Episode 6 Britain's Empty Homes Revisited

Over the years, Britain's Empty Homes has 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 be seeing just how far they've got with creating their dream home.

Wow, this has changed!

We'll be with the empty property officers,

whose job it is to turn abandoned buildings back into homes again.

Look at this for a transformation! It's amazing!

And we'll see how the full-scale renovation of Sheerness dockyard

is coming along.

We are moving to the point where they're going to be inhabited again,

and that is really exciting.

12 months ago, I met Rachel and Kevin Roberts

who were looking to create their perfect family home

here in the Welsh countryside.

Just one problem, though.

Instead of buying a house, they'd got themselves a cowshed.

Kevin and Rachel Roberts fulfilled a lifelong dream

when they decided to swap their comfy detached house

for a derelict rural building in the heart of the Welsh countryside.

We were looking for about six to nine months for something in the country.

We saw this in the paper.

And you looked at it and said, "What do you think of this?"

And when you first look at it, it's a very ugly building.

But then we drove up there to have a look and just the location of it,

the views, everything, it was just perfect.

It was the space as well, wasn't it?

And it was a case of, "What could we do with that building?"

Cos when you look at it, it's a cowshed.

A cowshed, indeed.

And the Roberts snapped it up at auction for £102,000.

The sheer size of it and the space,

that's when I could start to see the potential.

Kevin and Rachel had a budget of £170,000 to transform

the former cattle milking shed into their family home.

The main thing is keeping it on track and on budget.

I wouldn't want to be in a position that I put my family at risk,

because of the finances, so it's going to have to be on budget.

The builders were already at work on the structure,

but DIY enthusiast Kevin decided to

take on a lot of the renovation himself,

despite a full-time job in the Fire and Rescue Service.

If I get it wrong then we'll either end up with no barn, or no family,

or no job! So, it's getting everything right, isn't it?

And making sure that, when we do move into the property,

it does actually turn out to be our dream

and not something that's caused issues for us.

12 months ago, I went to meet up with Kevin and Rachel

on the plot of farmland they were determined to call home.

-Hi, guys, nice to meet you. Kevin.

-This is my wife, Rachel.

-Hi, nice to meet you.

-So, this is your place?

-What is it, a former cowshed?

-It's an old milking barn.

They used to bring the cows in, feed them,

-and take the milk before sending it off to the supermarkets.

-Great.

-It's a very unusual place. Can we go and have a look inside?

-Yeah.

With planning permission already agreed,

they intended to retain the building's original features

and exposed brickwork

and turn it into four bedrooms, four bathrooms,

an open plan kitchen-diner and a large family area.

So, it really is a big shed!

How different was it when you bought it, when you took it on?

When we bought it, it had a concrete floor.

It had a central walkway going right through the middle

and two rooms, here, which Kevin has knocked down now.

In terms of who's doing the work, are you taking this on now?

I'll be putting the plumbing in, the bathroom suites,

underfloor heating, the kitchen and also the spiral cellar.

Goodness, that's huge!

Of course, doing the work yourself, a great way to save money.

Was that the key motivation? Or more that you wanted to learn,

-or that you want to control what was going on?

-It was both.

We've got a set amount of money, certain things that we want

and, to do that, a lot of the work I've had to do myself.

The 1960s cattle shed had stood empty for four years

and, in common with many properties in isolated settings,

there was something else to think about...

What about heating, gas, electricity?

I assume you're not on gas if you're in a cowshed.

There's no mains gas. For the heating, the options were LPG, oil

or look for sustainable measures, which is what we're looking at.

Depending on what heating option you go for,

-some of these systems require quite a lot of investment.

-They do, yeah.

Let's talk about budget. What's the budget for the whole renovation?

For the whole renovation, the budget is £170,000.

And how confident are you keeping within that budget?

Any surprises come up in the bill, we can push it a little bit more,

but we're just going to have to manage that

and make savings elsewhere if we need to.

OK. What's the timescale? When do you plan to move in?

My view is, possibly summer 2013, we'll be in here.

The building, I feel, will be finished by Christmas.

That's interesting.

So, you'll have a situation where you have actually probably quite an attractive shell -

it's been fitted out, it's got a new roof, it's got the floors and it's got all that,

but you're going to have to wait for your one or two days off a week

to actually get in, fit the kitchen, do the driveway,

do all this other stuff. It's going to be quite a frustrating time.

Are you ready for this as a couple?

-I think we'll manage.

-I think we'll be all right, yeah.

-Still smiling at the moment.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-That's the smile of a couple six months in!

-Yeah!

-As opposed to 18 months.

-Come back in a year!

Later, we'll see what happened when I took Kevin and Rachel to meet

a couple who'd taken on a dilapidated cowshed of their own.

You've just got to go with your gut feeling.

Throughout the country,

it's not just private buyers like Kevin and Rachel

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 do everything in their power

to get these places back into circulation.

Back in 2011, we met empty property officer Sue Lee in Derbyshire.

She'd been dealing with a couple who applied for an interest-free loan

from the council to renovate their house.

We only have a small number of loans that we can offer each year.

These are to help owners who are struggling with the finances

to bring the properties back into use.

June and Mark had already spent a year renovating,

but it was still uninhabitable.

-Hi, June. Can I come in?

-Yeah, of course you can.

Once I take you around and show you the rest,

you'll kind of see that there was a lot more work involved

-than what we initially thought there would be.

-OK.

With the local council close to approving a loan for June and Mark,

Sue had wanted to see exactly what the council funds would be used for.

Right, this is the kitchen.

We've got this far with it and this is one of the main areas

where we'd like your help.

It would help us to speed the process up

of getting us in here and living.

The council offers loans to help owners renovate empty properties

and get them in there a lot quicker than otherwise would have happened.

That's up to a maximum of 15,000.

It won't just be the kitchen. We'll have to look at the whole property

and everything that needs doing,

because we need it to meet a certain basic minimum standard all over.

These don't have to be repaid until the property's sold

or there's a change in ownership in the future.

I'm just making some notes now of the basic things

that we need to see happen to make this property habitable.

I'm then going to be able to process the loan application,

so we don't hold them up any longer and they can get their finance

and move in the property is quickly as possible.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much, my love.

-Bye!

-Really appreciate it.

'It was lovely meeting Mark and June.

'They're putting their heart and soul into this property.'

I'm going to get this loan processed as quickly as possible

so we can get them in for Christmas.

True to her word, Sue got the loan approved

and today, just over a year later, she's back.

Hi, Sue, come on in.

-Thank you.

-Hi, Sue, welcome.

-Hi, Mark.

A large portion of the loan that June and Mark received

was spent on making the downstairs living space habitable again.

Oh, this is stunning!

Yeah, we've got a log burner in now, the hearth done,

the light fitting thing up on the ceiling as well.

It's hard to believe that, just over a year ago,

June and Mark were struggling to complete work in the house

or pay for the installation of basic utilities.

The money we had was great.

I mean, it's speeded up the job by at least nine months, if not a year.

-It's fabulous!

-Come on through to the kitchen.

This is it.

Wow, look at this for a transformation!

Big difference from last time.

-I think the scaffolding was still here...

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Just been plastered, I think. We'd just got the plaster on the wall.

This is so different to what I normally see.

I normally see things that are in a state of disrepair,

or there's rubbish and refuse,

but it's great to be able to come and see.

-Nice to come and see the other end of the scale.

-Absolutely.

And a kitchen that I would just want to take home with me! Oh!

Throughout the house, the transformations continue.

And it's clearly a success story for Sue Lee and everyone involved.

The money's been well-spent. How wonderful

to see the personal touches.

The touches that make...well, a house a home.

Finding somewhere in the right location at the right price

can be just the beginning of a long and arduous journey.

But with imagination, not to mention quite a lot of hard graft,

really anything is possible.

'And imagination was exactly what was needed

'when Stephanie Renouf snapped up this 1980s detached house

'on the Suffolk coast.'

When we got the keys, I just felt a combination of excitement

and fear, really.

Being slightly scared, thinking,

"What have we taken on and how are we going to do this?"

Inspired by the coastal location,

Stephanie had a vision -

to create the look of an American-style beach house.

And having the foresight to take on an empty property

really paid off.

She achieved this transformation for less

than you'd normally pay for a finished house of this size.

We bought the house for £325,000.

And we spent roughly 150,000 on it.

Value now is probably about

600,000 to 650,000.

I love living here. This is the place where I've always wanted to live.

In terms of whether I'm about to put the house up for sale,

absolutely not.

I would happily do another project,

because I love doing projects and renovations

and it's great to be able to look back and think,

"Yes, I have achieved something and made something out of nothing."

'Earlier in the programme, we met Kevin and Rachel Roberts,

'who'd bought a former milking shed

'which they planned to turn into a family home.'

'To inspire Kevin and Rachel,

'I took them to meet Roy Everson and Claire Edwards,

'who created a modern, cosy home

'out of the shell of an old barn.'

Right, guys, this is the place I want you to see.

Clearly, it's an old barn.

In fact, it was a cowshed, which sounds very familiar.

When the owners Roy and Claire took it on,

encouragingly, they paid a similar amount to you -

about £100,000 for the barn.

Cheers.

'Roy Everson and Claire Edwards bought their dream project

'four years ago,

'after it had been empty for a staggering 25 years.'

It was in quite a mess, really.

It was derelict, basically.

It was going to fall down if something wasn't done to it.

We spotted the potential

and then we got together with the owners

and the deal was done.

One year later, the conversion was complete.

In addition to the spacious lounge,

the barn had three bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms,

and an open-plan kitchen/diner.

They used as much of the original wood as possible.

Total costs came to £100,000.

And Roy's skills and contacts as a builder

proved very useful.

The guys that work for me now have done for years.

It did make the job a lot easier

than it possibly would have been

for somebody trying to achieve it on their own

without the knowledge we've got.

We've taken something which was possibly an eyesore

and brought it to something people would go by and say,

"That's turned out nice."

That does give you pleasure.

Right.

Wow, look at this.

These guys had very clear features to work with

and had to go with the wood look and make it as sympathetic as possible.

How far have you got in deciding

the look and the feel inside?

Will you celebrate the concrete beams or cover them up?

Do you know which way you'll go?

We're not really sure yet. We'll have to see what it looks like

-further on down the line and how much of those concrete beams are exposed...

-Right.

..as to what we do with them.

The vision that we've got might change slightly

because we'll see what's actually being built up in front of us.

It's quite fluid, really.

Fluid's the word, because,

as you get into the build,

you'll then see what's there and what you can utilise.

You have under-floor heating here.

How do you power it? Presumably there's no gas here?

Well, we did research on this before...

various methods,

and we came up with air-source heating.

Powered by electric, very economical to run.

The unit was about £5,000.

I cannot find a fault.

What amazes me is why more people don't use it. But there we are.

This is clearly something you are clearly looking into - does that sound encouraging?

It does. I've been looking at the ground-source heat,

but I'll have to dig a trench to put that in.

It's a lot dearer than what he's quoted of £5,000.

It's more than double,

so that's certainly an option

that we can look into.

'With the Roberts' conversion

'barely past the blueprint stage,

'seeing this place was sure to give them plenty of ideas

'for use of space,

'particularly in the kitchen.'

Right. Really good-sized kitchen.

I imagine

it's not too dissimilar from the size your kitchen will be.

Yeah, it's certainly useful to actually see

what it could look like,

and it makes me realise how big the kitchen is going to be

and what we can fit in.

Rachel and Kevin's big challenge

is trying to stay not just within budget

but also trying to get work to proceed

as quickly as possible so they can actually get into the house.

Any advice on how you balance those two priorities?

I think a big part of it is getting the right tradesmen to start with.

There's some absolutely fantastic tradesmen in the country

and you just have to go with your gut feeling.

I suppose it's inevitable at some point

that frustration will build, that progress isn't quick enough.

Any advice on that front?

The only thing I would say to you both is

you can get bogged down in things.

Don't be afraid to stand back.

Have a weekend away.

You'll lose two days and make up ten,

because you come back with a totally different light,

the weight's off your back and you're fresh to it.

It does work.

Two days with the kids as well.

-You can actually be a normal family for a weekend.

-BOTH: Yeah.

Roy, thank you so much for showing us round today.

I'm pleased it's been such a success and you have a great home here

and hopefully, guys, it's been very useful for you, too.

-Yeah, really useful.

-No problem.

How have you found today, guys?

Has it been useful to have a look round?

It's been inspiring to see the finished products.

And certainly the advice that's been given by Roy,

especially with regards to the air-source heat pump.

Anything for you, Rachel, that stands out?

I've just enjoyed seeing the final finish, really -

seeing the kitchen, the layout and how it's all come together as a home.

Yeah. And the thing that stood out for me was Roy's advice

to take a bit of time out.

Every now and again, just back off for a weekend.

Yeah, it's ensuring that

I do take time for the family,

but it will also help to ensure

that what we're building there is what we both want

and not what I just think we want...

and I go ahead.

It's all ahead of you, it's a really exciting place.

It'll be huge, everything you wanted. So, good luck.

I hope it turns out really well.

'From stunning renovations to period properties.

'Even the most beautiful of buildings can fall into disrepair.

'In Sheerness in North Kent,

'the 17th-century dockyards

'were not just the central hub for Royal Navy warships,

'but also home to an impressive array

'of Grade II listed domestic buildings.'

'We went to look around the area 14 months ago.'

With such an incredible wealth of history here,

it's no wonder people are passionate about regenerating this area.

Including a Regency terrace,

an old police house,

even a mansion.

This is a project on a massive scale.

'But that hadn't deterred Will Palin and his colleagues.

'Will was the secretary of Save Britain's Heritage

'and had been at the forefront of the battle

'to save the historic buildings in Sheerness Dockyard

'and bring them back to their best.'

What's the situation with these amazing

1820s buildings here at Sheerness Docks?

-Are they safe?

-Yes, they are safe. But they haven't always been safe.

In fact, most of the buildings on this site

were on the English Heritage At Risk Register for many years.

It wasn't until earlier this year that that decline has been reversed.

And you can see and hear the signs of repair

-and renovation going on all around us.

-Yeah, work's under way.

So, at one point, a developer owned it. What was the plan?

Was he going to knock them down or develop around them? What was going to happen?

He was going to build a lot of new development on the site

and we thought that was very damaging

and a lot of other people thought that was damaging too

because this is a very special, carefully conceived Georgian

residential quarter with walled gardens and beautiful landscape.

So we didn't feel that this level of new-build was the right solution.

-Can we go and have a look inside one of the properties?

-Absolutely. I'd be delighted to show you one.

'Funding from the Spitalfields Trust meant that

'all the buildings could be bought and protected.

'Buyers were bound to carry out works needed in a style sympathetic

'to the area's heritage.'

This is incredible. What a space.

How many original features did you have to work with?

I know you're fitting in bits of missing skirting board

-and you've got original shutters, have you?

-Yeah, a lot of the joinery survived,

but sadly not many of the chimney pieces, for example.

But there was probably a lot more than you would find in a terrace house in a city that had

many more owners and many more changes in its history.

This must be a figurehead success for the campaign

that you could save a site like this.

The crucial thing was we had very, very strong local support.

The people of Sheerness, the people of Sheppey, are very proud of what

they have and they feel it's been neglected and shut up for too long.

People are beginning to come here and think, "Oh my goodness, what a place.

"What an oasis."

This is going to be quite some development, isn't it?

I hope so, yeah.

Today, over a year on, this regeneration project has certainly

moved forward and Will Palin is still working on the scheme.

It might not look like we've made enormous progress

because of the scaffolding and there's still

builders' material around the site, but it's deceptive,

because a huge amount of work has been going on behind the scenes

to make these buildings secure, watertight, weather tight.

For the best part of a decade, all these buildings have lain empty,

but now, following essential maintenance work,

the first of the houses is about to be re-inhabited

by architect, Rupert Wheeler, and his family.

We are virtually done now.

It's taken ten months or so.

We are doing the final decorations at the moment,

sanding down the floors

and hope to be moving the furniture in in about two or three weeks.

It'll be nice to see how the place changes

once we start actually living here

because for so long these houses have been empty

and unloved and unused.

Now, in a couple of weeks, they'll have life back in them.

The project is finally on the cusp of realising

its true ambition of turning these buildings into homes again.

To think that nearly all the buildings on this site

were on the English Heritage buildings at risk list and,

in the space of under two years, we've guaranteed their survival

and they're going to be inhabited again, that is really exciting.

Earlier in the programme, we met Rachel and Kevin Roberts,

who'd bought an old cow shed deep in the Welsh countryside,

which they were hoping to turn into the perfect family home.

If I get it wrong, we'll have no barn or no family or no job,

so it's getting everything right, isn't it?

I've come back to Wales to see

if Kevin and Rachel have been able to turn their dreams into a reality.

Kevin hoped to almost singlehandedly turn a disused cow shed into a

four-bedroom, four-bathroom family home whilst keeping his day job.

As far as ambitious projects go, this one was certainly up there.

Wow, this has changed.

It is clearly still the same building,

but suddenly it has the feel of a home, no longer a cow shed.

-Hi, guys. Good to see you, Rachel.

-Hello.

-Kevin.

-How are you?

-Very well.

-You guys?

-Fine, thank you.

-Excellent.

What a transformation this is.

This really has the look and feel of a home about it.

What's changed at the front?

We've taken away the metal door, the metal windows.

We've taken away the asbestos roof and built a new roof.

We've put timber windows in, also a timber glazing

where those doors were, and cedar cladding on the gable end.

Fantastic and the wood gives it a lovely warmth,

a really nice feel to it.

-I notice you have a caravan here, so are you living on site now?

-Not yet.

The caravan's all hooked up and ready to go, we're just

waiting for somebody to move into our property and then we'll move on site.

It looks incredible. I'm very keen to see what you've done inside.

-There's no door on the front any more.

-No, there's not.

-How do we get in?

We'll take you in through what's going to be the back door.

Inside, there's still plenty more to do, but work is well under way.

So much to talk about. First of all, there are pipes everywhere,

-so you're putting in underfloor heating throughout the place?

-Yes.

And how is that powered? Because energy was a key question here.

Have you gone for renewable energy or have you tried to get oil here?

We are going for renewable.

At the time, we were looking at ground source and air source.

We're looking at going for the air source now.

The plan was to do so much of the work yourself.

-Have you been able to?

-Yes, I have.

I've done all the drainworks outside

and I'm now putting in the underfloor heating.

This is huge, isn't it? What a great space.

-Talk me through. The kitchen will go in that corner, will it?

-Yes.

Over there in a L-shape with an island

and there'll be a dining table and dining area there

-and this where we're standing will be the family room.

-Nice.

-Behind you, you'll go into an adult lounge.

-I see. No kids, no toys.

-No.

Somewhere for you guys to relax. Fantastic, it looks really, really good.

There's so much light coming in, isn't there?

Greenery, you can see the hill and the blue sky.

It's just uplifting, isn't it? A nice space to be in. Now, budget?

You said you couldn't let the budget go wrong.

Has it gone OK and is it going to stretch to the end of the project?

-We're projected to have an overspend of £35,000...

-OK.

..over what we originally said.

But I'm reducing that on a daily basis by every time I'm going to a

supplier for materials, I've got four building suppliers with an account.

And they will just give you a price.

You don't take that first price, keep going backwards and forwards.

Really good advice there.

That's the experience of a man that's been round a few building yards.

Now, Rachel, he has been trying to do it all.

He's been trying to do all the building.

What impact has that had on you guys as a family? How tough has it been?

It does have an impact on the family life

and trying to balance everything because, when Kevin's here,

it's not always been possible for the children and I to come up.

But hopefully once we've moved up here into the caravan,

then we'll all be together.

Hang in there, it does feel like you're really getting there now,

so it's all about trying to find those extra few hours

and also keeping the family/house/ work/life balance going.

-Good luck and I hope you make it for the summer.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Sometimes it can be really hard when you've got a big,

open space to know what to do with it, where to start.

But it's brilliant, they've worked out exactly how many rooms,

they've got the proportions right and the feel is just perfect

and on top of that for Kevin to do so much of the work himself

and teach himself new skills, is incredibly impressive.

It just goes to show, if they can turn an old cow shed like that

into a brilliant family home, then really anything is possible.

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