Neighbour's fury after developer caused '£20k of damage' but offered just £1,000 in compensation
Neighbours at war
GBNews
A couple have been left fuming a building developer caused £20,000 of damage and offered them just £1,000 in compensation.
Lynda and Stephen Winston's dream house on the outskirts of York became the victim of a building site with damage to their property skyrocketing.
The vibrations from the work by their home led to nearly 150 cracks emerging across the entire house.
The couple are pointing the finger at Miller Homes who were developing properties in Langley Gate, York.
Lynda and Stephen say their dream home has been "wrecked".
The pair claim that their house had sustained damage to the walls, both on the inside and outside, the ceiling and the ceramic floor tiles
On the outside, the dust from the building site had left the garden unusable for the last four years, with cracks across the whole house too.
Lynda said: “The whole room will have to be redecorated. Every room is like that. We got a quote for £20,910 to fix it all.
“The pictures are rattling on the walls. My cups of tea have the Jurassic Park effect. And it has just gone on and on. [Miller Homes] promised they would put in some vibration meters – they didn’t.
“There were quite a lot of things that needed doing when we bought this house 10 years ago. We put down new floors, we put in a new kitchen, a new bathroom – and now it’s just wrecked.”
"My husband has a life-limiting heart condition and cancer." added Ms Winston when speaking to The Telegraph.
She added: "This development – and the stress it has given us – contributed to him having a mini stroke last year."
The couple claim that Miller Homes should have recognised the damage that would be caused because of their construction work.
"They won't even pay for the scaffolding to go up to fix the gable end of our house," Lynda revealed.
She added: “I feel like Miller Homes has had five years of my life.
“We’re playing letter ping-pong with them. We write to them; they send letters back saying they’ve consulted the legal team and that £1,000 is their full and final offer.”
A spokesman from Miller Homes said: “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.
In response to those impacted at Langley Gate, the spokesman added: “We regret that work at our Langley Gate development impacted a small number of neighbours.
“We have made offers of compensation and are committed to rectifying these issues through continued dialogue with the affected parties.”
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