Episode 9 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, is it David?

-Hi, Joe.

-Cathy, how are you?

-Nice 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 sculptor from a previous series

who was looking to strike a work-life balance

by converting an old warehouse into a studio and a home.

I keep having to pinch myself just to realise that it's all real.

We will also be visiting some of the derelict dwellings

that our property detectives have been working hard to save,

in order to prevent their owners from leaving these places

as a blot on the landscape.

It is like a new house compared to what it was before.

It was virtually falling apart.

And we'll see how the attempt to quell the housing shortage

in the Brecon Beacons is going.

It is not just the house, it is everything that goes with it as well

and those are the things that galvanise a community together.

A year ago, I met George Triggs, a sculptor with a young son

who'd taken on a derelict warehouse to use as both a studio and a home.

MUSIC: "I Need A Dollar" by Aloe Black.

Artist George was on the lookout for a home he could both live

and work in and he found what he hoped would be the ideal place

in his home town in Shropshire.

I think getting that life-work balance with a property

is something I've always wanted to do.

Really so I can get more work done and also involve, Seth, my son,

give him space to run around and play and get creative as well.

This 2,000-square-foot warehouse

had been empty for a year before George took it on.

Previously used by a building storage company,

George was quick to spot its potential both as an artistic space

and a possible home.

What was brilliant about the property

was the fact it was just an empty shell

which means you can pretty much do anything you want with it, really.

As a first-time renovator, George was on a steep learning curve

but with his artistic eye, he had an inbuilt advantage.

I am really looking to get a really slick finish, to be comfy,

and to have lots of light which I think is important for life,

for playing, but also for work and for sculpture.

There have been lots of delays with planning, with submissions,

with charges I wasn't aware of

and it all takes a lot longer than you think it does

when you first start, really.

When I first met George at his warehouse,

he was at the very beginning of his journey

so I wanted to hear what his plans were for the building.

-Hi, George. I'm Joe.

-Hi, Joe. Nice to meet you.

-How are you?

-Very well, thank you.

-Which property are we talking about here?

It is this one to the side here.

Quite an unusual look to it,

sort of bolted on the side of this house.

Yes, it is sort of tucked just behind.

It's much bigger when you get inside. It is a '70s construction.

And was it habitable when you took it on?

No, not at all. It is freezing cold inside.

It's really a sort of concrete-block shell.

And no insulation at all.

There are plants growing into the corner of some of the rooms.

So, yes, it would be very difficult to live inside at the moment.

-Let's go and have a look inside, shall we?

-Yes.

George bought the warehouse for £67,000

and, from the outside at least,

it looked like a big job for a novice renovator.

Well, George, this is quite a space.

I love the fact it is adorned with all your work already.

You have been actually in here as a workshop, have you?

Yes, I have been using it as a workshop for about a year now.

Let's look at the big picture of things here.

How do you want to divide and use this space?

It is pretty much 50-50, really.

This space is going to stay as the work space

and then back into the back space,

I have got a downstairs open-plan living area

with kitchen, living room,

and upstairs, two bedrooms -

one for me and one for my son, Seth, when he comes to stay.

But there is still quite a lot that I want to do

that is slightly out of the ordinary, a few little features here and there.

OK, well, look.

-Let's continue looking around and look upstairs, shall we?

-Absolutely.

George intended to have the main living area upstairs

and create a comfortable family feel for him and two-year-old son, Seth.

To help the budget stretch as far as possible,

he planned to be a hands-on renovator.

So this back half of upstairs will be the two bedrooms, will it?

Yes, that's right. So one bedroom that side, one over this side.

And the bathroom about here.

So let's talk budget.

How much do you hope you can do this project for?

I'm hoping, really, to get it in between about £40,000-£50,000.

I think I'd really struggle to get together more than that.

Do you worry that that is quite a tight budget?

I am hoping it is a generous budget and enough to do things,

otherwise I might end up completing it

and having very little money to spend on furniture

or anything else, really,

and have to work a lot harder to make up the difference.

The point is, it is an exciting time in the project, isn't it?

Nothing is certain, playing with ideas,

and there are lots of creative options open to you.

I just can't wait to get started, really.

Later, we'll see what happened when I took George

to meet David and Pamela Ward,

who had turned an old barn that was barely standing into a luxury home.

Across the country, there are many buildings like George's,

waiting to be discovered and renovated.

Local council empty property officers carry out detective work

around the clock to reclaim abandoned buildings

and bring them back into use.

Nearly three years ago,

we met Cardiff empty property officer Steve Reed

on his way to an abandoned house that was in a terrible state.

As the owner had abdicated all responsibility,

and with mortgage debts mounting on the house,

the council had no choice but to make a compulsory purchase.

The area the property is in is quite a nice area.

The property itself looks terrible.

It is really stuck in the middle of all of this.

So we need to get something done, if we can.

Steve needed to make a decision on whether

to sell it at auction as it was or to spend money on repairs that might

improve its value and chances of a sale.

As repairing it was going to involve spending public money,

the council needed to be confident they would recover the costs.

Steve met up with senior housing surveyor Clive Scrace

to assess the state of the building.

He has done several of these notices before,

so he knows what to look for,

roughly how much work needs doing, what we can and can't do,

and get a rough idea of how much it is going to cost.

-Hi, Clive.

-Hi, Steve. What do you think?

-God, it's a lot worse then it was the last time.

-It is, isn't it?

I think we have a problem with rats as well.

We may have to get it test baited.

Yes? If we go around and have a little look

and see exactly what would be doing on it.

We'll obviously have a look at clearing this.

Obviously you have the windows to the front.

-The doors have been boarded over, the tiles on the roof.

-Yes.

The boundary walls which have been vandalised.

The major work is round the back with the conservatory and the overgrowth.

So there is access to the rear here.

Obviously people are getting into the rear.

It is completely overgrown back here but there is a walkway through.

Obviously kids and people can get through.

We can see they have smashed the patio doors to the back.

They can actually get in through here now and the patio doors.

The problem we have got is that to sort of do this work

to the appearance of the property,

the cost of the works is going to be absolutely huge.

I don't think we would recover them

because obviously there is no money left in the property,

once the mortgage is paid.

-So we just carry on with the CPO, then?

-Yes, I think so.

The verdict was to sell the house at auction without doing it up.

As the place was heavily in debt to the mortgage company,

all money from the sale would be swallowed up by them

and the council would not recoup any money spent on repairs.

Once it came up at auction,

Steve hoped it would sell to a developer

who would be able to turn it around quickly.

There is a huge potential for a new family moving into this property.

The area is really nice.

The property is fairly large.

There's fields behind it, the schools are nearby.

So hopefully once the compulsory purchase is done,

it will become a nice family home for whoever buys it.

Nearly three years later,

Steve has come back to meet property developer Rashid Aziz

who project-managed the renovation.

Mr Aziz?

Hi, there. Steve Reed, Cardiff Council.

God, what a difference!

The property was snapped up at auction for £96,000.

Mr Aziz spent £80,000 doing it up

and he has created a house fit for a king.

-His renovation has been a ROARING success.

-It is amazing!

It is like a new house compared to what it was before.

-It was virtually falling apart.

-Yes. We put in new windows.

I know the front wall, that was a major problem we had,

where there were kids passing,

taking the bricks off and throwing them through the windows...

-of the neighbouring properties as well!

-Oh, right.

So it is good to see that that has been replaced

-and hopefully it will stay up.

-Yes.

With similar properties in this area selling for nearly

a quarter of a million, this house is Mr Aziz's pride and joy.

-Can we have a look inside to see how it's getting on in there?

-Yes.

-Wow!

-This has changed a bit.

-A new floor.

All the mouldings on there.

They look beautiful.

It looks fantastic. And, of course, there are no holes in the windows.

No holes!

The house has been redecorated inside and out.

No longer an easy target for antisocial behaviour,

instead it's a good-sized family home.

I am really glad, the neighbours are really happy.

People keep coming and telling me how good it looks now.

It has taken a long time, but, in this case, Steve's determination

and hard work have really paid off.

The back is amazing! Where the bathroom is now,

that used to be an old lean-to shed that was leaking.

And out the back there, where you have got the conservatory there now,

that used to be an old wooden one

that was burned out and all the windows were smashed.

Thanks ever so much for showing me round.

-You are most welcome.

-And good luck.

Hopefully we will have someone in here very soon.

Yes, of course. Thank you.

Having known the property for the last three years,

and seeing it deteriorate every time we get here,

to see it back into a home is just absolutely fantastic.

To know that I played my part in it is brilliant.

Across the country, there are some amazing houses crumbling into ruin

but they can be transformed with hard work and dedication.

They can be turned into fantastic homes.

Back in 2006, Ian and Tina Walker decided to take a gamble

on this Grade-II-listed cottage in Peterborough.

It was condemned, empty, derelict.

Full of scrap, on the verge of collapse,

and a building worth saving.

When I first saw it and it was covered up with a tarpaulin,

I actually hadn't seen that before. You know, a house wrapped up.

It hadn't been lived in for around 50 years

and the cottage was on the local Houses At Risk register.

The Walkers bought it for £47,500

and spent a further £92,000 on the major renovation work needed.

To get a blank canvas, effectively, although it was a restoration...

That I could also do it in the way

that I felt that it should be done, was brilliant. Just a life...

Well, nearly a 30-year dream come true for me.

As a joiner, Ian could dedicate his skills

to bringing the house back into use and making it a home again.

Generally speaking, it was in such a bad way

that if there was anything that was in good order, it was a bonus.

We tried to keep as much of its original fabric -

and he definitely did - as we could,

but to reuse it our way.

By taking on a condemned house,

Ian and Tina were able to create their idyllic family home

for much less than if they'd bought it already renovated

The finish was when people kept telling me how lovely it looked.

You just turn round and look at it

and you might get a flashback of what it was, and you think, "Wow!"

Whatever we've done,

and whatever efforts we put in here or endured or went through,

it's a house now that will stand for the next 200 years

and that's a big deal.

Earlier in the programme, we met George Triggs,

who bought a disused commercial warehouse which

he plans to turn into a dual purpose home and work space.

To help George, I took him to seek David and Pamela Ward

who turned a old barn that was barely standing into a luxury home.

David and Pamela bought this mid-19th-century barn in Shropshire,

along with the cottage in the garden, for £270,000.

Like George's warehouse, the barn had never been lived in

and was an uninhabitable shell when they took it on.

All we had was a stony shell with a corrugated-iron Dutch barn roof.

The enormity of the project soon became clear to Pamela and David

when they learned the barn was a listed building.

We built a modern house inside the barn

and because the barn carried the listing,

we had to preserve its character as much as possible.

We were trying to keep the outside look of the building,

because that, in planning terms, was probably important.

Turning a barn used for threshing grain

into a three-bedroom dream home complete with kitchen,

living room and landscaped gardens took over a year and cost £400,000,

but Pamela and David don't regret spending a single penny.

I love this room. It's nice during the day like this,

it's smashing at night - you can look at the stars -

and during the day, you can look at the clouds going past.

The most satisfying part about doing a job like this

is that it becomes part of you, or you become part of it.

You can't cost it, you can't price it,

but it's certainly an enduring satisfaction.

Well, George, first of all - you walk in, you've got this height,

which is slightly familiar from your own property we saw earlier.

What do you like about this?

It's amazing. It's an amazing space,

and, yeah, the amount of light is tremendous, really.

Now, I've caught sight of your living room upstairs,

so shall we go and have a look up there?

-Yeah, sure.

-By all means.

It's incredibly light up here.

Is that what you're looking to do as well, George, with your place?

Yeah, absolutely. I'm trying to do as many roof lights as possible, really,

and one of the benefits of it being a flat roof

is that you can put roof lights in

without it being too much of a planning issue.

George is on a very tight budget,

so where can he make savings or economies? Any advice on that?

Where we spent a lot of money here is on finishes and extras.

The flooring here is better than need be.

You don't have to have glass balustrades,

which are very expensive. You don't have to have lovely furniture.

It's the fittings that tend to run away with the money.

George is at the beginning of this.

What mindset should you try and adopt throughout?

What kept you sane as you took on this project?

Well, what kept me sane was doing each little bit as it came.

Think laterally about it and see whether there is a different way

of doing what you are setting out to do.

If you've got a good relationship with your builder,

then he's worth his weight in gold.

Well, guys, thank you. It's been lovely to look around your home.

I'm pleased it's worked out so well for you.

It seems ideal, so thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

-Some very good advice, yeah.

From deserted barns to deserted villages,

renovating an empty property can not only breathe

new life into a house, but into a whole community.

Over a year ago, I met David James in the Brecon Beacons.

He was working tirelessly to help ease the countryside housing crisis

and bring empty homes back into use.

The Brecon Beacons in rural Mid Wales

is one of the UK's most stunning beauty spots

and thousands of tourists flock here every year.

When I visited the area 18 months ago,

I found there was a real housing crisis,

a shortage of affordable homes for those born and bred here.

When people can't afford to buy or rent

a house or flat in the place they were born and raised, it can

threaten the very existence of our countryside towns and villages.

And if we don't find solutions to this problem soon,

it could change the character

and the way of life of places like this forever.

As a National Park,

the Brecon Beacons are a protected conservation area.

This means the building of new homes is discouraged,

so getting empty properties back into use

is a fantastic and practical solution

to creating new homes for local people.

I am on my way to meet someone who feels passionately

about keeping the Brecon communities together

and tackling their empty properties to create much-needed homes.

'David James is the rural housing enabler for the area.

'He liaises between Powys Council and the surrounding community

'to create affordable homes.'

Now, tell me a bit about the housing crisis

that rural communities like this one are facing.

We haven't built enough housing,

or the housing that we have built has been largely executive housing,

and we haven't built enough affordable housing in particular

to retain younger people in the communities.

So how important are empty properties

in providing a solution to that problem?

Massively important.

So when you see small empty properties just left empty,

when local people could be housed there, it's...I really get upset.

And there's a couple you're particularly proud of because they have been turned around.

Yes, they're really fantastic.

Brilliant. Well, I can see your face light up when we talk about them.

-I think we should go and have a look. Are they just up here?

-Yes.

David's extremely proud of a recent renovation of two derelict cottages,

a project completed using an interest-free loan from Powys Council.

David, these look lovely.

-Let's pop inside and see what's happened to them.

-OK.

All right, well, look at this.

It has... I can see a new floor, you've kept the old fireplace.

New doors, new everything.

It has had a complete overhaul. It was in such a terrible state of repair,

it just needed everything new.

If I was just starting off, I think this would be fantastic as a starter home.

It's really inspiring

to see empty properties being saved here,

and not just that they're being brought back to life -

importantly, they're being made available for local people,

which is helping preserve the local community.

With people as passionate as David on the case,

there really is every reason to be optimistic here.

Now, a year later, it seems all David

and the local council's hard work has paid off.

The scheme has gone from strength to strength.

Over the last 12 months, it is like

30 to 40 properties have been brought back into use

because of the interest-free loan available to owners.

So that is a real success, I think.

Some families have lived on these streets over many generations,

so there is a real attachment to the properties here.

Everybody can recall who lived there and what was there previously.

So there is not just the house, it is everything that goes with it as well.

Those are the things that galvanise a community together.

After 20 years of lying empty,

the cottage I visited is now fully restored

and rented out to a local villager.

Much to the delight of the owner, Gordon Gwillim.

Gordon, how are you?

Very well, thank you, David.

-Is it OK if we have a little look inside, Gordon?

-You are welcome.

-Yes.

-I hope you find it interesting.

-I can't wait.

Gordon was born in this very house more than 70 years ago.

He has happy memories of growing up here with his grandma.

-This is nice, Gordon.

-It is. Very, very pleasant, isn't it?

I can remember a story about the kitchen,

when I used to cut the firewood for my grandmother for the grate -

the old-fashioned grate, which is still there. It has been restored.

I used to crack a few flagstones occasionally, as I got stronger.

I would get told off for it!

I suppose it feels like an achievement to have people living here again, Gordon?

Yes, it's a dream come true.

For nearly a generation, this cottage was a forgotten relic

but now it's back in the heart of the village as a much-loved home.

Earlier in the programme,

we met sculptor and artist George Triggs

who was hoping to turn a disused warehouse in Shropshire

into a light-filled studio where he could live and work.

Well, I've come back to Oswestry to see how George is getting on

with transforming his warehouse into a shiny new studio

and home for his family.

Now, I can spot a new window up there.

Let's see what else has changed.

'This building had stood empty for a year before George bought it

'and despite being a first-time renovator,

'he was planning to do most of the work himself.'

-Hi, George. How are you doing?

-Very good, yes.

-How are you?

-Yes, very well, thanks.

-Good.

Got to have a look at this. After you. Let's have a look inside.

George, this is fantastic!

What a transformation!

Yes, it is a big change since last time.

Talk me through all the changes.

Well, from the ground up,

there was drainage, underfloor,

raising lintels, opening up windows.

A whole new staircase.

Kitchen. Um...a big piece of glass between the two floors.

So you've brought the light in. That is really clever.

Well, that makes such a huge difference to this space

because you've got the skylight that has been put in above.

And just such a lovely feature

-and such a lot of light that it brings down to us.

-So clever.

It is something that I don't know how we would do without now.

When I saw you last time, it was the start of the project

and you wanted to be very hands-on. Have you been?

Um...I think, as I have gone on,

a lot more has been handed to the builders.

I think the one thing that me and my dad made is this staircase over here.

What an incredible feature. It is a self-supporting staircase.

It looks stunning.

So has the budget grown in this case as you have gone along?

After, sort of, quotes and all the extra little bits,

it is up to about £100,000 now,

which is a little bit higher than I first imagined.

You've gone over budget with things like the glass,

-but you feel that is worth it?

-Absolutely.

It really feels like my chance to make my home and my workshop

and it is very much a one-off thing.

I think it's really been worth it.

OK. Well, I have to try out your feature staircase.

-Let's go upstairs and see what's up there.

-After you.

It is OK to step on this, isn't it, George?

I am sure it is. The first time it's a bit unnerving.

-It is a little bit scary but very safe.

-Excellent.

Now, this was all one open space.

-It has changed so much. So you have the master bedroom?

-That is right.

Master bedroom here, my son's room in there.

And the bathroom in there.

You are a couple of weeks away from moving in

and this is just brilliant! I mean,

-how happy are you with the whole process?

-I'm absolutely thrilled.

The builders have been great.

The architects have been brilliant and it is all coming together

and it just seems unreal, really, that it's nearly there.

And what does your little boy make of it?

He loves playing on the glass and running around the big rooms.

Yes. My partner needs a bit more cupboard space

but I will get on that soon enough!

As well as the living area,

George is in the process

of finishing an artists' studio at the front of the building.

His vision of creating a light-filled space

where he can live and work is nearly complete.

George, I am delighted for you.

I am very impressed you have been able to keep working in your studio

as the building work has gone on

and then to come out with an end result like this,

with lovely bedrooms, a great open family space

down there but a huge studio, to carry on your work.

It is just perfect. So many congratulations.

Yes, thank you very much. Yes.

It has been, certainly, a challenge

but I am just so happy

that I keep having to pinch myself, just to realise that it is all real

and it is going to happen and it is going to happen soon.

Well, I am over the moon for George.

There couldn't be a finer example

of what taking on an empty property is all about.

It is about tailoring the building to you, to your every need.

That is what he has done.

He has got this perfect work studio but also this lovely, warm,

family home,

which is just going to be perfect for him and his little boy.

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