Residents in new development left in limbo

The developer went into administration

Residents at an Exeter estate are in limbo after the developer responsible for the site fell into administration leaving vital finishing touches uncompleted.

The Home Farm development, in Exeter’s Pinhoe, was nearing completion when the firm behind the scheme, Burrington Estates Group, fell into administration.

That has left items such as green spaces and the children’s playground unfinished, but potentially more problematic is the issue around the development’s sewer works, which haven’t been confirmed as meeting the required standards.

Such uncertainty means that South West Water (SWW) cannot adopt the sewer works, and that could mean residents may have to foot the bill for any issues if a problem occurred before they were signed off.

One resident, who did not want to be named, also feared that residents might be faced with a decision about whether to pay for the sewer works to be completed so that SWW would take ownership of them.

“But some will be prepared to pay and others won’t be able to afford it,” the resident said.

While the resident said they had “no complaints” about their actual property, they felt “in limbo” due to the level of uncompleted works on the estate, materials left on site, and the uncertainty about what the developer’s collapse could mean for residents.

“These homes weren’t cheap , and Burrington was still functioning at the time, but they have now disappeared off site and numerous people have tried to get in contact with them, but failed,” the resident said.

“Also, the [county] council also can’t adopt the road, as they won’t tarmac it if the drains aren’t done to a specific standard,” the resident said.

“As far as I know, there is money put into a bond that has been ringfenced and will and can go on it, but whatever has been left is not enough for SWW, which is saying ‘it isn’t our problem’.

A spokesperson for SWW said it had not been contacted to undertake any sewer works on the Home Farm site.

“We do have a sewer adoption agreement in place which means that, providing the developer constructs the sewerage network to the required construction standards, we will adopt the main sewers as public,” the spokesperson added.

“Financial responsibility to bring the sewers up to an adoptable standard is the developer’s. The sewers are not currently at the necessary standard and so the sewers remain unadopted. South West Water is not owed any money by Burrington.”

Devon County Council said a legal agreement had been entered into between it and the developer in relation to the adoption of the estate roads.

“This is a legal contract that enables developers to construct roads to a standard acceptable to the highways authority for later adoption as highways maintainable at public expense and includes a surety as a financial safeguard in the event that the developer is unable to complete the road as agreed,” the spokesperson said.

“Such agreements require any drains located under the road to be adopted by the relevant statutory undertaker, i.e. South West Water, prior to the road being adopted by the county council.

“We are currently looking carefully at the stipulations of the agreement, and will review the extent of the works already completed before deciding what next steps may be appropriate.”

S&W, the administrator acting for Burrington Estates Group, has been contacted for comment about the unfinished work but has not yet responded.