It is a living hell in this house

When the Skuse family moved into a brand-new home, their dream turned into a nightmare. More than a year later, they and other residents of a Westbury Homes development in Weston-super-Mare are still waiting for defects to be put right, reports Corinne Hitching.

Buying a brand-new home should be a pleasurable experience. New appliances, woodwork, windows, roofs, doors and paint should all add up to at least a few years of repair- and maintenance-free living. But the reality has been very different for residents of a new Westbury Homes development in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset.

Angie and Jamie Skuse moved into their new £179,000 four-bed home in Dunedin Way on the St Georges development with their three children in November 2002 (paying almost 10% more than the Land Registry's average price of £163,351 for a detached house in the area).