and claims the charity has been failing some tenants. it doesn t feel like home, it feels like a prison. it was destroyed, absolutely destroyed. i ve never seen anything like it. we ask, is public money being exploited for private gain? it s a really wild west system i and the winners are the people creaming off quite often very large profits. - boats like this don t come cheap. most people would never have the opportunity to own a boat like this. it would cost you more than a couple of hundred grand, and you can see why. one just like this was bought by a property developer called paul o rourke. here he is explaining his business model. we are a private limited company that buys properties for one price, develops them, and sells them for another and that s what we do as a business. there is a bit more to it than that. and it s all about the housing benefit that can be claimed to house vulnerable people who need support. the government calls it exempt accommodation. exempt ac
and that s what we do as a business. there is a bit more to it than that. and it s all about the housing benefit that can be claimed to house vulnerable people who need support. the government calls it exempt accommodation. exempt accommodation is a particular type of supported housing which is exempt from having benefit regulations, which means you can charge a higher rent. while there are good providers of this type of housing, there is mounting evidence this taxpayer funded system is open to exploitation. it s a really wild west system and the winners are the people creaming off quite often very large profits. you and i are paying for this situation every day that we pay tax. paul o rourke works closely with a charity called my space housing solutions. it is a registered provider of social housing. this is the village of north wingfield in derbyshire. in 2018, paul o rourke bought arcam house here. my space took a 20 year lease on the property and used it to house and supp
and my space, and that s why we failed in front of thejudge because we couldn t establish the link. i think, if we got this documentation, we would have established that link. he has now paid my space hundreds of thousands of pounds in backdated benefits. i m not best pleased. and who is paying the price? the public are paying the price and footing the bill. that is our annual check to the christmas markets. he used to always enjoy that, mainly for the food. lindsay bessell s 21 year old son, nick, has been a tenant with my space for four years. he lives in enfield house in bolton, anotherformer paul o rourke property.
he lives in enfield house in bolton, anotherformer paul o rourke property. nick is autistic and doesn t want to appear on camera, so he said his mum can speak for him. he looks really happy. he was happy. lindsey says her son has been badly let down by my space. sometimes he doesn t see people for weeks, they constantly change the day and the time they are coming. when the housing support officers do arrive, how long do they stay? they probably stay about 5 10 minutes. they ask him, has he got food in, or are his bills paid, well, they should know that. and then theyjust go. last year, my space produced a detailed report intended to justify its claims to higher