David Tinker and Philippa Constantine 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.

Across the country there are thousands of empty and unloved buildings.

Now, these forgotten homes can seriously blight a community,

attracting amongst other things anti-social behaviour.

And they're a pretty nerve-wracking prospect to take on,

but with hard work, careful planning and imagination,

these forgotten houses can be turned back into quality homes.

On today's show, I'll be meeting a couple who want a taste of country life.

It's this connection with land I think we're most excited about.

We'll be finding out what can be done to protect endangered species

who've moved in where others have moved out.

These are all typical places where you might find bats.

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

on his mission to get abandoned buildings back into use.

I think the owner's got a problem here as well.

Look at the state of this! It's all gotta come out.

David Tinker and his partner Phillippa Constantine

currently live in the suburbs of Oxford,

but they've set their sights on the good life in the country.

-Another night out.

-They've got five chickens and want to increase their collection of livestock,

so they're looking to convert a ramshackle property with acres of land into a smallholding.

We've loved having chickens for the last year,

both of us love animals and we did a smallholders' course last year.

Both of us loved it and Phillippa's done a bee-keeping course,

so we're ready to stretch our legs on this a bit.

After three years of hunting, they thought they'd found their ideal home,

so sold their current property, but sadly the sale fell through.

So now they're eager to step up the search.

Certainly having something we can put something of ourselves into, I think that's important.

The couple have a budget of £450,000, but they've never tackled a big renovation before.

There's a lot I'd like to learn, so if I can find a friendly local builder

that's happy to take me on as a labourer, I'm sure there's lots I can do.

I'm taking David and Phillippa to see an empty property in East Sussex

to see how big a challenge they're willing to take on.

BIRDSONG

-Hello there. Good morning. Phillippa, I'm Joe. Nice to see you. David, how are you?

-Good, thank you.

Well, this is the place I want you to see.

It's a little overgrown. Have you looked at many empty properties before?

Yeah, we've spent the last few years looking at different properties.

And we move out this week, so we're in a better position to look at properties in earnest.

-Yeah. Let's go and have a closer look, shall we?

-Brilliant..

Oh, wow!

This detached bungalow has been empty for five years.

It was one of the first houses to be built after the Second World War

and is now on the market at £400,000.

-So the first thing to say is we can't actually get inside this today.

-All right.

The second thing to say is that's fairly typical with empty homes.

Everyone coming to see this property at the moment,

whether it's individual buyers like yourselves or property developers, no-one can go inside.

It was broken into at some point in those five years it stood empty, there was vandalism.

It's since been completely boarded up, so you have to view it from the outside.

-This is where visualisation comes in.

-It's gorgeous.

-Do you like it?

-I do. I really like the U-shape of it. It's fantastic.

And it's got little quirky things with the brickwork.

-What's your vision for your home?

-Priority for you is the land.

-Hmm.

And then the priority for me is a home that's functional.

-I like the open space. I think I'd be looking at knocking down a few walls to make rooms bigger.

-Uh-huh.

More of the entertaining style.

It takes real confidence to embark on a project like this,

but this derelict bungalow could become a beautiful home.

Inside there are four bedrooms and two reception rooms,

but there's also an unusual addition that I think will really appeal to chicken lovers David and Phillippa.

There is a brick-built hatchery.

-OK.

-For the chickens!

So, I guess, I don't really know how hatcheries work, other than they're called hatcheries.

So I'm looking at you for chicken advice on this one.

OK. We've got as chicken coop and we've had chickens for the last year, which we've loved doing.

We didn't have them in a hatchery so that sounds very grand,

but a hatchery I would imagine is just for breeding chickens.

-Keeping little babies warm.

-It looks like a very smart one.

Well, that's why it's so exciting, because the footprint of the building is huge here.

Should you decide the house isn't substantial enough,

just think what we're standing in here. It can start coming out this way.

Or you can use it for animals.

-This is about a lifestyle choice, living in the country with land for you guys?

-Yes.

Certainly for us. Phillippa wants to keep bees, we're interested in some more livestock,

probably more chickens. So it's this connection with land that we're most excited about.

-Yup!

-And Let's hope David and Phillippa also get excited about the two acres round the back.

-Right...so, it's huge.

-Very deceptive.

-In a good way?

-Definitely.

It's brilliant.

It's nice having the house, it's only a bungalow,

but it sits up high and overlooks the garden that sweeps away from you.

Yeah. And I like the way the woods are in between the far treeline and the bungalow.

We'd like to have our own vegetables as well and start growing things,

so we'd have to clear a lot of that space for that.

Yeah. If you took on this renovation, where would you live?

We'd have to live in a mobile home for probably six months to a year,

I think, until we've made this habitable.

-How do you feel about that?

-(LAUGHS) Yes. It'll have its moments, I'm sure,

but, you know, the end result is going to be an amazing property and I'll just have to...

It'll be like being on holiday.

-Camping!

-Yeah, that's it.

-ALL LAUGH

I don't think I've ever found it so exciting to look around a place that I can't actually go inside.

This place is brilliant, has loads of potential -

the more you explore, the more you discover, the bigger it gets.

I think David and Phillippa are very excited about it as well.

And, importantly, I think they're really serious about taking on an empty property.

But that, of course, doesn't mean they don't need some help and advice.

They haven't done a renovation on this scale before,

so it's going to be really useful for them to meet a couple later on

who've been all the way through this,

come out the other side and can offer some really good guidance.

The problem of empty properties is high on the agenda of local councils.

The people leading the crusade are Empty Property Officers,

who leave no stone unturned in their quest to bring sad, abandoned homes back into use.

On the Kent coast, Mike Thompson saves around 100 empty properties a year from going to rack and ruin.

Today, he's visiting a building that's been vacant for some time.

I'm here in Ramsgate today to see the remains of a building

that was originally constructed as an extension to a house

but later on got consent to be turned into a dwelling in its own right.

But, incredibly, 20 years that's been built and it's never actually been lived in.

Mike is already in touch with the current owners about developments,

but first he needs to assess the damage,

so he's meeting his principal enforcement officer to help check the stability of the structure.

-Morning, Steve.

-All right, Michael.

What have we got here, then?

A bit of a mess, mate, haven't we?

Let's get in and see if the worst is as bad as we think it is.

So on the face of it, Steve, it looks as though our shell is pretty sound,

but I suspect it's a case of stripping every single piece of timberwork out -

joists, flooring, everything, isn't it?

You couldn't leave it in, Mike, not with the amount of water that's come in.

I'm really surprised at how good the brickwork is internally,

but you can see from this old existing flooring there's no access upwards except for that ladder.

So God knows what they were intending on doing.

And round the back of the building, things don't look much better.

-I think the owner's got a problem here as well.

-Look at the state of this!

-That ivy's gotta come off, Steve.

-It's all gotta come out.

It might just be superficial, but they've got to get rid of all that to get the new windows in there.

-That's right.

-And new doors on there.

-All this is leaning as well.

-Yeah.

-So we need to get that sorted out.

Mike and Steve meet with the builder in charge of the development

to talk through what needs to be done to comply with building regulations.

Starting at the top, Vince, we're looking at a pitch roof, strip out all timberwork inside.

-Yep.

-New windows, new floors inside, new mains electrics, new gas supply, all that'll be brought in?

-Yep.

-OK, so we're all agreed on the schedule, Vince.

We'll get that drawn up and presented to you properly in a decent format.

That can then match with the building regs application that comes in

and then I look forward to seeing that work carried out.

-That'll be done in the next few months.

-Will it, really? I'm so pleased.

-No worries.

-It'll be another property brought back into use, another home for somebody.

-Yeah.

-Well done. Thanks, Vince. All the very best.

-Thank you.

'I'm very pleased with the way today's gone.'

And it's going to make a nice home for somebody, I'm sure. All in all, a very good day's work.

It takes a certain type of vision

to be able to see past the decrepit brickwork and gloomy interior of an empty property.

But for those who are willing to take the leap the results can be truly breathtaking.

And that's exactly what Patricia and Graham Pyle did

when they bought this old stone barn in the beautiful countryside of West Yorkshire.

Originally, we weren't looking for a property.

It was just by a fluke that we found it.

You showed me it on your computer and I said, "Oh, my God!"

And we drove out just to look at it.

It had already been sold. I said, "If the sale falls through,

"please contact me, I'm prepared to make you an offer."

About six weeks later, we got a call saying the sale had fallen through

because of drainage issues.

I do drains, and that's why they ended up accepting our offer

and we ended up with the plot that we've got.

Graham's job as a draining engineer meant he could carry out

a lot of the work himself.

The barn and outbuildings were derelict ruins,

but they could see it had bags of potential.

There was a stable at one end and it was full of cow muck.

I could see past that straight away. It was the stone arches,

the round windows. It was an old, condemned building,

but it was in a good condition, structurally sound.

We've just had to put a property within the shell.

They bought the barn for £234,000

and spent a further 300,000 renovating it.

But all the hard work paid off

and it's now worth a staggering £850,000.

It has five bedrooms and bathrooms,

a beautiful modern kitchen,

and this spectacular living room with the original timber beams.

The favourite part of the house for me is my staircase.

The staircase was my idea, my dream.

My favourite is the space of it.

The living area I love. I love the dining area.

Perfect. I love night-time.

You sit in front of the arch, in the distance all you see is lights and nothing else.

And the silence is just brilliant.

It was nine months of hard graft,

but Patricia and Graham have no regrets.

Life's too short.

If you don't do it, you'll always say, "Why didn't I do that?"

"Why didn't we buy that house?" Definitely worth it.

Up and down the country, people are taking on empty properties to convert into homes.

But when the planned renovations are for rural buildings,

such as derelict farmhouses or churches,

there are often unanticipated residents that need to be taken into consideration.

Protected species such as owls, bats and dormice

can pose a real problem when taking on a vacant property.

This derelict church is currently being renovated into a home.

But for the bats in the belfry, it's already a home

and therefore, the responsibility lies with the owner

to make sure they're not harmed during the development.

I've come to meet ecological surveyor Stuart Pankhurst to find out more.

-Hi, Stuart, I'm Joe.

-Hi, Joe, nice to meet you.

-Good to see you.

-Stuart, tell me what it is you do.

-We're ecologists,

so we undertake surveys for protected animals.

The main focus of the survey here was bats.

Typically because of the building behind us.

With a single visit, it is difficult to tell exactly what is living here.

So the report will highlight what the potential is

for protected species such as bats to be on site,

and it will recommend a further survey to determine, for instance with bats,

what type of species are here, if they're roosting and where they're roosting on site.

So if I am taking on a church like this one behind me,

I ultimately have a responsibility to get the right people in

and make sure a survey is done?

You do, but what you would generally do is have

a planning consultant or someone involved who would have experience of such projects

and they would probably organise for the survey work to be undertaken.

If there's no protected species found, then great.

If there are, it will always take that bit more time

and, possibly, it will be a bit more expensive.

It doesn't necessarily have to take more time.

It's about careful planning.

Understanding the information up front and working it into your programme.

There will be a cost implication and it doesn't necessarily have to be significant.

I think the best thing to do is if you get early advice,

you'll minimise the costs and impact on your programme.

Just how seriously should people be taking ecological surveys?

I think they should, especially in relation to protected species

because there is the potential for prosecution and a fine.

So it's something you need to consider carefully.

What are you checking up on today?

We're looking for typical sites where bats may roost

and also we'll have a look at the outbuilding that's been enhanced for bats, as well.

Fantastic. Let's get started. Lead the way.

Work on this site must be carried out in the winter months,

because the bats aren't present, and when they return in the warmer weather,

they'll now have alternative places to roost.

What do we have here? It looks like a new-build garage?

There are two holes in the building,

one at the top and one towards the middle.

The one we're looking at here is designed for crevice-roosting bat species.

You'll have a cavity wall and certain species of bat will enter this

and they like to be in an enclosed space when they roost.

-At the top, is that different for a different type of bat?

-An environment like that

might be suitable for a maternity roost.

So when bats are breeding, a nice, open space where they can fly up and down,

that's well insulated, is ideal.

Brilliant. Let's carry on.

Over the last century, bat populations have generally declined,

so it's vital that processes like this are put in place to protect Britain's wildlife.

Inside the project, which is very much still in process, what do we have here?

We can see a hole in the timber frame up there.

Also, cracks in the brickwork, where the timber meets the brickwork.

These are typical places where you might find bats in a building like this.

And the thing with this build is it's been designed to allow bats

to have access to the building, so they will still be able to use this after development.

It's the best case for everyone. You create a home for yourself,

but you're ensuring the bat population is stable and secure here

-with a home for the future.

-That's it.

It's sustainable development,

so the residents will have a beautiful place to live,

there will be minimal impact on the wildlife

and the overall effect will be positive.

It's great the bats will be catered for. The humans have still got a way to go on this one!

There's a little way to go(!)

It's reassuring to know that if you do find some unusual tenants in your empty property,

it doesn't necessarily mean you will have to abandon your grand plans.

If you're willing to work with ecological experts

and adapt your renovation to include your guests,

then both you and the protected creatures can enjoy a better,

more comfortable home and live happily side by side.

Earlier, I took David and Phillippa around a derelict bungalow

to help them visualise what an empty property can offer.

Now I'm taking them to meet a father-and-son team

who took on a similar renovation and radically restored

this former cowshed into a wonderful family home.

So, guys, these are the buildings I want you to see.

The thing to remember here is it hasn't just been done up to a very good level.

They started from scratch, way below what we saw earlier from outside at the earlier property.

They've got great advice, because they have been through

the whole process, really, from scratch to finished home.

-Shall we go and say hello?

-Lovely.

-Hello, can we come through?

-Come through.

-Thank you.

'Roger Ellis and his son Paul bought these abandoned farm buildings'

for £230,000 back in 2009 and spent a further 400,000 renovating them.

It was pretty derelict, to be honest.

This was basically a shell, only an outline of a building, held together...

A few twigs, basically,

which are these timber beams, holding up a tin roof.

Roger owns a construction business and Paul works as a structural engineer.

When an opportunity arose for them to purchase this property,

they immediately saw the potential.

You have to have a little bit of vision when you come into a project

and you see what you can do with it. where there is an opportunity

to make it, adapt it, to meet your needs, or how you're going to see if you could live there.

It took 18 months to complete the project

and they've some great advice for David and Phillippa.

This is lovely. This is your big kitchen-diner.

-I imagine this is where you spend most of your time.

-Yes.

Start at the beginning,

what state was this place in when you took it on?

It was... We had a dirt floor and that was open at that end

and there were lots of holes in the oak boarding, it was falling off.

We obviously recognised that we could not actually do anything

inasmuch as putting any structure on the old beams,

so we opted for a design which Paul came up with,

of putting in a steel frame and the hanging the building off that.

That's incredibly impressive. What are your first impressions?

I have to say straight off that this is a beautiful space.

I love the amount of light coming in from both ends

and retaining the wonderful old characteristics along with the new.

I mean, it's the open space you were talking about for a kitchen.

Definitely. Open plan. That brings in the outside living, which is just gorgeous.

Perfect. OK. It is brilliant here, but there is more to see,

so shall we lead on through and have a look?

As well as creating this gorgeous, spacious kitchen,

the property has four bedrooms, three bathrooms

and a sitting room.

This was originally the milking parlour

and we had to break all the floor out,

because it was a complete mess, and then we built the partitions

to form the rooms, because this was one great big long building.

Where do you practically start? You have a shell of a building.

-What do you do first?

-What you can do is get a bit of chalk, if you like,

and mark out where you think you want to put your sofa, put your bed,

things like that, and see if that will work within the space you've got.

Would that help you visualise a place

-and how you divide a space?

-Definitely.

And you can do that when you're building your own home.

Build the house around your furniture,

if you like, rather than the other way round.

'Looking around this impressive renovation has certainly shown'

David and Phillippa why taking on an empty building

is a fantastic way to create your dream home.

Back in Kent, empty-property officer Mike Thompson is on his way

to check up on a building that was on his books five years ago.

I'm here today to meet the new owner of a lovely Grade II-listed building

in one of Margate's historic conservation squares.

She's just acquired the property at auction.

It was formerly in use for multiple occupancy.

My priority is to get it back to a quality family house,

which is what it should be.

-Hello, Chloe, pleased to meet you.

-Nice to meet you. Come in.

-I can't wait to hear what plans you have.

-Come and have a look around.

-Thank you very much.

I can't tell you, Chloe, how pleased we are that you've bought this and taken it on,

because the property's been a real problem for the council for quite a few years.

What attracted you to it and what made you buy it?

We love the area and it's a beautiful square

and we could see the property needed somebody to take it on and we fancied the challenge.

There can be limitations when taking on a listed building.

But luckily for Mike, it's in safe hands with the new owners.

I'm actually an architect and my partner works in a similar field,

so we're quite familiar with it,

but it's still going to be quite a challenge to actually work on a project ourselves.

That's music to my ears.

Somebody keen and enthusiastic, loves the area

and knows what they're doing. That's a good start.

They may be dab hands at designing their home,

but they certainly have a lot of hard work ahead of them.

It's not to be underestimated, the amount of work you've got here, Chloe.

No, you can see this is something we need to tackle quite quickly.

A failed gutter that's obviously causing lots of internal damage,

ruining some of the original features, so we're keen to get on.

At least spotting it now gives you a chance to get to grips with it and deal with it.

Wow. Dear, oh, dear. All that's wrong in multiple-occupancy, isn't it?

No room for anybody. There's been a bed in here,

kitchen facilities, there's a toilet there and I guess that's

-a shower through there?

-Yes, there is a shower unit.

Do tell me, what's your intention for the property,

what are you going to do with it?

We're going to strip out all of these existing fittings and fixtures

and try and turn it back into a nice traditional family house.

-Oh, great.

-Save some of the features that are here.

That's going to be one hell of a problem solved for the council. I'm so pleased.

Yeah, we're really looking forward to making it a proper home again.

It's days like this that make being an empty-property officer worthwhile.

She will take 12 months to do the project - that's optimistic -

but I'm going to keep my eye on it. I'm going to make regular visits.

Any help she wants, I'm going to offer.

We're going to get a beautiful family house brought back to use in this wonderful square.

Back in East Sussex, David and Phillippa have been getting valuable advice from a family

who've converted empty farm buildings into a stunning home.

Right, so, guys, I got a sense when I met you earlier

you are pretty good at spotting potential in a place,

but has this helped? Has this helped you visualise what an empty property can become?

Oh, definitely.

Knowing this was a shell when they started

and understanding that they put this steel framework in,

that's really useful.

To know that you can still keep that character of a property and work around it.

They designed the house around their lifestyle and what they wanted.

I think that's the lovely opportunity about working with a place like this.

I'm pleased you see that, because that's exactly the potential that's ahead of you.

If you find the right place, you don't have to be constrained by what's there.

You can pull things around, you can move walls

and make it fit your lives perfectly.

You're definitely going to do that with land,

but you can do that with the building, as well.

This process really helps us get a strong sense of direction for ourselves

for the next year or so, as to what we want.

The challenge is knowing what you want.

The next challenge is being brave enough to find someone who can take that and you can play with it,

not be constrained by the proportions, so good luck with it.

Thank you very much for a lovely day. It's been a lot of fun.

-Really useful.

-Very helpful.

I think David and Phillippa have some really great ideas

about how to create a bespoke space from an empty property.

And today has certainly given them some essential advice.

I also think it's made them realise how much hunger they have for a project like this

and, hopefully, it's inspired them to push on and create their perfect home.

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