The Helyars Britain's Empty Homes

Across the country, empty properties that could be homes are 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 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 reinventing and preserving Britain's empty homes.

Doing up an empty property can challenge even the most experienced renovator,

whether it's restructuring internal layouts, managing huge budgets

or tackling planning restrictions,

but it's the promise of turning the dream into a reality

that drives people on to bring an empty home back to life.

'On today's show, a couple facing the challenge of rescuing a Grade II listed cottage...'

This is the only water in the house.

There's no bathroom, toilet. They didn't even have an outhouse.

'A regeneration scheme that transforms empty properties into homes for people in real need...'

It's nice to bring empty homes back into the community and get people that need them living in them.

'And an Empty Property Officer tries to track down the owner of an abandoned abode.'

Do you know anything about this property here, about the owner?

'Surrey-based ceramic tiler Paul Helyar and his wife Lynn recently spent £300,000

'on this rare, Grade II listed house in the sought-after village of Hascombe in Surrey.'

When you're thinking of retiring, it's a nice place to retire.

If you've got a romantic spirit, it's idyllic,

far from the madding crowd, far from the madness of the city.

-And we have sheep...

-And there are sheep.

-..looking over the fence which is quite nice.

'The cottage was previously owned by an elderly relative of Paul's who moved out into a retirement home.

'Living in a listed cottage sounds like a dream,

'but fixing this place up would give most people sleepless nights.'

We've purchased basically an empty building with a very leaky roof,

absolutely no insulation at all, no running water as such.

-It's got one kitchen downstairs with a tap.

-No facilities.

-No bathroom.

-No toilet.

-No toilet.

'The cottage next door was renovated for £200,000, but being a professional tiler,

'Paul is counting on his experience and contacts to help them finish the job for half that amount.'

We're hoping to do quite a lot ourselves.

Tiling kitchens, bathrooms, that's no problem.

And the floor area downstairs being in stone is something I do all the time.

'I want to see first-hand the scale of renovation that this compact cottage needs.'

-Hi, guys. I'm Joe.

-Pleased to meet you.

-Paul, nice to see you.

-Hello.

-Lynn, how are you?

-Fine, thanks.

-This is lovely.

-What a cute cottage! How long have you had it?

-Just over a month.

-It's a bit older than that, though. It's about 1580s, the original part of the building.

-Goodness me!

-To prove it, we've got a key which is a couple of hundred years old.

-That's a proper key.

-Yes.

-You don't lose that in a hurry.

-That is the only key of the property.

-The only key?

-Yes.

-I have a habit of walking off with those things, so hang on to that.

-Let's have a look around, shall we?

-Yeah.

-Lead the way.

-By all means.

Oh, wow, look at this!

This is a proper country cottage. Front room here and fireplace, then this is your kitchen?

The kitchen. This is the only water in the house.

-The only water in the house is this tap here?

-This tap.

-And where would that water go?

-Just into the floor outside.

-Into the soil? It just drains away?

-Yes.

It's mind-boggling. It's amazing.

-Most of it is coming through...

-It's coming back up.

-There's no bathroom, toilet.

-Wow!

-Absolutely nothing. Just this one tap.

-Where is your power shower, Lynn?

-I'm waiting.

-Still waiting? My goodness!

-It had an outhouse attached to it?

-It didn't even have an outhouse.

This is classed as uninhabitable. You've got a bit of running water, but you have no sanitary stuff.

-It's classified as derelict.

-Right.

You're going to bring it through to the 21st century? And it's small.

We came in the front door, through the front room into the kitchen...

Part of the charm of cottages like this is they're small, cosy rooms. Will you keep them like that?

-No.

-No? What would you like to do?

-Some you have to because of the restrictions.

It's Grade II listed. Anything before 1700 is Grade II listed.

So, the front of the house, being all timber-framed, has to stay the same.

But the back of the house which was an extension put on a few hundred years ago isn't all timber-framed,

-so that's where the potential is to add on.

-Cosy?

It's definitely small at the moment and small is worrying

because I'm not used to living in anything quite as small, certainly, so we'll put an extension on.

-What is the vision? Why do you want to do this?

-I just fell in love with it as soon as I saw it.

Yeah, yeah... You didn't?

What were your first thoughts?

-I was crestfallen when I first saw it.

-Really?

-Yeah.

I think it's just so different from anything I'd seen before.

Fell in love, crestfallen.

-LAUGHTER

-It's quite a contrast between the two of you, isn't it?

I know there's some roofing work going on. Shall we go and have a look upstairs?

Yeah, by all means.

'Clearly, there's plenty of room for improvement here.

'But even though the cottage is small, it's going to be crucial to keep a check on the finances.'

What's the plan up here? How is it going to be laid out?

We've got a two-storey extension going through here.

Where we're standing here is going to be an en-suite bathroom to a front bedroom here.

Two front bedrooms have to stay the same because it's a listed building. We can't touch those.

There'll be another boxroom alongside the en-suite here.

-That's your office, the boxroom?

-It'll have to be, I guess.

So how far have you got? You've been working up here already.

What's been happening? Have you come across any unforeseen problems?

We have found quite a lot of rot in the roof, so we've changed several of the rafters already.

That's where I see this new wood. How much do you think this will cost?

-I've allowed £100,000. I've borrowed the maximum amount I can borrow.

-Right.

The longer it takes, the more interest we need to pay and we haven't sold our house.

The problem is paying the interest on that loan plus paying a mortgage.

That's the timescale problem. You can't go past six or seven months.

-I can see why you might worry. Do you think he can do it?

-I'm sure he can. I've got implicit faith.

I trust you to make a very good job of it.

'This place has got potential,

'but Paul and Lynn will need to be on the same page to make the best of it.'

-Can you visualise it?

-I can visualise it, but Lynn has great difficulty in visualising anything.

You're struggling to jump off paper into just seeing and feeling your home?

Yes, it's hard to imagine that you can create that much more space

because of the restrictions and by it being a listed building.

At this stage in the project, what are your key concerns?

Mainly seeing it through to the end.

It would be unusual to finish anything, but it would make it a first if we could get this finished.

-Quite a barbed comment.

-LAUGHTER

-I don't pull any punches, do I?

-A nudge in the ribs, "It'd be nice to finish this time."

It would be really useful for you both to meet a couple who have been through this

with an equally historic property and have come out the other side.

They'll have some really good advice and tips for you

-to help you on your way.

-That sounds a really good idea.

'Being a tiler means that Paul is handy, but it's going to take more than a few new tiles

'to make this place shine.'

It isn't just Grade II listed buildings that need restoring.

Across the UK, there are properties lying empty that could provide much needed housing.

Local councils are taking action and it's the job

of Empty Property Officers to find these buildings and get them back into use.

In Amber Valley, Derbyshire, Sue Lee is on her way to a house that's long been a thorn

in the side of the local community.

Today, I'm off to look at a property that I've been working on for the last three years.

We're having to treat it as abandoned

and it's a property I've had to respond to neighbours' complaints about, so we've taken action

and today, I'll have a look at the work the contractors have done and consider our next steps.

Sue has made every effort to track down the owner of the house, but this is his only known address,

so while she inspects the work the council ordered for the roof,

she plans to hand-deliver an invoice to cover their costs, as Royal Mail will no longer deliver post here.

As I expected, really.

The mail is having trouble getting through because the brambles are just so overgrown.

I might play GI Jane and try and post the letter. Or I can just tape it to the wall. But I prefer to deliver it.

What I'm really interested in is the back of the house.

Oh!

What's this?

Oh, my word!

These are letters that I had to tape to the property.

I find it interesting that this letter has already been opened.

Who's had a look at this?

This discovery indicates that someone could have visited the house

and therefore, may be aware of the council's involvement.

Well, I do like this roof now. The contractors have done a great job.

It's draining nicely into the guttering as well. That's good.

But I cannot believe this garden.

It's so much more overgrown than I expected.

I have served notice to ask the owner to do something about it.

But this is something we need to tackle now.

I'll just get my camera and take some pictures of the roof...

..for my records back at the office.

Now Sue knows one of her letters at the house has been opened,

she wants to hear if the neighbours have any more up-to-date information.

-Excuse me.

-Hello.

-I'm the Empty Property Officer at the council.

-Oh, yeah.

-Can I just ask you a couple of questions?

-Yeah.

-Do you know anything about the owner of this property?

There was a young chap who lived there. The last time I spoke to him,

it was a few years ago, he said he was working abroad and that's as much as I know.

OK. Thank you for your time. Bye.

Undeterred, Sue is hopeful someone on the street will know more about the elusive owner.

KNOCKS ON DOOR

-Hiya.

-Hello. I'm the Empty Property Officer at the council.

-I was wondering if you were aware of that empty property across the road?

-Yes, indeed.

-Is it having much of an effect, do you think?

-Well, yeah.

We do have to look at it, but it's the neighbours I feel sorry for, on either side.

They've had to put up with it for, goodness gracious, how many years?

But yeah, a bit of an eyesore.

I'm trying to find out a bit more about the owner. Do you know anything about him?

Nobody's seen him for years. He used to come and go.

But I wouldn't have a clue where he was.

-Thank you. Bye.

-You're welcome.

With further information thin on the ground, it seems Sue's investigation may have gone cold.

Well, I've spoken to a few people who live near to this empty property.

But I'm not really any further forward in finding out definitively where the owner is.

So the next thing for me to do is deliver this letter

and my previous correspondence that I found at the property.

Here goes.

The owner has 28 days to pay the council's costs.

If he fails to do so, Sue will have no option but to serve him notice

which could lead to the council eventually taking ownership of the building.

Job done.

If you're in the market for an empty property, there are many ways to pick one up.

Contact your local council's Empty Property Officer. Ask around family and friends.

Or talk with local estate agents and auctioneers.

It's not only the council and individual developers

who are working to turn abandoned buildings into usable homes.

I've come to South London to see the work of Habitat For Humanity,

one of many charities working to bring affordable houses

to some of the 1.8 million families on housing waiting lists.

David Clare works for the charity who have secured this house in a residential street,

perfect for a family in need.

-What's going on here?

-This is a turn-of-the-century, terraced property.

It's been empty for over 18 months.

We're converting it into a three-bed maisonette, then the lower ground floor, basement flat.

-Who would work on a project like this? Local tradesmen?

-Yes.

-But we also mix them with unskilled volunteers on site.

-Where do they come from?

-The community.

And also from corporations in the City, who bring a donation as well, which helps subsidise the project.

-It's the backbone of the charity.

-You mentioned unskilled volunteers. It's the perfect description of me.

-Can I get involved?

-Of course. We'll get you kitted out.

'Once completed, this place will be used by the Housing for Women Association

'to rehome women and children in vulnerable circumstances. Darren shows me what lies beneath

-'the surface of a project like this.' These are coming up?

-Yes.

So how's the project been going? What surprises have you found with this house?

It's typical of what we're finding. A sag in the floor. You investigate and realise the brickwork is loose.

We then have to take the bricks out. If you don't do it sympathetically,

the whole wall could come crumbling down on you, like a big game of Jenga.

-Damp's got in.

-Yeah. You don't know until you start ripping it apart what the problem is.

-I'll leave you to carry on. I'll join the volunteers downstairs, if that's OK.

-Fine. Bye.

'One of the unique aspects of Habitat For Humanity is the emphasis on using unskilled labourers

'who are more at home in suits.'

Hi, guys. Hold your fire. How are we doing? I'm Joe.

-Nice to meet you.

-I can't hear a thing you say! Dust masks down?

-Hi.

-Hello. I'm Joe.

-Miranda.

-And?

-Peter.

-Hello, Peter. How are you doing?

-Very well.

-What do you normally do? Behind a desk?

-I'm a marketing manager. Very different.

Not too much experience of Victorian chimneys and fireplaces?

Er, no. Not every day.

And why have you volunteered here? What do you make of the charity?

It's nice to bring empty homes back into the community.

Previously I was working on the sewage and I have to say this is slightly nicer.

-Miranda, you've come straight in at fireplaces.

-That's my best forte!

-You avoided the drains!

-Absolutely!

-Shall I start ferrying these out?

-That would be fantastic.

It's really heartwarming to see people volunteering to work alongside the local tradesmen here.

And they're bringing this beautiful building back to life

and providing much needed affordable housing for many years to come.

'Restoring an empty property can often be a huge undertaking,

'but one with enormous satisfaction. Whilst creating a new home,

'you're also helping to bring a building that's lost its purpose back to use.

'That's just what Stewart and Leni Rothwell set out to do when they bought these listed stables in 2009

'for £190,000. Being a construction engineer by trade,

'Leni was adamant she'd go against the grain and design her own home, but Stewart wasn't sold on it.'

My initial reaction was, "Wow! What a mess this place is!"

It was an ex-builder's yard, overgrown, loads of rubbish, the buildings were falling down.

-It was like a tip.

-Yeah, just the scale of work and amount of work that needed doing.

That was scary. How much is it going to cost to get the whole thing done?

But Leni assured me it had potential and so I had to really take her word for that.

There was that instinct that pushed me to push Stewart. "This is great. It's fantastic.

"It could make a great home."

And give back a little bit of the character to this part of the village.

-I received my instructions as to what to cut down...

-Labouring!

Yeah, so I was general labourer and bean counter in the background and Leni was project manager.

-That's pretty much right?

-Yes.

With a renovation budget of just over £200,000, work could begin,

but being in a conservation area presented plenty of challenges,

-including making allowances for local wildlife.

-I had to struggle with conservation officers.

Because there were bats flying around, there could be a bat roost.

The local bat man, let's call him, came for two evenings running and sat here from about 7pm

until 2am, checking for any bat activity. At the end, his report said there may be. Nothing more.

That scared me. You cannot say that in your report.

We had to fight with the wording of every report before being submitted to the planners

-to make sure they were conclusive and clear.

-It wasn't just the home itself under the watchful eye

-of the conservation officers.

-Part of the planning condition

focused on preserving and reinstating the orchard.

The funny thing about the fruit trees was they insisted on exactly the same species as 80 years ago.

We did have to refer to historical data of the region and then had to negotiate with landscape officers

-exactly what trees we would plant.

-You didn't ever think, "I wish I hadn't taken this on," did you?

I had quite a few sleepless nights, but I was determined because I pushed so much for it.

I had to see it through. The only way out is to finish it.

Once the roofs were back on, the walls had gone up, I started to have a feel for what it was like

and I could start to see what Leni perhaps originally saw in it.

-You never said that, that you warmed to the house then.

-Yes. Yeah, I did.

It is a beautiful property, a beautiful house to live in.

Finding an old place and renovating it has enabled us to have

a far grander home, let's say, than we otherwise would have.

It's probably worth 1½ times the amount that we paid. Would we have afforded a £600,000 house?

-Definitely not.

-The house sits so well within the surrounding environment.

Back in Surrey, I'm with Paul and Lynn Helyar, who bought a Grade II-listed cottage

in need of serious renovation work.

'To help them realise their vision, I'll introduce them to a couple who did a similar job,

'turning a 600-year-old derelict listed cottage into a cosy home.'

-I think you can tell why I brought you here. First impressions?

-Fabulous.

-It's really beautiful.

-It's a similar period to your cottage, late 16th century.

Probably a little bit bigger, but no house is exact and this will have come up against similar challenges

-in terms of modernising an old cottage. Shall we say hello?

-Yeah.

-If we could.

'Liz and Steve Toft weren't even looking for a fixer-upper

-'when they took a chance viewing this run-down local cottage.'

-This place came up for sale.

We thought we'd have a look, a little bit for being nosey, just to see what it was like.

I was eight months pregnant and I went along just to humour you.

But once inside, the couple saw the potential and were undeterred by the state it was in.

-We just fell in love with it and definitely wanted to stay here.

-It looked run-down,

-but it wasn't falling down.

-No. But it needed a lot of work.

They bought the cottage in 2009 for £400,000

and it took them two years and £186,000 to completely restore.

We knew that it was a big project and, ultimately, we have

this amazing house. And hopefully we'll be in it for ever more.

-Hi, guys. Come in.

-This is your living room.

-It is.

-Incredible. All the exposed wood.

-Beautiful.

-It is, isn't it?

These guys are being very brave. Paul's very optimistic, Lynn's very worried.

It's about trying to find a look and a style to marry the old with the new.

-What was your approach?

-We wanted to keep it as true to its original self as we could.

Anything old, we did it traditionally even if it wasn't exactly how we'd like it.

We wanted to make it neutral.

Have you thought further down the line, in terms of the style? Keep an old feel or be modern?

-I think we've got to keep an old feel.

-When you've got beams like this,

-if you do anything mock, it stands out a mile.

-I don't want it to look too modern anyway.

Looking over there, you've got the bread oven.

This was all panelled and you could barely see the doors. It was amazing when you took it back.

I can see how things could be, I suppose, because it doesn't exist at the moment. All I can see is

how dark it all is at the moment.

Even new plaster and painting it white makes a massive difference.

We sandblasted all of this to lighten it up and bring it back to how it should have been.

There are always problems. How did you guys approach them?

Use the conservation officer. Ours was really, really good, wasn't he?

He said, "I expect you'll want to do this and that." We hadn't even thought about doing those things.

If it wasn't for him saying about the fireplace, we wouldn't have done it and it's one of the nicest things.

-Have you met your conservation officer?

-He came round yesterday.

-Oh, right.

So you're building that relationship already, someone with good advice who knows their history.

If you've got one tradesperson experienced in traditional methods,

they go, "Oh, do you know so-and-so?" And then, "Wow!"

You'd a run of four or five people who knew what they were doing.

The knowledge of working in an old building isn't the same.

There's almost a club where people share knowledge and you can find specialist trades.

You're a tradesman, but there might still be someone who can help in that way.

If you keep the right focus, you can get through it.

When we started uncovering bits, it got worse before it got better.

Then you have really good times when something suddenly comes together.

-We'll start praying now!

-Unfortunately, Lynn has no vision!

-No!

'I'm hoping seeing upstairs will be an eye-opener for Lynn as the proportions

-'are more in line with their own home.'

-This is the main bathroom.

'They've also incorporated an en suite into one bedroom.'

-And this is Sebastian's bedroom.

-'It's a great chance for the Helyars to see how to maximise the space.'

Everyone, please be careful down these stairs!

'What I really want to show them is the modern extension, which will offer Lynn some living space.'

So here we are in the extension.

-Clearly not in the same style as the rest. You don't have old beams.

-It's very nice, light and airy.

-A totally different feel.

-We want to open up some space outside just as living space, really.

How useful is it having this space in terms of not being confined to the old footprint of the cottage?

It just makes it a family home.

Let's come to the heart of it. How long did it take you?

We originally thought 9-12 months, something like that. In the end, it took us 2½ years.

-And what did it end up costing you?

-We originally budgeted for about 187 to be sort of precise.

-If these guys' budget is going the wrong way, what's your advice? Sort the structure out first?

-Yeah.

Don't think, "Oh, it's costing us a lot more, so we'll cut corners." Ultimately, it's a false economy.

You'll have to redo it.

So priorities versus budget. Just always assessing that.

-Now give Lynn some reassurance that it's all worth it in the end.

-Most definitely. We love this place.

It's exceeded expectations.

Our old house was a modern house, but we never felt as comfortable as we do here.

Maybe that's the key. Thinking about how you tailor it to yourself,

-to the way you live your life. Maybe that will help you get really excited about the property.

-Maybe!

-Keep working on her, Paul.

-Work in progress!

-Guys, having had a look round, has this helped?

-It's helped me. It's helped me a lot.

It's a wonderful place. It shows me what it will look like.

Certainly something to live up to, isn't it? This is beautiful.

And this is the result of their positivity.

-They've stuck together and come through.

-It's nice to think you can achieve so much.

-It's phenomenal.

-You have an amazing property. There will be tough challenges and some low moments,

but go through this together. These two did just that and look what they've achieved.

-What a great home you'll have.

-I do hope so. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much.

It's been an absolute treat to see this place. Listed buildings can be notoriously tricky

to get right, but to see one finished to such a high standard is just fantastic.

For Paul, there's plenty of inspiration and it encourages him and his vision.

For Lynn, hopefully, we're winning this battle and there's reassurance here that it can be done

so together they can go forward and create their perfect home.

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