save it right away.

Douglas is not only passionate

about preserving this piece of living history,

but he also strongly believes buildings should be

restored in the correct manner.

To maintain that original fabric,

it maintains the authenticity of the building.

Douglas has had to pump a great deal of money

and time into saving this rather special place.

The exterior alone has eaten up his reserves

and as yet he hasn't been able to get started on the interior.

Overall, and I've not added up all the bills actually,

I've dug deep into my savings

and it has cost probably 20-£25,000 for all the work we have done so far

on the building and obviously we have quite a bit more to do internally.

The building can now be admired by the local community

and Douglas regularly enjoys sharing his passion and knowledge with

others, including this group of students from Cambridge University.

The building itself is believed to go back to the 14th century,

probably constructed on a site between two existing buildings.

'Initially, when I took on the building

'I thought one or two groups would come round and then I could get on

'with work like lifting up floorboards and making repairs.

'As time has gone on, I've had more and more interest from groups

'wanting to come round and visit, which I think is great.'

I'm really gratified there's that amount of interest locally.

If you look carefully you can see the joists here go in at a slight angle.

Douglas has undoubtedly played his part in the story of this building

by carefully and meticulously restoring it to its former glory.

When you buy an old building or live in one,

it's very much like being a custodian.

By taking a careful and considered approach,

a lot more of the historic fabric will survive

and that will be to the benefit of both the building

and future generations, at the end of the day.

Earlier in the programme we met Hannah and David.

They'd taken on an exciting project

when they bought a commercial property

and got permission to turn it into a family home.

I'm back in Rugby to catch up with David and Hannah

and first glance of their property, it certainly looks very smart.

I can spot one or two changes. Importantly that skip has gone.

Let's go and see how they've got on.

Guys, nice to see you again. David, Hannah, how are you?

-How have you got on?

-We've been busy.

It was very ambitious, all of your plans last time,

I'm very curious to see how it's turned out.

But I notice the home office thing might just have come off.

Yes, it has. We are in there and working away.

-I've got to have a look, can I?

-Yeah, sure.

-OK, let's go.

Oh, wow!

This is completely different.

Hard to take it all in, it's changed so much.

Talk me through it. Before, there was a wall there, wasn't there?

That's right, we had a wall there.

We've removed the main part of the wall,

gave it more space and made it more airy

to get it to feel a bit more contemporary, like you said.

It works really well, so much space, so much light and there's what,

-three or four of you working in here?

-That's right, yeah.

The big thing I wanted to ask you is,

you wanted to do all this in six weeks. Did that happen?

No, it wasn't six weeks, it was five months, wasn't it?

-Close(!)

-Not too far out.

You were a bit worried about how you'd make it all work.

You said you were going to spend more time here as a result.

-That's right.

-Did you spend a lot of time here project managing?

Well, it's one of the things we were advised by the other couple

that we saw last time, and it really was good advice.

I think it helped out with both the contractors that were here

and for also getting things done.

It looks amazing. It's a great office, loads of light coming in,

a really nice place to work, but it's also your home.

-Shall we have a look upstairs and see that part of it?

-Yes.

-Definitely.

Upstairs Hannah and David have completely transformed

what was once office space into four cosy bedrooms and a spacious lounge.

Because it was a commercial premises before,

what sort of issues are thrown up

when you try and convert a place like that into a home like this?

I suppose it's deciding what room you want to use for what purpose.

This was a dentist's room once but we choose to make it our lounge.

Yes, it could've been a bedroom, it could have been anything,

but with the office downstairs

this was the obvious place to have a lounge.

It has the nice view of the green there

and the light comes in through that so it's good to use as a lounge.

I know this project took a bit longer then you'd hoped.

Does that also mean the budget grew and grew

and grew or could you keep it under control?

We were very fortunate that we managed to keep it

-within our set limit.

-Really?

Having that time allowed us to be a little less insistent on just

picking the first person we could find.

You had big, big plans for the kitchen that you were very excited about.

-Shall we pop our heads in there?

-Definitely.

This is fantastic.

This really has changed and it's basically how you planned it.

You told me before you're going to have sofas and bi-fold doors

and the kitchen going along and a table.

It seems to have worked out really well.

How does it actually feel at the end of the project?

We love being here.

One thing that we really found by taking on this project

is because it was so run down and because it was falling apart,

we were able to gut it,

really think about what we wanted and design something that

suited the needs of our family which is probably something

we wouldn't have done if we took on a property that was almost there.

We probably would have said, this suffices,

-and maybe not got round to doing it.

-I think you've done it brilliantly.

I'm pleased it's worked out. It's very rare that people

have no regrets at all and have got it just perfect.

On budget, maybe a little over time,

but here you are, you're living in it and it's going great.

-Many, many congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks.

For three years, this grand old building

lay here empty and forgotten.

No-one could see the potential in it until David and Hannah came along,

and somehow they've managed to transform

quite a cold, commercial building into this lovely, warm

family home where David also has the perfect office.

It has worked out perfectly. I'm so pleased for them.

I don't think they could have done a better job.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd