黑洞社区

Persimmon Homes has joined the attack on Bellway Homes for building social housing on a site previously reserved for private homes.

The news follows growing concern from private residents over homes on estates marketed as for private sale, but later converted to social housing when sales proved difficult. In March, 黑洞社区 revealed that residents on three Bellway sites were planning to sue the builder over the issue.

Persimmon has joined nearly 100 residents on the Bishop Cuthbert estate in Middle Warren, Hartlepool, and lodged an objection to the plans on the council鈥檚 website. This is despite the fact that in 1997, the two formed a 12-year partnership to develop the estate.

Peter Jordan, Persimmon鈥檚 regional projects director, said 鈥渁ll hell broke loose鈥� when estate residents found out about plans to build 35 rent-to-buy and 15 social homes.

The homes were included to attract funding from the government鈥檚 Kickstart initiative, which is intended to restart work on stalled housing sites. Earlier this month the government granted Bellway 拢1.9m to build 50 social homes on the 鈥減restige鈥� estate in County Durham.

Persimmon is particularly annoyed because, it says, Bellway lodged the application for Kickstart funds without consulting it.

Persimmon says it is objecting to the application because it thinks 鈥渞egeneration鈥� housing would be more suitable within Hartlepool, rather than the 鈥渁spirational鈥� estate on its northern outskirts.

Buyers say they exchanged contracts based on the old masterplan after the planning application for the social housing had been lodged. Persimmon claims that some buyers of homes built under the firm鈥檚 upmarket Charles Church brand have already walked away from the deals.

In February this year, homeowners on The Chase 鈥渆xecutive鈥� development in Hampshire accused Bellway of turning it into a 鈥済lorified council estate鈥� after it sold 30 units to a housing associations [sing or pl?].