A couple said their dream home in a new-build estate has turned into a nightmare.
Simon and Jacqueline Clarke claimed they felt "abandoned by the property developer, with their house at Cottrell Gardens, in the Vale of Glamorgan full of flaws. The estate in the village of Bonvilston was marketed as "a bespoke collection" of 120 homes priced at up to £780,000, with "spectacular views" overlooking a golf course.
The development got planning permission in 2017 and the first phase was planned to comprise 41 houses. Some people moved in years ago but the roads are still in disrepair and there is no street lighting.
Homeowners have also complained about living next to insecure building sites as the first phase is at a standstill with a few homes yet to be finished. The firm behind the estate, Bonvilston Vale Limited, went into administration last October owing a total of £12.6million to 26 creditors.
The marketing of the Bonvilston estate has been through Acorn, who said: "Due to an ongoing dispute with the former landowner, we have not been permitted on site to continue works since October 2023. We recognise the inconvenience and the difficulties this has caused the residents."
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The estate has been left incomplete (Media Wales)Simon, who moved in more than a year ago, told WalesOnline: "We didn't purchase the house to live in an unfinished development." He and his wife claim their complaints about problems with both their home and the wider estate have been mostly ignored by Acorn,
Mr Clarke, a 53-year-old chartered civil and structural engineer, and Mrs Clarke, a 51-year-old accountant, moved into their £715,000 five-bedroom house last March. When they viewed the home they saw it as a dream buy which would be stress-free in comparison to renovating a property.
Once the couple moved in, they claimed there were issues with the property. Appliances including the cooker, double ovens, dishwasher and fridge were, they claimed, all on a single electrical circuit. The Clarkes say they had to pay more than £1,000 for an electrician to rewire what he had reportedly described as a "dangerous" setup. "He opened the fuse box and said it was like nothing he'd ever seen, like spaghetti junction," claimed Mr Clarke.
Roads were left incomplete and without street lighting (Media Wales)The couple had no option but to spend their own money on fixing some issues because Acorn had been so slow to respond. Mrs Clarke said: "We had a new-build house before, with Bellway, and we'd be seen within days of raising an issue. With that house we had two complaints and they were rectified almost straight away. At this place we've had over an A4 page of snagging and some of it's still outstanding."
In the attic, Mr Clarke claims, a diagonal bracing strut had been cut through to make way for a soil vent pipe, which allegedly meant the roof was not properly supported. He claimed there were also problems with wonky bathroom tiles and a bannister that came away when gripped. Those faults have been fixed but the couple say the underfloor heating still does not work and the bi-fold rear doors have leaked since day one.
Mrs Clarke says they experienced months-long waits for Acorn to schedule appointments for repairs even before Bonvilston Vale Limited went bust in October. After that, she claims communication became even worse.
She said: "So many times I've waited in all day for a scheduled appointment and nobody has turned up. The last contact I had from Acorn [about a specific issue at the home] was in December when we discussed an appointment to fix the underfloor heating. It didn't happen and I chased it up with no response."
The couple also claim there has been little construction activity on the wider estate since they moved in. They have found it "maddening" and "disheartening" to see work stop on the development, where they claim surfacing of the roads is so uneven that one of the couple's family members ended up with his car skirting coming off during a visit.
Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told WalesOnline he had been living in the estate for 16 months and claimed that, of the 40 snags from when he moved into his home, 30 are still present, including heating and boiler problems. He said: "The show house itself looks in a state. The roads have been laid incorrectly. I'm still optimistic the work will be done eventually."
Acorn's regional managing director James Groombridge said the firm is "profusely sorry" for the delays experienced by residents. He added: "It is not the kind of experience we want our buyers to have. We have maintained communication with the residents throughout this time and kept them informed of the situation. However, we appreciate the residents’ frustrations when we have been unable to confirm a timeframe.
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"We have been in detailed discussions with the bank and the receiver, and we hope to be back on site within the next few weeks. We remain fully committed to completing the remaining houses on phase one, together with the roads and streetlights, as well as completing all agreed remedial items to occupied homes and look forward to doing so as soon as we are granted permission to return. We want to reiterate or thanks to our residents for their patience during this challenging time."
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