We’re trapped in a newbuild nightmare – our ‘dream homes’ are freezing cold, have broken stairs and constantly rattle
HOUSEOWNERS have claimed they're living in a newbuild nightmare with freezing cold "dream homes".
Their homes in Castleford, West Yorkshire, boast a catalogue of problems including rattling pipes and draughty doors.
One resident of the Elliott Place housing estate, a development by Avant Homes, is still waiting to hold a housewarming party 15 months after moving in.
Dorina Timbur and Aurel Pinstea, both 30, moved into their home in February and were shocked by the number of issues they had.
Aurel said: "We would send multiple emails of complaints and Avant would not follow them up with us.
"They would not call for weeks or tell us when the problem would be solved.”
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The couple, who work from home, said they feel like the problems have gone on forever, and because they had so many complaints and sick of the lack of action from Avant, they tried to narrow the list down to five.
Dorina said: "At some point we thought, ‘well, chasing everything is not working, so we decided on a Top 5’ - we gave them that, and even that, they could not do.”
Their top five issues are the stairs, poor insulation, a draughty bi-fold door, a broken roof vent and rattling central heating pipes.
But there are more.
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She continued: “The floor isn’t level by 7mm, the brickwork is poor. There are more faults, we could go on.
“So many people on this estate have issues, but they are just exhausted about complaining and nothing being done.”
“They just keep calling and emailing to complain and nothing gets done.”
Aurel added: "These are really easy problems to fix, but they don’t get scheduled, so they don’t get done.
“It should be easy - book it, turn up, do a great job.
“We have been here for seven months now, but it still feels like a house in progress.
“It does not feel like our house, because people keep coming in to try and fix things.”
Several residents complained their composite front doors have had to be replaced because they would buckle under the heat of the sun.
One local said: “The door was bent and bowed and would open or close properly, even in the sun of winter.
Another resident, a 27-year-old teacher, added: "The brickwork is awful, horrendous, the wall bellies out.
";If you were to put a plumb line on the wall, the string would be all over the place.
“The work is just shoddy, the houses are thrown up. My window was put in the wrong place, and it had to be replaced.”
The teacher can place her fingers under the sill of the front door, and she is still not content with the snagging that has been undertaken or the initial brickwork.
Julie Whitaker, 59, a cleaner, said: "We moved in 15 months ago and it is still a building site.
“The bi-folding doors didn’t fit, they were too big for the space, and so we’ve had plaster ripped off and several visits from the developers.
“When you complain, you are passed from pillar to post. The customer service is appalling and they don’t have any compassion.
“I have a set of £800 blinds, probably bent out of use now, in a bag, because I can’t put them across the patio doors.
“We had problems with the oven and microwave.
“We would like to have friends round for drinks, have a house warming party, but that seems a long way off.”
An Avant Homes spokesperson said: "We are aware of residents’ concerns and have a put a plan in place to deal with any outstanding works required. This includes having additional resource on site next week to actively address all the concerns which have been identified.”
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It comes after residents called their new build homes "more like joke houses".
And devastated homeowners say they face financial ruin after splashing up to £900,000 on flats now valued at £0.
