George Clarke is shocked by the country's senseless waste of housing stock. The architect and presenter embarks on a crusade to tackle Britain's housing crisis. George wants to discover just how much public money is being spent to secure empty homes. He aims to prove that refurbishing is a quicker and a more efficient way of getting people a roof over their heads than building anew. George is also setting himself the challenge of getting some families, who have never had a permanent home, housed by the festive season. George meets Emma and her young children who've moved ten times in 13 years and looks into the ethics of squatting and the reasons why people do it.
In the second part of his housing crusade George Clarke goes on the campaign trail and doorsteps senior politicians at the Conservative Party conference. George tells delegates about Carl, a former soldier who's been sleeping on sofas since he left the army four years ago. He calls for a law change to make it easier for ordinary people to get their hands on empties, and a low-cost loan scheme to help people make repairs and get them back into use. George meets Les, a Royal Mail night worker, who's one of only four residents left in a residential area of empty homes in the North East. He visits young graduates Chris and Leah, who've brought an empty home back into use by themselves in Manchester. And George makes a huge breakthrough when the Government responds to his calls for change.
George's empty homes campaign was so successful that the government appointed him Independent Empty Homes Advisor. Over 118,000 people signed George's online petition to lobby for low-cost loan funds to help empty homeowners get their properties back into use. It certainly worked - governments in England, Scotland and Wales now have funds totalling £17m. The new film meets some of the 6,500 people who reported an empty in their local area using George's innovative online reporting tool and mobile app. Their reports went straight to their local councils and in some cases action was taken to bring the houses up to scratch within weeks. Across the country change is happening, and George visits a remarkable scheme in Mansfield where army veterans are learning to become builders by refurbishing empty properties for other vets to live in. But George also discovers that despite calling for an end to demolition, the government is still allowing councils to demolish thousands of perfectly decent empty homes.