A YOUNG woman who helped a housing association renovate a flat so she could move in will be appearing on the panel of BBC1 s The Big Questions live debate programme on Sunday at 10am. Hannah Farnie was homeless before she got involved with Phoenix Hous

A YOUNG woman who helped a housing association renovate a flat so she could move in will be appearing on the panel of BBC1's "The Big Questions" live debate programme on Sunday at 10am.

Hannah Farnie was homeless before she got involved with Phoenix Housing Co-op and helped get the damp flat in Bromley by Bow back to a suitable standard so she could move in.

The question being considered is 'Should empty properties be made available to house the homeless' and Phoenix has been invited as a result of its recent success in bringing a group of empty and dilapidated flats back into use in Tower Hamlets at a cost of just �26,000, rather than the �130,000 quoted to the owners.

There are currently thought to be more than 22,000 people on the housing waiting list in Tower Hamlets and an estimated 1,000 empty properties.