The owners of the three homes that are to be knocked down have been relocated
while the work takes place.

Steve Ansell, 56, is the owner of one house — bought for £230,000 — which is
on the demolition list.

Mr Ansell, a technical trainer, and his wife Jayne, 53, have been rehoused on
the estate while their three-bed semi is rebuilt.

Mr Ansell said he first noticed a “huge crack” in the front of my house five
years ago. “We’ve had no end of problems ever since,” he said. “First they
said they could underpin the house. But that failed, so they tried resetting
the foundations. Now that’s failed, so they’re going to have to knock it
down and start again. It’s really upsetting for me and my wife.”

He said he was initially told the work would take about six months, but that
this had since been extended to a year “at least”.

Taylor Wimpey is one of the largest British house building companies, and is
listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company includes a number of
smaller construction brands, one of which is Bryant Homes, which was
responsible for starting building work on the estate. Construction began in
2005 under the Bryant Homes brand of Taylor Woodrow construction.

In 2007, Taylor Woodrow merged with George Wimpey, forming the Taylor Wimpey
brand, which generated more than £2 billion in revenue last year.

The company is currently phasing out smaller subsidiary brands, including
Bryant Homes, and operating nationwide under the Taylor Wimpey name.

Another resident, Sally Underdown, 45, said she was “sick to her back teeth”
of problems with the home she shares with her husband Richard, 46.

Mrs Underdown, a midwife, bought the property in 2007 for £173,000 with her
husband, a tiler, and is waiting for a structural engineer to decide whether
it needs to be demolished.

She said: “We’ve had trouble since day one, when the front door wasn’t hung
properly. Taylor Wimpey have been so unhelpful.

“We don’t know what to do. We want to move, but nobody will buy a house that
may be falling down, and we obviously don’t want to live there any longer.

“It’s such a shame, because it could be a lovely little estate. I know of at
least 37 houses that have subsidence issues.”

Residents have banded together to take legal action against the housing giant,
which, they claim, cut corners when its subsidiary, Bryant Homes, built the
properties. Taylor Wimpey has not responded to requests for a comment.