Jason Rodd and Gail Dewing Britain's Empty Homes

Up and down the country,

there are properties waiting to be brought back to life.

I'll be discovering why and how you can turn a diamond in the rough

into a gem of a home.

We'll be following the Empty Property Officers

whose job it is to track down the owners of these forgotten houses

and get them back into use.

And I'll be finding out more

about more about our housing stock, our history

and why we should both be preserving and reinventing

Britain's empty homes.

The decision to take on an empty property

and turn it into your home is never a simple one.

In taking on a building that's been standing vacant, there's always

an element of the unknown.

But if you are prepared to do your research, plan and work hard,

the benefits and rewards can far outweigh the risks.

On today's show, I'll be meeting a couple who've taken on

a disused house and have plans for a major renovation...

In effect, it'll be two houses, so you've got old at the front

and brand spanking new at the back.

..I'll see what's being done to get houses lived in again

along one of Britain's busiest roads...

I think the community's getting back on its feet, following the blight and uncertainty.

..and we'll be following

one of Britain's Empty Property Officers, as they work

to bring abandoned buildings back into use.

Finally, for local people who live in this street,

it's going to be an end of a nightmare for them.

Jason Rodd and his fiancee Gail Dewing recently spent

£200,000 on this detached cottage in the Nottinghamshire village

of Southwell, home to the Bramley Apple.

Dating back to the 17th century,

it's believed to have been a former orchard worker's cottage.

I think we fell for it a bit,

even with the agent's photograph on the front of the details.

It was obviously taken on a sunny day and it did look

really nice and classic and cottage-y.

When the previous owner moved into a retirement home,

the house fell into disrepair.

Gail and Jason are planning a total overhaul.

We almost felt sorry for the building...

The brickwork and everything is so lovely at front,

and then you've got this utterly hideous

'70s flat-roof extension on the back.

A project on this scale is new for both of them

and while Jason has done some renovation work before,

for Gail, this is a step into the unknown.

I have no experience, no physical, manual skills,

but I do have vision of where we're going to get to.

I'm meeting Jason and Gail at their cottage to discuss their plans

and hear their ideas on how to unite the old house

and the brand-new modern extension they're looking to build.

So, guys, tell me about your beautiful cottage here.

It was previously empty for over six months

and we're in the process of renovating it.

-Can we go inside and have a look round?

-Absolutely.

Brilliant. Lead the way.

At the moment, the house has three bedrooms and a small living area,

but Gail and Jason have big ideas for the property.

So, we're in the main part of the cottage, the living room.

-That's correct.

-It's beautiful, really cosy size.

Now, where do you start on a project like this?

The first thing we had to do was get the house dried out.

It was absolutely damp, you could smell it as soon as you came in.

So, the first brief was get as much off the walls as you possibly could,

which... Jason has done all the work in here, as you can see.

Already, the house is drying out.

What's the grand plan?

What's your vision for the place, what do you want to do with it?

Well, it's a home for life.

It will be three stages,

so...renovating and repairing the old two-up, two-down cottage.

Stage two is an extension, so big, family...a modern kitchen.

So, everything outside of this two-up, two-down

will be modern, new and contemporary.

And we'll be living as a family in that part of the building.

And then, we're putting another annexe outside of the house.

A completely separate new build at the north end of the property.

And the wood burner here is temporary?

It's going to help you to dry out the place and give you some warmth

-while you work.

-Yeah.

-Are you on gas here? How does it work?

There's been nothing to the property whatsoever.

We're currently researching all the renewable options,

which we're really interested in, apart from the cost.

So tricky, isn't it? Because you're plying all your efforts and energies

into making this a home for life, and all the energy solutions

out there that are perhaps the greenest

do require quite a lot of investment upfront.

I'm curious where this extension would go.

-Shall we go through to the back?

-Yeah, sure.

This might be a small cottage,

but it's a massive renovation that Jason and Gail are taking on.

Where are we here? What was this on the back of the house?

Well, this was the previous owner's kitchen.

Really small space. This is like a warren of rooms here,

and you've got, I can see, more modern brick there,

so that's an add-on again, is it?

That's the 1970s flat-roof extension coming off

this very tiny original kitchen.

What is your budget for a project of this size?

It's a big, big project.

We're going to try really hard to stick within the £75,000.

Obviously, it doesn't include stage three,

which is a complete new build at the other end of the property.

-Are you living somewhere else at the moment?

-Yeah.

Are you having to pay rent, or...?

-No, we are actually paying another mortgage.

-OK.

But as soon as we can get a bathroom of sorts

and some sort of living conditions

then we will move in.

Where would you like a bit more help?

What is it you're still exploring and thinking about

and developing ideas with?

Well, we've already mentioned the heating and energy efficiency,

and also the transition between old and new.

We're quite adamant... In effect, it'll be two houses,

so you've got old at the front and brand spanking new at the back...

Making sure it's a smooth transition,

but a wow factor at the same time.

-It's difficult to visualise that at the moment.

-Yeah.

You just have to hope you're going the right way,

but it's nice to see when it's already been done

and get some guidance from that.

Look, as I say, you do seem to be on track,

but it's always good to get some more guidance

and see how other people have tackled this kind of thing.

There's always room for more ideas.

Later on, we'll go and see another period property that's had a complete renovation.

I think you'll take a lot from it, and it'll be nice to speak

to the guys that have been through a complete project.

We'll get as much help and advice there - and, really, inspiration.

You can rule things in, rule things out, see what you like.

-Sound good?

-Yeah, definitely. Thanks.

-Great.

What a beautiful little cottage!

You can see why Gail and Jason are besotted with this place,

and they've started in exactly the right way,

sorting out the structure to make sure it's all nice and sound.

But they've definitely got a lot ahead of them, so it will be good

for them to meet people who've been through this before,

exchange ideas, and just get that little bit of extra inspiration.

We've all walked past them and possibly

not even given them a second thought,

but abandoned buildings lying disused and desolate

have the potential to become homes once again.

Luckily, there are Empty Property Officers up and down the country

working to bring these forgotten places back into use.

In Lewisham, south-east London, it's the job of Nick Long

to find new owners for the unloved properties on his patch.

Since he's been in the post,

he and his team have brought around 3,000 empties back into use.

Today he's on his way to a house

which has been empty for the past six months.

Nick is working with the family of the owner to get it lived in again.

It's a property that is owned by an elderly gentleman,

and we're working with the family to try and make an assessment

of whether this property can be saved and made safe.

Sadly, the owner is unable to live independently and has moved out.

Nick is concerned about possible structural problems

at the front of the house, so he's called in his colleague Kevin Foley,

a building control officer from Lewisham Council.

It looks to me as though there's a certain amount of subsidence

to the front bay.

I've noticed that there's chunks falling off the building, actually.

If it's as dangerous as I think it possibly could be,

we would need to get contractors in today or tomorrow...

But I think we need to have a closer look

-to see what we're dealing with.

-OK, let's do that.

With signs of possible subsidence

and the risk of injury to the public,

Nick and Kevin need to assess the structure of the bay window

more closely.

See the diagonal cracks that indicate...

that there has been movement on the bay and...

..they're quite deep and wide and they are more than superficial.

They're going all the way through the brickwork, you can see.

Nick and Kevin continue their inspection

on the first floor of the house.

You can clearly see daylight

through the mullions and the brickwork.

And probably...

Yep, just...

As you can see, if that was to fall on someone's head...

Do quite a bit of damage.

I think, looking at the balcony next door,

that's something we'll need to go and have a closer look at.

Here we've got this stone balcony,

which you can see is moving away from the main wall of the building.

Obviously, if that was to fall forward,

that could do some serious damage to anyone who's passing below.

Are you coming to a view that this is a dangerous structure?

This thing could fall over next week.

Obviously, we can't take the risk,

so, as a matter of urgency, we want to get our contractors in

just to make this front bay safe.

It's clear some urgent structural repairs need to be done.

Only then can this house become a home once more.

We'll serve a Dangerous Structure Notice on the property,

get our contractors in,

make the front of the property safe and secure

and that allows the occupiers or the owners of the building

some time to arrange for repairs to be carried out.

Since Nick's visit, the council has brought in a specialist contractor

to put scaffolding in place, securing the structure

of the front bay window.

Taking on an empty dilapidated building

can be a tough and stressful undertaking.

But the stunning results that can be achieved

are just one of the reasons why it's becoming a desirable way

to create your dream home.

And that's exactly what Ian and Tina Walker found

when they decided to take a gamble

on this Grade II listed thatched cottage

in Peterborough in 2006.

It was condemned, empty,

derelict, full of scrap,

on the verge of collapse

and a building worth saving.

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

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

It hadn't been lived in for around 50 years

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

The Walkers bought it for £47,500

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

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

That I could also do it in the way that I felt that it should be done,

was brilliant. Just life...

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

As a joiner, Ian could dedicate his skills

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

Generally speaking, it was in such a bad way

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

We tried to keep as much of its original fabric -

and he definitely did - as we could,

but to reuse it our way.

By taking on a condemned house,

Ian and Tina were able to create their idyllic family home

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

and it's now worth £275,000.

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

You just turn round and look at it

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

Whatever we've done,

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

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

and that's a big deal.

Across the country, road building projects that have stalled

can often lead to problems with large numbers of empty properties.

The area around the North Circular here in Enfield

has suffered decades of neglect.

Years of problems with fly-tipping, squatting,

arson and vermin have made places uninhabitable.

But with 75,000 people on London's waiting list,

these homes are resources that need to be used.

Back in the '60s and '70s,

the Government worked to compulsory purchase houses

along this two-mile stretch of the A406

to make way for a road widening scheme that never materialised,

leaving hundreds of homes to fall into disrepair.

But today, more than 40 years later,

250 properties are in their final phase of being refurbished

and the entire area is being brought back to life.

I've come to meet Ken Barnett, the project manager

from Notting Hill Housing Trust to find out more.

Ken, remind me, how did we get to a situation where so many properties

along the A406, the North Circular, were sitting empty for years?

It started back in the 1960s, when the Department Of Transport

started to buy up properties,

planning to make the road into a dual carriageway.

That decision was subsequently shelved but, in the meantime,

total uncertainty and total blight of the area.

The Housing Trust purchased the houses from Transport For London

and is in the process of bringing them back into use.

What's the cost of doing this? What sort of money is involved?

We are spending just in excess of £10 million

of refurbishment costs on that.

That includes the clean-up of the gardens

and everything that was squatted.

In terms of the works we're doing, we're doing, broadly,

new roofs, new kitchens, new bathrooms,

we're reconfiguring some properties, just to make them more usable,

bringing them up to modern-day standards.

Finally, what difference does all this make? How important is it?

I think the community is getting back on its feet,

following the blight and uncertainty

which has gone on for a long, long time.

And one local resident, Maureen Stephenson,

has benefited from the housing project.

Having lived in the area for 14 years, she's now living

in one of the improved properties,

complete with double glazing to minimise the road noise.

Before the regeneration started along the A406, it was really bad,

the houses were derelict and run down, there were squatters,

people used to fly-tip, dump rubbish everywhere.

You really felt like you were living in a slum. It wasn't very nice.

The work being done here really has made

a positive difference to the area.

It is so lovely to see all those houses back in use

and, you know, nicely decorated...

And families are going to move in

so that we can have a community again.

For so many years, when you drove down this road,

you'd just see boarded-up house after boarded-up house,

but now, finally, the area is being brought back to life.

And it's not just about revitalising the community,

it's also about getting people off the housing waiting lists

and providing much-needed homes for families.

I'm with Jason Rodd and Gail Dewing

who bought a derelict house which they plan to renovate

and add to with a new, contemporary extension.

I want them to meet someone who's carried out a similar project

and can give them some great advice.

Right, guys, this is the property I want you to see.

Detached red-brick house dating back to 1903.

It was empty for a whole year. It was in a pretty poor condition.

Peter and his wife worked on it, he dedicated himself to it

for a whole year, just to do it up.

He's been working on it in bits ever since,

so a lot of work has gone into it.

-I think we should go and say hello.

-OK.

Interior designer Peter Tasker and wife Vicky

fell for the red-brick Victorian detached house at first sight.

The front of the house was what first drew us to it,

because there were so many nice architectural features.

But the inside was quite a different story.

Yes, very damp and there were lots of cracks everywhere.

The couple bought the house in 2005 for £300,000

and to save money, they decided to live in the property

whilst work was ongoing.

Well, we got the keys, and then we literally all moved in

and started working.

Yeah, we piled all our possessions in this room

and started painting throughout.

Impressively, Peter did much of the work himself,

only calling in the professionals for the specialist jobs.

We wouldn't have been able to do the project without

basically deciding we were going to do the work ourselves.

We dug out the floor, we mixed the gobo...

-I mean, we did all of that, didn't we?

-Yeah.

And for those who don't know, gobo is concrete,

and these people clearly know their stuff.

So, Peter's meeting us today to offer

some ideas and inspiration for Gail and Jason.

-It's quite an extension, isn't it?

-Wow.

-Yeah.

-Absolutely.

-It's a fantastic space.

-Yeah.

So, it strikes me as something quite similar to your plans,

in that it's extending out the back, it's getting that width

and that one big, open-plan space.

As soon as you walk in, you feel it's cosy,

yet light and airy at the same time.

For me, this is definitely the aspect that I wanted... Well, want.

You know, you walk in and there's a wow factor.

And the light... Have you thought about where you'd bring light in,

or how you would use windows in your extension?

Seeing the amount of natural light you've managed to bring in here,

it's something we're going to maybe pay a bit more attention to

before we make any big decisions on that,

because it is really impressive and it helps to set the whole room off

with so much natural light. It's lovely.

You guys are looking at energy and heating solutions.

-What are you...? You're on gas here, aren't you?

-Yes.

Did you think of using anything else,

or going for any particular green technologies?

I looked into solar panels, I looked into turbines...

but the initial outlay was too much in every case.

Having underfloor heating makes a big difference.

Is that throughout here, or throughout the ground floor?

-Throughout the ground floor.

-Yeah.

The beauty of this is you've got your insulation

and then a slab of concrete.

What happens is it heats that concrete

and then that becomes like a storage heater.

So, how sympathetic did you keep the look of it from the outside?

Did you stay with the red brick? That's what you're thinking, right?

We went with the Imperial sized brick.

I sourced the blue engineering bricks with the chamfer,

which I had to have handmade.

The bricklayer did really good...

they call it dental work, to try and match the existing corbelling

and that sort of thing.

Yeah, I think when you look, it is in-keeping.

-That's what you think, be as sympathetic as possible?

-Yeah.

These guys are thinking of getting a bathroom, a bedroom ready

and trying to moving as soon as possible to be there.

-Is that something you would advise?

-Yes, I would.

Because otherwise you're paying for two...accommodations

and you would be heating two areas too.

As a reality check, how tough is it?

It's not that pleasant, is it?

It isn't.

You just have to enjoy your food with dust in,

and enjoy doing a lot of cleaning.

But you do end up with some nice results.

That's not going to put you off. I sense the usual determination.

Yeah, we're determined and we both know it will be worth it in the end.

You know, it's the endgame, isn't it?

I love this, I think it's an amazing space.

As you said, it really does have that wow factor.

But, I think we should also look around a bit further,

-so shall we pop to the front of the house?

-Yes.

Peter and his wife carried out

a complete renovation from the ground up,

creating a truly stunning family home.

Right, this is your front sitting room.

Huge project, it's a big house, what did you budget for that?

We budgeted about 40,000, initially.

As the project has taken more and more time,

obviously we've eaten into that,

-but we seem to be pretty much on budget.

-Really?

-Yeah.

How much of it was spent on the extension, as a proportion of that?

I think the whole extension,

just the infrastructure of getting it built,

was about 15,000.

It's encouraging you can add on such a big space

like you have for that kind of budget.

When you first moved in, did you have a clear idea that

you were going to keep the old part of the house very much separate,

or did you feel that you wanted to integrate?

Well, we always quite liked the idea of eclectic,

in the sense that you may have old pieces and old bits,

and then you walk into the new,

but you've still got old elements there.

I think here, it's quite unapologetic, quite honest...

You just go from quite new to a bit older.

You don't have to feel that you have to sort of...

-Stage it.

-Yes, exactly.

We've got a 200-year-old cottage

and it's going to... We can't modernise it,

we don't want to modernise it...

I feel quite comfortable with it, don't you?

The change in between the two.

I think it's quite nice that you've got effectively two houses.

Peter, thank you for showing us around.

Amazing to see that kitchen,

and how well also the rest of the house works with it,

so it's been really great, and I hope it's been really useful.

-Absolutely, yeah.

-Fantastic.

-Thank you very much.

In Lewisham, south-east London,

Empty Property Officer Nick Long is heading to a house

that's been vacant for the past 20 years.

It's been a long-term problem case for Nick until recently

when a new owner took it on.

I'm visiting to see what progress the owner's making.

I understand he bought the property in auction,

and we're trying to find out his timescale,

what plans he has for the property...

We're very, very keen to see this property

brought back into good repair and, hopefully, finally,

after probably 20 years,

this property will come back into use and occupation.

Over the years, the property fell into a state of dereliction

and was the subject of an arson attack.

It was a blight on an otherwise well-kept residential street.

I think last time I came, it was simply a shell of a property.

It's really wonderful to see this property actually painted

and new windows are in.

Today he's meeting the new owner, Lyndon Cartwright,

to see how the renovation is progressing.

-Hi, Lyndon. Good to see you.

-Nice to see you, sir.

Making good progress, by the look of it.

-Come on in, have a check.

-Looking really good.

As with all empty properties, Nick wants to make sure

the work will be completed as soon as possible

and the house lived in again.

I can recall this property being just a derelict, burnt-out shell

and literally just a couple of walls standing,

and it just seemed a massive project.

Is there anything you haven't renewed or had to replace in the property?

Just the first two and a half metres of wall...

Brickwork, masonry, that sort of thing.

-That was the only thing that was salvageable?

-That's it.

-Right.

Why did you take on this challenge?

It was an exciting opportunity

to have a go at building a four-bed house,

which we couldn't have afforded otherwise.

-Have you kept within your budget?

-I think we're somewhere near.

I don't think we'll quite know until the end.

But, fingers crossed, we shouldn't be too far away.

Basically, you can see we've followed next door

on the front facade, with the addition of the Mansard roof.

And on the rear renovation, you can see how we've extended

and given us a much bigger area on the ground floor.

At the rear, it's very clear to see the house has been

almost completely rebuilt, with the addition of a large extension

on the ground floor and also into the roof space.

It really does look striking, all the progress you're making.

What's the time frame for final completion?

We think we've got three months left on site

-to finish the internals...

-Right.

..and get it to a habitable state.

And are your plans to sell it or to move in,

or what are you planning on doing?

-We're planning to move in, actually.

-You're moving in?

-Yeah.

Having a family living in here will really be fantastic.

I look forward to seeing you at the housewarming, Nick.

-It will be a pleasure.

-Thanks for meeting me today.

OK, lead the way.

The local people who live in this street...

It's going to be an end of a nightmare for them,

and finally we're going to see this house come back into life,

come back into use, and occupied, and that's what we want to see.

I've been with Jason and Gail, who've taken on an empty property

and have been getting invaluable advice from someone

who's been through a similar renovation.

So, guys, having had a good look round,

what are your thoughts as you leave?

Initially, I just thought, "Wow! The house is so different to ours."

-But, actually, the concept is very, very similar...

-Yeah.

-Old to new.

I'm very, very impressed with the extension.

And a few ideas there are about how you move from

old, period interiors to very modern, contemporary...

It doesn't have to be that obvious, does it?

From old to new, and I shouldn't worry too much about the contrast.

-As long as it is light, airy and liveable.

-That's a really good point.

I think, in the end, it comes down to confidence.

It's just different, you go through and it's fine.

-It doesn't jar, it's OK.

-Absolutely. I think there's two points for me.

I'm going away happier that

we decided on underfloor heating for the large kitchen space,

but also that need to go away and think about

-perhaps more natural light.

-Yeah.

-Give it more thought, definitely.

-It wasn't even on our radar, was it?

It's been really interesting to hear it from someone else's perspective,

who's been through it.

You're not alone. People do this all the time.

It just shows the decisions you've thought through

are ones that other people have considered as well.

So, hopefully there's a lot of encouragement there for you.

Good luck with it.

It's such a lovely cottage you've got, you're working on,

you're doing the right things, and I really hope today helps.

So, yeah, best of luck.

-Thank you.

-Thanks very much.

It's been really great for Gail and Jason to see this place,

somewhere that matches their aspirations in so many ways.

And today, some great advice, encouragement and inspiration

they can carry with them through every stage of their renovation.

And what an exciting journey it's going to be,

as they try to create their perfect home.

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