Our dream home was left with £20,000 of damage and 149 cracks in the walls after developer started building more houses next door

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By MEGAN HOWE, NEWS REPORTER

Published: | Updated:

A couple has claimed 'Jurassic Park'-style vibrations caused by building work next door has left them with 149 cracks in their walls and £20,000 worth of damage. 

Lynda and Stephen Winston say their once dream home has been turned into an ugly building site after developers started building more houses next door to them. 

The couple, who bought their home on the outskirts of York a decade ago, claim the Miller Homes' development has damaged their ceilings, ceramic floor tiles and both the external and internal brickwork of their house. 

They also say the dust from the building site has made their garden unusable for the last four years. 

Mrs Winston, 69, said they had been quoted £20,910 to fix all the damage caused by the development, which involves digging out every sheet of plasterboard and filling in the hairline cracks. 

But the developer has only offered the couple £1,000 in compensation.  

'My husband has a life-limiting heart condition and cancer. This development – and the stress it has given us – contributed to him having a mini stroke last year,' Mrs Winston told The Telegraph.

Lynda and Stephen Winston (pictured) say their once dream home has been turned into an ugly building site after developers started building more houses next door to them

Lynda and Stephen Winston (pictured) say their once dream home has been turned into an ugly building site after developers started building more houses next door to them

Pictured: The area of land known as Langley Gate where developers are building new homes

Pictured: The area of land known as Langley Gate where developers are building new homes 

Mrs Winston said 'they won't even pay for the scaffolding to go up to fix the gable end of our house'.

The couple claim the issues started when Miller Homes excavated a deep pit for a carlow tank — a type of stormwater attenuation tank used to control the flow of stormwater from developed areas to help prevent flooding.

Vibrations from the development area, Mrs Winston said, meant cracks soon started to appear.

She recalled seeing the pictures rattling on the walls and how 'my cups of tea have the Jurassic Park effect'.

Mrs Winston claimed Miller Homes promised they would put in vibration metres but they didn't, The Telegraph reported.

The couple believe the developer should have acknowledged from the outset that the work they were planning was likely to cause damage and they would cover the costs to repair it.

Miller Homes said it arranged for surveys to be carried out after the works were completed which showed there was no structural damage to the Winston's home, just some hairline cracks and cosmetic issues.

Pictured: The street next to the Langley Gate development where residents say they have been impacted by vibrations caused by building work

Pictured: The street next to the Langley Gate development where residents say they have been impacted by vibrations caused by building work

But Mrs Winston fumed 'it may be cosmetic to the but this is my home' and said all the renovations made by the couple when they first moved in have been 'wrecked'.

Will Blue, who lives next to the building site, said Miller Homes had dug a trench on the edge of the holding tank which had cut straight through the roots of the trees in his garden.

The 38-year-old then got a leak in his master bedroom caused by damage to the ceiling. 

When he approached Miller Homes about the cost of the damage, which came to £5,000, Mr Blue said they refused to pay it. 

Many doors in Mr Blue's home no longer shut as a result of the damage caused by vibrations and cracks have similarly started to appear. 

Mr Blue told The Telegraph he felt 'powerless' in the situation and said he wanted to have an open conversation with Miller Homes about dealing with the issues. 

A spokesman from Miller Homes told The Telegraph: 'As a responsible developer, we care about making positive impacts in the communities we work within. A key part of this is striving to minimise the impact on neighbours while we build new homes.

'We regret that work at our Langley Gate development impacted a small number of neighbours and we have tried to work constructively with them on resolving the issues. A series of surveys, conducted by independent surveyors, have identified hairline cracks and minor cosmetic defects.

'We have made offers of compensation and are committed to rectifying these issues through continued dialogue with the affected parties.' 

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