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A house-building giant at the centre of a national scandal over shoddy workmanship has had to carry out urgent works on a number of new-builds on a city estate.
Persimmon Homes came under fire last month when part of the front of a property in Limes Place in Upper Harbledown collapsed in the middle of the night, with emergency works taking place the following day.
Scaffolding was immediately put up on 24 other at-risk houses, with work carried out to rectify any issues found.
It has now emerged Persimmon has checked all similar homes on the estate, with issues addressed at 24 properties.
A spokesman for the building firm says the safety of its customers is paramount.
"Following the reported incident, we reacted immediately and provided precautionary supports to all 24 similarly elevated houses on the development,” they said.
“Since then all of these properties have been checked and, taking a zero-tolerance approach, any works required as a result of our investigations have been completed.
“The safety of our customers remains paramount at all times.”
All scaffolding was taken down on Friday, September 20, almost a month after part of couple Charlie Moss and Hayley Butcher’s house fell down.
The first-time buyers bought the property for £380,000 in 2017 in the picturesque hamlet, but they say it has been a “nightmare”, with a number of problems with the house, even before the front came off.
Repairs have been made but Miss Butcher says she is still waiting for the structural surveyor’s report to reassure them the house is safe.
Last month it was revealed sales and profits at Persimmon Homes had slipped as it attempts to repair its damaged reputation following a raft of criticism about shoddy workmanship and an over-reliance on the government’s help-to-buy scheme.
Charlie Moss and Hayley Butcher spoke to KMTV when part of their house fell down
The firm has had to increase spending on customer service to deal with customer calls and site visits.
Earlier this year, the company was also criticised after houses built in Deal and Aylesham were found to be missing vital fire safety barriers.
