Residents being forced to fork out £1k repairs on new build homes

Rivers Edge estate located alongside the River Mersey and next to Centre Park first began construction back in December 2021 – with an estimated 500 homes set to be built on the land.

While housing developer Countryside continues to open new show homes to the public – with two revealed in February – existing properties already have families moved in and settling into their new build houses.

The back gardens of the new-build homes are constantly flooding due to a lacking of drainage (Image: Supplied)
However, multiple residents have been left outraged after reporting the same problem since acquiring the keys to their recently constructed homes, and it begins at the patio doors.

One resident, Helen Logan, spoke of being ‘heartbroken’ by the problem which ‘no one is taking seriously or attempting to fix’.

“There has been really bad after care in relation to a high number of new residents having no drainage in their gardens, there have been no land drains added and the turf has been placed on top of rubble, with no topsoil,” she explained.

“The contractors are not getting involved to sort this out and also the management company, Torus, who manage the 'affordable' houses are not willing to do anything either.

“The houses are sold as affordable, however now, we are looking at £1,200 to get the drainage fixed after being in the properties less than a year in some cases.”

The resident told the Warrington Guardian how she began raising the issue of flooding in the back garden last year but has been ‘continually fobbed off’.

“I am a single parent family, with a dog, and spent a lot of money, basically all my savings after the end of an horrendous relationship to make a nice home for me and my son.

“Now my carpets are ruined, covered in mud, my rug is disgusting, after being covered in mud, also my beautiful sandstone patio is covered in green, from where the water isn't draining away from there either.

“Its actually heart breaking and very upsetting to have no one take this seriously and attempt to get this fixed.”

Another resident who has experienced similar issues and is yet to receive help is Millie Howe.

Mille, who has lived in her home on Swanick Way for just over a year, has sent countless complaints to Torus and Countryside about the ‘unusable’ state of her garden.

The resident, who purchased her home through a shared ownership scheme with Torus, provided footage to the Warrington Guardian showing the shocking levels of water that sits on the surface of her patio and floods the lawn, making it inaccessible for her children and dogs to use.

Residents state the gardens are 'unusable' (Image: Supplied)
Speaking out on the issue, Millie said: “Something needs to be done about the garden’s flooding.

“My contact is Torus but we have not had any response from them at all. We have had one man from Countryside come in when it was really bad. He came and said ‘yes it is obviously unusable’.”

“The dogs cannot go out as they end up covered in mood. It cannot carry on into next year,” she added.

Millie has sent several emails both to the home developers and to Torus, in an attempt to get the issue resolved over the past year. In one email to Countryside, she said: “It’s evident that the garden needs digging up and the poor workmanship amending.

“I really need to have a plan of remediation put in place or as mentioned above I will have no other option but to seek alternative advice in order to see how I can kickstart remediation of the issue. I’ve given Torus countless opportunities to assist in resolving this, so again, please could you work with me in getting this resolved.”

Meanwhile fellow Rivers Edge resident, Vicki Batterbury, echoed the complaints made in regards to the flooding issue within the gardens on the complex, having purchased her home on Weston Park Drive in June last year.

“We have reached out to Countryside/Vistry customer help email, they came to look at our garden, initially they came to look at the garden in December.

“It had been particularly bad weather, so it was agreed they would come back in the spring.

“They returned on March 20 to look at the garden again, after I requested they come back.”

The residents believe the developers are in breach of NHBC standards for the gardens on the complex (Image: Supplied)
Vicki cited the developer’s response following the visit to review the flooding issues in which Countryside said that due to a large section of paving that had been installed since the family had moved in, along with planters installed to the right fence line, these new additions had ‘contributed to the slight pooling in the central region of the garden’.

They added that due to the referenced ‘significant landscaping’ that had been undertaken they were ‘unable to take any further action’.

Vicki added: “The garden was waterlogged before we had patio areas installed. They are using this as an excuse as not to assist us.

“We have not seen any proper report at all. We have a picture of our garden from April 2023, taken by Countryside sales rep, that shows the garden before our patios, and it shows the surface water.”

"We actually believe they are in breach of NHBC standards on all of our gardens."  

A spokesperson for Vistry Group provided a response to the claims on behalf of both Countryside and Torus, saying: “We apologise and appreciate the frustration this issue is causing to residents at Rivers Edge and we are working with our partner Torus to resolve it as quickly as possible.

“We are in direct contact with affected customers and will be updating them regularly as the remediation works progress.”