Tom Gordon MP takes Housing Minister to task on unfinished estates across Yorkshire
Tom Gordon the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough challenged the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on unfinished housing estates in the constituency.
In Westminster this week Mr Gordon raised the developments at Kingsley Farm and the Willows which remain incomplete.
The MP reported that residents at Kingsley Farm have spent months chasing Stonebridge Homes to finish elements of the estate which were agreed in the planning process. He said constituents in The Willows faced the “exact same situation” with the same developer.
The Lib Dem MP also linked the issues to estate in the neighbouring local authority. He said that residents of developments in Knottingley and Normanton are being “taken for a ride” by developers.
When asked what steps he was taking to increase the accountability of housing developers, the Secretary of State responded that the funding for building control functions has been increased.
The Minister also said that in the long term the introduction of the New Homes Ombudsman will provide a faster and better way for these situations to be resolved.
Tom said:
“For too long developer have run roughshod over planning laws, and taken homeowners for a ride - both across North Yorkshire and beyond”
“No one deserves to be living in a half-finished estate, spending months or years of their lives getting passed from pillar to post between developer and local authority - to chase fixes to snags.
“That’s why we need more powers, backed up by Parliament making sure local authorities use them.
