The house mafia: the scandal of new builds

‘We don’t just have snags with this house — “snags” suggests issues that are minor,’ says Kelsey Aldritt of her new-build Persimmon house just outside Pembroke, Wales. ‘This house has had major problems from the moment we moved in.’ Kelsey is six months pregnant and the doctor has told her not to get stressed, but with a house like this, stress is unavoidable.

‘It really angers me that Persimmon gave us such a defective house,’ says Kelsey’s partner, Theo. ‘Nothing is built right — and I don’t want Kelsey upset, worrying about chasing Persimmon to do repairs, not at a time like this.’

The case of Kelsey and Theo is far from exceptional. I’ve reported on countless ‘new-build nightmares’ over recent years. Social media is full of support groups of young homeowners suffering at the hands of large housebuilders.

Boris Johnson is convinced that solving the UK’s chronic housing shortage will return successive Tory governments. More homeowners means more Tory voters: that’s the rationale behind the government’s proposed planning reforms — which aim to increase the number of building permissions granted. But to solve the problem, the new builds must be properly constructed, and currently they’re not.

Johnson’s vision for housing was upended by last week’s shock defeat in Chesham and Amersham — when the Lib Dems overturned a huge government majority in the prosperous London commuter seat after a campaign focused on planning. Rebel Tory backbenchers complain that while the country needs more houses, residents are worried that infrastructure (roads, schools, GP clinics) won’t follow. When they raise concerns, they’re written off as ‘Not In My Back Yard’ whingers — as Nimbys. Plenty of Tory MPs saw this resentment reflected in last week’s by-election defeat.

‘The government has a duty to make sure more homes are built,’ said Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick after the Chesham defeat.