RESIDENTS living in a newbuild nightmare say their walls wobble when they lean on them and the estate still needs to be finished.
What seems like the suburban dream in the Oxfordshire town of Didcot is actually a living hell for homeowners.
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The estate, known as Great Western Park, has around 3,000 homes which started being built in 2010.
And for passersby, the orange brick walls and white doors and windows look idyllic.
But for locals, it’s a different story.
Despite being dubbed the house building capital of the UK, some have complained their property is riddled with issues.
Richard Roberts, 34, calls one of them home and said “you can tell they’re made to make money”.
After relocating to the area with his wife and four kids for his Army job, the family are just renting for now.
Robert told The Sunday Times: “You lean up against a wall and it wobbles.
“If I had enough money I probably wouldn’t buy a new-build.”
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The unfinished housing estate also brings hours of noise and disruption as diggers continue to plough through the ground.
However, some people say they love living in a newbuild because they’re affordable.
Gemma Lawson, 33, and Ash Smith, 31, said the area is peaceful but still near train stations if they need to get anywhere.
Gemma said: “During Covid you had to walk 30 minutes just to get to a shop. We love it here.”
A review of 140 housing developments carried out by Professor Matthew Carmona found much of the newbuilds were “mediocre” or “poorly” designed.
He also said they had a “lack of character and sense of place”.
Prof Carmona said: “You get the same sort of house types used everywhere, the same road layouts.
“They should reflect the local character instead.”
Conservative MP for the area David Johnston previously said the defects in the new homes were “unacceptable” and called for an ombudsman to give owners legal protection.
It comes after a fuming dad was forced to complain about his property three times in the space of one year.
David Walker, 52, claims he has had to move his family out of the property in Devizes, Wiltshire, because they were left without proper flooring, had no wall ties or insulation and were dealing with leaks.
And they’re not the only family in the UK to suffer.
The Cooks, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, say their £345,000 forever home has turned into a house from hell.
Since moving in in December, they have found one issue after another, but say that “nobody has done anything” to help them.
They claim the property is a “living nightmare” as problems including mouldy walls and holes in the roof pile up.
Meanwhile, in Nottinghamshire, homeowners have claimed their dream newbuilds have become a nightmare as plans to build a warehouse and car park nearby have been put forward.
What are your rights?
All new build homes come with some form of warranty.
Most often, this is a builder warranty of around 10 years, against structural issues, and a shorter developer warranty against issues with fixtures and fittings.
Registered builders are bound by a Consumer Code, which sets out quality standards.
If the house is not complete at the time it was promised, the customer can cancel the purchase, with a full refund of any deposit or reservation fee.
Complaints can be resolved privately with builders/developers in the first instance.
However, if you are not satisfied, there is an independent dispute scheme that can be used within the first three months of receiving the final response to the complaint from the builders.
