John and Jackie White Britain's Empty Homes

Up and down the country, there are empty properties waiting to be brought back to life.

I'll be discovering why and how you can turn a diamond in the rough into a gem of a home.

We'll be following the Empty Property Officers,

whose job it is to track down the owners of these forgotten houses and get them back into use.

And I'll be finding out about our housing stock, our history,

and why we should be both preserving and reinventing

Britain's empty homes.

Renovating an empty home can seem like a risk,

and of course there are many pitfalls to watch out for -

out of control budgets, unforeseen structural issues

and planning restrictions.

But if you can navigate through these inherent dangers,

then the rewards of taking on a once-empty home

can be truly life-changing.

'On today's show, I'll be meeting a couple who want to leave city living behind

'and think an empty property may be the answer to a life by the sea.'

We don't want to take on anything mammoth,

like completely rebuilding something as an empty shell.

'We'll be finding out about an innovative scheme to turn disused shops into homes.'

If we can encourage owners to think about developing their shops,

not only will it help sustain their business, but it could help give affordable homes for people.

'We'll follow one of Britain's Empty Property Officers on his mission

'to get derelict buildings lived in again.'

It's one property in one hell of a state. Very, very bad indeed.

'John and Jackie White currently live in Wanstead, east London,

'and have been in their three-bedroom Edwardian terrace for eight years.

'With the arrival of their first grandchild,

'they're keen to be near their daughter in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex.'

It's not a million miles away, but it's still, you know, a 70-mile round trip.

You think twice about popping in for a cup of tea.

'Jackie's due to retire soon and the couple feel now is the perfect time

'to leave London for a life by the sea.'

We always take every opportunity to get out of London,

-weekends and holidays, so it just seems the right time.

-Yeah.

'They've around £350,000 for both the purchase and renovation of a property.

'They want something they can modernise to create their ideal home.'

By taking on an empty property,

we can put our own stamp on it, start afresh.

We don't want to take on anything mammoth, like completely rebuilding something as an empty shell.

'The couple have never tackled a big renovation before,

'so they'll need to get professionals in for major work.

'And with John still employed full time, it'll be Jackie taking on the role of project manager.'

It is a bit scary. Sometimes you see people saying "we can do it for 40,000" and it ends up being 100.

There's no way we can be going over budget.

'So, I'm meeting up with John and Jackie in Thorpe Bay, Essex,

'an area close to their daughter.

'I'm showing them an empty house within their budget that could be transformed into a fabulous home.'

Here we are in Thorpe Bay. Do you know Thorpe Bay?

We often go to Leigh, but we do know Thorpe Bay.

-You've got family in Leigh?

-That's right, daughter and son-in-law, baby.

Baby! Very exciting! And you still work in London?

-Yes, I do, and I'll be commuting from here.

-OK.

Well, you are not even a minute from a railway station.

-I noticed that.

-It's easy to get to the other side of Southend and into London as well.

It's a very good hub to get around from, in terms of transport.

This is the property - 1930s semi-detached chalet style bungalow.

The point of today is, this is an exercise.

This is typical of the sort of empty property on the market.

We're going to have a look. It won't all be to your taste.

-But keep an open mind and try and see the potential in it, OK?

-OK.

-Let's go and have a look.

'This bungalow has been empty for more than a year.

'It's on the market at £299,000.

'Although there was a previous offer on it, the chain collapsed

'so it went back up for sale.'

What do you think of these types of 1930s properties?

We don't know much about 1930s properties. I don't know anyone who's lived in one.

They're quite well proportioned.

This was the beginning of modern home building. There was a big boom through the '30s.

You've got garages built into the house for the first time. You've got big hallways.

The kitchens aren't just the narrow galleys the Victorian kitchens were.

People were shut away to cook.

There's a bit more of a sense of living with a garden and having a nice base with a family.

What do you want to create? What is your home going to look like?

We would have a kitchen knocked in with a dining room, so you have this big open space.

We have friends and family around quite a lot.

It would be nice to not be tucked in the kitchen by yourself.

How much building work would you be prepared to take on?

Is it just a case of decorating, or would you knock through, extend?

To get the space we want, we're expecting we would be knocking walls through, making different spaces.

Plus it gives you your stamp on the place.

Would there be one of you that would oversee the build?

Well, I'm probably going to finish work in six months.

-So once I finish work, I'll be the one...

-Taking it on.

-Yeah.

-There has to be a lot of trust there.

-Oh, yeah. That'll be fine. Yeah, I trust her.

Excellent!

Well, kitchen-diner, possibly the most important place in the house.

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

-OK.

Right, here we have kitchen-diner. What do you make of the space?

-Well, it's too small for what we want, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Maybe knock that wall down and go that way,

so we've got the full width of the house.

That'll give us more space.

-Mm. I think you could go that way, couldn't you?

-Yeah.

Or even that way. LAUGHTER

-Spread out!

-Any way you like!

-You can make this into one room.

I think this is the main back wall of the house,

so not one you'd take on with a sledgehammer.

But here you've got the back of the garage. There's a lot of space on that side of the house.

So, yeah, you could open up quite a bit.

I don't know how far you've got, but if you took on something like this, where would you live?

-If things move quickly, we could be living in London while the major work's happening.

-Hopefully.

Ideal. And if it couldn't happen that quickly?

-Would you be tempted to live in?

-We'd have to live in the mess.

-Yeah.

So lots of potential here, whichever way you end up going.

It could create the diner you're after.

Let's continue our look around.

'Upstairs are two double bedrooms... and a family bathroom.

'But it's in the 50-foot back garden

'that this property offers John and Jackie room to extend the living space.'

As we come out, we can see the kitchen kind of juts out

and you've got room to extend.

Having looked round, how do you feel about this empty home?

There's space downstairs to work. I'm not sure about upstairs.

-Yeah.

-Just two bedrooms.

I can't see where you could go for the space.

-What would be your big worries, if you have any at all?

-Cost.

-Yeah.

-JACKIE LAUGHS

-Basically, yeah.

-You don't want to start on something that escalates out of control.

-No.

No. We've got to be sure on that when we take it on.

-This is a big move for you, isn't it?

-Yeah. It'll probably be our last move.

-Not planning on going anywhere after this.

-No.

-Um...

-Got to get it right. Got to pay off the mortgage.

-Got to spend what you've got left wisely and keep it within budget.

-Yes.

Later, we're going to see a couple who have made the move you're talking about.

They've done some renovations. It's a property similar to this.

So even if you don't end up in a property like this,

it's going to be really good to see empty to completed, see that jump,

see that progress and visualise what can be done with it.

And I think they'll have some good tips, having been through it all,

-on how you stay in control of the budget.

-That'll be good.

Great to meet John and Jackie, because they know what they want.

They're after this large open-plan kitchen-diner,

but they're also very open minded about taking on an empty property.

They see the benefits.

I'm not sure this place is for them, but I'm excited about showing them a completed place.

It's a great example of just what you can do

when you transform a place like this.

'Homes can become unoccupied for many different reasons.

'With hundreds and thousands left vacant across the country,

'it's the job of our Empty Property Officers to find out why, and bring them back into use.

'On the Kent coast, Mike Thompson has spent five years

'working to get derelict buildings on his patch lived in again.

'He's on his way to a property that's been on his radar for some time.

'It's attracted antisocial behaviour

'and is now a real problem case for Mike.'

It's a long time since I've been at this property. It's deteriorated a lot since I was last here.

'With the owner not complying with requests to improve the condition of the house,

'Mike wants to check on its current state.'

We've got rotten wood on the sills.

We've got doors missing. We've got broken windows.

It is a lot worse than I thought. Rubbish dumped in the front garden.

As soon as people start seeing that,

that will increase, there'll be more rubbish dumped here.

I think the talking's finished. The broken promises, I've had enough of those.

It's time we got to grips with this.

The property's just as dilapidated at the back as it is at the front.

That balcony is hanging off there.

The timbers are rotted away. That wouldn't carry any weight at all.

So here we have the remains of an attached garage.

The chipboard roof has failed, due to being soaked with water.

There's nothing left of it now.

All in all, it's one property in one hell of a state.

Very, very bad indeed.

But plenty of material for us to serve a notice upon.

'The next-door neighbour has reported seeing foxes in the garden.'

You can see how overgrown the garden is.

Perfect, really, isn't it? I quite believe there's foxes living here.

It's also good for rats, I would think, as well.

But I'll need to take issue with the owner on that.

I've seen enough, really.

'Mike calls on the owner of the house next door

'to find out if they can shed light on what's going on with the place.'

I wonder if you could tell me what you know about next door.

People have broken in there.

I believe they have stolen stuff out of there. We have had the police round a couple of times.

It's not a very nice environment to let the children out, when we've had foxes doing their business,

-which could be quite dangerous.

-Yes, yes.

They used to have a lean-to against the side of our property.

That did completely collapse and we had glass all over our property.

That's when the children were very young.

We have to agree with you that that's not good enough.

They really have to do something about it.

We've played out the rope to such a length there's no more left.

-We will now have to serve notice.

-Lovely. Thank you.

-We'll get there, I'm sure.

-Thank you very much.

Thank you very much indeed.

Vacant homes are often riddled with damp, crumbling and covered with cobwebs.

Sounds like a nightmare to some, but to others,

challenges that can be overcome in order to create a dream home.

'When James and Fabien took on this abandoned Victorian schoolhouse in Warwickshire in 2009,

'they certainly needed vision.

'Dating back to 1886, the school had stood empty for 12 years

'and was far from being a comfortable, contemporary home.'

I wanted to do something properly and sympathetically.

I wanted to save something,

so I wanted something that was falling down

and at the brink of death, ideally.

The windows were boarded up so it was pitch dark inside.

-We had to try and view this place with a torch!

-Yeah.

But it was...just what we were looking for. It ticked all of our boxes. It was in a nice village.

Yes, I was very seduced by the fact that it was an open space,

so that we could create the space that we want to live in.

'Having bought the school for £240,000,

'they set out on a renovation that would take them just over a year.

'While Fabien stayed in their current home,

'James took the bold step of moving into the derelict school and project managing the build.'

I moved into the outbuilding here, which was the old canteen.

Yeah, with, basically, camp bed and sleeping bag and a fridge.

We rigged a shower up over the boys' toilets in the back,

which meant walking from the outbuilding round in the snow

to have a shower before I get into a suit and go to work.

'As the building had never been a dwelling,

'James and Fabien needed to put in everything to make it a home,

'including a bathroom and a kitchen.

'They eventually spent £210,000 on the transformation.'

It's not compared to other projects where you could move into one room

and then from that room you expand and do all the other rooms.

You can't here because you've got all the electricity,

all the water connections, everything will be done on the day.

It was a bit more like a barn conversion,

in that what you're dealing with is an empty shell,

which is a lot more flexible, rather than buying a Victorian farmhouse, where you've got 20 rooms.

'By taking on an abandoned building,

'James and Fabien have created a bespoke home for much less

'than if they'd bought it already renovated.'

This place is perfect for our needs.

We can see ourselves living here for 20 years.

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

'Britain is facing a housing crisis.

'The National Housing Federation is warning that the chronic lack of affordable homes is creating

'a steep rise in demand in the private rental sector and long social housing waiting lists.

'But with 48,000 shops standing empty in the UK,

'there could be a solution.'

Large numbers of empty shops on British high streets are, sadly, an all-too-familiar sight.

But are there alternative ways of breathing new life

into commercial properties that have been empty for a long time?

'I've come to Tonbridge in Kent to meet Hazel Dawe,

'who's campaigning to turn disused shops into affordable homes.'

So, Hazel, this is Tonbridge High Street.

Is this a one-off? How many of these empty shops are there?

We've counted Tonbridge High Street has 17 empty shops.

Margate in Kent has the highest proportion of empty shops in the country of any high street.

Margate has 37% empty shops.

'Right across the country, the demand for new housing

'is outstripping supply by two to one,

'so it's clear that something needs to be done.

'A number of councils are looking at transforming unoccupied shops into homes,

'which could help reduce their housing waiting lists.

'In Lewisham in southeast London,

'the council is working to increase its housing stock in this way.'

There are some localities where there is an over-supply of shops.

In those cases, a residential change of use is very appropriate,

particularly if you can do it in a managed way

to keep the right number of shops for the community.

'Nick Long from Lewisham Council housing team believes there's a real need for this type of scheme.'

We've got well over 16,000 people on the housing register.

We've got families in temporary accommodation.

If we can encourage owners to think about developing their shops,

not only will it sustain their business, it will help give affordable homes for people.

When we've got empty shops it leads to a general impression of decline.

What we want to see as a council

are as many of these empty shops coming back into use.

'It's not just a case of turning every empty shop into a home.

'Councils need to consider the make-up of retail areas

'so that businesses can still thrive

'while providing accommodation for people on housing waiting lists.'

I think this is very important. It's a significant source of new homes

for London and for other areas of the country.

It is important, though, to make sure that you still have an appropriate stock of local shops.

They do meet local needs, particularly for elderly people

or others who don't find accessibility to town centres and further away so easy.

With an alarming shortage of housing in this area for local people,

it makes sense to consider using each and every empty property.

Maybe even empty shops like this one

could provide much needed affordable housing.

'Back in Essex, I'm taking John and Jackie to meet a couple

'who've taken on a disused house and completed an impressive renovation.'

Right, guys, this is the property. Clearly, it's a bungalow.

Like the one earlier, it has an upstairs. The loft has been converted.

I think it had been half converted, then these guys came in and finished it off.

They fell in love with the area.

The area was important to them, like it's important to you.

I think you'll be interested in what they've done to it.

It will suit some of what you were talking about.

-So shall we go have a look?

-Looking forward to it.

-Let's say hello.

'Don and Annette from Shoeburyness

'bought this once-dilapidated bungalow in 2005.

'While structurally sound, it was in a terrible state,

'having laid empty since the previous owner passed away.

'The inside had not been updated for at least 30 years,

'but Don and Annette saw the raw potential in the basic shell.'

Initially, when I took the project on,

I stood down the bottom of the garden and looked back, and I did think to myself,

"At my time of life, have I taken on more than I can chew?"

'Don and Annette bought the bungalow for £230,000,

'with a budget of just £30,000 to renovate.

'Luckily for them, their son Darren is a builder,

'so father and son set about redesigning the layout,

'creating the spacious home they were after.'

It was good that the builder is our son!

And to know that his work is of a...is excellent.

We've got no faults with what he's done.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Hello, guys. Can we come in?

-Certainly. Please come in.

It's big! So, what was this place like when you first saw it?

Well, it was 1950s dated wallpaper, carpets, fittings.

Filthy dirty, alive with spiders, dust everywhere,

smashed glass in the porchway.

Exactly what the estate agent said - "a real pig's ear".

Clearly, it's now very homely, lots of light coming in.

-Did you know you wanted this open-plan round the back of the house?

-Yes, definitely.

Because, as you say, it's light and airy.

I didn't want dark rooms. Sometimes, with bungalows, that's what you get.

JACKIE: We're hoping to achieve something similar.

Big open kitchen-dining living space.

Did you get involved? How much did you do yourselves?

I did the second fixings - the doors, skirting boards, architrave.

Depending how soon you guys find a property,

you may or may not have the luxury of living in the place you are now.

-That's right.

-Where did you live? Did you live here?

No. The first six weeks, we lived with our daughter,

who lived in Thorpe Bay, at the time.

-And it worked out really well.

-How important was it for you

to be on site and to make decisions as they came up?

Sometimes, you think you want something doing.

Then when they start to do it, you think, "That's not going to work."

-It's not just a question of trust, is it?

-No.

-They might be trustworthy, but it's misinterpretation of ideas.

-Exactly.

'Don and Annette extended to the rear of their bungalow

'to create an open-plan kitchen living space that John and Jackie want in their next home.'

The first thing you notice is it's not fully open-plan.

-I suppose you've compromised here.

-Yes.

Well, I didn't want to be in the kitchen on my own

when everyone's sitting in there enjoying themselves.

Is it cosy enough in the winter?

We were thinking, if we had a big open space, we might want a smaller place to retreat to in the winter.

-Or do you find it's...

-I don't find it a problem being open plan.

Mainly because, with the fire,

it can get quite hot in here, especially cooking.

Put it in perspective, then. How much did this all cost?

I budgeted, originally, about £30,00.

I probably ended up spending about £40,000 with the extension

and the renovation. I think that's what we thought.

Thank you so much for letting us look round your house.

-You're welcome.

-It's been a pleasure.

-I'm pleased it's worked out so well and you're so happy with it.

-Yes.

-Thanks very much.

-OK. Good luck!

'In Thanet, Kent, Empty Property Officer Mike Thompson

'is returning to a building he's been trying to get back into use for almost two years.'

I'm off to Cliftonville, to the former Embassy Hotel.

The owner retired and the building became available, so the council have bought it.

The aim is to turn it back into two houses, which is how it started life.

'This former hotel has been the subject of antisocial behaviour.

'It's a particularly testing case for Mike.'

I came here yesterday, just to do an inspection

prior to meeting Cheryl the planner here today.

As I got out of the car, the smell of gas hit you!

It was absolutely incredible. How the whole street hadn't gone up, I don't know.

It was a case of rushing round, getting emergency services in.

We had the gas capped off and had to ventilate the entire property.

If anybody had struck a match in this street, I shudder to think.

Yet another implication of leaving a property unattended for a long time.

'Meeting Mike at the property today is Cheryl Macer

'from the planning department,

'here to discuss the plans for redevelopment of the hotel.'

-Hello, Cheryl.

-Hi, Mike.

-Glad you're here.

-Got some dramas to tell you about. Come through.

-OK.

It's a bit of a mess, isn't it, really?

Something that obviously needs to be sorted out pretty quickly, I'd say.

'Mike wants to check the schedule of works for converting the hotel back into two family homes.'

I did have some concerns in the first place.

You were proposing a large dormer window, which I thought might cause overlooking.

But the plans have been amended.

It involves the loss of a large extension,

which is a bit of an eyesore, really,

and does cause a sense of enclosure to neighbouring properties.

It restores the back and creates a single-storey extension,

which looks really quite good.

The creation of two family houses and the loss of lots of bedsits

is brilliant for the area, as well.

How soon do you think we can have a recommendation?

Because I'm really happy with the scheme,

my recommendation is going to be a positive one.

It should go to planning committee in three weeks.

-It's a planning gain, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

Two new houses of good quality, good back gardens, is what we need in this area.

'At the rear of the building is a large extension

'which will be demolished, allowing the creation of gardens for the new homes.'

A bit of an eyesore, to say the least.

'Cheryl was very positive about planning consent being forthcoming.'

Within three months, we'll have contractors in here

turning this into two beautiful family houses with gardens.

'This is one case which should have a successful outcome for Mike and the housing team.

'Back in Thorpe Bay, Jackie and John have been getting a valuable insight

'from a couple who've tackled the renovation of an empty house.'

Has seeing the empty property, then seeing this,

-helped you visualise what can be done with empty homes?

-Definitely.

Downstairs, especially, is the sort of thing we were after.

The space, and not losing too much space in the garden, like they haven't.

It's good. It's great.

Money. Budget. That was the big worry before we came here.

Has this helped you get a handle on what things cost?

It's helped, talking to Don,

realising hidden costs as well.

You've got to make sure you've got everything covered.

It is within our budget, what he's done there. It's the sort of things we wanted done.

Some practical advice about when to move in and how to manage that.

Yeah, I think that is a hard one to juggle.

The advice we've been given is if you can, leave it empty

for six to eight weeks for those major things to happen.

At the same time, it was "never be far away" because major decisions need to be made on a daily basis.

You'd have to think about that one really carefully.

Give them space to get on cos it'd be quicker.

-But you can't be far away.

-Loads of ideas there.

I'm pleased that you're still after an empty property.

-I think you'd do a great job and make it your own.

-Hopefully.

-Best of luck with the property hunt.

-Thank you.

Don and Jackie have their heart set on moving to be closer to the family.

They want to create a social space where they can have friends and family over.

I think that's brilliant, when you consider it could be transformed

from a sad, neglected, empty home.

I am sure they'll make a great job of it and I wish them all the best.

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