A deaf couple, Ahmed and Rifat Ali, from Bitterne, Southampton, were left living in a hazardous home after a rogue builder took their £72,000 life savings and abandoned the half-finished renovation. The house was left with broken walls, exposed electrical wires, and gaping holes in the floors, forcing the family to cook meals in a bedroom using a microwave. The couple's story was featured on BBC One’s DIY SOS program, where 150 local volunteers came together to complete the project and transform their home into what they originally envisioned.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Ahmed and Rifat Ali, a deaf couple from Bitterne, Southampton, were left living on what amounted to a building site for nearly six months after a rogue builder absconded with their life savings of £72,000. The couple's home was left in shambles, with broken walls, exposed electrical wires, and gaping holes in the floors that rendered it uninhabitable. The family had no kitchen to prepare meals, so they used a microwave in a bedroom instead.
DIY SOS, a popular renovation show on BBC One, featured their story in an episode this week. An astounding 150 local volunteers joined forces to complete the unfinished work and transform the house into the home that Ahmed and Rifat had originally envisioned. Both Ahmed and Rifat were profoundly deaf since birth and rely on sign language for communication, making their ordeal even more challenging.
The Alis' housing crisis garnered national attention, highlighting the risks faced by homeowners dealing with unscrupulous contractors.
Written for “DIY SOS Scandal” on 2026-10-11,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
This is the state in which a cowboy builder left a young family's house after being paid £72,000 to transform it into a dream home.
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builder → leave → home
Deaf couple Ahmed and Rifat Ali and their three young children were forced to live on what was effectively a building site for almost six months when the rogue contractor took their life savings and disappeared.
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contractor → force → savings
The couple shared photos showing how the house in Bitterne, Southampton, was left with broken walls that left the family exposed to the elements.
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that → share → elements
The floors had gaping holes, there were dangerously exposed electrical wires and with the kitchen having been torn out they were left having to prepare all family meals in a bedroom using a microwave.
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they → have → microwave
The Alis' housing disaster was featured in an inspirational episode of BBC One's DIY SOS programme this week which showed how an astonishing 150 local volunteers came together to finish the abandoned job and give the family the home they had originally dreamed of.
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they → feature → home
Ahmed and Rifat, 39 and 36 respectively, have both been profoundly deaf since birth and use sign language to communicate with each other – which had made living in such appalling and even dangerous circumstances all the more difficult.
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living → use → circumstances
This is the state in which a cowboy builder left a young family's house after being paid £72,000 to transform it into a dream home
Deaf couple Ahmed and Rifat Ali and their three young children were forced to live on what was effectively a building site for almost six months when the rogue contractor took their life savings and disappeared
The couple shared photos showing how the house in Bitterne, Southampton, was left with broken walls that left the family exposed to the elements
Ahmed and Rifat Ali break down as Nick Knowles gives them a tour of their new home in Southampton after a rogue builder fled with their money and left them living on a building site
They had met two decades ago when both out shopping in Manchester and Ahmed spotted Rifat using sign language.
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Rifat → leave → language
Intrigued, he chatted to her in the same medium and they quickly formed a bond.
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they → chat → bond
They have now been married for 14 years and have a young family.
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They → have → family
Their children, Ismail, 11, Hiba, 6 and Adam, 4, are all hearing but their parents use sign language to talk to them which led to one of their biggest motivations to recalibrate their house: they wanted to open up the downstairs by removing walls to facilitate eye contact for signing.
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they → hear → signing
Another factor is that Adam is autistic, and the couple felt it would make the special care he requires easier in a more open space.
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he → feel → space
But instead of getting this, Ahmed and Rifat lost their life savings of £72,000 after being 'harassed' into paying a builder up front for their ground floor conversion with extension only for him to abandon the project within two months of starting it.
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him → get → it
He left it in such a dangerous state that it was actually condemned as unfit for human habitation by council officials.
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it → leave → officials
It was at this low point that dozens of their Southampton neighbours stepped in to rescue the project, as the Nick Knowles-presented programme this week showed.
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programme → step → project
Speaking through a British Sign Language interpreter, Ahmed, 39, told the Daily Mail: 'These people worked night and day to restore our home, it's amazing and incredible what they did.
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they → speak → what
They have hearts of gold and are beautiful souls.
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They → have → gold
'It really has restored my faith in humanity.
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It → restore → humanity
We suffered at the hands of one bad apple, but it was fantastic to see the support we had and the way everyone came together.'
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everyone → suffer → support
Rifat added: 'Those who have helped us are amazing.
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who → add → us
We watched the episode live at a special screening with the volunteers and it was very emotional, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.'
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it → watch → house
And she explained how before the community action their situation had left them at rock bottom.
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situation → explain → bottom
'This whole thing really affected our mental health, and we still live with this trauma,' Rifat said.
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Rifat → affect → trauma
'Each night we would cry ourselves to sleep.
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we → cry → sleep
It wasn't safe being in the house, we were trapped and only living upstairs.'
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we → trap → house
They had bought their 'forever home' in 2017 in Southampton, where Ahmed had grown up, for £270,000, choosing it because of its location in an area considered family-friendly with good schools.
But their nightmare started last year when they decided to renovate the downstairs of their home to make it more open plan and accessible.
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it → buy → home
The couple revealed their regret at falling for the rogue builder's pitch when he contacted them after seeing their details on Southampton Council's planning website, where they had submitted their application for a ground floor extension.
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they → reveal → extension
Ahmed said: 'He contacted us offering his services.
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He → say → services
Our architect had recommended a number of builders, but we went with this man because he gave us the cheapest quote.
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he → recommend → quote
The builders left it in such a dangerous state that it was actually condemned as unfit for human habitation by council officials
The floors had gaping holes, there were dangerously exposed electrical wires and with the kitchen having been torn out they were left having to prepare all family meals in a bedroom using a microwave
Ahmed and Rifat lost their life savings after being 'harassed' into paying a builder up front for their ground floor conversion with extension only for him to abandon the project within two months of starting it
One of the volunteers gives Ahmed a warm hug after the rebuild was finished
The 150-strong group who stepped in to help renovate the family's home.
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who → leave → home
The couple use sign language to communicate with their three young children, who are all hearing, and wanted to change the house's layout so they could keep an eye on them
That was to prove a very costly mistake.
uncertain
That → use → mistake
The local builder gave them a price of £66,000.
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builder → give → 66,000
After paying him a deposit of around £6,000 and agreeing a payment schedule, work started last April.
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work → pay → schedule
Ahmed, who runs his own company teaching British Sign Language, said: 'Things went OK for the first few weeks but then the builder started asking for money that wasn't within the payment schedule when work hadn't been completed.
'
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work → run → schedule
Sometimes he'd ask for £2,000, or £1,500 or £500.
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he → ask → 2,000
I work in London and have a very busy life, but he was constantly texting me.
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he → work → me
He really pressured us, sending messages and always demanding money.
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He → pressure → money
Rifat, who stays at home to look after their children, was often left to face the builder's menacing demands alone.
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who → stay → demands
Rifat said: 'Once they were building a wall, didn't finish it and he demanded money anyway.
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he → say → money
When I refused, he got physically aggressive.
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he → refuse → ?
He was very coercive and angry and scared me and the children.
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He → scar → me
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
