Dejected residents have launched a petition over a laundry list of issues with their new-build houses – including a sewage smell that is making children gag during mealtimes.

Building work continues at the Conningbrook Lakes scheme in Ashford, which once completed will see 300 homes adjoining the popular lakes off Willesborough Road.

With many of the houses still under construction, people who have already moved in started finding issues on the former quarry site almost immediately.

One 24-year-old homeowner says the problems started a week after picking up the keys to her Conningbrook Avenue home at the end of September.

The first-time buyer said within a week the front door began not shutting or locking properly – and daylight could even be seen coming through the top of the door.

Knowing that her house – for which she paid £329,999 – was not secure has sparked sleeping problems and led to the woman being put on anxiety medication.

An attempted fix by the property managers led to the homeowner being locked out of her house with her young children in the rain.

Despite acknowledging the issue, property manager Clarion has yet to fix the problem.

When being shown around the house, the woman was told a leak under the kitchen sink would be fixed before she moved in.

But it wasn't, and the wall became mouldy with water coming under the kickboards.

To fix the problem, a Clarion employee told her to turn off the mains water and that someone would come out in seven to 10 working days.

The mould in the kitchen was rectified, but other areas of the houses purportedly now have mould which poses a problem as the homeowner's youngest child has asthma.

Residents have also been plagued by long-term drainage issues.

The former Singleton resident said: "We reported in about October a sewage smell internally, and when I say a smell it wasn't slight it was horrific.

"We waited until March for them to do something, but that didn't rectify it and got worse.

"It's constant and got to the point where my children were gagging while eating their food and didn't even like coming home.

"In all honesty, with all the problems we've had, I wish I'd never bought the house."

A Facebook group for angry resident has been set up while a petition has been launched.

"The Conningbrook Lakes development in Ashford is beautiful, but the quality of the properties is shocking," the petition reads.

"There have been building regulations breaches regarding lighting and mobility access, breaking of planning permission, and lack of disabled access to many properties, rendering wheelchair users stranded in their own homes.

"Directors of both Latimer (part of the Clarion Housing Group) and Chartway have repeatedly ignored us.

"Construction issues such as sewage leaks, faulty electrics, front doors that do not close, damp, gardens having to be dug up due to mistakes and holes in the internal floors are just some of the problems.

"These have been repeatedly reported to Latimer and Chartway, with some people having to wait over two years to even have the problem acknowledged.

"This simply isn’t good enough.

"We believe we have waited long enough... we demand to have direct contact from Latimer to each and every property so the issues can be logged by a senior member of staff and monitored, with compensation paid to those most impacted."

Despite issues continuing, more houses on the Conningbrook Lakes site are sold every week and residents who have spoken to KentOnline are worried that aftercare isn't improving and the two-year snagging deadline is approaching for some of the unsold homes.

However a spokeswoman for Latimer Homes and Chartway Group says the company is communicating well with residents and is working through the problems.

"We are aware of a number of customer issues at Conningbrook Lakes," she said.

"We have been in regular contact with the relevant homeowners and we are working closely with them to resolve the issues raised.

"We are committed to delivering homes of the highest quality and take our responsibilities to our customers seriously.

"There is a programme of works in progress and homeowners are being updated with appointments as they are booked in.

"We will continue to work closely until all issues have been resolved.

"We apologise for any unintended inconvenience this may present.”

Once complete, a lakeside Shepherd Neame pub and restaurant is set to feature in the development, however negotiations have stalled between the brewery and Ashford Borough Council during the pandemic.

Read more: All the latest news from Ashford