Residents at Morrish Homes Lytchett Matravers estate criticise builder

Michael Livesey and Sally Trowbridge moved into their homes with their families at the Huntick Green estate from Morrish Homes in August and November 2022, respectively.

But they said they soon realised their homes in Lytchett Matravers were not as perfect as they would have hoped.

“We had a list of about 60 snags to fix, which is well above what we would have expected, moving in,” Michael said.

“There were just numerous problems. The cavity of the house was full with rubble, the garage was leaking, we had damp all round the edges, we’ve had loft insulation problems.”

Sally said they discovered ‘within a few weeks’ three of their external doors were leaking.

Other issues included drains being full of rubble, loose roof tiles, flooring laid at the wrong height, fire doors fitted incorrectly and delaminating kitchen doors, she said.

“The biggest problem for us is not necessarily the fact that we’ve had snags it’s the fact that it has taken years to get these fixed and threatening of legal action, which has caused untold stress,” Michael said.

“That’s the problem for us and the fact that the National House Building Council (NHBC) has done very little to address that. They should have a reasonable time to fix these things, and they’ve turned a blind eye to that.”

He added: “It’s gone on far too long.

“The worst thing about this is, if you do touch something yourself, they won’t fix it then, they’ll say that you’ve interfered and didn’t give them an opportunity.

“It’s trying to get you to fix it yourself rather than upholding their warranty. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on.”

Sally agreed, saying: “Appointments were made but not kept, we felt fobbed off and let down by the lack of after sales support.

“We are still waiting for some of these repairs to be addressed, we get the feeling that Morrish just don’t care now that they have our money.

“NHBC were contacted but not interested, what should have been an exciting time was quickly turned into a nightmare.

“Moving home can be a stressful time but this went to another level, nobody should experience after sales like this.”

Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had had a leaking shower that now needs to be taken out and replaced, with plumbers quoting £4,500 for the job.

“I wish I had never purchased the property,” the resident said.

“I just can’t believe that a company like that is allowed to sell properties and behave like that. Their customer services are just utterly dishonest and disgusting.

“When you’ve paid that amount for a property, you were sold that it was a premium service.

“Because I paid for the house myself, it’s cleared me out, I’ve got to find £4,500 to get that work done and then legally claim it back from them.”

A spokesperson for Morrish Homes said it takes snagging issues seriously and aims to rectify them as soon as possible.

“Snagging problems are not always identified at the point of moving in,” the spokesperson said.

“When we do receive reports from our customers they are immediately entered into our schedule and programmed for repair.

“In certain cases, if exterior works are required, we are reliant on weather conditions and the supply of materials which can also affect the repair schedule.”

They said appointments to fix snags are scheduled ‘at the earliest convenience’, and it always strives to ‘‘make good’ as soon as possible’.

“If for any reason appointments need to be rescheduled (on occasion at the request of the customer) we then have to re-enter them into our repair schedule,” the spokesperson said.

“As a matter of policy, we always carry out investigative works prior to any repairs being conducted and often more than one investigative visit is required.

“Once repair requirements are confirmed we enter a procurement process for parts which can, on occasion, have an elongating effect on repair times.”

The spokesperson added all snags are fixed ‘to the exacting standards of Morrish Homes’ and are compliant with regulations.

The work is done by Morrish staff, or by contractors from its ‘extensive network’ under supervision from the developer.

Residents were also faced with what they said were unsafe conditions around the estate when they moved in, which Michael said had broken the planning conditions set by the council.

“From when we moved in in 2022, the building site that we moved on to, the planning regulations which we didn’t appreciate at the time required that the road be free of traffic, that it was safe for us, that we’d have access and there’d be a pavement,” he said.

“There was just a complete and utter breach of all of those planning regulations which put us and our health and safety at risk. We had a small child, it was very dangerous.

“It’s the turning of a blind eye by the council to these breaches and they still refuse to address them.”

The residents filed complaints to Dorset Council, HSE and the local government ombudsman surrounding this alleged breach.

A HSE spokesperson said: “We visited the site in September 2023 after concerns were raised by a member of the public. The work was largely finished at that stage and no further action was taken.”

A Dorset Council spokesperson said: “The complainant raised the matters to the Ombudsman. The first complaint was addressed back in May 2023, with the Ombudsman deciding there is not enough evidence of fault by the council and the injustice the complainant claims stems from the actions of the developer, rather than the council.”

In a draft decision letter seen by the Daily Echo, the ombudsman said it will not be investigating the complaint, as ‘an investigation now is unlikely to achieve a useful outcome’.

The council said it considers both complaints to be closed. The residents said they would be petitioning the ombudsman to reconsider and investigate.

The Morrish spokesperson said: “Huntick Green has always been compliant with all Health & Safety Regulations.

“The safety of residents and our workforce is a primary concern on all of our sites.

“We employ a full time health and safety manager to ensure that we remain compliant with all health and safety regulations at all times.”