n a new-build housing estate on the edge of Peterborough, where rows of identical redbrick homes march along a freshly tarmacked street, Orlando Murphy stands outside a house wielding a long telescopic pole with a camera on the end. A few doors down, builders in hi-vis vests look on with expressions of concern, as he casts his camera across the roof and points it towards the gutters, like a metal detectorist looking for treasure.
Orlando Murphy at work as part of professional snagging company New Home Quality Control. Photographs: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian “Persimmon is on another level of diabolical,” says Amanda McGahan, who moved into one of the company’s developments in Rainham, Essex, in January. She had saved for over a decade to put down a deposit on a two-bedroom flat, assisted by the government’s help-to-buy scheme, and moved from her council flat in Barking, only to find a plethora of problems with her new home. There was missing flooring, a broken window, doors that didn’t close and a big tear in the bedroom carpet.
Soon after discovering the damp issue, Jennings realised the brick walls of the house didn’t look right either, appearing to bulge out as they rose. He took a plumb line and found the walls deviated by up to 120mm in places. The maximum tolerance allowed by building regulations is just 8mm over one storey. Persimmon has now rebuilt the entire back of his house, along with three-quarters of the side and a quarter of the front. Jennings and his wife had to live in the property the whole time.
The problems are not new. For decades, independent government reviews and all-party parliamentary groups have lamented the state of housebuilding and the focus on profit over product. The 1994 Latham report,, condemned the industry as adversarial, fragmented, incapable of delivering for its clients and lacking respect for its employees. Four years later, another report recorded similar failings, finding the industry crippled by an ageing workforce and a crisis of training..
Turning off the tap of skilled migrant labour has exposed the disjointed muddle of UK training routes for new builders. “There’s a natural aversion to investing in training,” Farmer says, “because we operate in such a cyclical industry. In an economic downturn, it’s one of the first things to be dumped.”The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine.
If building sites are so rife with shortcuts and bodging, surely there’s an inspection regime that should catch such issues before they get buried behind the wonky fascia boards or swept under the badly fitted carpets? Building control is the statutory mechanism to ensure compliance with regulations, with inspectors responsible for certifying the safety of structures, but it has little capacity to monitor quality of workmanship. “It’s a spot-check overview,” Farmer says.
Property Property Latest News, Property Property Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: FinancialReview - 🏆 2. / 90 Read more »