Channel 4 launches campaign on "property scandal"
Monday, 5 December 2011 12:15 PM
Channel 4 is launching a special season of property programmes with a difference this week anchored by some of its best-known presenters.
Instead of property porn and makeovers, the programmes will be investigating the reasons behind the housing crisis and possible solutions to it.
The week kicks off tonight at 8.30 with Jon Snow presenting the second part of his Dispatches investigation into Landlords From Hell.
The Channel 4 News presenter and a team of undercover reporters will be looking at what happens when homeless people who go to their local council for help, but are sent to private landlords.
He finds families with young children sent to live in filthy bug-infested properties with rogue landlords that make a fortune out of public money.
That's followed by an investigation into the scandal of empty homes by Restoration Man presenter George Clarke.
In two parts tonight and tomorrow night, The Great British Property Scandal looks at why there are one million empty homes when two million families are on council waiting lists.
And Clarke will be lobbying the government and local councils to support him in a campaign to make a real dent in the number of long-term empty properties and show the public how they can get involved and make a real difference to their communities.
Tomorrow Phil Spencer of Location, Location, Location presents The Empty Homes Show. He will be looking at how easy it can be for things to go wrong for people who lose their job or fall ill and then lose their homes. He will be meeting families who ended up on the street and helping them find a roof over their head.
And on Thursday this week and next week, Kevin McCloud reveals what happened when he set out on his very own Grand Design: a project five years in the making to build beautiful, affordable and environmentally friendly social housing that people actually want to live in.
George Clarke said: "If you all join me, Phil and Kevin in asking government to change this crazy situation, we may just help stop this senseless waste.
"Maybe you're itching to get more directly involved by reporting an empty home you've seen or live near. It's hard to believe but councils sometimes don't know where the wasted empties are."
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