Inside the unfinished Grand Designs house boat left vandalised and rammed with squatters

A PREVIOUS Grand Designs project has now met an entirely unexpected fate - as it's occupied by squatters.

Back in 2007, a couple from Kent appeared on the Channel 4 show, and guided host Kevin McCloud through their unusual home build.

Chris Miller and partner Sze Liu Lai had decided to build their own two-storey houseboat.

It came after they'd tried - and failed - to find a home more spacious and affordable than their small East London flat.

However, things were not plain sailing whatsoever for the couple.

From arguments and huge fallouts with the builders, to tiffs with Kevin McCloud and even multiple evictions, Chris and Sze had one hell of a journey.

Social worker Chris was insistent that his project would not have any particular designs, and would also have to be made from second-hand materials only.

He, Sze, and their two children Elexion and Taser would live upon the Medway-based houseboat, and they had a very tight budget to complete the project.

Investing £10,000 into an old steel barge on the River Medway, the couple hired a builder to get the ball rolling.

However, the builder didn't have any drawings to go off, or a budget.

He was the first of four different men to throw in the towel on the project.

At the time, he told Grand Designs: "It is bizarre, but then they are a fairly bizarre couple."

Things quickly turned sour, after Chris insisted the builder use old windows of varying sizes for the boat, which didn't fit the steel frame.

The builder said: "It looks s***. If he wants to live in it, then fine, but I don't really want to put my name to it anymore."

Issues with the builders was only one of a range of problems, as Chris and Sze struggled to find a place to moor their messy unfinished house boat.

One boatyard owner was filmed telling the Channel 4 team: "People here like the boats to look like... boats, really."

After finding a home at a mooring in Rochester, things didn't last long, with the couple being evicted by the boatyard owners.

Despite the home nearing on completion, and looking pretty habitable, it was never finished.

Years on, the boat was still causing trouble after it washed up on a beach in Essex, covered in graffiti.

Reports claim that the Medway Eco-barge was taken over by squatters whilst moored in Southend, and was also used by local teens to throw parties.