Beware! Cowboy Builders Abroad

Dominic Littlewood and Gabrielle Blackman help British expats who have been stung by cowboy builders rebuild their properties and their lives. In this episode, Dom hears the sad story of a former millionaire called Peter who bought an illegally and badly built hotel in Spain.

Tom and Irene Owens bought a villa in Cyprus for around £150,000 and their son bought the plot next door, but when the couple moved into the property the site was incomplete, with no roads or mains electricity. Worse still, the builder had failed to construct any retaining walls to hold back the hillside now looming over the house and this - coupled with chronic damp problems and subsidence - meant the couple's retirement was turning into a nightmare. Gabrielle Blackman and her build team face an uphill struggle as they attempt to improve the situation, while Dominic Littlewood encounters more Brits on the island who have fallen foul of the same builder.

Dominic and Gabrielle meet an older couple from Swindon.

In Sheffield, Dom and Gabrielle rescue a young family of doctors who have been left with an unfinished construction site for a home.

The team take on their biggest build yet in Leamington Spa.

Back in 2009, Dom, together with co-presenter Melinda Messenger, headed to Thornbury near Bristol to help Stuart and Michelle Trigg, a couple who had hired a builder whose botched jobs simply beggared belief. The IT consultant and his wife wanted their two children to have a room each. The rogue builder claimed every spare penny they had to build a large extension on the side of their three-bedroom property that would add one bedroom and a playroom. The contractor's work turned out to be a complete disaster, an unfinished build of unstable walls and leaking sewage pipes, leaving Stuart and Michelle with just two functional bedrooms. With no one else to turn to, the Triggs called on Dom and Melinda for help. Dom tracked the cowboy down across the border in south Wales, while Melinda and her team fixed the house and came up with an ambitious new layout for the extension to give the kids a glorious new family playroom. Now, nearly five years later, the team returns to see how the family are getting on. Dom sets off on a mission to find out what the builder is up to now – and if he is still trading. His journey takes him back to the Welsh valleys, where he discovers that justice has caught up with this cowboy in a completely unexpected way.

Pensioners Roy and Raye Robinson employed a local builder to erect a single-storey extension to their semi, as Raye struggles withmobility after a recent battle with cancer. They forked out over £12,000 – but were left with a half-built wreck with wonky walls and mortar so weak it could be rubbed out with their fingers. Designer Gabrielle Blackman and her chief builder John Russell quickly discover that they have no choice but to knock down the disastrous extension and start again from scratch. Meanwhile, Dom Littlewood follows the trail of devastation left by the cowboy builder around the Great Yarmouth area. Using hidden cameras, he manages to catch him in the act of doing some dodgy electrics. With all the evidence in place, Dom decides to deliver some home truths to this reckless cowboy. Back at the Robinsons, the rescue team finally finish work on their extension. Gabi uses her interior design knowledge to effect some improvements and create a few surprises for the extremely grateful couple.

In this episode, Dom and Gabi are on the case of a prolific cowboy builder wreaking havoc in the heart of the Asian community in Oldham. Married couple Bushra and Sagid Rashid have lived in a mid-terrace property for 17 years, but with their two children growing fast, they desperately need more living space. The couple decided that they wanted a single-storey side and rear extension to create a new kitchen and downstairs WC. At the end of 2012, Sagid had to return to Pakistan to visit his sick mother. Bushra decided to get the previously discussed building work done while he was away, thinking that she would surprise him with a finished extension on his return. After receiving a leaflet through the door, Bushra contacted a builder who promised to deliver a professional build in 16 weeks at a cost of £19,700. But nine months on, having paid £16,500, the family have been left without heating, hot water or a kitchen – and with a half-finished, structurally unsafe extension that they have been told needs to be completely knocked down. Gabi and her building team take on the task of fixing and finishing the family's home, while Dom investigates the builder. He discovers that the Rashids are just the tip of the iceberg, as he comes across more and more homeowners who have suffered a similar fate. Tracking down the cowboy himself, however, proves incredibly tricky.