We had been bought a £700k lie: Residents blast property of ‘shoddy’ newbuilds

Residents of a ‘luxury’ newbuild development where homes sell for up to £700,000 say they’ve been sold a lie and are living in a nightmare.

White Horse Meadows near Banbury in Oxfordshire boasts around 40 properties – many built in the traditional sandstone quarried in the region making them stand out from your average newbuild.

But while developers Kendrick Homes gloats of ‘our commitment to quality, detail, design and pride shows in the homes we build’ and how ‘behind our quality new build homes lies a century of craftsmanship’ – its residents say otherwise.

They told MailOnline how they’ve found themselves trapped in a nightmarish web of crumbling building work, finding stray bottles of urine and even been plunged into boundary disputes before they’ve moved in.

Some have been accused of asking for too many extras while others say they are regularly spoken to ‘like s***’ by site managers.

Kendrick Homes promise to build your ‘forever home’ and that is exactly what Livvy Risner wanted when she paid £650,000 in cash for her four bed home in June last year.

‘This was meant to be the perfect home, I was so excited to get in’, said the 32-year-old, who shares the property with her Labradors Atlas and Dudley.

But alarm bells began ringing when problems with the home pushed Livvy’s move in date back four months – which nearly cost her the buyer on her previous property.

Once inside, things only got worse as she battled a leak in the living room, broken shower trays in both bathrooms, the back fence falling in and Livvy even found a ‘Fanta bottle of urine’ in the loft.

Livvy, who has worked in a corporate job but is training to be a chiropractor, added: ‘I wanted to be able to have specific additions to this house, I put a fuse on the stairs so if mum or dad end up being here, it is ready for a stair lift.

‘I had a door built into the garage. I paid for all of these extras but the site was b****ing saying “you’re the one with all of these extras”. I was like, “yes, I’m paying you for it, above market rates, so can you shut up!”

‘Every time I would bring up something in the house that was a problem, he [site manager] would talk down to me or be condescending. I had a snagger come in who found 250 issues.’

Livvy’s problems didn’t stop there and she was furious to learn the neighbouring Persimmon estate had swallowed several inches of her garden boundary and that Kendrick have simply not resolved the issue, she claims.

‘My backdoor neighbours now won’t talk to me, because of Kendrick’, she said.

Livvy, who grew up in Florida, was also angered when developers allegedly blamed patches of dead grass in her garden on her dogs weeing on it – but she insists the grass was already damaged.

‘I’m making videos for Garden Rescue TV show to come and save it, that’s where I am at’, she said.

Mateusz Florczak, who is originally from Poland, worked hard to buy his £360,000 home with his girlfriend but has been left disgusted at how Kendrick have treated him.

‘They dug up our drive three times, they asked once if they can do it’, the engineer explained. ‘One day I came back from work, saw a massive digger in my driveway and a hole two metres deep. Nobody ever told me.’

The house appeared in good condition when the couple first set foot in it last September but by the second day the sink and shower had leaked – wrecking the ceiling in the downstairs toilet.

The 33-year-old explained: ‘They cut part of the ceiling off, it wasn’t glued properly, you can’t have a shower.’

There were issues elsewhere, with Mateusz adding: ‘The decorating was so poor and badly done you could see the waves from the tool used by the plasterer. In every room there were at least 30 burst nails coming from the plaster board. The skirting boards were dirty.

‘In the second month we had some tiles drop off the roof. We were chasing them up everyday. We were taking days off from work and they didn’t attend.’

Worst was yet to come as decorators and chippies came in to amend dozens of other decorating and building mishaps – but that turned into its own nightmare.

Mateusz, who submitted seven pages of snagging issues to developers, added: ‘They sent a painter who put a wet brush and a dirty ladder on our carpet, he didn’t put any dust carpets down. He painted wood with wall paint and just painted patches. He left mess everywhere. I told him to leave.

‘They [workers] turned up three times to fix the front door, twice for the balcony doors. The pointing then obstructed the doors. There were stones stuck in the mastic around the door.

‘We have lived in a small flat before, this was a big step forward for us. Brand new house means you move in and don’t need to do anything pretty much. 

‘We weren’t expecting this to be a castle but there is a certain level of what you can accept and what you can’t.’

When MailOnline visited Mateusz’s house there were dozens of dodgy paint patches and scuff marks allegedly left by decorators.

Mateusz says Kendrick picked the bill up for the work but said it is not his job to take days off work to show bungling builders where they need to correct their mistakes.

Andrea Love moved into her home in June 2023 with her husband Allan and paid over £500,000 for their four bed and on first impressions they were happy.

But the 53-year-old, who runs a digital marketing business, said: ‘There was a leak in our hallway with water coming through the ceiling. To get it investigated was painful. They said it was the mastic around the shower tray. It wasn’t.

‘Eventually they agreed to open up the ceiling and sure enough the pipes hadn’t been connected – the pipe was misaligned and leaking since we moved in over a year ago.

‘A building of this standard and the price of the property, the pipe should have been fitted in the first place? It’s a pipe. It’s the same with the drains outside, they’ve all been put in two small or incorrectly.

‘When you see all of the problems and multiply that by 40 properties, of which the majority have had issues, they are losing profit surely. It’s shoddy workmanship. Shoddiness.’

Residents also expressed anger at what was meant to be lush lawns and orchards in front of their homes is in fact just a bramble ridden weed jungle.

When MailOnline visited the site, there was no topsoil laid down suggesting developers made no effort to even lay down lawns.

One homeowner said a gardener once came to spread some grass seed but went home after ‘running out’ and never returned.

However, a response from Kendrick Homes insisted this is a ‘flourishing wildflower meadow’.

It added: ‘This is both a planning obligation and was shown to all customers at reservation stage. We are very proud of how the site looks now the trees, hedgerows and wild flowers are establishing.’ 

Residents use a system called Clixifix, a customer service portal which allows complaints and issues to be lodged online.

But neighbours told MailOnline they feel ignored and the issues are never resolved quickly, so many have given up.

Further along the cul-de-sac, one couple, who wished to remain anonymous, said Kendrick managed to plunge them into a boundary dispute with a neighbour after getting the perimeter wrong – and then allegedly tried to blame the couple for the mishap.

The pair went on to list hundreds of issues they found in their four bed home including broken shower trays and barbed wire buried in their garden before revealing how workers ripped out their front garden to fix dodgy sewage pipes that blocked toilets.

The repair works left residents to be told to use their toilets as little as possible, a neighbour claimed.

Slamming Kendrick staff as ‘very rude’, she added: ‘We had to have the entire house redecorated. It’s the way they handle our requests which makes you become petty, we are not petty people.

‘When we bought the house they wanted a review immediately. They wanted five stars before everything was done. If you want to have a good review, you need to be nice to your customers.’

Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said she has been left so devastated with her home that she is getting it valued on Friday.

She said: ‘Second day we moved in we had a leak, we were without a main bathroom for months and had a hole in it for two months.

‘We had our drive taken up because it was sinking – they [Kendrick] took it up without even asking.’

Kendrick claim on their website, ‘the communities we help grow are as important to us as the homes we build’ and ‘ethos, combined with classical design cues taken from our Victorian Heritage, help us create your forever home’.

Brian Phillips, 85, disagrees.

He and his ex-opera singer wife Elizabeth, also 85, moved into their four bed home in August last year – paying £530,000 outright.

The pair, who have been married 58 years, moved from Gloucester to be nearer their daughter as Brian battled bowel cancer last year. It was their belief this would be their last home.

But on move in day, they were met with a broken toilet and upside down flush and say they were given repeated assurances by the site manager it would be fixed.

But after ten months of broken promises and with the smell stinking out the house, Brian lost his cool and called in a plumber for £120. He fixed the problem in five minutes – and it transpired the water hadn’t even been turned on by Kendricks.

Brian claims when a site manager came round months later he had the cheek to tell him ‘I could’ve done that’ before refusing to reimburse the couple.

‘I said to him if you had been in my employment you would’ve lasted two days and you would have had a P.45 slapped in your hand immediately. He called me a rude sod’, retired businessman Brian revealed.

Elizabeth went on: ‘When we moved here we were in a building yard, all the building trucks and everything, the site manager said I promise you when it’s finished I’ll send the window cleaners round. Did he bother? It just didn’t happen.

‘They all tell porkie pies, “I promise you”, “I promise you”, ten months later nothing’s done. They just ignore you all the time. We are 85 years old, we deserve some respect.’

Brian blasted the development ‘an absolute c***up’ as he flicked through pictures of their flooded cul-de-sac over winter. 

A Kendrick Homes spokesperson said: ‘In the case of the broken toilet referred to, this was inspected multiple times and found to be in working order. 

‘The customer requested we remove the water-saving measures, which is a breach of both building and water regulations and something we are clearly unable to do.’

They added: ‘At Kendrick Homes, we take all feedback very seriously and are fully committed to addressing any issues to ensure our homeowners are satisfied with their new homes.

‘We feel the allegations are not representative of the quality of the homes or the experiences our customers have had on this development, many of whom have praised our site and sales teams.

‘Our records show that we have only 9 minor snagging items remaining on the whole development.

‘With regard to drainage issues, it is good practice as part of any development that all drainage is thoroughly surveyed, tested and signed off. 

‘We are confident that the small number of issues indicated by our survey were professionally remediated within reasonable time scales.

‘The 2 occasions where we have had blockages, were found to be caused by non-flushable items such as baby wipes. All residents have been advised to refrain from flushing these items.

‘We will be re-engaging with all residents on this development to listen to any concerns they have so we can ensure they have an excellent overall experience.’