Southampton volunteers rebuild deaf couple’s home after £72,000 loss
A deaf couple, Ahmed and Rifat Ali, lost their entire life savings of £72,000 to a cowboy builder who abandoned their Southampton home after just two months, leaving it in dangerous and uninhabitable condition. The family—including three young children—were forced to live effectively on a building site for nearly six months, with broken walls exposing them to the elements, gaping holes in the floor, exposed electrical wiring, and no functioning kitchen. This week, BBC One's DIY SOS programme showed how 150 local volunteers came together to rescue the family and complete the renovation they had originally envisioned.
Ahmed, 39, and Rifat, 36, have both been profoundly deaf since birth and use sign language to communicate. They had hoped to remove walls to create more open living space to facilitate eye contact for signing with their three children (Ismail, 11, Hiba, 6, and Adam, 4), as well as to better support Adam, who is autistic. The couple's harrowing experience—described as leaving them traumatised and crying themselves to sleep each night—was transformed by community solidarity, with Ahmed telling the Daily Mail that the volunteers have 'hearts of gold' and 'restored my faith in humanity'.
- Deaf couple lost £72,000 to rogue builder who abandoned renovation.
- Home left dangerously unfit for habitation; family lived on building site for six months.
- BBC's DIY SOS brought 150 volunteers to complete the dream home.
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Ahmed and Rifat Ali from Southampton lost their entire life savings of £72,000 when a builder abandoned their home renovation project after just two months, leaving the property in a dangerous and uninhabitable state. With broken walls, exposed electrical wiring, gaping holes in the floor, and no functioning kitchen, the family, including their three young children, were forced to live on the building site for nearly six months.
Ahmed, 39, and Rifat, 36, are both profoundly deaf from birth and use sign language to communicate. They had planned the renovation to create a more open living space to allow them to maintain eye contact for signing with their children, and to better support their youngest son Adam, who is autistic.
The Alis' case is one example of families losing money to untrustworthy builders. For this family, the loss was particularly serious because it drained their savings and left them without safe housing.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Revealed: The shocking state of DIY SOS deaf couple’s home after cowboy builder took their £72,000 savings – and left it half finished”.