Samantha Chitty and James Elston Britain's Empty Homes

There are nearly a million homes lying abandoned in the UK

waiting for someone to breathe life back into them.

Whether it's a tired semi or a rambling mansion,

we're on the search for Britain's empty homes.

We're on a mission to unlock the potential

of Britain's forgotten houses and show you how one of them

could become your new home.

I'll be showing two house-hunters around two vacant places, hopeing to find them a home.

So much outside space. It's amazing.

We find out why some buildings are abandoned and meet the people getting them lived in again.

Bringing properties back into use is quite fulfilling.

And we'll be seeing how once disused dwellings

have become amazing abodes.

A house in need of rescue may not be at the top of everyone's list,

but find one that's in a bad state but on a good road and you could be holding the key to a bargain.

Samantha Chitty and James Elston have been living with Sam's parents

in Putney in south-west London for the last year,

while they save to buy their first home together.

Every day we spend here is better, because obviously the more money we're saving,

-the better the house we'll get in the end.

-Yes.

-Look at it like that...

but then it could be five years' time and we say we're still saving and now we can afford...

-No, we are moving out.

-Of course.

James works as a tennis coach in nearby Roehampton

and wants a short commute,

while Sam's a PA in central London, so needs to be close to the Tube.

I'd compromise if we found something a bit further away from where we really wanted to be...

I would, but if it was a nice area as well...

...A nice area, then that extra kind of 10 minutes to work, or whatever, I'd be like...

Yes. That wouldn't bother me as well.

Fortunately Sam and James aren't shy of taking on a renovation and are looking forward to the challenge.

It would be so fun to just have that and so that once we move in, it's completely our own place.

We've designed it with whatever quirky features we want.

As first time buyers, their mortgage limit is £300,000

with an extra 60 grand help from family.

But even that will be a stretch in pricey London.

So, an empty place could make their money go further

and get them on the first rung of the property ladder.

-Well, hi, guys.

-Hi.

-What are we after?

We want two bedrooms, to rent the other one out.

-We'd love outside space, but obviously that is tricky.

-Yes.

And a period building.

Now, where, ideally, would it be?

Clapham, Battersea, Stockwell, Brixton, Balham...

-Yes.

-Basically south-west.

Let's have a think about the budget.

-Um, well...

-£300,000, yes.

-300 is probably the max.

OK. £300,000, yes. How handy are you?

-Um...

-Not...

-I wouldn't say great! It's not my number one skill.

But my mum's an interior designer, so it would be a project for her

and she's got a really good team of builders - quite cheap.

-So, you've got some good back-up, then?

-Yes.

-Lots of free advice.

Just give me an idea of what your ideal property

would look like inside.

For me, a huge, well, a bigger kitchen-reception room

and open plan would be ideal.

Open plan is very much of the moment.

The key thing is getting you into places where you can see the potential to create what you want.

It'll be quite tough this one, but who knows? Let's see what we can find you.

So, they're looking for a period conversion flat with two bedrooms,

some outside space, close to transport links

and ideally in south-west London.

Even with £300,000 to buy

and £60,000 to spend on renovating,

it's not a lot for a two-bed flat in London.

First up, we're at a place in Peckham in south east London.

Slightly further out than they were hoping for,

but it's on a good street and represents great value for money.

Although it would mean a longer commute for James,

they are excellent rail links into town for Sam.

No one has been living in this Victorian

three-bedroom conversion for months.

It's on the market for £215,000, leaving Sam and James

more than enough to spare from their £300,000 budget

to get their perfect first home together.

There we are. You wanted something kind of period.

-Yes.

-Classic London terrace.

I imagine you've looked at a lot of this sort of thing.

Yes. Pretty much everything's been like this. Yes, it's nice.

We're in an area which is slightly outside the zone that you were thinking about.

Nunhead, near Peckham.

-How do you feel about that?

-Yes...

it's quite far for James for work and things.

-Yes. To go all the way back across London.

-But...

We were looking more south-west.

-But we're open-minded.

-Well, the trick is

-to try and get you as much value for money as possible.

-Sure.

Currently on the market for £215,000.

-Wow!

-For three beds.

-That's incredible.

-That's amazing.

Good, right then. Let's see what we can do on the inside.

Come and have a look.

Having rented the flat out, the owner of this place is selling it

and it's been vacant for two months.

There is a small amount of outside space

and inside are three bedrooms, all in need of updating.

Right. Let's see what you think of this.

Long and thin is the thing to kind of bear in mind.

-Yes.

-Currently a bedroom in there.

-I like these doors.

And this is what is... It's quite nice and big.

It's set up as the living space.

-OK.

-Mmm. Not bad at all.

Yes. It's in a nice...it's not in a run-down state at all.

-You don't think so?

-No.

-What have you been looking at!?

-We've got...

-This isn't probably as big as the living space as

we'd...only because we'd want it combined with the kitchen, ideally.

That's the thought that we've got,

because you're thinking of having two bedrooms,

one of which you might rent out to help pay for the whole thing.

This is currently living space, but if this were a bedroom

and if we gave you a master suite at the other end of the building,

-you and your tenant as it were, would be nicely separated.

-Sure.

Yes. Yeah, that would be a good idea.

-Yeah. And you get the quieter end at the back.

-Yes.

Well, go in there, because that bedroom would make a great living space. Have a look in there.

Now if you'd give that living room up next door to a bedroom,

this was our idea of living space.

At the moment, it looks out on to the yard there

and it's a bit wasted, really, as a bedroom,

I would suggest. So, this wall, which is just stud, could go.

So that you literally walk into the living space. I quite like that.

The whole thing would sweep through to the proposed new kitchen area

down through the back of the flat.

-But the key would be to get rid of this wall.

-Yeah,

because that's wasted space through there.

Yeah, it's just creating a corridor which you don't need.

Go for that open plan thing.

Now, in here is currently the bathroom, as you can see.

You'd want to lose that.

The idea is, if you open that all up through there, all this could come out as well,

so that would effectively become a kind of galley kitchen,

quite open plan, and then this could be the bathroom.

-Okay, yeah.

-Yeah.

-So, would you walk into the living room,

open plan kitchen?

-Exactly.

-Yeah, I like that.

Beyond the kitchen are two small bedrooms which I reckon could be

knocked through to create one fantastic master with an en suite.

-What do you think?

-I like it, it's got some of potential, definitely.

And, because it's so cheap, you have got the money to go all out.

The scope to create the contemporary,

open plan space they want

has got Sam and James intrigued, but it'll take some work.

And, as with any renovation, you need to take proper advice.

So, we got a local architect to have a look at changing the layout of the flat -

knocking down walls, swapping the kitchen and bathroom around

and to give us an idea of cost.

He's saying, sort of, £50,000 - £60,000.

Add that to your 215...

It's still under budget.

So, a bit of a contender, do you think?

This is the ideal kind of property we want.

If it was 10 miles west, it probably would have been perfect.

Let's see if we can find you something 10 miles west then.

Come on.

The rewards of bringing a house back from the brink can be immense,

for both the heart and the purse strings,

but it often needs great dedication,

which is something James Nye and Lucy Collings had

when they bought this five-bedroom Victorian villa

in south-east London in 1999.

The way we found the house was by sending out a mailshot,

to more than 150 agents one morning,

and getting back lots of inappropriate houses that we didn't want to see.

But one agent understood and told us about this house.

We looked at it late one Sunday night in the dark

and felt, "well, that's intriguing".

I think it was lovely because it was so simple.

There was no warren of small rooms that you had to think hard about

what you would do with them.

It was a great big, solid, square,

chunky house that you knew you could add something on the back.

After six months working on the design and planning

with an architect, the year-long renovation of the former squat began.

We liked the idea of retaining the classic Victorian front,

but then having the great surprise of coming into a house

that we'd modernised quite amazingly.

Lucy and James wanted to create a unique family home

they could grow into.

One of the important things about this house was,

not only to be bullet-proof for living with small children,

but we wanted somewhere we could display our paintings

and where I could keep a clock collection.

And, again, having the blank canvas of a space

meant we could design the rooms or walls to be exactly as we wanted.

It's a very easy house to live in.

It works very well. It's comfortable, it's fun.

I love the colour, we never get bored with the colour.

With freshly renovated houses of this type

going for £800,000 at the time,

Lucy and James bagged a bargain

when they snapped up this dishevelled dwelling.

Well, we bought the house in 1999 for £440,000.

The property market obviously went up,

but I would say, at the height of the property market,

conceivably it could have been worth £2 million.

And, it's whetted their appetite for more.

Having done such a big renovation,

the only thing we'd want to do after this would be a new-build.

To do the whole thing from scratch.

For every empty property lying abandoned in your neighbourhood,

the chances are there's an Empty Property Officer, who's searching for clues

as to who owns it, why it's been abandoned, and what can be done about it.

Matthew Smith heads up a team at Birmingham City Council

dealing with more than 2,000 cases at any one time.

With new ones added to his roster at a rate of 70 a month,

it's a constant battle, turning unloved buildings back into homes.

Every day is a different story. Behind every empty door, if you like, there's a new case, a new beginning.

The idea of bringing empty properties back into use is quite fulfilling.

Today, Matthew's in the west of the city, following up on one of his ongoing cases.

The owners of this house have left it empty for six years

and it's now a real eyesore in this quiet residential street.

Matthew's job today is to serve an enforcement notice on it.

Legally, we need to attach the notice to the property to say it's formally served.

We need to start getting real with this one, now.

Having tried and failed to get the owners of this semi

to improve its appearance, Matthew's now taking a more hard line approach.

It's actually 10 times worse than the last time.

It's quite a sorry state today, yes.

Basically, if the work isn't carried out,

we'll carry out the work in default

and hopefully that will be the end to the problems for the neighbourhood.

After serving the notice,

Matthew has a chat with a concerned neighbour.

But what if they don't see the notices on the door?

As long as we can prove that we've tried to locate them, to track them down...

So you can go ahead with what you intend to do without locating them?

The law is on our side. Ideally, we want the owners to do the work themselves.

Hopefully, this will bring them out of the woods, but, ultimately,

it may mean that we have to compulsory purchase the house,

which is always the last resort,

but sometimes you have to do this to get the end result.

The next target in Matthew's sights today is a house in north Birmingham,

which has been brought to his attention by the local police.

Today we're going to get a view

on what's happening at this house - how bad is it? Are people getting into it?

Basically, the start of any investigation

is getting an initial picture of what the property's about

and that's even before we locate the owner.

Matthew works closely with the police,

as do all Empty Property Officers.

Meeting him today is Crime Prevention Adviser Keith Doyle.

It has been flagged up by one of our PCSOs, the condition of this place.

It's been empty for some time, by all accounts.

It's going to cause us some potential problems

if we don't get on to it now.

So, it's secure, or are you not sure?

Let's have a look.

-Work our way through the growth.

-Yeah.

Matthew's six years' experience is needed

when it comes to detective work.

Unless they've gone on holiday, the buildup of post is a classic,

classic sign of a house being empty, isn't it?

There's bills on the window sill, we might be able to get names.

That's always a help, isn't it?

That's good, well spotted.

Round the back there are signs that someone may have started to renovate the house.

-It looks like they started work.

-Like they're trying to refurb the kitchen.

Not much fun living next door to this, I wouldn't have thought.

This is where the fun starts, now -

get hold of the owner, sit down, talk with them, see what plans they have.

At the end of the day, we want them to bring the property back into use.

-Keith, as ever, cheers, buddy.

-Any problems, give me a ring.

-See you soon.

-Cheers.

So we're going to do a Land Registry search, find the owner, see what plans they have.

And if you think you've spotted something lying empty near you

and you're worried about it,

you can always contact your local council

who will get their Empty Property Officer on the case.

First-time buyers, Sam Chitty and James Elston,

are living with Sam's parents

while they save up to buy a flat together in south-west London.

With £360,000 to spend, I think an empty home

is their best bet for finding what they want within budget.

The first flat I showed them is excellent value for money at £215,000,

leaving them ample cash left over to get it just how they want it.

Even though it was outside their ideal area of London, Sam saw its potential.

Because it's so cheap, you have got the money to go all out.

A property in need, in a good area,

is just what I found them a little further west.

It may be Edwardian, but even back then people lived in flats

and this purpose-built maisonette is in that the very popular area

of Balham in south-west London.

Having been let to tenants, it's not been lived in for two months,

since the owner decided to sell it.

Well, as promised, we have come a few miles further west - Balham.

I know this is an area that you have thought about.

-Yes, definitely.

-So, what have we got for you?

We've got you the ground floor of this,

well, it was designed as a couple of maisonettes.

That's exactly what it still is,

that's why you've got the two doors there.

A ground floor, shared garden, um...

-currently two-bed...

-OK.

-..but it does all come at a premium, because of where we are.

-OK.

This is on the market for £300,000.

OK, that is the budget.

How far could you stretch above that for any renovations?

Well, we'd be happy to do it over time,

as long as you could live there and maybe do a bathroom

and later on do the kitchen, or whatever.

The thing I love about this is that you can do as much or as little as you want,

and you'll see what I mean when we get in there.

Shall we? Come on.

There's a reception room at the front,

with two bedrooms behind.

Then, at the back, is the kitchen and bathroom,

while outside, there's a shared garden.

OK, let's start in here.

-BOTH: Wow.

-Yeah?

I like it.

-Yes, what do you like?

-It's a nice size.

Good size, very light, huge window.

It feels like a converted flat, but this is a purpose-built maisonette of its period.

So, turn of the century, I'd have thought.

One or two features have gone, there would have been a fireplace in here,

that's what the vent's doing, you could open it up again.

-The boards are good, they're original.

-Yeah, these are amazing.

-Sanded, they would come up really well.

-Yes.

It's had a lick of paint just to present it to sell,

but, as you can see, the sky's the limit.

You could, effectively occupy this almost as it is,

with a few little tweaks. Come with me, you'll see what I mean.

Next door is a spacious main bedroom,

and a separate loo.

There's a second, smaller bedroom which is where

I think they could gain the space to give them

the large kitchen-living area they're after.

I would cut this in half,

lose the window, and go for a shower room.

What I want to do is to give you the other half as extra space

in the kitchen, which would mean taking out that wall there.

You do want a nice, big living space and that's through here.

-So...

-Hmm.

the idea is that that all would come out, and go back at least a metre.

-That'd be good.

-It could go back to where the door frame is.

Exactly, that's pretty much where it would end up. It's as big as you're going to get it.

And now, it's out to the garden.

-Oh, wow.

-Yes.

-This is big, for London.

-Yeah, it is big,

it's shared, of course, with upstairs. Um,

-but...

-That's all right.

-Yes.

-..it's not bad.

It's a nice little bonus in central London to have...

So much outside space is amazing.

Treat it as a bonus,

because the main thing is what you do with the space in there.

Yeah, it's exciting, definitely.

Good, keep being excited. Come on.

To give an idea of the cash needed to realise the potential,

we asked a local architect round to give us an estimate

for moving the bathroom,

allowing Sam and James to create the large,

open-plan living space they're after.

Now, they're saying somewhere in the order of £50,000 - £60,000.

Now, at that on top of your £300,000 spent on buying this place,

and it'll probably go for that,

because of where it is, suddenly you really are challenging the budget.

I really like it, actually. What do you think?

I really like it, it's one of the best ones we've seen.

-Really?

-Yeah, without a doubt.

For the price, definitely.

OK. Well, we've given you a few ideas, lots to think about.

-Lots to think about.

-OK, good.

Sam and James have seen two flats -

one is great value for money, but not quite in the right location,

the other is in the right area, but stretches their budget to its limit.

We'll find out later if they're up for taking on one of these disused dwellings.

Back in Birmingham, Empty Property Officer, Matthew Smith,

is continuing his mission to get vacant houses lived in again.

Today, he's checking up on the owner of two run-down dwellings,

who's having problems with their renovation.

I think he's overstretched himself. One is still in a bad condition,

which I need to have a serious word with him about -

I think some of the windows have been broken -

and another one that's nearing completion.

Stan Hodges bought this property as an investment

and had only just started renovating it,

when another house in the same street came up for sale.

Stan bought it too,

but he's not been able to get the cash to finish work on it.

Still lying empty, it's attracting anti-social behaviour.

-Hello?

-Hello.

Matthew's concerned about how long it's taking Stan

to complete the renovation.

How's it going then? What are you up to?

Well, it's a bit of a struggle at the moment, Matthew.

Finances are bit tight because of the credit crunch - value's gone.

-You've done a lot already.

-There's a fair bit of work being done on it.

We've just got to try and give you that final push.

The less you can make people think it's empty

while you're working on it, that's ideal, isn't it?

-Yes, I agree.

-OK.

Although the work on both houses has taken longer than he anticipated,

Matthew's patience with Stan has paid off.

And today they're meeting charity worker Emma Burke,

who is interested in renting the house to a charitable organisation.

Wow, this is different. This is different from before.

This is very nice.

-You've done a lot of work, Stan.

-Yes.

It looks really, really good.

Emma's keen to check that the house

meets the requirements of her clients.

In terms of access from the back door...

Yes, it would be level access.

It would all sweep through, once the doors are open.

That's grand. They'll love to come and sit out in the garden.

Once chap, particularly, would want a swing seat.

I could just see him sat in the garden with his swing seat.

Yeah, absolutely.

-Here's your bathroom.

-This is great. It's a decent size, as well.

Tell you what, you've done a superb job, absolutely brilliant.

It's been a success all round.

Stan's nearly finished this house,

Matthew's got one more off his books,

and the charity has found a comfortable home for people in need.

It's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. You've worked so hard.

It's very, very good. I'm quite excited now.

It's been the best success story we've had over the last few years.

We've just about got there with this one,

as long as we keep an eye on the other property, it'll be fine.

When it comes to taking on a vacant building,

it's not just private buyers

who are keen to restore them to their former glory.

The Landmark Trust is a charity that rescues some of the country's

most historic buildings at risk of being lost for ever.

One such place is this 19th century keeper's cottage,

built on the Shuttleworth Estate in Bedfordshire.

It was lived in by the gamekeeper at the time, called Richard Aireton, and we know from records

that he lived here with his wife and possibly up to seven children.

When we first saw this building, the surrounding woodland

was basically beginning to engulf the building.

There were a huge holes in the roof,

the timbers were all beginning to rot, all the panes of glass

had been broken, and the building was really deteriorating fast.

We're very lucky that there's a lot of records attached to this building.

We were actually able to piece together a lot of how the building would have looked

and to restore the building using as much of the original structure as possible.

It took a year to complete the work

and the price of this authenticity was more than £400,000.

But, Keeper's Cottage now has a bright future.

We make it available for holidays, and, staying here,

you can really picture the life of a late 19th century gamekeeper,

and hopefully people can put themselves into the past

and the past way of life of our ancestors.

Being able to turn up at the building

once the last lick of paint has been put on,

and the keys have been just about handed over to the first people staying there

gives you a great sense of satisfaction

that you know that building has been saved and given a new future.

And, if you fancy making an empty property your next home,

here's how you can go about it.

Some forgotten homes are easier to spot than others.

Look out for signs of neglect,

like an untidy garden and shabby paintwork.

If you find a place, your local Empty Property Officer

may investigate it further for you and track down the owner.

And don't just consider abandoned houses -

subject to planning approval,

disused schools and pubs can make interesting homes, too.

I've been showing first-time buyers Sam and James some options

that could make an ideal home for them.

They want a two-bedroom flat with a large kitchen-living space,

close to transport links in south-west London.

I've taken them round two different places,

but have I convinced them that a vacant home could be for them?

So, how have you found today?

Very interesting.

-I've enjoyed it.

-Yeah, it was good.

It all started over in Peckham.

£215,000 for that ground-floor, in theory three-bed property.

It was a great property.

Yeah, the one in Peckham has surprised me with what you can get for your money.

As we said, if we could find something like that...somewhere else

that would be perfect, but it's just a bit far out.

We then took you to Balham,

where the prices were very different - £300,000.

-But what did you think of it?

-It's the first property we've seen in Balham...

Big bedrooms and potential for a big kitchen-living area.

It's a place at you can adapt in a number of ways to suit your budget.

Given that that was £300,000,

very much at the top end of what you were hoping to spend...

We'd definitely consider it. And we'd look at others with that in mind

and see what to compare it to, basically.

So, it's a good benchmark?

-Absolutely.

-And you're still convinced that the idea of taking on an empty building is the way to go?

-Absolutely, yeah.

-Definitely.

Well guys, best of luck, and let us know how you get on.

BOTH: Thanks very much.

Searching for that empty property that's going to be

just right for you, can take some time,

but it is worth all the trouble and the research,

because once you've found it,

you'll know that you're on your way to the house of your dreams.

Sam and James put in an offer on the second flat

as they liked it so much, but, sadly, they were outbid.

What we've shown them, though, has got them fired up

to find a vacant place they can call home.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]