Sarah Colbert and Faye Eldridge
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My £400k home is a nightmare
By Lorna CatlingMarch 19, 2008
A catalogue of errors has made moving into a £400,000 “dream house” a total nightmare.
Sarah Colbert bought a four-bedroomed detached house in The Parks development with her friend Faye Eldridge last September.
The house, in Austin Way on the former RAF College site, was a dream come true for the friends who would not have been able to afford such a large house had they bought homes individually.
Sarah, who works in Reading, said: “It really was a dream house but it has become a nightmare now.”
Since moving into their home five months ago, all the windows and doors have had to be replaced because they were faulty.
Scaffolding, which was supposed to be taken down after four weeks, was also left up in their garden for more than four months.
And when they first moved in there were holes in the carpets.
“They obviously just threw the house up in a hurry and didn’t pay any attention to how they did it,” added Sarah.
“We are still waiting for answers from some of the very first problems when we first moved in.”
Sarah is supporting campaign group Staff College Residents Against Madness, which is fighting further development of the Broad Lane site.
“There has just been error after error and we just get fobbed off when we try to sort it out with Taylor Wimpey,” said Sarah.
A George Wimpey spokesman said they had tried to resolve Sarah’s problems “as quickly as possible”.
He added: “Due to weather conditions, the scaffolding did take longer to remove than anticipated. As a goodwill gesture we provided Ms Colbert with a new patio and outdoor lighting which she was happy to receive.
“We have also replaced a number of windows and the front door despite the exisiting ones already meeting industry standards.”
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