A YOUNG couple’s dream of owning their first home has turned sour after a two-month battle to have no fewer than 90 problems with the new-build house sorted out.

Paige Bray said she ‘really regretted’ buying the £250,000 property on the Meldon Fields estate in Okehampton, from property developer Linden Homes.

Paige, partner Connor Beales and one-year-old son Jeconah moved into their new house in Stock Park at the end of September, to be confronted by a raft of problems – from wonky patio doors that wouldn’t lock, to mouldy kitchen cupboards, screws sticking out of floorboards and sockets left dangling.

Gaps have been left around sockets and laminate flooring has been clumsily cut out. There are windows that don’t close, a crooked downpipe and gaps in the garden fence.

An attempt by the developer to fix the issue with the socket left unmounted led to the creation of another problem – as a mistake in reconnecting the washing machine led to the flooding of the garage.

Paige, a trainee paramedic, said: ‘It’s poor workmanship. Our house and the house it is connected to were the last two houses to be built on the estate and that is very obvious. They must have run out of windowsills as the ones we have got are obviously intended for single toilet windows, but they’ve been stuck together.

‘We had someone come out to fix the patio doors because we couldn’t shut them and we were advised to tie a rope around the handles to secure them.’

She said that a technician sent to fix the patio doors had ensured that the lock now worked – but it was still wonky.

She has submitted a formal complaint to Linden Homes, attaching a dossier containing photographs of all the problems with the house.

Paige said the stress of trying to get the problems fixed while working shifts and caring for a baby had taken its toll on them.

‘It’s awful,’ she added. ‘It has ruined our lives buying this house from them. My and my partner’s mental health has been affected. We are so stressed and low at the moment. I regret buying this house from them, I really do.’

She said a builder sent by Linden Homes to assess the work that needed doing on Monday had established that their walls and ceilings would need to be taken down and rebuilt ‘as they do not fit within the NHBC standards’.

‘We are awaiting a meeting to be set with the head of customer services and the builders again to determine what, when and how works are going to be done,’ she said. ‘We will need to be put into other accommodation whilst this happens.’

Borough and town councillor Tony Leech, who represents Okehampton North said: ‘This family are going to literally have to move out of their house for the work to put things right, things which could have been resolved with an extra half an hour’s skill in the first place.

‘They have got electric sockets lying on the floor next to the washing machine. If the washing machine springs a leak, there is an instant danger. Who signed this off and how many other houses on the estate have sockets just lying under their washing machines?’

A spokesperson from Linden Homes said: ‘We would like to apologise to Ms Bray and Mr Beales for the issues with their house.

‘We pride ourselves on creating quality new homes and we’re disappointed that our customers are not happy. We are committed to investigating and rectifying these issues as early as possible and remediation work is currently underway.’