Homeowners on a new estate have been left furious after developers told them they are chopping three yards off the end of their gardens because of a mistake by bungling builders.
Residents of the Paddocks estate in Cottam, Lancashire, were told they will lose land from their back gardens because a boundary fence was erected in the wrong place.
Some say it will cost them up to £2,000 to remove existing paving stones and move garden furniture, with no promise of any compensation.
Building giants Wainhomes sent letters to six homes on the estate in December and claim the land was never owned by residents in the first place.
The homeowners have branded the company ‘callous’, claiming their complaints were met with the response: ‘It’s not up for debate – we’re doing it whether you like it or not.’
Gemma Barnes branded the company ‘disgusting’ after she was told she would lose three yards of her garden.
Paddock estate residents Carley Crook (left) and Gemma Barnes (right) are pictured in one of their gardens showing how much of their garden they are set to lose
Ms Barnes only moved into the three-bedroom semi with her partner Christopher Sharrock in September after buying her first home.
She said: ‘We couldn’t believe it when we got a letter saying they wanted some of our garden back.
‘This is our first home and it’s a real shock. They aren’t big gardens to start with.
‘But to be told after just six months in the house that you have to give back up to three metres of your garden because they made a mistake is shocking.
‘And it’s the way they’ve gone about it. As far as we’re concerned we bought this house thinking the garden was this size. So, to me, for builders to just come in and snatch back some land is disgraceful.
‘We’re going to lose from about a metre at one side to probably two metres at the other.
‘We’ve tried speaking to our solicitor. But she has basically ignored us. The majority of us are all represented by the same firm – a firm that Wainhomes recommended.’
Pictured: The gardens on the Paddock estate in Cottam, Lancashire that will be cut short because of a mistake by builders
Her next-door neighbour Carley Crook faces having her expensive decking and lawn area torn up and reconstructed when contractors reclaim a triangular piece of her garden.
She claimed she has approached Wainhomes about compensation for the work to put her garden back together and was told to get an estimate.
Ms Crook said: ‘They are not saying they will pay for it, just that they’ll have a discussion with us about it. Their attitude stinks.
‘The letters we have had are just awful – just implying they’re doing it whether we like it or not.
‘To be honest we wouldn’t have bought the house if we’d known it would end up having a smaller garden.
‘We have contacted the Land Registry to see what they say and they have just told us there are no exact measurements where the boundary is.
‘On the plans we saw before we bought our house, the gardens were all oblong. The boundary fence was straight.
Six residents of the Paddocks estate in Cottam, Lancashire, were told they will lose land from their back gardens because a boundary fence (highlighted) was erected in the wrong place
‘But the new plan that Wainhomes have sent us shows the boundary is now at an angle, meaning we all lose different amounts of garden.
‘I lose from a third of a metre to almost a metre, but others further along lose a lot more, up to three metres.’
The Paddocks development is part of a house-building scheme that has seen thousands of new homes spring up across the north of Preston.
Ms Barnes added: ‘It’s ironic, but across the road Wainhomes have hung a sign on the fence which says: ‘Think quality. Get it right first time.’ It’s a shame they didn’t get it right with our fence.’
Wainhomes says it has apologised to residents after the fencing at the bottom of their gardens was wrongly situated.
A company spokesman said it was merely taking back land the householders did not own and informed them on 13 December last year.
They added: ‘The rear fence line to these properties has been erected in the incorrect position and does not follow the legal boundary of the plots which the owners purchased.
‘The owners are therefore occupying land which legally belongs to the company.
Gemma Barnes (pictured) branded the company ‘disgusting’ after she was told she would lose three yards of her garden
‘We have readily acknowledged that this is the company’s error and we have apologised accordingly.
‘Further letters were sent earlier this month advising the purchasers that the fence realignment works were due to commence and, as a responsible housing developer, we offered to meet any concerned owners.
‘Those discussions with the purchasers are ongoing as we appreciate that there is a level of inconvenience which we are endeavouring to keep to an absolute minimum.’
Wainhomes is one of the leading house builders in the north west of England and has at least 25 developments currently under construction across the region.
The developers completed nearly 1,000 home sales in a record-breaking year, and its parent company – the Wain Group – topped the year with £235million in sales.
The Paddocks development is a mix of more than 200 three, four and five bedroom houses.
The incident in Paddocks development is not the first time Wainhomes has been embroiled in a land grab dispute in the North West.
In 2012 the company was accused of ‘stealing’ half of a woman’s garden in Blackrod near Bolton while she was at work.
Amber Addison claimed she returned home to find contractors had moved her boundary fence, taking off a chunk of her garden.
She later said Wainhomes had told her an error in the way the garden had been laid out meant she didn’t own all the land.