Jack Briggs and Lisa Leighton Britain's Empty Homes

Up and down the country, empty properties are 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.

Investing in an empty property

is more than just buying bricks and mortar -

it's potentially giving a run-down building a new lease of life

and whether it's a full-scale renovation,

knocking down a wall or just a lick of paint,

it's the emotional investment that goes into making it a home again

that's driving many more people to take these properties on.

On today's show, a couple who've taken the plunge

and bought an empty home

and are after some guidance on how to go about transforming it.

Our worry is the money side of things

if we've not got the money saved up, but if we can do it...

You're never going to have enough money!

We'll hear about a scheme

which houses tenants in some rather unusual vacant buildings.

Is it weird living in a school?

It's one of the best places I've ever lived, really.

I just think it's great.

And we'll be following one of Britain's Empty Property Officers

on his mission to get deserted dwellings back into use.

Dave, have you seen this?

Probably one of the biggest post pile-ups I've seen.

That's five years' worth at least.

Jack Briggs and his girlfriend Lisa Leighton

have recently purchased their first home together -

this 1930s three-bedroom detached house near Derby.

You saw straight away, didn't you? How much potential it had.

I walked around and saw nothing majorly wrong,

and it was in a really nice area

so I thought, "Yeah, this is the one we're going for."

The house has been empty for 18 months

and they managed to snap it up for £150,000.

That's £50,000 below the original asking price.

Although the structure is sound, it's in a bad decorative state

and needs complete modernisation.

We're doing the whole house. There's nothing, really, we're not doing.

We're doing every aspect of it.

Jack is a plumber

and has already installed a new central heating system.

With a tight renovation budget of £16,000,

the couple are planning to do a lot of the renovation themselves.

I do a lot of work for free for friends and family,

so now it's sort of time to recall them favours.

The only real professional person

we're having in to restore the parquet flooring,

because I think that's something that...

We don't want to get wrong, do we?

And I'd like a sort of traditional craftsman to do it.

The plan is to restore many of the period features,

replace the fireplace with a log burner

and also put in a downstairs loo and a new kitchen.

..the end result to be like a country-style kitchen.

I want a big table in the dining room where we can all sit around.

Traditional family home, that's what I'd like in the end.

'I'm meeting Jack and Lisa at their house

'to see what they've taken on

'and to find out what their plans are for the place.'

Morning, guys, how you doing?

-Hi.

-Hi, Lisa.

-Nice to meet you.

-Hi, Jack. How are you doing?

This is your place, isn't it? You've just bought it.

-Yeah.

-So how did you find it and what attracted you to it?

We used to walk the dog around here

and just by accident, stumbled across this

and then we rang the estate agent when we seen it was for sale

and demanded a viewing immediately.

Guys, I'm really impressed. It looks great from the outside.

I suggest we pop in and have a look inside, shall we?

So this is the kitchen. Clearly you've stripped it back to brick.

What's the plan? What's the layout going to be?

First of all, we're going to move the window so it's central

and then we'll have cupboards going all the way around into a U-shape.

-OK.

-But then, the reason why we're moving the window

is so we can get two corner cupboards in so it looks symmetrical.

-Very wise.

-The sink's going to be under the window,

cooker's going to be here, and the fridge is going to be over there.

Great. And will you try and get anywhere to sit in here

-or keep that for the dining room?

-I want a breakfast bar,

but it depends whether they can fit it in and it doesn't look cramped.

So maybe one of the counters

-would come out a bit further to sit round.

-Yeah.

-OK.

And I can see you've obviously got some work going on upstairs.

-Right, let's go and have a look, shall we?

-Yep.

The couple have a five-year plan for their property.

Once all the initial work is completed,

phase two will be to build a double-storey extension

which would give them a bigger kitchen and two extra bedrooms.

What about the extension?

When does that take place? What are the plans for it?

We want to sort of get this done first, move in,

get more money, that will give me the finance to do the extension.

-OK. So it's very much a two-stage process?

-Yeah.

What are your concerns over that?

Have you looked into any of the planning side or the costings or anything like that?

-Not really.

-Not yet.

-I'd have thought planning permission

would be one of the problems, cos I've never done it before.

A lot of the houses on this street have got extensions

so I don't think it would be a problem,

but I guess it's just going through the whole stage

of applying for it and everything.

I've got to ask, why do you want to extend?

Because it is a good-sized property as it is.

Well, eventually, I would like four children

so just having the extra bedrooms,

-they can all have a bedroom to themselves, really.

-Right.

You're quite quiet throughout this, Jack. Is that OK?

I thought we were just having extra games rooms and things like that!

LAUGHTER

Well, it certainly has the potential to be a spacious family home,

plus there's also a generous-sized garden.

Guys, it's been great to look around the house.

Really exciting project

and I can see you're both well up for the challenge as well.

Anything, looking ahead, that concerns you?

Or anything you'd like to know a bit more about?

Just really the extension and the planning of that,

things like that, I've never done anything like them before.

Be good to go around peoples houses and look at how they've done it,

especially the kitchen as well.

I'd like to see what their layouts are

and see if we could change ours to make a breakfast bar fit.

Later, we'll go and see a property that's been fully renovated.

The couple behind it have been through all this

and come out the other side, so that's very encouraging.

They've also extended, so there should be lots of practical advice

about how to go about it,

-so hopefully that sounds like a worthwhile thing to do?

-Yep.

It's so nice that these guys have found a place they really love

and they've got big plans to turn this into a sizeable family home.

In that way, it's really helpful that Jack has plenty of practical skills, particularly in plumbing,

but on a tight budget, there are always going to be challenges ahead

so I think it's going to be really good for them to meet someone

that's already been through this

and can help them with a bit of advice and inspiration.

Up and down the country,

empty properties are in a state of disrepair,

abandoned and unloved, just waiting to be brought back to life.

But there are a team of dedicated Empty Property Officers

who make it their mission to track down these abandoned buildings

and get them lived in again.

In Enfield, North London,

Dave Carter has brought over 800 buildings back into use.

Today, Dave's visiting a house which has been empty for five years.

First impressions of this house are that it doesn't look too bad.

Just looks OK generally,

pretty average house, but then when you look a bit more closely,

you can see the garden path is completely obscured

with bushes and overgrowth

but overall, not such a bad house.

Recently, neighbours have complained about rats in the garden.

You can clearly see the height of these bramble bushes

and the trees at the back.

This is a likely source where they could be nesting.

The previous owner of the house passed away

and left it to a relative.

Dave has tried several times to get in touch with them,

but has had no response.

So he's called in a locksmith to help him get inside,

in the hope that he can find out more about the case.

He's joined by Council Enforcement Officer John Childs.

Interesting house, this one.

It's all very sad. It's like it's just been left, isn't it?

On the day of the funeral, they've just locked up and gone.

Look at this, Dave.

It looks as if there's been some visitors in the past.

Mouse droppings, it looks like.

-Yeah.

-Doesn't look like anything fresh, though.

But it seems that mice have been the only recent visitors.

-Dave, have you seen this?

-My God!

It's probably one of the biggest post pile-ups I've ever seen.

-That's five years' worth at least. And it's still growing.

-Yes.

And venturing upstairs, there's an even bigger surprise.

-I noticed the boiler was on.

-Really?

-Yep.

Leaving a nice, toasty warm hall. The cylinder is in here.

So it does make you wonder whether bills have been paid recently,

because otherwise it would have been cut off.

Must be someone paying it by direct debit.

When I came in here to take photographs,

I had this peculiar feeling that I was coming to someone's active home

-but it evidently isn't the case.

-No.

Dave looks for any other clues which could help lead him to the owner.

There's a book here about wills and probate

so clearly someone's been to the house and started the process,

but why haven't they finished?

It is a mystery.

Dave leaves a note for the owner, asking them get in touch

before he's forced to issue a compulsory purchase order.

'It's just very, very sad looking round it.'

The house has just literally been abandoned,

but there was a few clues I picked up.

There was letters sent to the old couple that lived here.

I've noted down some names and addresses.

I'll contact them and see if they know the whereabouts

of any relatives that might lead me to find out what's happened here

because at the minute, it is just a mystery.

Despite Dave's best efforts, the owner has still not been in touch

so he'll have to seriously consider a compulsory purchase order

to get this house back into use.

People all over the country are taking on empty properties

and restoring them to make them habitable again.

So whether it's an old factory,

an office block, a quaint country cottage or a Victorian terrace,

these places are being transformed into unique homes.

In 2007, Jon and June Higgins

bought this derelict barn in South-west Wales for £200,000.

One day we saw it on the very front of the local newspaper

that this barn was up for sale.

So a friend of ours rang the estate agent, made an appointment

-and we fell in love first time we saw it.

-You did.

-Well, I...

-Jonathan did.

-I could see the potential.

The barn dates back to 1848

and is part of the Pembrokeshire National Park,

but it had been empty for almost 50 years.

In the carthouse area,

because the pigeons had been living there for so long,

there was about four or five inches of bird poo

on the floor, and what is now the dining area was full of water.

That was quite daunting at the beginning.

In the '60s, chickens were kept in our kitchen area.

There was a pigsty and that's now the downstairs bathroom.

More recently, they kept cattle in the downstairs area,

which are now the guest bedrooms

and the farmer did keep his tractor in the carthouse.

But with renovations come challenges.

The survey revealed that the foundations weren't secure

so two-thirds of the walls needed to be knocked down and re-built.

We didn't actually see the walls coming down, happily!

We just arrived once they'd been taken down.

There was just a heap of stones, basically,

and the builder said at the time, "Don't worry,

"it'll look a lot worse before it gets better."

Because the barn is part of the National Park,

their design plans were limited.

We weren't allowed to change it from the outside.

It had to look exactly the same when we started as when we finished,

which it near enough does, only better.

My favourite room is the upstairs landing gallery area,

where I've got all my toys,

my records, my guitar, the computer.

I do like the sitting room.

It's nice and cosy when we have the wood-burning stove in the evening.

But most of my time is spent in the garden room

because the view is just stunning.

It took £340,000

and 13 months to complete the renovation

but now they have the dream home they've always wanted.

It was a worthwhile wait

cos, you know, we've ended up with a lovely property

and we've saved a building that was perhaps going...

going to rack and ruin.

There are sometimes valid reasons why properties sit empty.

They may, for example, be awaiting planning permission

to be redeveloped or sold.

But while they're empty, they're vulnerable

and one of the best ways to protect them

is to have people living in them -

otherwise known as property guardians.

A property guardian is someone who lives in an empty building

and takes care of it for the owners.

They pay a minimal rent and in return ensure its upkeep,

deterring vandalism and theft.

This primary school in Newcastle

is the residence of six property guardians.

I've come to meet Nick Hilton from Ad Hoc Property Management

to find out more about the scheme.

Can we have a look inside?

-Certainly. After you.

-Thank you.

Property guardians are living in a building as their own home

to prevent the type of problems you get with empty buildings.

That could be squatting,

anti-social behaviour, break-ins, metal theft, fly-tipping.

When a building is left on its own, it tends to be very vulnerable.

And is this place typical? What sorts of properties do you take on?

We take on everything, really.

We have properties of all different shapes and sizes,

ranging from huge schools and care homes and hospitals and clinics,

ex-council flats. We even have a grave-digger's cottage

in the middle of a cemetery at the moment.

In some ways, isn't this sort of legalised responsible squatting?

Absolutely. That's a very good way of putting it,

so you get all the benefits of a building being in use

without the antisocial behaviour

that can sometimes accompany squatting.

Will has been living here for 16 months.

Is it weird living in a school?

It is a bit weird, but I think you get used to it.

Well, I certainly got really used to it. For me now, it's just home.

-Right.

-The one downside is that you have to come out of your room

and cross a corridor to go to the toilet in the middle of the night,

rather than stumbling through your living room.

-You pay £180 a month here.

-Yep.

What would you be paying in private accommodation?

I was paying 375 per calendar month, and that didn't include anything,

whereas here, that 180 includes all amenities.

Is it a problem here, you don't know who you'll be living with?

-Is that an issue at all?

-Not really.

All the rooms are all separately lockable, and also,

people get vetted through the scheme anyway.

There's certain criteria you have to meet.

-You have to be employed, you have to be...

-OK.

And now you've found this place

and you've experienced the scheme of being a property guardian,

are you going to stay with it?

Is it something that suits you now for the foreseeable future?

Probably, yes.

If I ended up getting some amazing kind of job,

then I would probably look at investing in a house, but

I wouldn't go back to the expensive rental market at the minute.

It's one of the best places I've ever lived, really.

I just think it's great.

Now, there's no denying that an empty building is bad news,

but this innovative scheme really does have its benefits.

Not only do local people have

somewhere unusual and affordable to live,

but also the wider community,

they no longer have to worry about a building like this

attracting anti-social behaviour.

Back in Derby, I'm taking Jack and Lisa to see an impressive renovation

to give them some inspiration and tips for their own empty home.

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

From first glance, it's pretty apparent

it's a little bit older than your property. This is 1900,

yours is 1930s. It hadn't been touched for 15 years.

We're talking total renovation here.

Probably a bit more than you're doing,

but the same principles apply -

get in, strip it back and make it your own.

Chris and Lisa Hunt bought this dilapidated cottage

at auction for £134,000

and so far, they've spent a further £100,000 renovating it.

It was in a very, very poor state of repair.

It was completely boarded up.

There was nothing in it, no electrics, no windows,

no floors in some parts.

Ceilings were missing, completely, nothing, really.

It sits in the grounds of a 200-acre wood

which used to be part of a theme park.

Chris and Lisa love the idyllic location

and wanted to enjoy the spectacular views from their home.

As we're in the woodland, we thought

it'd be nice to incorporate the outside with the inside,

so we tried to get as much glass in as we could,

and it's worked really well.

We love it. The different angles of the roof

and the flat bit there and picture windows, it just looks really nice.

We're proper in love with it now. It's lovely.

They extended the property to give them more living space

and after 18 months of hard work,

Chris and Lisa have almost completed their dream home.

To get something that's got your print on it,

you've got to go through this... pain, if you like!

To get there, but at the end of it, if you go through it,

it's well worth it at the end of it.

So here we have an extended kitchen/dining area.

First impressions?

-It's beautiful.

-Marvellous.

What was the state of this property like when you took it on?

When we bought it, it was a toss of a coin whether we bulldozed it

and knocked it down or whether we renovated it

but the wife got this thing about the stone sills and cottagey look.

She wanted to keep all the outside, the prettier bit of it

but she wanted the modern living.

What do you guys think of the kitchen layout?

The U-shape is quite similar to what you had in mind.

Yeah, it's really exactly what we wanted, the shape we want.

And you can, from seeing a breakfast bar,

imagine it in yours if there's space.

If there's space, yeah, I can imagine it in ours.

What do you think of having this extra space?

It's obviously, does it reinforce some of your plans and ideas?

Yeah, it does, really.

Because there is...I never thought we could have a kitchen diner.

When you think about this being turned from a shell into this,

does it encourage you?

-It does...

-Yeah.

But I guess our worry is the money side of things,

if we've not got the money saved up,

-but if we can do it...

-You're never going to have enough money!

Is there more of an opportunity

-to save money if you plan it carefully?

-Yeah, definitely.

You can shop around, source materials and that,

get on the internet. You save fortunes by looking about on there

and if you're not too proud, use a bit of reclaimed stuff as well.

The same with pricing, if you're having new stuff,

always get four or five quotes.

Get your list out, e-mail it to everybody

and then look around at the best, see which you're happy with.

In addition to this spacious kitchen and living room,

this charming cottage also has two bedrooms and a study.

So, this is a key part of the extension.

Where did the building come up to before, Chris?

It finished there.

-There?

-Yeah, the actual wall there

is the back wall of the actual cottage,

so all this side of it is new build.

Right. And in terms of planning, any advice you can pass over?

How did you start on the planning process?

We employed a good architect, talked about what we wanted.

We were quite strong in own minds about what we wanted

but putting that onto paper

and getting it through the council's a different ballgame.

We didn't attempt that ourselves. Get a professional to do that.

Although you're not at phase two yet,

have you thought about getting plans drawn up

or have you spoken to an architect at all?

No, we've not done anything like that yet.

We're just going to get the initial renovation done

-and then we'll go from there.

-Great.

Well, look, you have loads on your plate in terms of the renovation,

but if you could find time for it,

it's never a bad thing to get a few drawings,

know what it is you're aiming for

because at least then you could start the planning process.

Once you've got planning permission,

you don't have to build now, you could build in two years' time,

-but at least you know it's possible...

-Yeah.

And you know you can go ahead with it when you want.

Yeah, definitely, yeah.

-I know an architect.

-OK.

-So again, it's a favour for a favour, I hope!

-Yeah!

Well, Chris, thank you. I'm pleased it's turned out so well.

It's hard to believe it was such a derelict shell

and now it's a very lived-in, very beautiful home

-so thank you for showing us your house.

-No problem.

-And guys, I hope it's been helpful having a look around.

-It has.

In Enfield, Empty Property Officer Dave Carter

is checking up on a house that's been vacant for two years.

The house had fallen prey to squatters

but the good news is, an owner has now come forward.

The current owner has called me

and said, "Look, Dave, I need some help.

"I'm trying get this house back into use, so I need to do a quick survey,

"see if it's eligible for a grant from the council

"and then I can talk to them

"about options for getting this house back into use as soon as possible."

The squatters have moved on

and the house is boarded up

and Dave needs to get inside to assess the damage.

Ah, right yes, now this...

Straightaway, this strikes out to me as being a bit of a suspicion.

A lot of the Artex before 1990

is known to contain asbestos.

This certainly looks pre-1990. I'm going to have to get it checked.

It's not a good start before I even get in the main part of the house.

The squatters have left the house in a terrible state.

This fuse box has been tampered with,

we've got wires that have been sliced

and fuses there that have been missed.

We're going to have to get the whole electrics checked out.

But it's not just the electrics that are a cause for concern.

Boiler looks like it's got some sort of "Do not use"

so I'm pretty sure that, you know,

any gas safe engineer who comes in here is going to condemn that.

The garden itself is evidence of the squatters.

There's even a disabled buggy out there.

It'll all have to be cleared out.

It's going to have to be re-lawned as well out there.

Just a bit of a mess all round.

'I'll go back, prepare a schedule of works for the owner,

'speak to him about getting the house back into use as soon as possible'

and we can get the house loved again.

It was a neighbour who alerted the council to the squatters

and now Dave wants to update them

to reassure them that matters are in hand.

I believe you've had quite a few years of problems.

Yeah, about... Must be at least three years.

We had squatters in for about seven months,

and there was about 20 of them in there.

It was, you know, it was an absolute nightmare.

Hopefully, I'm in touch with the owner now,

he seems like he's got a plan for the house.

I think we are going to be able to help him out with a grant,

so thanks for bringing it to my attention.

I'm glad I've been able to help you.

-No, that's fine. Thank you for all your help.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye, then.

The owner has since decided to sell the property

and the new owner is carrying out renovations.

It makes us feel happy.

We won't have to have a boarded property next door to us,

and hopefully, nice neighbours.

Jack and Lisa have been getting some valuable advice

about transforming their empty property into their perfect home.

So guys, having had a look around, what are your thoughts?

Yeah, really good.

He's managed to keep the cottage,

but with all modern features in, things like that.

And I think really good advice is that it's never too soon

-to be looking into the planning side of things.

-Yeah.

It means that when you are ready and the money's available,

-you know what you can do.

-Yeah, definitely.

I think that's something we'll look at doing quite quickly.

And overall, it must show you you're on the right path.

I mean, this was a complete derelict shell, and now it's a lovely home.

-Yeah.

-Yours was never in such a bad condition,

and you're well on the way, so that must feel pretty good?

-Yeah. It does.

-Yeah, it's quite uplifting to see that can be done.

I'm really impressed, actually, with everything you've done so far.

You're well on your way and you're going to have a great home there,

so I do wish you the very best of luck

and I hope you're in before the end of the year

-and you can start enjoying it.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

I think there's been some really good inspiration for Jack and Lisa today,

particularly with the layout, the design and some of the features,

but also, some good, practical advice

of what they need to think about for their next stage -

building that extension.

So with all that behind them,

plus the work they've already done on their house,

I've got no doubts that before long,

they're soon going to have that family home they so desire.

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