Nearly a year after moving in homeowners at Pitch Court, Earle Crescent, Wokingham, are frustrated at the lack of progress on snagging issues and a dispute over access to a communal garden amenity area.
![Wokingham New Homeowners in Dispute with House Builders at Elmsfield 18](https://mywokingham.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0992-300x200.jpg)
Rob Armes bought his apartment at Pitch Court, Earle Crescent, Wokingham, and has become the representative of the residents in the block. He asked for My Wokingham to hear his dispute with David Wilson Homes. We report on the dispute and also provide responses from David Wilson Homes.
David Wilson Homes in partnership with Wokingham Borough Council built some great-looking homes overlooking Elms Field. The park at Elms Field has had a positive impact on Wokingham and has been the focus of festivals, events, and a popular play area.
Rob Armes explains on video the resident’s complaints
Pitch Court residents moved in December 2021 many paying an average of £380,000 for their homes. Nearly a year later they are unhappy with the progress of snagging issues. The development consists of lots of 1, 2 bedrooms apartments, and semi and dedicated houses ranging from £350,000 – £800,000.
Robert Armes said
“ we have had very poor customer services from Davd Wilson Homes and in our frustration we have set up a petition signed by all the residents in the block.”
When asked what kind of issues he was facing he listed the following
- Boundary fencing incorrect position
- Unable to access green space depicted in the conveyancing plan
- Poor customer service (ignoring and slow response to raising snagging issues and lack of communications)
The list of snagging issues experienced by the Pitch Court residents included
KITCHENs
- Missing kitchen cupboard doors
- Missing soft close brackets
BATHROOMs
- Sewage coming up through a 1st-floor resident’s bathroom fittings, and in order to fix the problem DWH had to remove the lower ground flat entire (and only) bathroom to access the sewage pipe so placed the resident in a hotel for a week
LOUNGE
- Leaking roofs
- Paint droplets on the flooring
EXTERNAL
- External guttering was incorrectly installed on front entrance with flat roof overflow and small-scale flooding (creating safety risk for residents)
- External gutting was incorrectly installed on the rear entrance door causing leaking with the damp to go up the brick work
INTERNAL AREAS
Fire door closers were not properly fitted due to screws exposed and at an angle (Creating a fire and safety risk, also related instead of soft closing initially this fire door slammed shut and once time caught my partner’s dogs tail you gave the loudest yelp ever and was a dangerous finger trap, especially for young children with how the force the door slammed shut)
- Carpeted stairs and other communal areas stained
- Utility cupboard doors jammed and don’t open
- Lobby signs installed in wrong position
- Stairway landing windows and skylight have never been cleaned after completion
- In order to access
- Sewage was coming
- Gated car parking doors broken and left open for 6 weeks following storms
- Cracked glass in dry riser outlet
- Car parking space plates not fitted (What I showed you after going round and still not actioned after being reported 6 weeks ago on 14th Sept)
- Drains in car park was blocked due to leaving a plastic film on the inside when installing
- The pillar car park light is very wobbly and needs fixing to the ground more securely
LANDSCAPING
- Plants and grass dying in landscaped areas
- Areas left as just dirt and not landscaped in car park
- Wire DWH branded fencing left after completion plus building materials that should have been cleared
![Wokingham New Homeowners in Dispute with House Builders at Elmsfield 20](https://mywokingham.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0990-1024x683.jpg)
Robert Armes
“Pitch Court residents got together made and made a formal complaint to David Wilson Homes. We received an apology but with little improvement afterwards. We then decided to approach the media with our story to try and get them moving to resolve the issues”
My Wokingham contacted David Wilson Homes
A spokesperson for David Wilson Homes Southern said:
“We apologise for the delay in resolving some of the issues raised by residents at our Landmark Square development in Wokingham. Having arranged weekly calls with our customers to keep them updated, we are now working hard to correct the outstanding issues.
“We’ve now corrected the signage in the building and landscaped the area of the car park with planting to alleviate the issue of grass cuttings on the vehicles. Specialist access was required for some of the works to be completed but plans are now in place to resolve the matter as soon as we can.
“The boundary fence surrounding the green space was a temporary measure, but this will be removed and replaced as per the approved plans for the development
In response to the statement Rob Armes Pitch Court representative said
It becomes a chore and a stressful high-anxiety situation where you are trying to go to work yourself but then essentially are taking on the administrative equivalent of another job just to ensure your builder does what is expected as the minimum requirement of a new home
We have now made communication with Wokingham Borough Council who chose to use DWH as the builder supplier for the development and to ensure our rights as leaseholders are met.
![Wokingham New Homeowners in Dispute with House Builders at Elmsfield 22](https://mywokingham.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0998-1024x683.jpg)
Pitch Court residents continue with the dispute with David Wilson Homes who will be passing the management of the block to a third-party company Trinity Estates.
Let’s hope this situation gets resolved soon
Similar ongoing issues at Field Court, Earle Crescent, Elmsfield. Water damaged, stained carpets in communal area. Mould and damp in communal areas. Broken fire door in communal area. Communal fire doors slam behind you due to incorrect fitting. Communal areas cleaned only twice in 3 months. All of these issues have been reported to Dominic @ David Wilson Homes but nothing ever gets done. DWH and WBC should be ashamed of themselves.
Charlotte Wylde still not as bad as Crest Nicholson 😂😂😂
Emily Gascoigne Phil Benge
You need to contact the building control and maybe ask for re inspections. I believe NHBC would of given the inspections and warranty so try ringing or emailing them
Best of luck. Many new properties have quality problems these days
Caroline Boardman FYI
Alison Mitchell yes this is where my
Mum is, I saw this yesterday. Thanks. DWH have been poor to say the least. They knocked them all up so fast there were bound to be problems.