Katy and Lee Britain's Empty Homes

There are nearly a million homes abandoned in the UK

waiting for someone to come along and give them a brand-new lease of life.

So whether it's a tired semi or a rambling mansion,

we are on a mission to rescue Britain's empty homes.

Buying a house is the biggest investment

that most of us will ever make,

so it's vital to make sure your money goes as far as possible.

To do that, you have to learn how to spot the potential

in properties that other people can't.

Those in the know know that the best bargains are empty homes.

'Today I'm helping a couple of house-hunters in their quest

'to find an empty place that's perfect for their plan to downsize.'

He's the pragmatist and I'm the one who'll go, "You never know."

"You never know," yes.

'And they'll be getting some cautionary advice

'from renovators in the middle of their own transformation.'

We underestimated how long it would take to do this.

'We'll also be joining an empty property officer on his mission to get disused houses occupied again.'

When you start bringing them back into use, the whole area improves.

When moving home, one of the toughest things you can do is

to transplant yourself into a much more expensive area.

Often it's going to mean buying a much smaller house,

so it's vital that you maximise your money,

finding something with potential that's yet to be realised,

and that's where empty properties come in.

'Artist Katie Priday and handyman husband Lee currently live in a four-bed house in Gloucestershire,

'but as their children have flown the nest, they want to downsize

'and start afresh in Brighton on the Sussex coast.'

-I'm excited about moving to Brighton.

-Yes, I'm excited.

I think it will be a great place, to come and renovate a property

and add value to it

and I think we're going to enjoy living in a city and on the coast.

At the moment we're living in the country, and the country is really quiet,

which has been brilliant for the last few years because of the kids, but now...

We're just looking for somewhere with a bit more life.

'Ideally, they want a two or three-bedroom flat that is

'within walking distance to the sea, but Brighton is pricey, so they are going to have

'to draw on every ounce of their creative and practical skills

'to get the most out of their £300,000 budget.'

We're looking for an empty property because I'm not good at waiting,

so I want somewhere where we'll be able to move quite quickly.

'I'm going to give them the benefit of my renovation experience to help

'them recognise all the potential empty properties have to offer.'

-Hi, Katie. Hi, Lee. How are you?

-Hello.

-Come on, let's have a chat.

Well, what's this move all about? How much renovation have you done before, Lee?

Well, I've renovated three properties before, actually.

Have you ever done anything from scratch?

No I've never done anything from scratch as such.

I can put my hand to lots of things, but I do realise my limits.

Knowing your limits is right, Lee. I totally agree with you on that.

I have this illusion that I help him an awful lot, but having

looked back, I'm thinking I don't think I do.

I think that's probably very unfair.

You know, people think that renovation is all about

having to do it yourself, but the truth is it's how you manage it.

You're both very creative people, so I think taking on an empty property could be the way to go.

-Yeah.

-Could be quite fun.

-Yeah. Well, let's hope so.

'Later I'll be taking Katie and Lee to meet other renovators in the area

'who have taken on the challenge of resuscitating empty houses,

'but first I want to set them something of a challenge to see

'how imaginative they could be when it comes to downsizing.

'After all, they will be moving from a large four-bed house

'to a small flat and will need to adjust their expectations accordingly.'

I'm keen to see how Katie and Lee react to the reality

of looking around a house that's much smaller than they are used to.

I also want to know if they can think laterally about how best to use the space on offer.

Without me to guide them, I've sent them off to have a look

at a good example of the sort of empty property they could buy.

'Flats in the centre of Brighton aren't cheap, so with their £300,000 budget,

'Katie and Lee may well find themselves considering a flat

'in one of the many terraced houses in the city's less expensive areas,

'like this two-bedroom maisonette on the market for £225,000.

'Having sat empty for months, it's ripe for improvement.'

Could do with a bit of tender loving care, I think.

Yeah, I think so, yes. I mean, looking at the outside of it

I'm not sure I'm going to like the inside, but let's see.

-You'll hold judgement until we get in there.

-Yeah.

'The existing rooms could be reconfigured to make the most of

'the space, something all downsizers need to be on the lookout for,

'and planning permitting, there is also scope for an extension too.

'But will Katie and Lee spot this?'

Oh, actually,

this is quite nice, I like the cornice thing up there.

Oh, this is slightly bigger than you'd think.

Yeah. I actually think this has been let out as bedsits at some stage.

The thing is I'm not sure whether this would be a kitchen-diner for some reason, I'm not sure.

I'm not sure...

'And also downstairs, next door to the kitchen, is the bathroom.'

That is quite a big bathroom, actually, isn't it?

This could be a really useful room.

You don't know until you've looked upstairs,

because the layout of this is awful, to be perfectly honest.

'Layouts of converted flats in old, empty houses are often outdated.

'It can be surprising and rewarding to discover how much more space

'can be unlocked by taking a more modern approach to their redesign.'

-There's a room here.

-Well, this cold possibly become the bathroom.

-What's this one?

-It's quite nice, actually.

You can take cupboards out.

'It's often not until you have the bigger picture

'that all the remodelling opportunities will appear.'

You see what they've done to the back of those houses.

Oh, yes. Oh, my goodness, yes.

They've actually come out, haven't they?

They've basically created a much larger space up there.

Do you know, having looked at what they've done to those houses

over there, there's no reason why you couldn't actually

take the stairs from here and go out that way,

so that's getting you your access to the loft.

Ah.

Well, it would be worth investigating, anyway.

Yeah, it would, wouldn't it?

'As well as plans for the loft, Lee also thinks downstairs could become more open-plan.'

You'd have to have a look, but knock out some walls so you could knock through...

-Yeah, I'd like that.

-With the living room, that would become a kitchen-diner.

-You are the expert at that bit.

-Well, I wouldn't say I'm an expert at it, but...

'Well, they've pieced together quite a few possibilities here,

'so has it inspired them in their quest to downsize?'

OK, guys, let's have a think about that property that you viewed.

I know there were one or two issues to say the least.

-Yeah.

-Go on, Lee.

Um, I mean, you could turn it into a lovely property

by opening up the downstairs, you know,

making it far more open-plan, and hopefully you could

get the planning permission to go into the loft space.

Let's think about prices. How much did you think it would cost you to renovate?

About £50,000 to £60,000. I mean, you'd still have to get

the professionals in to give you quotes and everything.

Well, we did get a professional in and he quoted on £50,000 to do all of that.

In some ways, I know you were saying "Could we recoup that?"

Part of the gamble, the game, if you like, with empty properties

is sometimes sticking your neck out into areas that aren't perhaps as desirable at the moment.

There is no doubt that that's a very sizeable property for Brighton for the price that it is.

Yeah, but I just felt that the road that it was on, it's always going to

be quite limited as to how... Because the ceiling price on that property.

It's funny, isn't it? Because he's the pragmatist and I'm the one

that will probably go, "Well, you never know."

-"Well, you never know."

-So you are heart and he is head?

-Yeah, possibly.

-Sometimes.

-Yeah, yeah.

The best thing to do now is have a look at couple of renovations,

one of which is halfway through, one of which is finished.

We'll meet the owners, and hopefully you'll

come away with a few more ideas that you can employ on your own.

'It is incredible to see unoccupied buildings transformed into inspiring homes,

'but getting there requires precise planning and clear vision from the start.

'Which is just what Morag Christie had when she saw these

'two adjoined former farm workers' cottages in Norfolk back in 2007.

'They had been empty for nine months, and she knew exactly what she wanted to do with them.'

It was just a warren, really, loads of small rooms.

I knew that I could pull all the rooms downstairs to the left-hand side of the house into one

and make a big sort of kitchen-dining family room.

'Although she had a clear plan, it wasn't without challenges, all of which Morag took in her stride.'

There was an awful lot to do.

We got walls out, stairs out, windows out. There was a few problems.

The RSJs that we brought in to do a 5m stretch were ginormous,

and that was the builder's problems, not mine,

but I was here every morning and every evening and saw what was going on. I'm a bit of a dragon,

so when things need doing, they need doing, we have to get on with them.

'Having bought the cottages for £227,000,

'Morag spent a further £80,000 transforming them

'into her cherished home which now has an estimated value of £410,000.'

You know, we got there, and it's mine now,

it's my home, and this is where I live and this is what I love.

'As well as being profitable, the project has been emotionally rewarding too.'

I think doing your own property, it brings out something in you that you didn't know was there.

It's like all of a sudden it's magic, it's,

it becomes your home but it's yours and you've put your stamp on it.

This is what I wanted and I'm very, very happy here.

Now, whilst empty homes may be good for house-hunters,

most of us wouldn't really want to live next door to one.

Once abandoned, they begin to look tired and scruffy and can really bring a neighbourhood down.

In a bid to stop this happening,

local councils employ somebody called an empty property officer.

'And in Bristol that officer is Henry Dawson, who for the last five years

'has spearheaded the challenge of turning the city's vacant properties into homes again.'

There's nothing more rewarding that when you see

a family move into a property you've brought back into use.

'Along with an active casebook of around 300 empties at any one time,

'Henry is alert to any possible new additions

'and today he is looking into a complaint from a neighbour of a possible empty house.'

The main concern of the complaint, it seems to be about a tree that they've

got in the property which is growing over into her garden.

'But before he inspects the place, he needs to search the databases to identify the owner.'

Usually the first steps for me would be to carry out a search

of the Land Registry to confirm the ownership details of the property.

It's got the name of the landlord,

um...which is unusual, actually, we've got a full address for them.

I suppose the next step, really, is to go out and have a look at it.

That looks like our property now.

Yes, a tall and enormous tree in the front garden.

'While an overgrown tree may not sound like much of a problem on its own,

'left to grow unchecked to the size of this one,

'it's often a sign the place has been abandoned.'

It's just got a bit out of control.

'And there could be the additional risk of tree roots causing possible structural damage.

'The tree is clearly a problem, but it doesn't mean the house is definitely empty,

'so now Henry needs to check to see if anyone is at home.'

I can see through the letter box.

It's fairly clean and tidy in there.

Looks like it's open.

I think we've found where most of the furniture is kept.

Nothing in there.

No, I can't see anything in there.

Looks like I might have to go and have a chat with one of the neighbours.

'It's standard procedure that after rudimentary checks on a house, empty property officers

'rely on talking with neighbours for further information, and in this case, where

'overgrown vegetation is an issue, Henry needs to ask to see the back garden from a neighbour's house.'

-Hello, my name is Henry Dawson from Bristol City Council's empty properties team.

-Oh, right.

They let me have a look around the back, and it is overgrown,

and the property is starting to look quite tatty.

Next move, I think, will be to

try and contact the owner and to get the garage sealed up,

and then after that we can hopefully start addressing the vegetation at the front of the property.

'The owner has now secured the garage and is aware of concern about the tree.

'Henry has also let him know of the various ways the council

'can assist householders in getting property back into use again.'

If you are interested in buying an empty home and you

want a good deal, you have to move quickly.

If you are a first-time buyer, make sure you've got your mortgage agreement in place,

and if you've got something to sell, make sure you've got the sale agreed

so you can get out there and start putting some realistic bids in on the home of your dreams.

'Katie and Lee Priday are dreaming of relocating and downsizing

'to a two-bedroom flat in Brighton on the south coast.

'They hope to take on an empty property and remodel it

'into an open-plan style to get the most out of every square inch

'that their £300,000 budget will allow.

'And while they clearly have the imagination required to design

'open-plan living, I'm keen to show them why it's essential to consider the finer details

'before knocking everything out in a rush of enthusiasm.

'So I want them to meet a couple of renovators who are finding out

'the hard way when it comes to creating their ideal home.'

Well, guys, now we've got the chance to show you our first property.

There we are. As you can see, very much a work in progress.

If you are keen on open-plan living, this is a great example of how to do it,

but also, I think, highlights some of the real pitfalls you can have

when it comes to knocking things about.

'This three-bed semi in Hove, West Sussex, appeared at just the right time

'for Claire Hofford and Martin Wright.

'Empty for a month and on the market for £290,000, Martin and Claire knew

'they'd finally found the house to turn into their first family home.'

We were living in a one-bedroom flat and we found out we were

having a baby and decided that now was the right time to move.

For us to stay in an area we wanted to live in, we had to take on a project.

My view on it when we started was, "We'll knock a few walls down, put some steels up,

"rip all the carpets out, get a plasterer in, then decorate it."

To me, I thought it would be that simple, but it clearly isn't.

Something this size just does take so much time and also a lot of money.

'Claire and Martin have undertaken a major remodelling of the interior of the house,

'and with a baby on the way they've just a few months

'to finish it all, and right now it's a total building site.'

Wow. This is, um, this is in progress, then, isn't it?

We can see that you've obviously gutted it, but structurally, I mean, this is ambitious.

I totally underestimated how long it would take to do this,

and if you'd asked me two months ago, I would have said we'd be in here by now.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-What are the big things that have held you up?

The steel was a big problem.

We've ended up with a steel across there, a nine-inch brick pier built there to support the steel one side.

I'm not a builder and I didn't appreciate the fact that the ground workers had to dig down,

chop the concrete away, get down to the foundation and set the steel in in concrete.

Oh, my word.

So that must have been more of an expense than you thought.

We're lucky. I am an electrician, and Claire works for a building company, so we've got people on tap.

People that we trust.

I want to move on, I mean, we say this is work in progress, but the problems are in progress,

-because just, what, 24, 48 hours ago you have discovered another major issue.

-Hmm-mm.

'Outside, where they plan to install new patio doors, this heavy concrete lintel should

'be supporting the wall above it,

'but Martin has discovered to his horror that that's far from the case.'

So, Martin, just talk us through the disaster that has just befallen you.

Took the bay down on Friday, and it came down in five minutes,

so that's not a good sign, so the whole thing was just coming away from the wall,

the lintel that runs across from the top right-hand corner is just floating,

and it was being held up, basically, by a tiny bit of plaster.

So at the moment we've just stuck a brick and a bit of wood in there to

sort of wedge it up. It's those little things and things such as this

that come along especially when you're something like this that put a bit dent in your wallet.

My question is, I know you're not finished yet, but would you still

-have bought this house if you had known what was coming?

-Yes.

-Yes.

That's the right answer.

-Keep going.

-We will.

-Hopefully you will be in in a couple of months.

-Thank you.

-Fingers crossed.

'Problems big and small can suddenly appear on any build, so it's always sensible to allow for a little

'extra time and contingency money to help deal with them should they arise.'

What Martin and Claire are undertaking here has been a really good story for Katie and for Lee.

On the face of it, this should have been a pretty straightforward build,

but as you can see, they've opened up a whole new can of worms.

Of course, the good news is they are persevering with it and they will get it finished,

but it just goes to show, never judge a book by its cover.

'Later I'll be taking Katie and Lee to see a finished project which I think will show them

'that big changes aren't the only way to transform a vacant house into a home.

'But first, back in Bristol. Empty property officer Henry Dawson is on his way to see how a long-term case

'he's been closely monitoring for years has come to a happy ending.'

The garden around it has become heavily overgrown,

it's had fly-tipping, it's all attracted rats and mice

which have been living at the property, and so the poor neighbours

down this little cul de sac have had an absolutely dreadful time.

'It's a terraced house that fell into disrepair having stood empty

'for two years until a neighbour decided to rescue it and turn it into a new home for a relative.

'The renovation is nearing completion

'and Henry is keen to see that it's all on course.'

-Hi.

-Hello there.

-Henry Dawson from Bristol City Council.

-OK. Come on through.

-Thank you very much.

I have to say, it's looking so much better than when I last saw it. It looks superb.

Yeah, we worked hard and we've taken a couple of months, six months, but we're getting there now.

Wow, you've done a beautiful job of the kitchen.

Yeah. It took a bit of time, but yeah, we got there.

So out of interest, who is going to be moving in here? Are you going to be renting it?

No, my mother-in-law is going to move in.

-Oh, right.

-So she's going to be two doors away from us.

What a lovely house for her.

It should be relatively low maintenance, I would imagine.

'And that includes the garden.'

You've gone for a hard landscape, no more overgrowth.

That's right, no more weeds.

He's making fast progress. Are you going to, are there going to be any

-ponds or anything like that or is it going to be a hard landscape?

-No ponds.

-Keep it simple.

-Very low maintenance.

-Do you mind if we go upstairs?

-That's fine.

-Thank you.

I have to say you've got a good plasterer, he's done a lovely job.

Yeah.

And a good painter, that was me.

That's you? Actually, that is a very tidy job.

'It's not just about pleasing the mother-in-law.

'The neighbours are very happy too.'

Oh, I see, you are overlooked by most of the crescent here.

-Yeah.

-I can see whey they are so happy it's improved.

-Yeah.

-There's some really well-kept gardens as well.

We've had the garden fence done at such a height so I can have

a chat over the fence, and I've not been able to do that for years, and it will be lovely.

The property looks absolutely beautiful.

I think it will make a lovely home for his mother-in-law.

It's one more off our list, so yeah, I'm really happy.

'Katie and Lee Priday want to downsize and move to Brighton,

'so I'm showing them how to make the most of the kind of empty places

'they could afford on their £300,000 budget.

'I've introduced them to a couple of renovators who are determined

'to transform a vacant house into their perfect home

'no matter how hard the struggle is to get there.

'But transformations don't all have to be radical

'and to encourage Katie and Lee to see beyond the build,

'I want them to meet a couple who have achieved what they wanted in a less challenging way.'

There we are. Sort of classic Victorian terrace.

Would this be the sort of thing that you'd think about moving into?

-Possibly.

-Possibly.

It would be interesting to see what the inside is like.

-Yeah, absolutely.

-Yeah?

'Jacob and Megan Chadwick bought their Victorian terraced house

'in Brighton at the beginning of 2010

'after it had been left empty for a year.'

We wanted something that we could put our own stamp on and we thought it was kind of a carcass...

-Yeah.

-That we could do what we wanted with it.

We went in, and I think we knew within about 30 seconds.

We were giving each other the eye and saying, "Right, this is it."

'The unusual split-level layout of the living room

'that had put other buyers off suited them perfectly, and they were able to buy it for £275,000.'

A lot of people walk into a house and if the plastering isn't perfect

or it's not a very nice carpet, they just won't buy the house, whereas I think we very much see beyond that.

'Jacob and Megan then set about juggling work and family life to oversee the build.

'They then spent £30,000 modernising the kitchen, the bathroom

'and putting in new windows to create their perfect family home.'

Hey, isn't this unusual?

-This is.

-This is crazy.

So what happened here, then?

Well, we came into the property first day,

found a great big hole in the floor,

but obviously, because the property is on a hill,

they obviously found a great big void under the floor and decided they'd have that space.

Amazingly, it makes it really quirky.

But Megan, this is a great space, isn't it, to store away, presumably, lots of toys and kiddie stuff.

It was my mum who came up with the idea of when we put steps in making storage in them.

'And for Katie and Lee, utilising storage space in

'unlikely places will all become part of the art of downsizing.'

And presumably in here you've just got loads of, loads of stuff.

LAUGHTER

-That's the juggling and musical instruments.

-these are very yachtie, aren't they?

We put new windows in, triple-glazed windows, not just double-glazed,

they are triple-glazed, and part of the reason for that would be kind of saving on the heating bills.

I like that, I think there's a place for keeping original features,

but if it's not functional

and if you're going to be cold, then why not go for that? It looks fabulous.

'And although it's an invisible improvement,

'Jacob and Megan have insulated their house to increase its energy efficiency to keep their bills low.'

This is the inherited cat flap, but we haven't lined it yet,

-so as you can see, we've got our plaster board here.

-Yeah.

We've got 50ml of insulation, a gap down between it and the original face of the wall,

and this treatment has been done to all the external walls in the house.

What's important to me is to be really warm, so I think that

-is absolutely fantastic.

-It's an interesting one.

Because it just shows how you can retro-fit to a Victorian building.

This really has opened my eyes up, because normally in the past

I'd never looked at owning a terraced property before, but this really has.

Well, guys, enjoy the future in your new home. Brilliant.

Thank you. We are.

'So although Katie and Lee have seen the harsh realities of empty

'property transformations, hopefully it's not dimmed their enthusiasm.'

Well, guys, we've packed in quite a lot today, and I think

seen a couple of very interesting renovations in progress.

Yeah, those properties that you have shown us,

you know, it's given me an awful lot of ideas, actually.

-We might look at an architect for the initial consultation.

-Yeah.

But I think the project management we could do ourselves, couldn't we?

-Yeah, I mean, you've got to know your limitations, basically.

-Yeah.

So if you do need some professional help, you'd look for that rather than try and take it on yourself.

-So are we still on track for an empty property and a renovation, do you think?

-Yes, I think so.

-I think so.

-Yeah, definitely.

-Yes.

Well, very best of luck, and can't wait to see how it turns out.

Thank you. We'll invite you back when it's done.

-We'll invite you back.

-Brilliant.

When most of us think of a successful renovation, we tend to

imagine fresh plaster, gorgeous new paintwork, all those sort of things that make a home feel like a home.

But as we've seen today, an awful lot of investment in any renovation is hidden from view,

but it's all part and parcel of what it takes to rescue an empty building

and give it a whole new lease of life -

in short, to turn it into your new dream home.

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