Hannah and Michael Overton Britain's Empty Homes

Across the United Kingdom, there are nearly a million homes lying unloved and unlived in,

ready for someone to come along and give them a bright new future.

From crumbling cottages to derelict mansions,

tumbledown terraces to forgotten farm buildings,

most of Britain's empty properties have one thing in common -

there is somebody out there for whom they could become their next dream home.

Today, I'm going to pass on my experience

of transforming an abandoned building to help a couple work out

if renovating an empty home is right for them.

It's really stretching the imagination, isn't it?

We follow an empty property officer rescuing wrecks from rack and ruin.

Look at this! You can just walk straight in!

And we'll meet those brave enough

to tackle renovation projects themselves.

There wasn't any doors, there wasn't any locks, there wasn't any keys.

I had a vision and so did my wife, that we could make a family home.

When you're looking for a new home,

sometimes it pays not to follow the pack.

To look at empty buildings that, perhaps, no-one else wants.

With a bit of imagination, if you can spot the potential,

you could very well bag yourself a bargain.

Admin Manager Hannah Overton

and her lorry driver husband Michael from Yule in Surrey think

an empty property could be the key to their dream home.

We thought that if we looked at an empty property,

we'd really have a shell and it would be a blank canvas

and we could really work on it as we wanted.

They want to swap suburban for country life and have a budget

of £500,000 to find and renovate their perfect rural retreat.

We've always lived in London. I want to move out of it

and have more wildlife round me and countryside.

Just to actually grow our own veg,

to maybe have chickens and a few eggs.

I want a lot of land, really.

-That's my main concern.

-I want a donkey.

-My own space. I don't know if we'll have a donkey.

-We want a donkey.

Having done minor projects like fitting a new kitchen and bathroom in the past,

they want more of a challenge.

We have to live in a caravan while we're doing the place up.

Hopefully, this will be our forever home

so we'll be carried out feet first, won't we?

-That's right, yes.

-Probably sooner rather than later!

It seems Hannah and Michael hanker after the good life

and I think everything they want, the land,

the chickens and even the donkey, could all be theirs

if they go down the empty property route.

Taking on an empty property is not for the faint-hearted,

so I've sent Michael and Hannah to have a look at a classic example of

the sort of derelict empty property that the countryside has to offer

to try to get some idea of the sort of project that they might be up for.

And it's here in the village of Worting near Basingstoke.

Is at a barn or something? I can't work out what it is.

'Well, it's a 19th century stable block and former coach house

'on the market for £350,000, and it's a developer's dream.'

-Lovely setting.

-'With planning permission to convert it into a two-bed residence,

'this place has serious potential but needs everything.

'Walls, floors, plumbing, electrics - the lot.'

You can see a hole right through the side there.

-You can see how far it goes back.

-Bit more than a bathroom and a kitchen.

Armed with a budget of £500,000,

Hannah and Michael would have 150 grand

left over to make the stables a well-appointed rural idyll.

But will they be able to see that this derelict old nag

could be transformed into a racing thoroughbred?

Well, this is something else, isn't it? What used to hang from that, look.

-It's the old tech room, isn't it?

-Either that or a kind of torture chamber.

Some very strange things in here, aren't there?

I hope the thought of tackling a place like this isn't too tortuous.

Will you go first or would you like me to?

I think you test the stairs, make sure they're OK.

'Up on the first floor, it's hard hat territory

-'where there's ample scope for two bedrooms.'

-Needs repapering?

Yeah, the decor leaves a little bit to be desired.

All this would go. You'd have everything taken out.

'Michael seems to be spotting opportunities here, but Hannah just isn't seeing it.'

It's really stretching the imagination, isn't it?

It is a stable. It really is a stable, no-one's ever lived in here.

Apart from a few horses.

'Outside, it's a little overgrown.'

-You all right coming through here?

-You go first.

'But there is half an acre of land here,

'giving them all the space they're after.'

It's not exactly the English country garden I quite imagined, to be honest with you.

-No, it's not really the country.

-It isn't, it's wildlife.

I thought we were going to have a paddock or something.

I really can't see where the donkey's going to fit.

-It is a bit overgrown, hen.

-Yeah, a bit.

-It's part of the project.

-You're talking about 50K to get this cleared properly,

professionally. I think so, really do.

'50,000 for a skip and a chainsaw?

'You must be joking.

'If they're prepared to do some of the donkey work themselves,

-'they could clear the grounds here pretty cheaply.'

-That's all green and yucky.

'It seems country living doesn't come naturally to Hannah,

'but she'll have to get used to it if she wants to take on an empty property outside the city.'

-You could certainly do something with this, hen.

-Knock it down, maybe.

This is an all-or-nothing before it's even habitable.

-I don't even know where you'd put your caravan, Michael.

-It would go here.

-I was just thinking about that.

-All right, OK.

Work on that end of the house first.

'So much for your forever home, Hannah. I can see

'it's going to be tough to convince these two

'that a vacant place in a green space could be the route to their ideal home.'

Good morning.

'It's time to catch up with them and find out

'just what they are prepared to do to get their rural dream.'

Well, you two. We send you off to have a look at what

I think is a really interesting building.

This old Victorian stable block. I can see loads of potential here.

I get the feeling though that this is a bit of a challenge, Hannah?

It wasn't really what we anticipated.

We like traditional period, maybe Georgian,

Edwardian, Victoriana,

that type of thing rather than stables.

Michael, I got the feeling you were quite excited by it.

I could see the potential with it but it is a lot of work.

It's more than I expected.

OK, what is it about a renovation that interests you,

because I'm concerned that we may be talking about two different things

in terms of what "renovation" actually means.

Maybe what we've done before is not this scale.

We've done modernisations rather than renovations.

-New bathroom, new kitchen.

-That's right, redecorating.

It's very much been internal.

How handy are you, Michael, in terms of DIY?

I can do a lot of the internal work when it comes to tiling, probably help on the flooring.

My sense is that we've really pushed you with this one.

We've seen a limit, perhaps, of what it is you're prepared to take on board.

I hope we haven't frightened you. The purpose of today really is to show you a couple of properties

that which go to the heart of the sort of things you need to tackle in taking on a building like this one,

because, yes, it is a bit of a hurdle to get over

taking on a property like this, but once you've done it,

you will end up with something that really is yours.

I'm going to introduce Michael and Hannah to homeowners

who've taken a gamble on other rural properties in similarly poor condition with fantastic results.

To succeed, they'll need the ability to spot a diamond in the rough,

a skill Peter Smith showed when he took on farm wrecks

in Kinloss near Inverness in the early 1990s.

I spotted this place and thought, wow, that has got some potential.

There wasn't any doors, there wasn't any locks, there wasn't any keys.

The residents that were here prior to us

were the mice and rats and pigeons.

I had the vision and so did my wife that we could make a family home,

and it's been a family home even in the days

of when we were all sat round the table sat on bags of cement.

Although they'd never been lived in and were derelict,

Peter snapped up the properties, known as "steadings", for £50,000.

We knew that the first thing we had to do was create something

that would earn some money, so we took what was classed as the buffet.

We built that, we had the luxury of living in it

for three months before we eventually sold it

so as we could then start work on our own property.

With money tight, Peter had to be inventive and resourceful when carrying out the renovation work.

In this house, 99% of the material is reclaimed.

We created the garage out of the stone

and windows that came from the old school.

We didn't want a shiny, new-type house.

We liked the older styles and finer things.

But having the bravery to buy an abandoned place that would have most people running for the hills

has paid off handsomely for Peter.

On the current market today,

I would be expecting something in the region of about 350,000 for this property.

It's such a beautiful place. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

It certainly proves that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

Don't be scared of anything.

There's a lot of things that look daunting

but when you really get down to the nitty-gritty,

they're not as bad as what they seem.

Many of Britain's streets are littered with empty properties decaying,

simply because nobody wants to call them home.

In some areas, the problem has become so acute

that local councils have appointed dedicated individuals

whose job it is to try and get them back into use again.

The nation's empty property officers are the unsung heroes

of the property market, but their job isn't always easy.

In Amber Valley in Derbyshire, its Sue Lee who is charged with

managing the council's 900 long-term empty properties.

In the last year, she's found new owners for more than 100 problem buildings.

It's great when you see a property that's been looking unloved

and you're able to help make it somebody's family home.

Concerned neighbours have called Sue out to investigate a house they say is a blight on the community.

Today I'm off to look at a house where residents have complained

about the appearance of the property

and also the presence of rats...

so I'm going to go and see if their complaint's justified

and see if there's anything I can do to help them.

This semi-detached is believed to be empty

and is in stark contrast to the well-kept property next door.

Sue needs to find out for certain if anyone's living here.

The garden looks overgrown certainly. There's debris left here.

Carpets, bricks.

Seems to be quite a build-up of post visible through the front door,

so I suspect somebody doesn't come back very often,

and I can't see anything through the front windows because the curtains are closed.

Reports of rats in the back garden mean that Sue needs to gain access

to the rear via the neighbours.

-Come on through, duck. Quite a trek but nevertheless...

-SHE CHUCKLES

I'll take you up here.

You'll have to climb through these bushes to have a look, if that's all right.

-OK.

-This is where the rats are coming from.

So they're coming into your garden?

They're coming into my garden from next door.

My Jack Russells have been bringing them in.

-Oh, I can see what you mean. It's completely overgrown.

-Overgrown, isn't it?

-There's washing machines, all sorts of debris.

-There is.

-The shed is absolutely full from top to bottom.

-OK.

All the side of it is all broken down, that's where the rats are coming in.

They come in through my vent kit of my tumble dryer, they've eaten through the pipes.

It's clear the problem with the rodents has rattled the neighbour. In the garden,

Sue quickly spots why the rats are likely to have set up home here.

This shed contains materials that rats or mice might like.

And this lean-to, again... SHE GASPS

Look at this. You can just walk straight in.

That's awful. Right, that is the first job, really. To get the property secure.

Sue needs to find evidence of anyone living here or work out

how long it's been empty and years of experience of dealing with places

like this tell her exactly what clues to look for.

2010. Again, that's 2010.

Again, 2010.

So it's possible then that somebody comes back

to check the mail, which is good for me because if I can't find them,

at least I can correspond at this address and hope that it prompts them

to get back in touch with me.

The next step for Sue is to secure the house and contact her colleagues

in Environmental Health to deal with the rat issue.

She'll also work on tracking down the owner of the property

with the aim of getting them to bring it back to a liveable standard.

It's a shame, it's a good-sized family property that's not lived in yet,

but that's what I'm about, and what I'm here to do.

I'm here to transform it into a family home.

Now, if you fancy taking on an empty property,

rural or otherwise, there are a number of websites that

contain some very useful addresses of properties that are desperate

for a bit of TLC or indeed, lists of barns that are ripe for conversion.

Also, why not contact a local estate agent who may have a list of vacant properties on their books?

But remember though, getting finance can be tricky.

There are mortgage lenders willing to help but your options may be limited.

Hannah and Michael Overton have done a bit of modernising

in previous properties and are looking to take things

to the next level, taking on a rural wreck.

Eurgh!

But there's a big difference of opinion as to what amount of work they're prepared to do.

-You could do something with this.

-Like knock it down!

I want to walk them through what a full renovation really entails,

to help them work out how much they're willing to tackle,

'so I'm taking them to meet someone who's doing a project right now.'

-This is it. Look at that.

-Ooh, OK.

So what we're looking at is this intriguing octagonal structure.

-It's an old dairy building.

-Wow, it's a beautiful structure, isn't it?

-It's really... That is...

-It's got all the character.

-I really like that.

Bruce Stevenson and his wife Melanie

have done three renovations before but this is their most ambitious.

Although they bought it eight months ago, lengthy consultation

with the planners and National Trust means they've only just started work.

Since we saw it we realised, right, we really need to snap this up.

There is a lot of work we could do to make it a really nice property.

Our goal was always to be in within a year. We should just make that.

The single storey property was originally built in

the 19th century as a farm building, with an extension added

in the 1960s.

Hello, mate, nice to see you.

I'm keen for Hannah and Michael to learn from Bruce's

experience, even though the builders have only been on site for a week.

How long before you can move in?

Well, we programmed the project to roughly 14 weeks.

14 weeks? That's quick.

It is pretty quick, and they have come back with a 12 week programme.

Wow, so we are a week in, so in 11 weeks time, potentially,

-you could be out here having a glass of wine and a barbecue.

-Exactly.

-Yeah, great.

So how did you actually locate the builders you've got?

Word of mouth is often the best way.

The next best is, obviously references.

Phoning up people in the last six months who have had work done

by the contractor.

But in this instance, we went to about five contractors, actually.

-Did you put it out to tender?

-I did, yes.

-Oh, OK.

When it comes to paying for building work,

you shouldn't pay all up front.

It is advisable to agree a payment plan with your builder,

where you can pay as and when specific jobs are completed.

I went for a small works contract and it has stage payments in it.

The contract details are stage payments which you agree in advance

and the last thing you want to be doing is holding your contractor up

with payments, because guys like the bricklayers, if they're not paid,

they will not come to site.

-It is something I would recommend.

-Would you live on site?

We have done it before. We would never do it again.

-LAUGHTER

-There will be times when you have no kitchen, no bathroom.

I think if you are gutting a house and re-doing it from scratch,

it is unadvisable.

This place is not so different in character from the old stable block

they saw earlier and within a few months, it will be a stunning home.

I suppose the difference with this

and the stable block is some of the infrastructure is actually here.

Like, you have radiators, you have electricity.

You are making the classic mistake, though.

All of this stuff is moveable.

The wiring, plumbing, everything is going to be relocated.

This is what I was saying about the other project, Hannah.

It all goes in for brand-new, exactly where you want it.

The builder hasn't got to chop and change to get round it.

It goes in straight away before the floors and ceilings are in.

I hope this is allaying some of Hannah's fears,

because I want to convince these two, that a project like this is

something they could embark on, provided they don't

become daunted at the amount of work they'd need to do.

This is the interior of that octagonal building on the outside.

This was the old dairy. There are one or two bits which are quite interesting.

-Can you see the floor, the mosaic floor?

-Is that original?

That is original. This ceiling isn't which is now going to come out.

Can you see these little corbels poking themselves

out from the bottom? They support a fantastic vaulted ceiling.

-Have a look up there through that hatch.

-Oh, wow.

These lovely little iron flowers and colourful details and so forth.

It's a really peaceful room. It's lovely.

-Would you take this on, this one?

-Yes, I would, I would. Totally.

-What I've seen of this so far, I would have bought this.

-Would you?

-Yeah.

-The views and just open farmland and hills, it's great.

So, I'm opening Hannah and Michael's eyes to the possibilities available, but there's a long way to go.

Later I'll be showing them

a finished project completed by someone

who was a renovation novice like they are,

that I think will knock their socks off.

Back in Amber Valley, empty property officer Sue Lee,

is on her way to one of her success stories.

I'm here today to have a look at two flats,

that has been bought by a housing association that we work with.

These two flats in the same building were the subject of probate

and have been left empty for years.

Sue was eventually able to find a buyer

who has completely modernised them.

-Hi, Sue.

-Hi, Christine. Nice to see you.

Sue is meeting Christine from the housing association who has been overseeing the work.

A very old, dangerous fireplace that we had to rip out

and put a far more modern fireplace in.

At the same time, we did a full redecoration

and we have ended up with this.

-A nice, bright, airy room.

-It looks wonderful.

Now, the kitchen was full of very old units.

Nice new kitchen cabinets and we've got a good-size, nice, spacious

kitchen, that can fit a table in

so a family can sit down and have their meal here.

-It's great.

-And we have got a small vestibule area, with a cupboard, for storage -

there is more storage capacity - into a new fitted bathroom.

I think it has given the property a nice, new, fresh, airy feel.

-It looks wonderful, Christine.

-Good.

-It'll be great.

It up to a good standard, it's light, it's spacious,

it's a blank canvas for somebody. It will make a wonderful family home.

-Lovely. I'm really pleased you are happy with it.

-Yes.

-Great.

Now it's been transformed to a high standard,

this flat will become a much-needed home for people on the council's waiting list.

And the couple who have just moved

into the one upstairs couldn't be happier.

It's a brilliant location. And it is a nice house.

We've still got to get a few more things put up like wallpaper,

mirrors, but very happy.

We've got a home together with my lovely partner.

It is really satisfying to see that already,

somebody is moving into one of the flats and the other one is

just now ready for somebody else to move into and make it their home.

So, that is two more properties off Sue's roster

of abandoned buildings.

Hannah and Michael Overton would love to take on a disused building

and make it their own, but nearly fell at the first hurdle when they looked at a derelict stable block.

To persuade them that it's worth seeing past the cobwebs,

I took them to see someone doing a major renovation.

I want to prove once and for all to Hannah and Michael,

that breathing life back into a total wreck, really is worthwhile.

I brought them to another place I think shows what's possible when you put your mind to it.

There we are. What do you think of that one?

All that's missing are the roses climbing up.

Just give it time. There's a big rosebush there.

It's lovely, lovely setting as well, actually, isn't it?

Yes, a terrific setting. This building has had many stages in its evolution,

but believe it or not, it started off as a single-storey stable block.

-Sound familiar?

-Yes, definitely!

In 2006, Olivia Boon bought this detached house

near Aylesbury for just over £450,000.

It had been empty for three years,

before Olivia came along with the vision of making it her family home.

It was something that we'd always wanted to do

and decided to take on the challenge when we finally saw it because

it was a lovely proportioned house and we saw

what could be done to it if it had some love and care.

Having originally started out life as a single story stable block,

at a later date, a previous owner added the first floor, making it a house.

Olivia's eight-month renovation has created a gorgeous five-bed

family home with an amazing open-plan kitchen diner,

all set in more than two acres of land including an orchard.

Olivia, nice to see you. Let me introduce you to Michael and Hannah.

-Hello.

-We are all, not surprisingly,

very impressed with what you have done to the house.

What attracted you to it in the first place?

Well, when we first saw it, it was a big shock.

It was disgusting, dirty, foul, damp, unliveable in really,

and it took a weekend of talking

but we were getting really excited about it by the Sunday night,

and what the potential was for both the house and the land.

Yes. We have been to see a stable block.

It was dirty, it was damp, it was filthy,

then we walked round the back and it was like walking into the magic forest.

It was thick, it was dense, it was overgrown.

It sounds very similar to when we first saw the property.

It was quite a shock.

There were trees, nettles, brambles, right up to the windows.

I didn't have an open mind at first.

But, clearing, we found quite an extensive orchard with apples,

pears and plums in it.

You've got a wonderful spot here, now. Look at that, guys.

-2.2 acres...

-About that.

-Stretching off there.

We did do a lot of the work ourselves.

That cut down significantly on some of the costs

so I laid the majority of the patio myself.

-Wow, that is pretty good!

-I had arms like Popeye by the end of it!

So, do you have any tips and advice

for our two budding renovators here?

I think it is keeping an open mind when you first go to the project.

And look at the space for what the space is, not for how it is now,

however dirty, disgusting and horrible a project might be.

And keeping an open mind was something that is quite hard to do,

when you are sort of up to elbows in plasterboard.

But as you start to personalise the house,

you start to understand the potential of it.

Inside, they have made great use of the available light

and I hope the fabulous finish will finally prove to Hannah that places

like the stable block they saw earlier, can be outstanding homes.

I mean, this is probably the original width of the stable block.

-Sure, yes.

-Probably not far off what you have looked at.

I mean, putting in the bay windows makes a big difference.

That is what is really attractive,

is it's this very light, airy property, windows all round.

There is natural light coming in which really makes a difference.

That is the great thing about taking on a building like this. You can put all that sort of thing in.

This is the kitchen diner.

Look at this, Hannah.

Oh, yes! Really nice. Very, very nice. I love the wall.

-This is the old external wall.

-Of course. Nice, yes, very nice.

Do you think you could go about it

with the passion and determination that will be required to actually see this

through to completion?

Well, after seeing something like this,

and realising what you can do, makes you realise that these things

are within your grasp and you can go out and get them.

That's the spirit.

The real lesson for Hannah and Michael to take

from Olivia's experience of renovating,

is not to allow the appearance of a property to put them off.

If they look beyond the dereliction and dirt,

I know they'll see their perfect country home,

provided they put in the work.

So, what have you learnt from this process, do you think?

Have we persuaded you, I wonder, if an empty, derelict, unloved property is for you?

What are the key things that you will take away from this experience?

I've learnt about the builders, the contract

and paying them in instalments which was a concern of mine.

So tenders, stage payments, that sort of thing?

That's always been a concern of mine. Now I am more in the light of what to do.

Now, when I met to you earlier, and we discussed the stable block,

it was quite a big renovation, that,

and I think you were a little bit daunted by what was involved.

We have shown the two properties which have gone through

the same process of transformation,

do you feel a bit more confident about taking on such a big build?

Yes, I think actually I do, genuinely.

Of course, I have been inspired today.

It has opened my eyes a lot, made me see I can do a lot more than

I could do before, or what I thought I could do before.

Now, by looking at it at a different angle, I can see the package come together.

Good. Well, guys, it has been a real pleasure showing you around.

I hope you are now better equipped to go out and find an empty property

that you can turn into your own dream home of the future.

-Who knows?

-Thanks, it has been a pleasure.

-Thank you very much.

As we have seen, turning a wreck into a home, can often be

a stressful, painstaking and time-consuming business.

But for the brave few who are prepared to take on the gamble,

the rewards are priceless.

A terrific sense of achievement, and of course,

a beautiful home thrown into the bargain.

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