Crest Nicholson Flat Fiasco

Furious homeowners in Portishead are threatening to stage a sit-in at the offices of dock developer Crest Nicholson - unless complaints about their homes are sorted out. Read more: Crest Nicholson (Archive)

Extract:

Furious homeowners in Portishead are threatening to stage a sit-in at the offices of dock developer Crest Nicholson - unless complaints about their homes are sorted out.

People living in flats at the Centre Quay building at Port Marine say they have reached the end of their tether after nearly a year of complaints about their homes to developer Crest Nicholson and maintenance company Peverel OM

Problems at the luxury flats, which cost up to £280,000 each to buy, include a faulty security gate for the underground garage.

On one occasion residents were locked in the car park and unable to get their vehicles out for work when the gates jammed.

Each of the 65 homes in the seven-storey building pay £115 per month to Peverel OM for the maintenance and upkeep of communal areas of the building.

Other problems highlighted by the residents include:

• No visitor parking

• Rising damp eating away at a wall at one entrance to the building.

• Noisy neighbours, despite a clause in the lease prohibiting noise after 11pm.

• A broken drainpipe running down the side of the building.

• Communal windows on the north side of the building are not cleaned

• Lights inside and outside the building not working.

At a meeting of the Centre Quay Residents' Association on Monday night, homeowners agreed to organise a sit-in unless the complaints were resolved.

Chairman of the association Maureen Roberts said: "We have really hit a brick wall.

"We are going to try one last letter to the chief executive of Crest Nicholson and if nothing is resolved we will look at other options including a sit-in at its offices."

Mrs Roberts said a meeting had been held with Crest Nicholson in August to discuss problems, but as yet no work had been carried out.

Mrs Roberts said: "As well as the car park gate breaking the lifts continually go wrong.

"Nobody from Peverel checks the building to see if there are any problems, we have to report them.

"But we cannot get hold of anyone from the company. The number we have been given just goes through to an answering machine.

"Some residents have even fixed some problems themselves.

"When we do get hold of someone we are told it's Crest's problem because it developed the building, but when we talk to Crest its representatives say it's Peverel's problem.

"We just feel we are banging our heads against a brick wall."

Crest Nicholson head of customer relations Mark Staddon said: "Crest Nicholson and the management company, Peverel OM, are working in close collaboration to resolve residents' concerns.

"We met with representatives of the residents' committee just two weeks ago and every issue was discussed and examined in detail. In response to their requests we have agreed to put signage on the building, install bollards to prevent illegal parking and we are looking at improving the reliability of the roller shutter doors.

"Crest Nicholson is committed to after sales customer service, and, although the building has now been handed over to Peverel OM, we will continue to work closely with residents to find solutions."

A spokesman for Peverel OM said: "Peverel OM, as a responsible property management company, is working within the leasehold documentation with Crest and the residents to ensure a satisfactory resolution is reached."