Heartbroken families stuck in newbuild ‘nightmare’ as £130k homes are flooded TWICE in six months ‘slashing the price of their houses in half’_Nhy
Residents on a newly built estate have been plunged into a nightmare after their homes were flooded twice in six months in what is being seen as an appalling failure of the planning system.
Heavy rain overwhelmed the inadequate sewer in April, causing dirty water to swamp properties and turn a street into a lake.
A second and even more devastating flood hit in October just as repairs were being completed and many residents were moving back in.
This time around a month’s rainfall fell in 24 hours and again nothing could be done to prevent the drainage system being overwhelmed and even more floodwater pouring into 15 houses.
Although insured for the first flood, a number of the residents had seen their policies end before the second and had been unable to get cover, leaving them to pick up the substantial repair bill.
With repairs almost complete, one woman had just installed a new kitchen and fridge only for everything to be ruined again.
Construction on the Crawford Park estate in Blyth, Northumberland, finished last year and the ‘dream new homes’ hit by flooding in Bates Avenue are now effectively unsaleable.
Residents have since discovered that the site – previously an old colliery – was known to be at risk of surface flooding when planning permission was sought.
Nick Tait, 24, and his fiancée Dionne Humes, 23, moved into their brand new £128,000 two-bedroom semi in September last year
Flood waters reached ten inches high inside homes at the Gleeson development in October
Flooding has at points caused damage to homeowner’s cars at the Gleeson development
They are hoping to take legal action if funds can be raised in an online appeal, but the organisations involved appear to be trying to pass the blame on to each other.
The housebuilder Gleesons stands accused of doing little to help the flood victims, Northumbrian Water told one resident it has ‘no legal responsibility’ for water leaking out of its sewage system and the planning authority has questions to answer for approving the housing development without ensuring proper safeguards against flooding.
With the Labour government wanting to build 1.5m new homes over the next five years, it is a failure that could be repeated across the country.
Nick Tait, 24, and his fiancée Dionne Humes, 23, moved into their brand new £128,000 two-bedroom semi in September last year.
They had not been told flooding was a potential risk in the purchasing process, but in April eight inches of filthy water submerged their ground floor after a day of heavy rain, ruining carpets, furniture, the TV and white goods.
They were forced into temporary accommodation but were at least covered by insurance. Their plasterers finished the repair work on the morning of 8 October and by the afternoon the house was under water for the second time.
A temporary pump installed by the water authority failed to prevent the drainage system being overwhelmed again.
This time the water level was 10 inches up the wall.
Mr Tait said he felt ‘completely defeated.’ He couldn’t renew his policy or find another insurer as his insurance claim for the first flood was ongoing and so had no cover. The repair bill for the second flood is expected to be at least £6,000.
Mr Maddipatla and his family needed to be rescued from the flooding by the fire department on one occasion
The repair bill for Mr Tait’s property following the flooding is expected to be roughly £6,000
The flooding at the Gleeson development has gotten so bad at times that it has caused damage to homeowner’s cars
Mr Tait believes the value of his property has halved since the flooding issue became apparent
Residents currently don’t know who is legally to blame for their nightmare and are taking legal advice to find out.
Gleesons attitude is to ‘defer everything to Northumbrian Water who at least seem to take some responsibility,’ he said. Mr Tait said the planning process conducted by the council had also failed.
‘I guarantee the value of our property has easily halved. Homes are being built all over the country and it’s unprecedented what has happened to us.
‘I have gone past the point of being angry. I feel completely defeated but the entire situation is still not over. We are terrified every single time it rains.’
Pavan Maddipatla, 37, and his wife Sai, 30, were at home with their five-day-old baby daughter, seven-year-old son and Mrs Maddipatla’s visiting parents when the street and their ground floor flooded. They were ‘rescued’ by the fire service after dark when the power was cut off.
Although they were insured the family can’t now get flood insurance and premiums have skyrocketed.
Their £120,000 three-bedroom home was one of the first on the estate to be built in 2019 and flooding was never mentioned as a risk.
Mr Maddipatla, an IT consultant, said: ‘It has been a nightmare and we have been left in limbo.’
He said he blames the builders, the water authority and the council for the flooding. Measures to ensure the street did not flood once the homes were built should have been implemented at the planning stage.
‘It is a total failure of the planning system,’ he said.
‘We are very small people in this situation. It is our hard-earned money, how do we make them accountable for this?’
The flooding defences installed by Nick Tait at his Northumberland property
Some residents blame the builders and council for not implementing proper flooding measures
The flash flooding seen in Blyth has likely heavily deteriorated properties’ values
A flood assessment report submitted at the planning stage for the 142 home estate stated ‘the site is at risk of surface water flooding.’
An expert concluded there was ‘a highly significant risk of surface water flooding’ and this would occur in a ‘one in 75 year rainfall event.’
Despite the known risk not enough was done to protect the properties on that street.
Kayley Walker, 33, lives on the opposite side of the street to the homes that were flooded twice. The water came within a few feet of her front door but swamped her car in the October torrent.
Her VW Golf was a write off and she was given £9,500 from her insurance company but feels hard done by as she planned to keep the car for years and the payout was well below what it cost her.
She was at work in October when a neighbour alerted her to the floodwater building up in Bates Avenue.
‘When I got home I climbed into the car through the boot but it was too late, there was too much water,’ she said. ‘The street flooded within 45 minutes. They said we had a month’s rain in a day. It was torrential.’
In January this year the developer dug a large trench at the front of the houses on her row to install a new sewage drain to connect the houses to the main old sewage drain, which crucially was not upgraded.
Commenting on the repeat flooding, she said: ‘It’s ridiculous. Nothing was said about a flood risk when we bought the house. I blame both Gleesons and Northumbria Water. They shouldn’t have built here without proper drainage.’
The water authority has installed flood-proof front doors and flood barriers in the affected homes and work is being carried out at the nearby pumping station to reduce the risk.
But Ms Walker said: ‘I have no faith in them stopping it happening again and solving the problem.’
None of the organisations involved are admitting responsibility, she said.
IT consultant Pavan Maddipatla has spoken of the nightmare that the flooding has caused
A drainage issue has been highlighted by some residents as the cause of flooding
The roads on the Blyth estate have regularly endured flooding in recent times
Flood defences have needed to be installed by homeowners outside the front of their Blyth homes
A recent email she received from a Northumbrian Water customer care manager said: ‘NW have no legal responsibility for any damage caused as a result of a leak from its network of sewers. This is because this network is an open sewerage system, and we have no control over it being accessed by any third parties.’
Today the water authority said the local pumping station was being upgraded to ‘reduce the risk of flooding.’
A spokesperson for Northumbrian Water said: ‘Since the unfortunate flooding at Bates Avenue in October we have had face to face meetings with all of the customers impacted and have been keeping in constant conversation with them to offer help and support.
‘We know how devastating sewer flooding can be, and we are sorry for the disruption and damage caused to people’s homes.
‘That’s why we have installed Property Level Protection, in the form of flood doors, flood gates, smart air bricks and the application of a protective waterproof barrier for bricks and mortar.
‘We have also installed additional pump capacity at the Port of Blyth and are carrying out a £4m upgrade project for the Bates Avenue pumping station. This is planned to be completed by the end of the year. Upon completion, this project will reduce the risk of flooding and we will continue to look at how we reduce the risk of sewer flooding at this location.
‘We have been working closely with the Port of Blyth and Northumberland County Council to support and manage the risk at this location and for the local community.’
A Gleeson spokesperson said: ‘We are actively engaging with local MP, Ian Lavery, and Northumbrian Water, to address the situation and we are continuing to keep the residents of Crawford Park updated on any developments and outcomes.’
Northumberland County Council has failed to respond to requests for comment.
