Dom James and Carolina Fernandez Britain's Empty Homes

Up and down the country, there are empty properties just 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 our housing stock,

our history and why we should be both preserving and reinventing

Britain's empty homes.

Renovating an empty property

is sometimes the only way

of being able to afford your dream home

in an area that's otherwise out of your price range.

But taking on a place that has sat empty for a few years

can challenge even the most experienced of renovators.

That said, it's the promise of that dream finally becoming

a reality that drives people on to bringing an empty home back to life.

On today's show, we'll be meeting a young couple who think

an empty building could be their ideal first home together.

Given our budget, we might have to go for a one bedroom,

but a big living room or a big space.

We'll find out what's being done to preserve

Britain's oldest properties.

This is a classic case of a repair, which is closer to conservation,

because we've followed the same pattern throughout.

And we'll be following an Empty Property Officer as she aims

to take houses from dereliction to dwellings.

They really don't do anything unless it's absolutely in a notice.

Carolina Hernandez and her fiancee, Dom James,

are first-time buyers renting in Waterloo, South London.

They're keen to stay in the area, but a 350,000 budget

for their first home isn't enough to buy

the property they want already renovated.

Given our budget,

we might have to go for a one bedroom,

but a big living room or a big space.

We want somewhere where people can come round

when they want to come, they want to drop by.

The couple were recently gazumped on the purchase of a nearby

run-down empty flat, but that hasn't dampened their enthusiasm.

Quite the opposite - it's made them even more determined to realise

their dream of buying an unloved property which they can transform.

The property that we put an offer in, as well, had no central heating,

so we were prepared to, you know,

do the re-wiring of the house, put central heating in.

Dom and Carolina will be first-time renovators,

but they have family and friends in the architect trade,

so they are hoping to get lots of help and advice.

We've got good parents that have done their own homes, as well,

so we've got experience behind them.

Both our parents have done that route of finding some place

that's, you know, needing a lot done to it.

Carolina can't join us today,

so I'm meeting Dom in Hither Green, in South London, to show him

a disused house that could be an amazing first home.

They're looking for a flat, but one of the advantages of

buying an empty property is that budgets can be stretched further.

Dom, this is the property I want you to see. It's been empty a while,

it's pretty run-down. This is really an exercise

to test your imagination and your nerve, to some extent,

whether you're really up for taking on an empty property.

What are your first impressions?

Probably - not, obviously, beautiful.

But it looks like a house.

Would you like a house rather than a flat?

-No real preference, actually.

-OK.

-No, we're really open

to sort of seeing anything.

Being open to anything is a very, very good start.

-I suggest we now take a look inside.

-Let's do it. All right.

This house has been empty for about eight years.

Properties like this were built in Hither Green

in the late 19th century by builder Sir Archibald Corbett

who constructed 3,000 houses in the area.

He was a Quaker, so there's a distinct lack of pubs,

but there are great train links, so Dom and Carolina

could be back in Waterloo in 15 minutes.

So a word about budget. This house is on the market for £250,000,

which is well within your budget and would even leave up to

100,000 for renovation.

Typically, the houses sell for about 350 here.

There's one down there on sale for 400, but it's got an extra bedroom.

-But that just shows you, this has good potential.

-Yeah.

But it's not about making money, it's about you guys having a home.

That's the main consideration.

What's your vision of where you'd like to live?

How would your home feel? What's the sort of look or feel?

Well, I think it would...it would be a warm place that people

like to come and stop in.

-You know?

-Do you like these big, open spaces?

Yeah, I like the open spaces.

I'm interested to see the kitchen,

-because we cook a lot.

-Right.

-And so it'd be nice to find a place

where we...you know, you sort of have some food and everyone get together.

-So, actually, a through kitchen is more my thing...

-OK.

-..than a through living room.

-That's interesting.

When it comes to renovation,

how much of the work would you take on?

We'd be keen to do quite a lot of it,

whether it's knocking down a wall or something...

My dad's got a lot of experience doing something like this.

And so has Carolina's dad, so... I have no clue.

It's all about the vision.

It seems like you're quite comfortable with that in this room,

anyway. Let's go through to the kitchen.

You can have a look at what they've got here.

Right, so, the kitchen.

-What do you make of this?

-It's...pretty...nasty.

Looking around the kitchen, this damp stands out a mile.

It's a huge alarm bell.

You'd think, "All right, it's just break in the roof,"

but this is double storey, this back bit to the house.

So, I'm assuming the bathroom is at the back and that is sort of

a bath or a shower has leaked there.

Or the guttering has gone. Either way,

something big needs fixing, doesn't it?

Yeah, so, I think it's important to get the right person to look at that

and work out what's going wrong.

If you have to do something to this wall,

you might as well knock it down.

In simple terms, if you push out, you get a lovely living area. Also,

you probably add quite a bit of value to the house.

But more importantly,

-it creates the space you want to as a home.

-Although, it might make

the room behind a bit darker, cos that does have light coming in.

-So there's a negative to that.

-Yes, but there's also solutions,

and that's where a good architect would walk you through the options,

because, I think, if you were to push out,

-as long as you strategically placed your overhead windows...

-Yeah.

..you could get a lot of light streaming in that way.

So that's another thing to consider.

Out the back, is a barbecue-friendly garden, which needs some work,

and upstairs, are two double bedrooms

and a large, if tired-looking, bathroom.

So, as we suspected, the bathroom is at the back

-of the property. Good size.

-Yeah, it's nice, big.

-Needs a lot of work, though.

-Yeah.

And then this is the master bedroom.

-So, really light.

-Yeah, it's lovely.

-Lots of space.

-Yep.

-Got a good feel to it.

-Yeah, it's nice. Yeah.

As you come onto the landing, you can see into the roof,

and there is the potential to do a loft conversion at a later date.

-Dom, you've seen the house.

-Mm-hm.

You can see what there is of a garden.

What do you make of the price?

I think the house is lovely.

I think it's the ideal restoration project. It's a lovely house.

And it would be perfect for turning into a home.

Is it within the realms of possibility for you to do that?

I mean, is it too much for you guys?

-Is it about the right thing you're looking for?

-Yeah, I think

the level of work required for this house

is about right. I think it's something that we would take on.

OK. Well, look,

it's going to be interesting for you to meet a couple later on,

because they've taken on a house, which was very similar to this,

and it was in a very similar state to this house, as well.

But the couple who took it on have completely renovated it.

So there'll be loads of ideas, lots of inspiration but also,

very much like yourselves, they wanted to stay in central London,

but in the end, the benefits that they could get from moving

a little bit further out won them over.

So, it will be interesting to see what you make of them

and their property. I think they'll have a lot of useful tips

and advice. So, are you keen to meet them?

-Yeah, very looking forward to that.

-Great.

Well, I really like Dom's energy.

He seems up for taking on empty property.

He's not daunted by the size and scale of this project,

which is perfect, because if you're going to do it,

you need the enthusiasm.

My one worry is the lack of experience between him

and Carolina.

They haven't taken on a renovation before,

I'm not sure they really know what lies ahead,

so it's going to be great for them to meet a guy who's been through it.

They have loads of tips, loads of advice and, importantly,

whatever project they take on,

he can tell them the challenges that lie ahead.

All over the country, there are many empty properties

lying dormant, waiting to be revitalised.

Our councils' Empty Property Officers seek out these buildings

and track down the owners, with the sole aim of turning them

back into homes as quickly as possible.

Sue Li is the local Empty Property Officer

for Amber Valley in Derbyshire.

She has about 1,000 abandoned buildings on her books.

Today, Sue's visiting a house, which the current owner bought

after it was repossessed by a bank.

Sue wants to check on the current state of the property and find out

if there's any work being done to get the place lived in again.

Wow!

I can see why I've been contacted.

It's not very often I get a pile of rubble and debris

quite like this.

It's spilling over onto the footpath.

But it also concerns me that there may be harbourage

for vermin here,

who can quite typically hide in piles of bricks

and rubble. There's some carpet over there, as well.

Soft-textured fabrics, such as that, can provide nesting materials.

Again, down this end of the garden, more of the same.

Another sign of an empty property is a build-up of mail

through the letter box and cobwebs

down the frame of the door.

Now, I can't see any mail through there.

And this door is quite clear of cobwebs.

So, it does make me wonder if somebody, at least,

comes in occasionally, goes into the property.

If I'm having no joy at the address that I've written to them at,

I think I'll try and contact them here

and see if I have more luck.

So, taking one final look at the front of this,

there's what looks like a CCTV camera,

which is good as far as I'm concerned,

cos that shows me that somebody is interested

in protecting this property, another sign that there might be

somebody who I can talk to, go through my concerns

and also see what we can do to help.

Good.

With signs that someone may be visiting the property,

Sue investigates further at the back of the house.

OK, so, I'm at the rear

of the property. Now, I've got sandbags here.

Let's have a look a little further.

OK, well, this door is obviously quite new.

Got a window up there that seems to be being bricked up

on the inside.

I assume, at some point, the owner is probably going to remove

that window and install something that matches the rest.

It's clear that some work has been done at the house.

What isn't clear is if someone is living here.

Sue decides to chat to a neighbour to see

if they know anything about the owner.

I've spoken to a local resident,

and they've actually met the owner.

He's been trying to do the property up,

but it seems there may be personal issues as to why

he hasn't actually finished what he started.

So, er, I'm quite hopeful, really.

Um, much different to when I first came and first saw the property.

Since her visit, Sue is now in touch with the owner, who has promised

to complete the work on the house and move into it within 12 months.

Sue will continue to monitor the progress.

Taking on an empty property can be a huge undertaking

but it often brings with it an equal degree of satisfaction.

Because not only are you creating a dream home,

you're also bringing a building back into use

that has otherwise lost its purpose.

And that's just what Stephanie and Carl Shaw set out to do

when they spotted this 17th-century, listed manor house in Derbyshire,

in 2002.

It had been empty for five years

and was in a terrible state when they first set eyes on it.

I found this particular house,

I was looking one Friday night on the Internet,

and found it and it was up for auction the following Wednesday.

and thought, "Well, that's probably be too quick to raise the money.

"But we'll have a look at it anyway."

Came and looked at it with my sister

and, of course, went to the auction and bought it on the Wednesday.

They paid £245,000 for it at auction

and then embarked on an epic renovation that was to take them

seven years and cost a further £400,000.

Once we actually bought the property,

then the reality of what I'd done really kicked in.

The bulk of the windows at the front of the house

were cracked or broken. Most of the wooden floors

downstairs were rotten. With the exception

of the main hall, every room in the house has been re-plastered.

During the process of renovation,

we've been at times where things have been extremely tight.

And at that point, you question whether it's all worthwhile.

You get through it and there's another day and, actually,

it is worthwhile.

And you just save up. And that's why this will be a lifelong project.

I think we almost feel like we're guardians of the property.

It's our home, but we don't feel like we actually own it,

we feel like everything we're doing is ready to pass on

to another generation at some point.

So we need to leave it in the best possible condition we can.

In 2008, the Shaw's house was valued at just under £1 million.

So taking on an empty property has certainly paid off for them.

It has been such a good experience.

Would we do it again? Absolutely.

Will we ever find a property that lives up to this

and gives us so much pleasure?

I don't know. But this one has been a big chunk of our lives,

but probably, for me, one of the most enjoyable.

It's had its pitfalls but, overall, fantastic experience.

We British have a real affection for our old buildings.

We love their history, their design, their period features

but years of decay and countless generations

of owners all putting their own stamp

on the decor can mean that some period homes

end up losing their historic detail.

Putting period features back into a home can be an expensive

and meticulous job that's easy to get wrong.

Peter Rumley is a building conservationist,

and I've come to take a look at the old farmhouse here in Kent

that he's been lovingly conserving as his home.

What state was this originally in when you took it on?

Horrific.

It was in an absolutely appalling state - Artex everywhere,

most of the timbers were covered up.

And we spent our time taking away the modern material

to see what actually we had underneath.

My eyes are immediately drawn to the mix of newer wood

-against older wood.

-We wanted to do two things. We wanted to conserve,

but we couldn't conserve the timbers all the way through

because they'd degraded so much. We had to put in replacement timbers.

And the replacement and repair that we did was with new timber.

But it is a replacement, it isn't technically conserving it.

All we've done is conserve the actual format.

It doesn't matter that it's new wood, you're not hiding that.

It's not as if you suddenly stain everything

so you can't tell the new wood from the old.

No, that would be falsifying it.

And that's something which isn't really acceptable.

Why would you want to disguise it? It's honest to the building

and honest to the materials.

Is there anywhere in this room,

I would see an example of what you would call restoration?

Over here, on this wall, I can show an example

of a repair.

We took away the old wall and discovered this.

But the timbers were so bad and rotten

that we had to repair it. So, this is a classic case of a repair

which is closer to conservation

because we followed the same pattern throughout.

Looking around, you put new materials in. Were you ever tempted

to go to a salvage yard and find older,

historic objects and materials to put in?

I don't seem to think it's really ethical to go to salvage yards.

From a conservation point of view,

there's nothing wrong in a sense with salvage per se,

but actually, I would go down the other route,

which I think is a much more intelligent route

and a more sustainable route,

of going to new materials and going to the craftsmen.

So that's important.

It's fundamental to the conservation of buildings.

I suppose the other benefit is, you are keeping crafts alive.

If you go for something bespoke and you get a craftsman to make it

and help it fit into your home, that's good for them, as well.

Absolutely. You're maintaining the country's manufacturing base,

in the building industry.

I think it's really important to remember that a home, a house

is a continuing story.

Absolutely. Buildings do change. They will change for ever.

Hopefully, they'll continue to change. It'd be wrong

to keep a building locked in one time frame

over the period that we're in now.

It's remarkable what you've done here.

Clearly, a lot of love and attention has gone into it.

What do you get out of it?

It really is, basically, preserving a historic building

for future generations.

-And that's so important.

-Well, it's a wonderful home. Thank you

for letting me in and showing me around.

Pleasure. No problem.

Back in London, I'm taking Dom James to meet a couple

who took the plunge and bought an empty property

and have transformed it into a stunning family home.

In 2007, architect Will McGuinness and his wife, Emily,

took a chance on a run-down,

three-bedroom Victorian house in southwest London.

When we first saw the property, it was pretty daunting.

No-one had lived in it for about six months.

It was very damp,

no central heating, we thought, "That's a lot of work."

Will and Emily paid £325,000

for the house and spent 90,000 on the renovation.

It took them five months to gut it and get it habitable,

they then moved in whilst building work continued.

It took a further 18 months until the house was completed.

The process of taking the house from derelict to where we are now

is immensely rewarding.

Breathing life back into and seeing it go from really quite a tired

house into being something that's fantastic for a family.

So, here we are, this is the property I want you to see. Now,

from looking at it, you get the sense

that it's a very similar property, but it's been completely renovated.

It was in a pretty bad way.

I'm going to introduce you to Will.

Not only has he been through the whole renovation,

so he'll have some really good advice and some tips,

-he's also an architect.

-Right.

A professional. So, quite a good guy to get a few tips off.

-Perfect.

-Shall we go and say hello?

-Yeah, let's go.

Wow, look at this!

Um, so, start at the beginning then, Will.

What was this place like when you first saw it, when you took it on?

Um... It was a complete wreck. It'd been empty for a little while.

And these rooms were pretty derelict, full of rubbish.

-Really not very nice at all.

-OK.

Immediately my eye is drawn to the fact that we've got a kitchen

behind us, right here.

-Was it always there?

-The kitchen was at the back,

but we wanted to move the kitchen into the middle of the plan.

The kitchen is the heart of the house. Putting it

in the middle means the front room gets used as a dining room.

It's really an extension of the kitchen.

At the back, that frees it up to have a sitting room.

I hate unused rooms.

So opening it up and making everything usable is brilliant.

-Great. Well, let's see where your kitchen would have been.

-OK.

And was at one point.

And go through and look at what's now the living room.

-Yeah, fine.

-Great.

Will and Emily have created a wonderfully open and functional

living space on the ground floor - something which Dom and Carolina

are very much wanting in their first home together.

OK. Right, now we see the full vision.

We're standing in what was a side alley built

out of the boundary of the property.

And put this roof light in here.

There's a bedroom up there,

so we couldn't change the height of the ceiling.

So this was the only way

that we could make the space feel more generous.

When you think about that kitchen we were in earlier and the value

of extending out, you can see how much more space and what difference

-that makes to a room.

-Yeah. No, absolutely.

It is a much nicer sized room to what that kitchen was.

So, whether you did use this as a kitchen or not,

it would be better for that.

-Yeah.

-So, seeing this,

I'd definitely consider doing a lateral expansion.

Upstairs, the transformation of the house includes

a master bedroom with an en suite.

So this is our master bedroom.

It is the smaller of the bedrooms, but it's at the back of the house,

it's quieter.

This was the original bathroom, which we split into a shower room

-and a walk-in wardrobe.

-Right.

So it's a small room, but we've got storage off it.

So it's kind of non-cluttered.

Dom and Carolina don't have renovation experience.

You went through this, you've got professional experience,

what should they be bearing in mind in practical terms

about taking on a project of this scale.

You've got to plan everything correctly from the start.

So you might need to get planning permission if you're extending.

You will need probably building regulations approval.

Jumping in on a renovation is probably pretty dangerous.

It'll be a bit of a roller-coaster ride.

There'll be moments at the beginning where you think,

"What on earth am I doing?" But then as the build goes on,

you'll see the end result. Honestly,

once it's completed, it's fantastic.

It's great to spend all that time

and effort and end up with something you want

and you love to live in.

Thank you for opening up your house to us.

It's great to see it, great to see it in such shape,

and I'm pleased it's worked out so well. Thanks very much.

-Thanks, Will.

-Good luck.

Back in Amber Valley, Empty Property Officer Sue Li is heading to

an affluent area of Derby to a house she visited in the last series.

There's a window that's been smashed here.

The back door is open, so you can just wander straight into the house.

Oh!

It looks like...

someone has been trying to take the copper piping at some point.

Because there's obviously pipes still remaining,

I really need to get this property secured and get that window boarded.

Sue's since been in contact with the owner and today

she wants to check on the progress being made

on bringing the house back into use.

Well, I've asked the owner to voluntarily tidy up

the general appearance of the property.

Cut back all the overgrown vegetation, clear the paths,

so it looks like the rest of the properties around here.

The front of the property is in a state of disrepair

but it's at the back where Sue had concerns about a broken window

which could allow unwanted access to the house.

Well, I'm really pleased to see that they have boarded the window.

It's not great in appearance, though.

But they really don't do anything unless it's absolutely in a notice.

I mean, they've left all of the glass

and the property still looks quite untidy from the front.

So, I really am going to have to put EVERYTHING in a notice to them.

As the owner has failed to carry out all the work Sue asked them to,

further action will now be taken against them.

And it's clear there's still plenty of work that needs to be done

before the house can be lived in again.

I'll be going back to the office now to write a notice

to serve on the owner.

And I'll give them about two months to do

all of the other work that I've asked them to do.

It looks like this property will be on Sue's books for some time yet,

but she'll persevere with the owner to get the house back into use.

Dom and Carolina are first-time buyers

who think an abandoned building could be

their ideal first home together.

In southwest London, I've taken Dom to meet someone

who took on an empty property

and made it into a beautiful family home.

Dom, how have you found it, seeing the transformation

from properly derelict to a renovated home?

I mean, great. I mean, it's been lovely

to come and see what Will's done

with something that was completely derelict.

You're a novice DIY, you haven't done a renovation before,

but, after today, do you feel you've got a handle on,

sort of, how to get started, some of the practicalities involved?

Definitely. The idea of having good plans in place,

budgeting properly and calling in the right professionals,

then, yeah, absolutely that. I'll go forward with that.

The place you saw earlier, not for you because of the location,

is that how you feel? But that sort of project?

Yeah, that's right. Not for us location wise,

but the scale of the project is about right for us.

And, you know, something we could definitely take on.

Brilliant. I'm sure you'll find something, so I really wish you

-the best of luck.

-Yeah, thanks a lot.

I'm really pleased that Dom could see this property today,

because what a transformation it is!

It just shows you, you don't have to be constrained by what's there,

you can change the internal layout,

you can move the kitchen to the heart of the home,

you can do whatever.

And, OK, maybe Dom and Carolina aren't going to take on a property

this size, maybe they want somewhere

more central. Now, it's up to them to go and find an empty property

and turn it into their dream home.

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