Wirral man says moving into new Torus home ‘has been a nightmare’

Stephen Taylor said he faces a whole host of problems in the home where he shares ownership with social housing provider Torus and accused them of failing to tackle them.

Mr Taylor bought 75% of his new-build home on Walter Smith Way in Rock Ferry in September 2023 and planned to buy the rest from Torus shortly after. However he claims there was cracked paving outside the property on the day he moved in, something he said Torus disputes, followed by a series of issues with the property later on. He’s now considering moving out.

Walter Smith Way is one of the new roads that is part of a regeneration project to build 186 new homes on the former site of Rock Ferry High School. 168 are available for affordable rent with 102 of these providing specialist housing for older people and 20 through shared ownership. It was a £30m investment into the area with funding from Homes England, a government housing body.

However, Mr Taylor said the paving has still not been fixed and other issues included the dishwasher door coming off, vents on the roof blowing out, and plastic cladding in the porch buckling in the brand new property. He also had to spend £7,500 paving over his garden because it would regularly get covered in two inches of water forcing him to put the wellies on when going to his shed.

While many of the issues weren’t major, Mr Taylor said he’s frustrated multiple defects haven’t been sorted since he bought the property and felt he wasn’t being listened to. A representative for Torus said it regrets “the delays in resolving these issues and assure residents they are being treated with respect and kept informed” and “remain dedicated to resolving all concerns to their satisfaction.”

Mr Taylor said the garden’s issues were because Torus had failed to remove clay underneath the new homes which means water can’t drain away, adding : “One neighbour couldn’t go out because her garden was two inches deep in water. I have a shed and I couldn’t go out except with wellies on. The water in front of the shed was stagnant and when I walked up to it, one thousand midges rose into the air.”

He said the insects were first an issue in the garden but then moved into the kitchen and bedrooms, adding: “We were finding them on food, in the cupboards but on that side of things we seem to have solved by doing what we did here” referring to the paving.

Mr Taylor has been trying to raise the issues around the garden and other faults with his property for months but claimed Torus were not tackling these for him and his neighbours who have taken similar actions. He said: “There has been no service and they admitted to this. They said they will give us a rebate. All we have got is words,” adding: “We don’t know who we are dealing with because information doesn’t go back and forth.”

He believes the failure to fix the problems is a money issue and argued many were wider issues across the entire development suggested it was done to a lower standard than Spinnaker House, an apartment block being built on another part of the site.

Mr Taylor also believes the estate is being used as a cut-through linked to antisocial behaviour including fly tipping and littering which he said had been reported. He said: “It’s such a shoddy job. It’s unreal,” adding: “It seems to me there is such a mismatch between what people purchased and what people got.”

He said staff would turn up unannounced and sometimes weren’t prepared to deal with the issues such as having the right tools to fix the cladding. He said: “It’s definitely been a nightmare,” adding: “It’s so stressful because we get promises and then nothing. It’s like a big wind up.”

Originally from Wirral, Mr Taylor moved back to help look after his father who is in his 90s and his mother who has dementia and lives in Port Sunlight. He said: “It was to make life easier for us. Our idea was that we wanted to buy it outright and we almost could.”

He added: “We are looking to move out because the experience we have had in the past year isn’t something I want to continue. I didn’t sign up to be fighting battles and just the attitude of the people who turn up here. It’s just a shocking attitude.”

Chris Bowen, managing director of Torus Developments, said: “Torus is committed to providing affordable, safe, and high-quality homes in the North West. All properties meet Local Authority Building Control (LABC) standards and have been signed off and certified by Wirral Building Control.

“We apologise for the snagging issues experienced by a few residents. We met with them on 9 July to address their concerns and provided updates on 17 July regarding actions taken, including measures for fly-tipping and vermin control.

“To address anti-social behaviour and unauthorised access, we consulted with a Designing out Crime Officer from Merseyside Police and on their advice will be installing additional fencing at Walter Smith Way.

“We met with Mr Taylor on 16 July to address his specific issues, including replacing broken paving stones and fixing a leak in the radiator. The dishwasher door is being rectified by the kitchen supplier and vents in roof and cladding is being rectified by the building contractor, Anwyl.

“We have experienced a particularly wet summer which has affected some gardens and have instructed a specialist contractor to improve drainage and soil quality in a few gardens.

“Regarding the service charge rebate, residents will receive account statements by the end of September, with refunds issued in October/November. Our in-house contractor HMS will be responsible for the grounds maintenance.

“We regret the delays in resolving these issues and assure residents they are being treated with respect and kept informed throughout the process. We remain dedicated to resolving all concerns to their satisfaction.”