New build estates plagued with constant problems

When Reece Aleksander moved into a new-build housing estate in the West Midlands five years ago he thought he had bought his dream home.

However, he said it had become a nightmare.

A landslip before Christmas has blocked access to his and some other residents' homes ever since. But Haden Cross Drive in Cradley Heath also features street lights that have never worked and sewers that still have not been taken on by the water company.

Developer Dunedin Homes said the landslip was not a "simple, quick or easy fix", but that it was working on a temporary measure. It added that much of the work on street lights had been completed and that sewers would be adopted "in due course".

Sandwell Council said it had issued a notice requiring the privately owned road to be opened up by the end of September, adding that it hoped enforcement action would not be necessary.

The landslip at Christmas saw soil and clay spill across the road and on to Mr Aleksander's drive.

However, residents said subsidence in Haden Cross Drive first became evident in January 2024 when a tree fell in nearby woods.

The land has shifted several times since then, with one small night-time slip caught on a camera set up by Mr Aleksander.

"It definitely woke me up, shocked isn't even the word," he said.

"They haven't given us a timeline, they haven't given us any reassurance that it's going to be fixed.

"All we've had is a letter through the door saying there will be a temporary fix."

In a letter sent to residents on 16 April, seen by the BBC, the firm said engineers had devised a temporary solution that would allow the road to be cleared of debris, but it was currently "unable to provide definitive timescales".

Sewers at Haden Cross have yet to be adopted by Severn Trent Water, at which point their responsibility passes to the water supplier, and the developer footed a bill when they became blocked soon after homes were sold.

Fellow resident Irene Taylor bought her home at Haden Cross at the same time as Mr Aleksander, and said she had yet to receive a water bill since moving in.

She added that there had been long-term problems with sewers in the area.

Dunedin, however, said it was "not aware of any current issues with the sewers" and that a report commissioned as part of the adoption process showed it was "operating as expected".

But Haden Cross is not the only estate built by Redditch-based firm Dunedin to have problems with sewers and street lights.

At St Dominic's Place, in the Hartshill area of Stoke-on-Trent, residents have come up with their own novel solution to the lack of lighting over the past six years.

They have attached solar-charged, battery-powered lights, similar to those found in gardens, to the metal poles in a bid to make the area safer at night.

E.On, which is responsible for connecting up the street lights, said it only received an enquiry from Dunedin for that work on 28 February and final paperwork was submitted on 10 April.

National Grid said it was not its responsibility to connect up those street lights, but noted that they had not been part of the original application by Dunedin in 2018.

Dan Canavan and his family moved into their new build on the street in 2019.

"We had a big problem last year with a collapsed drain on a street up from us and it was causing backfill issues on our estate," he said.

"Severn Trent wouldn't accept that we were on their system - we had to all pay together I think £700 to have 13,000 gallons removed from the system.

"We had raw sewage running down the fields behind us as a result of it."

Stoke-on-Trent City Council successfully took Dunedin Homes to court last year and the firm was forced to pay £4,000 in fines, costs and a surcharge, the maximum available at the time, for a breach of planning permission.

Severn Trent said it had inspected the sewers on 14 March and found that all "remedial works" had been completed as requested and that it would adopt them when "one outstanding point" was addressed by the developers.

A third council in the West Midlands has also taken action against Dunedin Homes.

Walsall Council issued an enforcement notice after a Labour club knocked down as part of a development at Unity Drive in Pelsall was not rebuilt in the timeframe outlined in the planning conditions.

Demolished in 2015, it was meant to have been replaced within 10 months.

It is now completed. A final inspection was carried out in December 2024, and it is due to be signed off by the local authority, the developer said.

However, in the past 10 years the club has closed, according to the Financial Conduct Authority, external, and one resident told the BBC that the site had become a magnet for anti-social behaviour and vandals.

Dunedin has disputed that, saying that it employed a maintenance firm to collect litter, cut grass and keep an eye on the site every two weeks.

Steve Lowbridge was a member of the club when the developer was looking to build 24 homes at Unity Drive.

"The directors of Dunedin Homes did a presentation back in 2014. The club had been struggling for some time and they said they would knock down the old club and build a more suitable premises - what processed was exactly the opposite," he said.

"The club was misled from day one, the council blamed the developer, the developer blamed the council.

"My personal opinion the main culprit in all this is Dunedin Homes."

Dunedin said the club was on the verge of bankruptcy and the building was in a poor state of repair before it was demolished.

It said it had settled many of its debts and legal costs, "which literally saved the club".

Janine Jeffery, who is listed as the club secretary, told the BBC that the project to bring the new building into use was in its "final development stages, with significant progress being made".

In a lengthy response, Dunedin said regarding the landslip at Cradley Heath there were "a number of extremely complex geotechnical factors to take account of".

"We have sought to update the residents at each key juncture of our remedial plans," it said.

"We are continuing to liaise with our solicitors and engineers to identify and implement a permanent remedial solution at the soonest opportunity."

It said the street lights there and at Hartshill were "fully ducted" and "awaiting energising".

At Hartshill, it said it was liaising with E.On about connecting those up.

In Cradley Heath, Dunedin said the process of connecting street lights had been affected by one of them being "directly in front of the retaining wall that has failed" during the landslip.

However, the firm failed to address the key issue raised by residents at both estates about the length of time in connecting those up, after many moved in five years ago.

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