Maureen in protest over ‘unfinished’ new house

A HOMEBUYER is urging househunters to steer clear of a new development in the town.

Maureen Knight has put posters in the window at her new threebedroomed house at Crosland Road, Oakes, advising people not to buy one of the properties there.

It follows a catalogue of issues she has identified with her new £164,950 house at Jericho Way, Crosland Meadows, including a badly-fitting front door, damaged plasterwork and problems with the paintwork, skirting boards and fixtures.

Maureen said she paid Persimmon Homes a £500 deposit on the plot last October and an additional £8,687 for extras. She said she was initially given a window of December to February when the house would be ready, then December to January and was finally told it would be ready on December 23.

“I kept asking if I could go to look at the property, but I was told I couldn’t because the site manager said it would be unsafe. I got a phone call to say I could look at it on December 22 and would be able to move in the following day.

“I went on December 22 with the salesman and my son took 78 photographs showing the problems with the house. I said I wanted them put right. They brought a contracts manager to meet me on December 23 and he went round with me. He said the work was remedial and the house was habitable. He said the work could be done in a week – but that they were off for Christmas.”

When Maureen refused to release the money to pay for the house, she said she was threatened with legal action.

“I fell ‘soft’ and let my money go,” she said. “When I went into the house on December 23 there was no one to explain how he appliances worked or how the alarm worked. I was given the keys and that was it.”

She claimed the remedial work hadn’t been done properly and the workmanship wasn’t up to scratch.

Maureen said: ”I cannot bring myself to go in. This is making me ill. It’s stressful and it’s not acceptable. I’m staying at various people’s houses and my furniture is in five different places.”

Maureen said she had lived in a new house previously, a Miller Homes property at Birchencliffe, which was “fabulous” adding: “I don’t expect ‘bespoke.’ I just expect a reasonable standard.”

Wayne Gradwell, managing director at Persimmon Homes West Yorkshire, said: “Mrs Knight legally completed on her home on December 23 and since then we have undertaken some minor remedial works on the house.

“We are now awaiting access to the property to complete these works and are in the process of arranging a meeting between Mrs Knight and our head of customer services to discuss her concerns.”