House-builders Persimmon claim to be committed to the highest standards of design, construction and service. However complaints from their customers who have contacted Watchdog have shown that they don’t always live up to those big claims.

RESIDENTS of a new Barratt estate claim the house-builder has gone against planning approval for their homes to save cash.

In a recent incident, workers cut through a water main and flooded the road and residents say they've not received so much as an apology.

Heating problems are common in many new build homes. Read this on the Montgomerie Park Residents' Association Site and find the results of their poll: "Anyone on the Persimmon estate (or any of the others) have an issue with the heating of their property? I have been having a bit of a debate with builder over undersized radiators.

Faults and repairs mean they are frequently without power and their garden is too dangerous to enter after being dug up twice because of drainage problems.

We made a few visits to the site as the development (1st phase) went up and were shown plans outlining street furniture, types of soft landscaping etc and all was well. We ended our rental agreement as we didn't need another six month lease and moved everything we owned into garages amongst friends and family.

Steve Soulsby, the owner of a Persimmon house of horrors, was so shocked by the experience of buying a new build that he has set up a website to share his experiences with prospective buyers.

It got off to a bad start when they held back the keys for 4 hours after receiving our funds at 1 o'clock. We didn't receive keys till 5.30 having booked a van and given notice on our rented property at the time and booked holiday from work.

Residents on a Lancashire estate have slammed house builders Redrow, saying roof tiles have fallen off homes they built for the third time in two years.

Barratt have not even completed the first house on the estate the are working on at Newbiggin by the Sea in Northumberland but already have the residents of the only access road up in arms.