The Empty Housing Scandal

Matt Allwright is in Liverpool investigating the case of a tenant trapped in a collapsing property. He also meets a Birmingham resident who has had enough of the abandoned house next door.

Matt meets a Merseyside tenant living in a rented property riddled with damp, and he visits a property in Sussex where workers are being housed illegally in dangerous conditions.

Matt visits a property so dangerous it has to be immediately shut down, and he unlocks the mystery of an empty home that has blighted one Scottish community for over a decade.

Matt Allwright investigates the scandal of a rented terrace house that is overcrowded and riddled with cockroaches. In Ayrshire in Scotland, the council are working hard to crack down on long-term empty homes, and Matt meets a Midlands family fighting vermin in their rented property.

Matt Allwright investigates the scandal of a north London bedsit that is simply not fit for purpose. Next, in Liverpool, the council housing team are on the case of a family who have left a rented property in an appalling state, and the landlord in shock. Finally, Matt joins the Birmingham empty homes officer who is fighting back against the city's 10,000 empty properties.

Britain is suffering a housing crisis. With 20 per cent of privately rented accommodation unfit to live in and 200,000 homes lying empty, Matt Allwright investigates this growing scandal. Matt Allwright meets a Merseyside tenant whose poor health makes their already damp property even more of a hazard – until they reach out to the council housing team. He also visits an empty period home that is in danger of falling into rack and ruin until rescued by a local couple who want to create the perfect first home for their son, and he uncovers the mystery of a Birmingham resident who has vanished into thin air, leaving their home empty and the council empty homes team trying to track them down.

Matt Allwright is on the frontline with a council housing team investigating a Liverpool street that has been invaded by vermin. In the West Midlands, housing officers find the conditions in a rented property above a row of shops so dangerous that they consider shutting it down, and in Lowestoft Matt meets a tenant living in a newly-converted former takeaway.

Matt heads to Croydon, where he investigates an abandoned house that has been left to rot. Council housing officers in Liverpool deal with the case of a family who are struggling to cope with a landlord they claim is intrusive, and in Salford, Matt visits an unused eyesore that has been transformed into much-needed homes.

Matt joins the housing team from Liverpool City Council as they investigate a cramped terraced property in a worrying state of disrepair. In Birmingham, a property has become dangerously overgrown, a neighbourhood officer in Kent responds to reports of antisocial behaviour, and a house in Lowestoft that has stood empty for 20 years is finally transformed into a much-needed family home.

Matt investigates a Surrey property overwhelmed with rubbish and talks to the owner about their struggles with hoarding. In west London, probate genealogist Richard tracks down a deceased homeowner’s relatives to help them claim their inheritance, and a housing inspection in Liverpool reveals a rented property that could be a fire trap for its unsuspecting tenants.