DIY SOS's Nick Knowles tells family they have to move out of unsafe home immediately in show first
There was exposed wires and a large gap beneath a structural wallNick Knowles was forced to tell a deaf couple and their children to leave their unsafe home immediately during a dramatic DIY SOS visit.
It was a first for the BBC show, as Nick had never previously delivered such a serious warning to a family before.
The moment came during the current series of DIY SOS, when the team visited Ahmed and Rifat in Southampton.
The couple, who communicate with sign language, were living in their house with their three young children after a planned rebuild went badly wrong.
They had put their savings into the project but were left with an incomplete and very dangerous home.
DIY SOS’s Nick Knowles tells family to leave house
Nick began checking the property after hearing how building work had stalled and how conditions affected the family.
One section revealed a large gap beneath a structural wall, raising an immediate concern about the home’s stability.
He told Ahmed: “The middle of the house is currently resting on…not very much. It is absolutely not safe.”
With the family still inside, Nick decided the structure could not be left in that condition. He called a friend to bring equipment needed to support the wall before going any further.
That emergency step also settled whether DIY SOS would take on the wider rescue build. Nick said there was no time for further debate because the building needed urgent attention.
He then gave Ahmed and Rifat the difficult news and urged them to move out as soon as possible.
Nick told the couple: “The bad news is, some of the structural detailing here is, I think, dangerous for you to be around.
“I really believe you should move out of the house. As soon as possible, for the safety of all of you. That’s the really tough news.”
Nick then reflected: “I think that’s the first time that I’ve had to tell the family they have to leave.”
He said he wanted to turn his anger about the family’s situation, which was in no way their fault, into energy for the transformation.
Ahmed and Rifat reveal £72,000 build ordeal
Ahmed and Rifat, who spoke via an interpreter, had paid £72,000 towards their own rebuild before DIY SOS arrived at their home.
But builders had left the house with holes, visible wires and an unfinished kitchen. Several areas were still far from complete.
The couple said workers sometimes left the site and failed to return for a while. Rifat claimed the builder pressed them for more money, supposedly to buy materials for different areas.
Rifat also said those materials never arrived. The couple claimed they later learnt from their architect that the builder had previously been taken to court.
The family’s experience had become overwhelming, with Ahmed admitting: “We can’t cope, it’s been such a traumatic experience.”
Thankfully, Nick, his DIY SOS co-stars and an army of local volunteers were able to completely transform Ahmed and Rifat’s house.
The finished home looked almost unrecognisable from the unsafe, unfinished building shown at the beginning of the episode.
When is DIY SOS on next?
The Southampton episode of DIY SOS featuring Ahmed and Rifat aired on Tuesday October 6, 2026. It is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
The series will continue with the next episode at 8pm on BBC One on Tuesday October 13.
Next week, Nick and the DIY SOS team will travel to Preston in Lancashire. They will meet a family who need help rebuilding their house so son Daniel, who has complex disabilities following brain tumour surgery, can finally leave hospital.
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DIY SOS continues at 8pm on BBC One on Tuesday October 7, 2026.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI technology to synthesise source reporting and structured data. It has been reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by our human editorial team before publication.
