Barratt David Wilson has discovered problems with the foundation of 36 new homes on its Darwin Green development in Cambridge.
The developer said that the problems had been discovered during its “extensive quality assurance process”. It is not clear why these processes did not find any issues before the houses were built on the unsounds foundations.
Barratt David Wilson has decided to knock them down and start again and has submitted a demolition notice. The affected properties are not occupied but buyers have been left hanging.
Cambridge City Council has now told Barratt David Wilson that it must go through the planning process all over again.
A council spokesperson said: "Cambridge City Council was recently made aware of failures to the foundations currently being constructed at the BDW2 development site in Darwin Green, Cambridge, by Barratt David Wilson Homes Cambridgeshire (BDW).
"Planning permission had previously been given for the construction of these properties, and BDW appointed a private company as building control provider to oversee the scheme. The council was not appointed as building control provider for this development.
"Council officers have met with the managing director of BDW to understand the scale of the issue and to agree potential next steps. The council has received information from BDW which identifies a number of plots at various stages of the construction process that are affected by foundation failure, none of which are understood to be occupied.
"Cambridge City Council’s view is that planning permission will be required for works to demolish these structures and has advised the developer that an application for full planning permission should be submitted to the local planning authority.
"The developer will be encouraged to work with officers to agree the details which will need to form part of any planning application submission, and the timeframe for the demolition or remediation works.
"Although not appointed as building control provider for this development by BDW, the council’s shared building control service, 3C Building Control, is the local enforcing body, so will now look to work with the local community and the site developer to ensure the next phase of works are compliant with building regulations.
"As part of the planning application process, there will be a period of public consultation, which will enable nearby residents and members of the public to raise any issues they may have relating to the development."
The council spokesperson later added: "3C Building Control colleagues have confirmed that a demolition notice has now been received; officers will be carrying out site inspections during the demolition phase.”
A spokesman for Barratt David Wilson Homes Cambridgeshire told the press: “As a five-star house-builder we have an extensive quality assurance process and during inspections we found that a small number of unoccupied properties at our Darwin Green development did not meet our usual high standards.
“Unfortunately, the most effective course of action at this stage is to demolish the properties and rebuild them. We have apologised to the customers affected and understand their frustrations, but we are doing all that we can to lessen the impact of this for them.
“The most important thing is that the homes we build for our customers are of the highest quality possible and this means spotting and mistakes and putting them right, which is what we are doing here.”
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