Just a minute before, it had been a hungry, empty dwelling.
David Ireland, the chief executive of independent charity Empty Homes, said: "There have only ever been 44 empty dwelling management orders.
Empty dwelling management orders (Edmos) were introduced by the Labour government to make it easier for local councils to take possession of properties that had fallen into disuse.
Councils have powers under empty dwelling management orders to take over the running of empty homes and collect rent or force their sale, but these powers are not routinely used.
The rules will alter empty dwelling management orders, which were introduced by Labour in 2006 to give councils powers to take over properties that have been empty for as little as six months.
The Local Government Association is keen on plans to allow its members to use council tax as a way to bring properties back into use, but is less happy about the government's plans to restrict use of one of the other levers – empty dwelling management orders.
The party says it would make better use of existing "empty dwelling management orders" - which give councils powers to let out properties which have been vacant for at least two years, with some exemptions including for second homes, people taken into care and armed services personnel on active service.
Police officials say the landscape of abandoned houses, stretching block after block, after Hurricane Katrina is being incorporated into a revived drug trade, with the empty dwellings offering an unexpected convenience to dealers returning from Houston and Atlanta.
"That house over there," he said, pointing to an empty-looking dwelling down the block where he said youths congregate.
As a Northern Alliance company commander led a tour of the village, digging through the rubbish in the empty dwellings to find a Taliban diary, cooking pits and spent shell casings, the shepherd, Khal Mohammed Kassem, said the villagers simply left.
