Andy Erlam Britain's Empty Homes

Across the country, empty properties that could be homes are just waiting

to be brought back into use.

I'll be finding out why,

and what you need to do to rescue a house for yourself.

Along the way,

I'll be doing some digging of my own to find out more about

our housing stock, our heritage, and why we should be reinventing

and preserving Britain's empty homes.

There are thousands of empty properties in the UK just waiting to be brought back into use.

When you see a derelict house with windows boarded up,

it's easy to forget that people used to live there,

they used to look after the place and love it.

It appears that many of these homes are on their last legs.

But the reality is, they're just waiting for someone

to take them on and help write their next chapter.

Today, I'll be meeting a would-be playwright who dreams of renovating

a large, empty property into a uniquely creative home.

Well, I always wanted a house with a swimming pool!

Whether that should be your whole house or not is the question!

I'll also meet a couple who have transformed

an unusual empty property into a spacious statement home.

Wow! This is your living room, isn't it?

And I'll be following the property detectives who track down

the owners of forgotten houses and help bring them back to life.

Use it or lose it.

If you don't start doing something soon, we will take it off you.

Andy Irlam has decided to pursue his lifelong ambition

of becoming a playwright,

and is looking for an unconventional home as his new creative base.

I'm starting a new chapter in my life.

The idea of having a completely open mind

and a blank piece of canvas, as they say, really appeals.

Andy feels an empty property could be the way forward,

and has a budget of about £400,000 to spend.

I want to buy an empty property,

partly because there's potential for it to be really good value for money,

and to make a home that really suits me in terms of what I want.

It's also a crying shame that there are so many empty properties

in this country, and they should be used.

It appeals in all sorts of ways.

I've brought Andy to the historic town of St Leonards-on-Sea, near Hastings,

to look at a spacious and unusual vacant building

which might just fit the bill.

This vast property is Grade II listed and is on the market for £280,000.

-Do you know much about St Leonards-on-Sea?

-Not really, no.

It's a Victorian seaside town.

What's very interesting about it is, a lot of it was conceived and built

by a father-and-son duo, James and Decimus Burton.

They're quite well known for their contribution to London architecture

around Regent's Park, around Bloomsbury,

and had a major impact in this town.

It was kind of built for the wealthy -

this seaside resort was very popular with the aristocracy.

I mention them because they were responsible for this building here.

This is what I have brought you to see.

You said you liked character, something a bit unusual.

It's a bit wacky.

It certainly ticks that box!

Yes, it does. You can see above the door, 1871.

It actually predates that - it goes back to 1864.

I'll explain that date when we go in.

It's Grade II listed,

and it was James Burton who designed and built this.

-It was a Turkish baths.

-OK.

One of only seven of its kind.

-Intriguing?

-Fantastic!

-Shall we have a look inside?

-Yes, please.

So, come on through.

THEY LAUGH

What can I say?

-Unusual, huh?

-It'd make a good dance school!

At one point here, there was a swimming pool.

That is what correlates to the 1871 at the front.

It was built in 1864. The school put a swimming pool here in 1871.

This is the original surround.

It goes all the way around in this old brick, which is lovely.

I always wanted a house with a swimming pool!

Whether that should be your whole house is the other question!

Let's look at some more features.

If you come across to a little bit of border

that's been cut open, you can see...

down there...

..must be the original tiles of the swimming pool.

I love the way the eaves have been constructed with lovely wood.

And these stained windows, some of which are still...

-Exactly.

-They're in good condition.

Have a wander around. I've been guiding you,

but feel free to explore and have a peep around here.

The building has enjoyed a colourful history.

It began life as a Turkish bath, before becoming a school, a church

and, more recently, a factory making scientific glass,

hence its current name of Scientific House.

-Is there any outside garden or terrace?

-No, this is it. You've got your final wall here.

So, you'd have to bring your plants inside. By the pool.

OK. And water them.

You wanted quirky and character. What did you make of that?

I certainly wanted to look at some wacky properties, and that is wacky!

Very interesting. I'd like to speak to some of the professionals

and pick their brains about the possibilities and so on.

In general terms, it doesn't put you off empty properties?

You're still up for this kind of challenge?

Quite the reverse. It's made me more and more interested in it,

so thanks very much.

The great thing about Andy

is that he's at an exciting point in his life.

He can live pretty much anywhere.

He's got a good budget, and he's up for creating a unique home.

However, when you take on a project of this magnitude,

it can be incredibly challenging and daunting,

no matter what experience you have had before.

It is really important he meets a couple who've been through this,

and they can help him understand

exactly what he's letting himself in for.

Not every empty home is fortunate enough to attract potential buyers.

Across the country, it's the job of councils' empty property officers

to change the fortunes of Britain's forgotten homes.

Dave Carter is empty property officer for Enfield, north London.

When I come across an empty house,

I don't see just the bricks and mortar.

I see a potential family house.

Today, Dave is meeting a home owner

who's battling some particularly persistent squatters.

A dispute with a builder

has led to Graciela Konkowski's house being left empty for years.

Hello there.

-Hello, Mrs Konkowski.

-Hello.

-Nice to see you again.

Shall we have a look? Thanks.

This empty property was, years ago, our family home.

However, I've detached myself from it completely now,

and I just want to finish the project and for it to be a family home again.

But the presence of squatters have added to her problems.

We've had to have security measures.

However, they're still managing to get in.

As you can see, this is one of the rooms

they've been using to sleep in.

They've thrown a piece of concrete through the window

to gain access to the property.

-They really wanted to get in, didn't they?

-Yeah, yeah.

Graciela has recently employed a local

to take over the building project, and he's got his work cut out, too.

We were here yesterday, just having a quick look around,

seeing if there's any further ingress,

and found squatters doing their laundry.

It can act as an incentive to speed things along,

and get the property occupied as soon as possible.

Squatters have taken advantage of the fact

that next door is also vacant, and smashed through a wall to get in.

They made a two foot by two foot hole in the wall

to have access to both properties.

-Right.

-We've secured it as well as we can,

and hopefully we won't get a re-occurrence.

We've had some problems out in the hallway

where they've stolen copper piping.

Obviously, copper piping is expensive, and they sell it.

We've had water dripping down from the loft into the hallway.

Dave is not done yet.

He's wants to do some detective work at the neighbouring property.

I have concerns about the condition of the house next door.

It's boarded up from the front,

and there's no sign of squatters, but I need to look at the back.

It doesn't take long for Dave to work out what's been going on.

There. It's clear that anyone who wants to get in can just come and go

and we can see the sort of damage that they can do - the hole in the wall of next door.

So now Dave knows next door has got squatters too, he can take action.

The sooner Graciela gets her house inhabited, the better for everyone.

I need to track down the owners and saying to them, "Use it or lose it.

"If you don't start doing something soon, we will take it off you."

Dave is now in talks with the owners to resolve the problem,

but fortunately, not all vacant properties

come with so many complications.

There's many ways you can tackle an empty home when you find one.

You could employ an architect to completely redesign the house.

You could hire a building firm to do the work for you,

or do as much of it as possible yourself.

One thing is for sure, though - whichever option you choose,

the home at the end of it will feel uniquely yours.

In Powys, mid Wales,

architectural woodworker John Nethercote and his wife Annie

have turned an abandoned 16th-century manor house

into a spectacular family home.

We drove into the yard and it was winter,

it was gloomy, it was wet, it was really horrible.

The whole house was clad in concrete

as they were trying to keep the weather out.

There was this extraordinary lump on the front of the house.

John said, "Ah, that's an oriel window."

We set to because of John enthusiasm and knowledge, as much as anything.

Basically, because of John's understanding

of the genre, I suppose, you listened to the house, didn't you?

That's what it boils down to - let the house speak.

This property had been empty for over a year-and-a-half.

It was in quite a state when John and Annie discovered it.

The real trouble starts

with these things when you start taking out the stuff

that you know doesn't belong to the original fabric.

We were very fortunate here for the house not to be listed,

so we carried on letting the house speak to us - where the walls should or shouldn't be,

where the windows should or shouldn't be,

and it wasn't rocket science, to be quite honest.

The house told us what to do next.

This restoration project has been a real labour of love,

but the Nethercotes aren't finished yet.

We just decided to go for it,

and I think if we had thought about the amount of work and the amount of time and money

it actually cost, it would have scared us. But, having said that,

we don't regret a single minute of it.

John and Annie snapped up this incredible place

for the bargain price of £45,000.

It's taken them 25 years to restore,

and has cost them around £425,000.

All of John and Annie's careful work has paid off.

Their home was recently valued at over £1 million.

As an extra bonus, the house has now been reinstated as a Grade II listed property.

I feel really proud that we've re-presented it to the world

because the person who built it in the first instance

was a very fine craftsman.

To be able to re-establish it as a beautiful place is, you know...

I'm proud of it and I think it was a privilege really

-that we were able to do it.

-Yes.

Of course, not every home is lucky enough to belong to loving owners

who can devote 25 years to restoring it.

However, when buildings of historical significance are left empty and at risk of dereliction,

people will often go the extra mile to save them.

A year ago, we followed a campaign by Dulwich Council's empty property officers

to restore an iconic 100-year-old building back to its former glory.

This unusual building was constructed in 1873

by Charles Drake, the era's most enthusiastic promoter

of a revolutionary and, back then, expensive building material -

concrete.

Local empty property officer Celia Esimaje campaigned for years

to save this historic house, and now it seems to have paid off.

I'm meeting the architect, Paul Latham,

to see how this fascinating restoration project is going.

This is a treat. It's rare we get to revisit a property.

First of all, it's been years, hasn't it, to get inside this?

-13 years.

-13 years of campaigning and dedication.

-I've got to see inside.

-OK.

-After you.

Wow! First of all, there's no ceiling and no floors.

-Exactly.

-It's a total wreck, isn't it?

-It's amazing.

I know there are no floors here. Can we go upstairs?

-Is there a way up?

-You can, yes. We can get up there, if you want to have a look.

-Yes, definitely. Let's do it.

-Right.

When fully renovated,

this building will be put to good use as affordable housing.

We'll have one flat down there, one flat here,

-the same on the other side, and then a top floor up there.

-Exactly.

The material you're celebrating here is concrete,

but that's also, I assume, the bane of your life?

That's why it's such a hard project, and why it's going to cost so much?

Indeed. It's why the building is still surviving.

A brick building without the floors would have collapsed.

This is special because of the unique stage

in the development of the material, concrete.

This uses steel plates. We build our tower blocks with this same system,

so it's an important building from that point of view.

Part of the project is that from the outside it will look correct,

as it would have done in 1873 when Drake finished this building,

which, incidentally, took no more than about 10 days to build.

-10 days? That is phenomenal.

-Exactly.

In Victorian times, it normally took twice as long

to build a typical house made of bricks.

But this architect, Charles Drake, had a dream -

to build housing quickly and therefore cheaply from concrete.

However, his plans had one central flaw.

Unfortunately, he didn't understand that small detail,

which is that you need reinforcing rods, otherwise the building isn't strong enough.

So to conclude, this is going to be a project that provides affordable housing.

But much more, it is a homage to Drake,

the first constructor in concrete, who pioneered many of the principles

we still build by today?

Absolutely, yes. That's a very fair comment.

Well, this is clearly an amazing project,

not just because of those who campaigned for years to save it,

not because the housing association and the council had the foresight

to stop it falling down,

but because very soon this special piece of our heritage

will be both a monument to a Victorian pioneer,

and, once again, a home for the people lucky enough to live here.

Earlier, I met Andy Irlam, who is after an unusual empty property of his own

to renovate. I took him to St Leonards-on-Sea

where we looked around the historic but derelict Scientific House.

Now I want Andy to see how commercial buildings

can be transformed into unique homes.

And I've got a bit of a surprise for him.

Now, Andy, if I get you to turn around and have a look...

this is it.

Another building that wasn't originally a home.

Can you tell what it used to be?

-A pub?

-A pub, exactly right.

-Shall we take a look?

-Yeah, fantastic.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Can we come in? Thank you.

-So...

-Wow!

-Yes, wow. Wow, wow, wow!

I'm guessing Andy's taken aback by the owners' interior design,

but it's all down to their profession.

Can you guess what they make?

Neon lights?

Yes, bits of neon and fairground-style illuminations.

When designers Philip and Olivia bought the pub, the Admiral Benbow,

in 2008, they saw the potential for a modern and contemporary home.

This three-storey building had been sitting empty for six months when Philip and Olivia bought it.

The property was for sale at auction,

but the level of renovation work required put many buyers off.

We saw the pub for sale and we just made a ludicrously low offer

on it at auction, and we ended up buying it.

But we initially didn't have any idea

what we were going to do for it.

It was just a spur-of-the-moment purchase.

The pub required a complete renovation,

which cost Philip and Olivia £100,000.

This has been a challenging two-and-a-half-year-long project.

We had a lot of early pain, not having heating and hot water,

lots of dust and stuff like that.

We haven't had holidays or anything,

but ultimately, because we were both concentrating on it, it's worked out.

I think if I was on my own...

Trying to do a project like this on your own could be very difficult.

I think you need somebody else to lean on occasionally.

I couldn't have done it without Olivia.

This spectacular building is now a unique living and working space.

The ground floor has become a design studio

where Philip and Olivia both work,

while the top two floors are their three-bedroom flat

full of collectables and bespoke lighting.

Wow!

Putting the artwork to one side,

there are many valuable renovation lessons to be learnt here.

First things first - your eyes are instantly drawn upwards.

What would you call it, a skylight?

Skylight, lantern.

Was it always there?

Yes, when this was built as a snooker room,

then they boarded it over and made a flat roof. We've reinstated it.

What did you do - did you get planners round

to show them what you were planning and thinking about and get some input?

Yes, we got local architects who already have a relationship

with the planners, and they did the planning application for me.

If you can, if you rip out all the stuff to begin with,

and then get the architects in

when you know what you want to do with the building.

When it's all exposed, it's much easier for an architect and structural engineer

to work out what's feasible. If you get them in from day one,

you could waste several thousand pounds

coming up with schemes that can't be done,

or you change your mind.

This room is actually very similar to the one we saw earlier.

It's almost like a scaled-down version of the swimming pool.

Has it inspired you to see how it could be finished off?

Yes, it's fantastic. You've given me some ideas

about how the other property could really be developed

without spoiling the basic qualities of the room and the building.

This is our bedroom.

Your bedroom. Now, the individual touches stand out here.

Am I right in thinking this was one of the reasons you came to this area?

That's how we ended up here.

We were coming down to Hastings

to buy bits of furniture, fittings and stuff like that,

for jobs I was doing in London.

When you take on a building, in this case an empty property,

that wasn't really a home,

you have so many options ahead of you, don't you?

Yeah, you do. You have a lot of ideas.

You keep thinking, "I could have this, I could have that,"

but you slowly eliminate some ideas,

and come down to what you really want.

What I suggest is somebody comes down, strips the building out,

and gets to know the area, get to know what they want,

get to know local tradesmen - by references,

not just by discussions in pubs -

and then work out a budget, and make sure you plan in architects,

getting rid of rubbish, which is very expensive now,

making little mistakes,

and not get too carried away with, you know,

unrealistic...appliances and luxury items, you know. Try and keep it tight,

and see what's left at the end for those finishing touches.

Don't put them in the budget initially.

How are you feeling now, Andy,

having seen all of this, about empty properties in general?

Is it something you'd be up for,

for that challenge of taking it on in the way these two have?

Well, it sounds more and more interesting, actually,

having seen how you've taken this through to a successful conclusion.

So, more enthusiastic, yes.

In Enfield, empty property officer Dave Carter

is devoted to rescuing derelict and abandoned houses.

But it's not always an easy journey getting an empty home

back to its former glory.

20 years ago, the council discovered this rundown and unloved house.

This property is very significant,

in that it was the first one the council had managed to compulsory purchase.

We were forced to take action because the owner

was unresponsive to any of our requests

to either renovate the property, clean it up,

let alone get it occupied.

It's taken two decades

of hard work to get this building back to a habitable state.

The council was forced to auction the property

with a legal obligation written in

that the new owner must fully renovate it.

After all his hard work to save the house,

Dave wants to see what the new owners have done with the place.

-Good morning.

-Hello.

-Hello. I'm Dave Carter from the council.

-A pleasure to meet you.

-Can I come in and have a look?

-Yes, come in.

Nice to see you after all this time.

The current owner, Carolina Gurdick, lives here with her boyfriend.

She has no idea of the house's recent history, so is fascinated to find out more.

I have never been in that room

because it was so piled high with rubbish -

-all I could do was stick my head around the corner.

-Really?

If you'd show me the kitchen, that'd be great.

Lovely flooring, you've got.

Thank you very much.

This is lovely.

You've done a lovely job here.

Yes, that's our bedroom.

If you could just see how this used to be.

You could actually see the sky.

You've done such a lovely job, I'm really pleased.

So, that's our bathroom.

Oh, beautiful.

You won't actually believe this but about six years ago,

there was actually a tree growing over here!

It was growing out of the wall.

The roots were coming down inside the house.

For Dave, getting this house renovated and inhabited

has been a personal crusade.

It looks like all his determination has been worth it.

It is a day which I genuinely thought would never happen, today.

I am so pleased that the house is now renovated and back into use.

Earlier, I met Andy Irlam, who's interested in taking on

an unusual property to do up.

I showed Andy the derelict Scientific House

in St Leonards-on-Sea,

and took him to meet a local couple who have taken on

a renovation of a similar scale.

Now, I'm meeting up with Andy

to see if he still feels ready to take on an empty property.

Now we're at the end of today,

compare yourself to how you were a bit earlier -

how much more confidence are you going forward with?

Well, er, quite a bit more.

I had dreams about making a really unique property

using the limited budget that I had.

I didn't know how realistic that was.

But having met people who have successfully

taken things through to a conclusion,

I feel much more confident than I did at the beginning of the day.

That you, too, could make an empty property your home?

Why not?

It's not always easy to see what a derelict property can become,

but hopefully, with everything that Andy has witnessed today,

he will now have the confidence to make his own unique home

from an empty property.

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