Demolition starts on 83 faulty new-build Cambridge houses

Demolition has started at a new development just outside Cambridge after faulty foundations were discovered

Work has begun to demolish 83 fully and partially built houses on a new development after faults were found with their foundations.

The houses are part of the Darwin Green site on the edge of Cambridge.

Barratt and David Wilson Homes Cambridgeshire, said demolition would take 14 weeks and they were working to minimise the "impact on the existing community and environment".

A spokesman said no issues had been found in any of the other homes.

Problems with the foundations of some properties built in the second phase of the development were raised last June.

Permission to demolish them was granted in December.

The developer said the "most effective" thing to do was to demolish and rebuild the affected properties

Foundation issues were found in homes in the second of four planned phases at the development off Huntingdon Road, to the north-west of the city.

More than 1,500 homes are planned for the site.

None of the affected houses had yet been occupied and a spokesman said although 36 had roofing, they were not "fully finished - internally or externally".

The other 47 were at various stages of build and some were still at the "foundation stage", he told the BBC.

Bulldozers moved in this week, reducing some of the new houses to rubble.

More than 80 mostly finished and partially started houses are being demolished

Some of the faulty homes had already been sold, the developer said

Graham Steed, who has lived at Darwin Green for more than three years, said: "It all kicked off in spring 2023 and then suddenly it all ground to a halt... because there were problems with the foundations".

Asked whether he was worried about his own home, he said: "Yes, it does cause some concern" but said builder and architect friends had told him "based on how long we've been here, and there are no cracks, our house should be OK".

However, he added that he and his partner were "not looking forward" to living near a demolition site for three months.

Adrian Jarman, operations director for Barratt and David Wilson Homes Cambridgeshire, said: "Having discovered that there were issues with the foundations at a limited number of unfinished and unoccupied houses last summer, the demolition of those homes has now started.

"The important thing now is to ensure this process has as little impact on the existing community and environment as possible.

"Monitoring stations have been set up throughout the site to record noise and vibrations and we have erected screening and will be using water to control dust.

"We also want to carry out the work sustainably so will be recycling as much material as possible including tiles, doors, windows, and kitchen equipment, plus also crushing and reusing the concrete and brick on site."

A company spokesman added that the usual 10-year warranty for new-build homes had been extended to 25 years at the site.