Joanne Warren 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.

And along the way we'll be following the property detectives,

who track down the owners of these forgotten houses

and help breathe new life into the communities blighted by them.

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

about our housing stock,

our heritage and why we should be both preserving and reinventing

Britain's Empty Homes.

Buying a property is probably the most expensive purchase most of us

will ever make, so of course it's really important to get it right.

By investing in the renovation of a derelict building,

you can not just rescue an empty property, but you can also transform a wreck

into a unique home that you'll never want to leave.

On today's show, I'll be exploring an empty home with a woman

who wants to take on the renovation of a disused house.

It'd be really nice to do that and bring something back to life.

And we'll be following an empty property officer,

working to get vacant buildings back into use.

It's clearly very dangerous. There's broken glass all the way round.

Anybody getting in or out could potentially cut themselves on that.

Joanne Warren has recently moved

from Birmingham to West Yorkshire for a new job,

and is looking to make the most of her budget in her new location.

I think a derelict property really appeals to me,

because then I might be able to get more for my money

and afford a better area than I could with a brand-new property.

And then I can make it exactly how I want it to be,

and have that wood burner... go in the kitchen, or whatever it is.

With a modest £150,000, Joanne's been scouring the property pages

for a two- or three-bedroom home

with the potential to extend,

and she's become increasingly drawn to the idea of renovating a wreck.

I can paint a wall and I can decorate...

I'm quite willing to get my hands dirty.

I can knock things down. I am probably quite good at knocking

things down, but the idea of dealing with damp and those kind of things,

and rewiring, I would probably just have to get the professionals in for.

As a first-time renovator with a limited budget,

Joanne naturally has some big concerns.

I am a bit worried that my budget won't stretch quite as far

as my dreams will.

I'd really like to do X, Y and Z and have all the different things,

but if I could just get the old property

and have some nice fittings in it, and make it really cosy,

that would be really good.

To help Joanne work out how big a project she's really up for,

I'm taking her to an example of the sort of property she might buy.

This is the property I want to show you. First impressions?

-Wow!

-Wow! It's probably late 18th, early 19th century,

so this has bundles of character.

I suggest we go inside and have a look, shall we?

Formerly a gatehouse for Brockwell House near Halifax, this place

has been empty for two years and is on the market for £140,000.

So, through the front door and straight into the main living room.

-Wow!

-Clearly quite dated.

Yes. You can still see all of the original features.

-Yeah.

-You could work back the wood and make everything nice.

What do you make of the wood panelling around the window?

Brilliant. You could put a window seat there,

which would be lovely with some cushions on.

You seem to like what you see here.

When it comes to taking on a project,

are you up for a bit of a challenge?

Hmm...yes, I think so. I might need some help with SOME things.

I'm definitely up for the odd knocking down of something

or definitely redecorating.

I would happily have a go at taking plaster off

and tiles off and things like that, so you could re-do it.

OK. So you would like to roll your sleeves up

and get stuck in yourself?

The more I can do, the less I would have to spend on trades

and things like that,

so if I could learn how to do it and do it myself,

that would save me some money.

OK. As you're looking round,

I know you're on the hunt for property at the moment,

why an empty property?

Why would you consider something like this?

Erm... Well, you can see from the outside,

it almost looks like a bit of a blight, even though it has a charm

to it, and people must walk past it and think,

"Oh, I wish somebody would buy that and do it up."

So it would be really nice to do that and bring something back to life.

I mean, this needs everything doing to it.

It would need rewiring. It hasn't been touched for decades.

This would really need to be taken by the scruff of the neck.

But that means it's a really great blank canvas for me...

Great. I'm pleased. Let's continue having a look round.

-I'll show you upstairs first, shall I?

-OK. Thanks.

On the first floor,

there's a double bedroom and a smaller single room.

Right, Joanne, so this is the second bedroom.

It's... It matches the layout of the house, actually,

which is you get a big room at the front

and a smaller, thinner room at the back. This funny little sort of boxroom.

Would you put a bathroom there?

-No. I'm quite happy to leave the bathroom downstairs.

-OK.

So I'd probably just make that part of the bedroom

or even a dressing room.

All right. Let's go down to the kitchen, shall we?

'This place is in a pretty poor state of repair,

'but you can just see it COULD be a lovely home.'

Now, this is the kitchen. It very much mirrors the thin second bedroom

we saw upstairs. Could you work with a space like this for your kitchen?

Oh, definitely. You can have a table in the corner...yeah.

It would definitely work for me.

Some people get very particular,

especially with modern living

and the way families tend to live is that they want

a big open-plan kitchen.

Actually, this seems perfect for you, cos you're happy to deal with

what the building gives you.

Yes. I mean, it would be nice if you could fit a small table in

so you can eat in the kitchen, that would be nice,

but it's not essential for me.

Because the ceilings are so high, it doesn't actually feel that small.

You seem very positive, very optimistic.

But any worries? Would this be your first big renovation?

It definitely would be. I've only owned one house up to now.

That was a reasonable 1920s semi.

So, yeah, it's quite a daunting thing,

to think about doing such a lot of work and all those kind of things.

But it's worth it when you could imagine what the end would be like.

And keeping all those original features.

It would be your first-time renovation. You're looking for this project now,

so I think it's going to be really good for you to meet someone who's been through it all before.

I'll take you to see a couple who've got a renovation,

and I think there's a lot you can learn from them,

and a lot of help and advice they can give you. How does that sound?

That sounds really good. I'm really excited.

Well, I really like this place.

It's not for everyone. It's not the sort of place you can rip the heart

and guts out of it, make it really contemporary and open-plan.

You have to appreciate the history of the character,

and I think Joanne does. This is the sort of place she is looking for.

And I'm also pleased to hear she's keen to learn new skills and go on courses

so she can apply her handiwork to a place like this.

That said, clearly, it's a very big undertaking.

It'll be really good for her to meet a couple

who have been though all this,

they've completed their own renovation successfully

and can hopefully give her some top tips to get started.

Up and down the country there are many disused houses,

that are crying out to be rescued.

It's the job of empty property officers

to seek out these abandoned buildings,

and turn them into much-needed homes.

In the Waveney area of north-east Suffolk, Jason Hall's the man

who is charged with that task.

Today he's off to a house which is one of his long-term cases.

Erm, we've had reports from the police that it's been broken into

and accessed by a number of children in the area.

At the moment, it's open for the public to gain access to.

So we're here today to just make sure that it gets boarded up

and it's made secure, so no-one can get in and hurt themselves.

The house is already boarded up at the front,

but round the back, it appears people have been gaining access.

It's just a general dumping ground for household waste

by the looks of it. It could either be coming from neighbouring properties

or just people who've been throwing things over the wall.

Obviously having household waste dumped

in a rear of a property like this,

it's got harbourage for rodents, for rats in the back garden here.

Got nappies, we've got food waste, everything.

It's sort of...it's heaven for rats.

It's not just the garden that's been attracting anti-social behaviour.

Clearly the rear window has been the point of access,

where kids have got in.

It's very dangerous. There's broken glass.

Anybody getting in or out... if it was kids,

could potentially cut themselves on that.

So what I really need to do is get in, see if there's any problems

on the inside, see if anyone is actually on the inside,

and then we'll get it boarded up.

Generally, in here, it's just been smashed up.

We've got areas of the floor which are completely rotten

and quite unstable.

It's quite important that we get this made secure

as soon as possible.

As with any case like this, before boarding up the house,

Jason must ensure no-one is living here at the moment.

It's empty so we know there's no-one in it.

So it's time to get it all boarded up and made secure.

While the work gets going on securing the house,

Jason visits a neighbour to reassure them about the progress made today.

-Hiya, Jason Hall from the council.

-Hello.

Just to let you know that the property across the road,

obviously we know it's been broken into,

it's now in the process of being boarded up,

but if you do have any other problems, be sure to give us a call.

I certainly will. Thank God it's been boarded up.

-OK.

-Cheers. Thank you very much indeed.

What we'll do now is serve a notice on the owner of the property

to make sure that the garden is cleared.

If the garden isn't cleared, we'll carry out works in default

and clear it ourselves, and place a charge against the property.

Jason will continue to work with the owner to get this house

lived in again.

Buying an empty property can be a trip into the unknown.

Years of neglect can sometimes lead to unforeseen problems,

but, if you plan carefully, and have the tenacity to see it through,

you could find yourself the proud owner of a stunning home.

Which is what Teresa Collonette did when she and her family decided

to tackle the renovation of a Georgian townhouse

in West London in 2005.

As soon I saw it, it was a terrible, terrible mess.

But I did get the feeling it had great potential,

and I knew this area was really nice. I liked the feel of it.

The house was laid out as four flats

and it was a major job to reconfigure it as a family home,

with the project taking more than two years to complete.

What attracted me to the property in the first place

was the fact it did have high ceilings, and I could see

that if you opened it up there would be quite a lot of space.

I had been looking at other properties in our price range

and they were nice, but they felt really cramped

and we've collected all sorts of weird and wonderful objects.

It's quite nice to have somewhere to kind of exhibit them all, in a way.

So it's fun having them all out.

The renovation wasn't without its problems and, throughout the build,

Teresa made alterations to the plans whilst work was ongoing.

It kind of evolved in a way. We didn't always do things in the logical way,

and we kind of changed our minds along the way, and so that kind of made it a bit complicated.

For example,

we only decided quite late in the day to put an extra floor on top.

We should have obviously started off thinking that way,

so that was a bit complicated.

But, to be honest, it's a constantly evolving process...

I think there's still things to be done,

or things that need to be redone, and decorating I'd like to do to change things,

but that's half the fun of it.

By taking on a house that needed work, Teresa's not only saved money,

she's also been able to mould the design to create

a distinctive look for her home.

One of the most important features of things that I like

in my house is the kitchen and, as soon as we bought this house,

and I knew I had the chance to completely renovate it,

I knew that I wanted a 1950s kitchen,

so that very much kind of informed how we designed the kitchen area.

For a family it's great because it's quite social,

because we've got this open space, people shouting down, shouting up.

It feels very kind of alive.

Tackling an abandoned house is always a challenge,

but if you decide to take on a building

of architectural significance that's in need of preservation,

there are some extra issues to be aware of.

Renovating and restoring an empty listed property

can be a painstakingly slow process.

These types of properties can be full of surprises

and throw up all manner of problems that take time to work through.

For the owners, it can be a very emotional and frustrating journey.

'Two years ago, we visited Chris Harris and Miriam Maxim,'

who were in the midst of renovating this 16th-century listed cottage.

Now, as they know too well, when taking on a historic property,

it's essential to consult your local conservation officer to ensure

that any work complies with the listed status.

How has progress been going on your beautiful home here?

It's been a long haul, I have to tell you.

Has it felt like you've been making process,

or do you feel like you're wading through treacle sometimes?

It's been planning and re-planning because, as you open something up,

you find something completely different.

You have to completely change your ideas, and everybody else's ideas,

get everyone on board, and then you can move forward again.

You have to get the right permissions to do it...

so that does... It all adds to expense, getting the right materials,

sourcing the right materials,

and that's been quite a challenge in itself, actually.

In terms of the process of it, where are you now?

How far from the end, would you say, if there IS an end?

-Is there a light?

-I think it's a never-ending project,

because it is a labour of love, I have to tell you.

We're just right at the end now,

and we're just got to re-do the front of the house.

We had to remove a greenhouse from the front of the house,

and we're going to re-do that, and that's going to look...

That will just finish the job, I think.

Marvellous. Shall we go around and look at what you still have to do?

Yeah.

Chris and Miriam have done a fantastic job.

But even the finishing touches must be signed off -

and with just a veranda left to do, they've called on Martin Higgins,

historic buildings officer from Surrey County Council, who they're hoping will give them

the go-ahead for the final stage in their extensive restoration.

Martin, you're an historic buildings officer.

I suppose some councils will also call your role conservation officer.

What does it mean? What do you do?

I deal with the historic environment, all areas of the historic environment,

especially buildings, so I would advise on how to alter them,

how to maintain their character.

So when people taken on, I suppose, in extreme cases,

a Grade 1 listed building or, in other cases,

just a good historic building that you've got some interest in,

would they have to run everything by you first? How does it work?

If they're listed, they should always speak to the local conservation officer first,

because he or she will know about the building

and know what can and can't be done to it without needing permission.

Chris, I know you have Martin here,

you have the historic buildings officer on site,

anything you'd like to ask him?

Cos this is the area that's still to do, isn't it?

That's correct.

We want to put those columns up into the front of the house

and build a canopy that reflects what was done in 1850,

and we just want to replicate that.

Some buildings can take a nice, modern extension,

some buildings you need to extend in keeping.

Here, what you are doing is very good, because you are putting back

something we know was here in the past, so that's a very worthwhile enterprise.

And with these plans, you're favourable because

this was originally done in the 1850s

when there was quite a lot of work done on the property. But, in my mind,

does that mean that anything that's done historically is good?

Cos it just... why stamp a certain date on it?

Why not say the Victorians made a mistake

and that was an awful thing to do, and we shouldn't repeat it now?

That is...that CAN be the case. In this instance,

this was previously a rather mundane conservatory where we are standing.

It was linked to a horticultural business that was run from the site.

So we're returning it back

to something which is better and suits the current users more.

Martin, thank you for coming by. Great to get the reassurance.

Good also to know that people do have to take this very seriously.

If it's a listed property, it's a criminal offence not to involve

the conservation officer or the historic building officer.

-Great you've given the approval here, so thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Chris and Miriam's cottage perfectly demonstrates

that even with restrictions in place to protect our architectural heritage,

it's possible to reinvent period homes

while still preserving them for generations to come.

Back in Yorkshire, I'm with Joanne Warren,

'who hopes that renovating an abandoned building

'could be the route to help her achieve her dream home.

'I'm taking her to meet a couple who've done just that'

and should have advice and inspiration for her.

Joanne, this is the property I want to show you.

Can you tell from looking at it what it used to be?

No. It just looks polished and finished now - like a house.

It does look very nice, doesn't it? The clue is down there on that sign.

The Old School. So this was a Victorian schoolhouse.

Now, don't be put off by the size and scale of this.

I know it's certainly bigger than you're looking at on your budget.

The point here is that Stewart and Katie inside were first-time renovators,

yet they took on this project and did it incredibly well.

So I really think they'll have

a lot of information they can share with you,

and I think it will be really useful.

-Shall we go and say hello?

-Yeah.

When Stewart Bankier

and his wife Kate came across this disused Victorian primary school

in North Yorkshire, it really sparked their imagination.

It just looked unloved, derelict

and in need of a lot of work and attention.

But a lovely building.

It had lovely barge boards and a really solid building.

Great stonework. So we could see that it could be something again.

Inside, I suppose, it was the height.

It makes the house feel a lot bigger than it is.

And also, we loved the big, long windows.

The school had stood empty for 50 years

until Stewart and Kate bought it for £250,000 in 2009.

They were keen to convert it sympathetically

into a four-bedroom house.

We're both quite practical people, so a lot of it is common sense

and watching the professionals and then just copying them.

It's amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it

and if the enthusiasm's there.

We learned to do all sorts of things that you wouldn't imagine.

As first-time renovators, Stewart and Kate's project

was a very steep learning curve for them both.

Anyone who tackles something like this with the right approach

would get a lot out of it, as we did.

You need to do into it with your eyes open, I think...

Accept that there probably will be things you're not expecting,

it WILL cost more than you think,

and it might take a little bit longer.

But I think, if you're keen and interested in the whole process,

then it's very worthwhile.

This is a great chance for Joanne to get some first-hand advice

from people who've done something similar to what she hopes to do.

As you come in here, it's a lovely front room/sitting room.

It's beautiful. It feels like it's always been a sitting room.

It wasn't always like this. What was the state of this building when you took it on?

It was one big dilapidated room,

and with a nasty stove at that end and a big old fireplace at that end,

which we've ripped out and changed it beyond recognition, really.

Joanne, as you walk in here, what do you make of the room as you come in?

I think it's a really lovely space.

Even though it's a BIG space, it still feels warm and cosy

and welcoming. And the original doors gives it a real sense of history

and quality.

And, to what extent were you guided by the historical features,

doors, windows, those kinds of things,

in keeping the right feel for the building?

Well, we wanted to be sympathetic

because it was such a part of the village.

We didn't want to upset the villagers

by ripping all the features out and making it look unrecognisable.

We've kept the doors, we've kept the windows...

Even in the kitchen, we've moved the windows to the end of the extension.

They're the same shape as they were.

So what advice do you have about how you go about finding

people who really understand the nature of the building and

can work with the vision you've got?

I think you need to talk to local people.

Find somebody who has already done it and ask who they used.

And you've got to go and look at it, you've got to go and talk to them.

-You've really got to do your research.

-That is really helpful, actually.

-You talked about the kitchen, which you've had extended. Shall we go and have a look?

-Yeah.

-Sure.

Joanne, as you come through here,

this really is a kitchen/dining/living area

with a bit of a wow factor, isn't it? What do you make of it?

It's really amazing. The fact that they've managed

to keep the ceiling height and the feeling of the old building,

and the fireplace and everything like that, and sort of made it fresh

and clean and vibrant is really clever.

Did you always know you were going to do this?

-Did you know how it would look at the end?

-Even when it was dilapidated

and it was an old institutionalised kitchen, it was still, "Wow, look at the space up there."

So...yeah... When we did the extension,

we knew that we just wanted to replicate it and keep the space.

-We love it.

-Now, I know you want to get as involved as possible

in your project. So, how much did you guys get involved?

Cos this was a first renovation for you, wasn't it?

We did a lot of demolishing

and Stewart dug the foundations for the extension,

so we managed to save a bit of money there.

And really enjoyed mucking in and doing it ourselves.

Plus it gives you ownership over the building at the end.

You don't feel as if you've just sent somebody in to do the lot and

then you come back and it's not necessarily

what you expected it to be.

If you've done some bits here and some bits there,

you can look back on it in years to come and go, "I did that."

Any advice on how to stretch a renovation budget?

How to make the most of it?

I think...probably the first place to start

is re-use some of the materials that you already have

and talk to your builder and see where he can use

some of that material and... That's a good start.

We used a lot of the slates from the roof again -

80% that we took off we were able to re-use.

Presumably, if you can spend some time planning,

and keeping an eye out for bargains, there's a few savings there.

Definitely savings to be had.

The prices are so different, so shop around and take a note,

and don't just rush into buying the first load of tiles you see.

They may be great,

but there may be the same at a slightly better price down the road,

so if you've got the time, put it into that, and save some money.

It's been lovely to see your home.

Thank you so much for showing us round.

I can't believe how well it's turned out. It's amazing, isn't it?

It's got the character of the old school,

yet a very comfortable family home.

It's a pleasure to have you. We wish you all the best with your project.

-Thank you.

-Great advice, thanks.

Back in Waveney, in northeast Suffolk,

empty property officer Jason Hall is heading to a house

that's been in his sights for some time.

The property I'm visiting today is a long-time empty property.

It's quite an unsightly place in a very busy area.

It's been heavily overgrown and had a section 215 notice served upon it

with regards to the untidiness of the site.

And basically, I am here today to check that notice has been complied with

because the notice period has now expired.

When the council serves this type of notice, the owner of a property is

required to improve the appearance of the land facing the road.

He's started to comply with the section 215 notice...

because he's cleared most of the overgrown vegetation,

he's stripped the roof down like he's going to do something,

either take the whole roof off or put a new one on.

But my main points of concern now are the fact that

we've got a number of access points to the property.

At the back, we've got a door that's wide open.

To the side, we've got a window that's accessible to the front.

Most worrying of all is that there's quite a deep drop

into an open cellar.

I think the section 215 notice is the least of my worries at the moment.

I think the most important thing is to make sure all of the areas

are made safe and secure.

Clearly a blight on the neighbourhood, this house is

still in a poor state of repair

so Jason needs to get the owner to bring it back

into a habitable condition and get people living there.

What I need to do now is go back to the office,

contact the owner as quick as possible.

I'll try by telephone. If I can't get hold of him,

I'll serve a notice on the property today

to make sure that it's boarded up as soon as possible.

Long-running cases like these

often require the empty property officer to make repeated efforts to contact owners,

and work with them to bring buildings back into use.

Fantastic, so just make sure that you get it secured.

Get the back door, especially, secured,

so no-one can get into the building. And cover that area with the cellar,

that needs to be securely covered as well.

Thanks ever so much. I'll speak to you soon.

OK. That's the owner of the site, and he's aware of what's going on

on the site. He's going to go down today

to make sure that it's made secure.

So, all in all, that's a good conclusion.

The day after Jason's visit, the owner boarded up the house

and erected a perimeter fence to make it secure.

Jason will continue to monitor progress

and hopes to get this place lived in again soon.

In West Yorkshire, I'm with Joanne, who's been getting

advice from a couple who've carried out a renovation

similar to the one she's planning when she buys her next home.

Joanne, how are you feeling after seeing this property today?

It's been really, really useful actually.

The tips that they've given me have given me

quite a bit of confidence, I think, to have a go and try something.

Considering they're first-time renovators,

and they've been able to take on and so something on this level,

does that encourage you?

Yeah, when they talked about ripping up floorboards

and knocking walls down and things like that,

it sounds like my sort of thing, actually.

They've kept the character of the building.

You really want to live in a historic building as well,

so some good tips there. Making the best use of features,

and using sympathetic materials and those kinds of things.

Yes, and reclaimed materials from your own site and things like that,

being able to re-use stone and slate and things like that.

That sounds like a really good idea.

Well, look, I'm sure you'll find something very soon.

You've got all the energy and the enthusiasm,

loads of knowledge, and then some really helpful tips from these guys,

so good luck with it, and I'm sure you'll soon have your dream home.

Thank you very much.

Well, I really think Joanne's got a lot out of today.

Everyone has to start somewhere.

If you're a first-time renovator,

you shouldn't necessarily be put off taking on an empty property,

you just have to plan, do your research and take expert advice.

There's been some wonderful tips for Joanne today.

I think it's really given her the confidence to go out there

and get started.

Subtitles By Red Bee Media Ltd