Debate over what standard new Darwin Green homes will be built to
88 homes were knocked down due to foundations being found unsafe
Last updated 22nd Mar 2024
A dispute has emerged between housing developers and local authorities as to what standard new homes on the outskirt of Cambridge will be built to.
Cambridge City Councillor Katie Thornburrow, the executive councillor for planning, building control and infrastructure, said the authority had been told the new homes at Darwin Green will not meet all of the latest building standards and that it is taking legal advice on the issue.
However, this was later refuted by the developer, Barratt and David Wilson Homes Cambridgeshire, which has said the new homes will be built to the new regulations.
The developer began work to demolish the 88 impacted properties – some fully and some partially constructed – at the Darwin Green development on the edge of Cambridge earlier this year.
It was revealed in the summer last year that there were problems with the foundations of a number of newly built homes in the second phase of the development.
At the time the developer said that a “small number” of houses had foundation issues and said no one had moved into any of the affected properties.
It was initially reported that 36 newly built houses were impacted by the issue and needed to be demolished.
However, a council report later revealed 88 fully and partially built properties were impacted.
Councillor Simon Smith submitted a question to the city council’s planning and transport scrutiny committee this week (March 19), highlighting new building regulations had been introduced.
He asked whether the developer had said if it would be building the replacement homes in accordance with the new regulations, which he said provided for “better ventilation, conservation of fuel and power and mitigation of overheating”.
Cllr Thornburrow said the developer had told the city council it was not planning to meet these new regulations.
She said: “BDW have confirmed that the replacement dwellings will not be built to the new standards for ventilation, conservation of fuel and power, and mitigation of overheating, they will not be built to those standards.
“3C Building Control, the council’s shared in-house building control service, are in the process of taking legal advice as to our next steps.”
The developer has refuted that this is the case and said the new homes will be built to the new regulations.
Cllr Thornburrow also told the meeting that some of the properties due to be retained had been inspected by the in-house building control team, who had found no concerns.
She said a further inspection in a third location was still due to take place, but said this will be arranged “as soon as possible”.