Another 'victim' of the Parkway homes scandal speaks out

Exchanged contracts almost a year ago but still doesn't own home

ANOTHER ‘victim’ of the Parkway housing scandal has told the NWN how he has put his wedding on hold due to the stress of not being able to move into his new home.

This week, Graham Robson spoke of his anger at the one-year wait to own his own property due to the ongoing legal battle between the site’s developer Standard Life Investments (SLI) and West Berkshire Council.

Mr Robson explained how he and his partner exchanged contracts in July 2014 only to be told there would be a delay owing to a problem between the council and developer.

The couple are currently living in the property under licence – meaning they are having to pay Standard Life rent every week, despite already paying a £28,000 deposit.

Last week, Julian Post told the NWN how he and his wife were still waiting to move into their property at Parkway despite paying a deposit and exchanging contracts almost a year ago.

In 2008, West Berkshire Council gave £900,000 of taxpayers’ money to Parkway developers to ensure that 37 of the 147 homes built there were affordable, following the company’s claims that it couldn’t afford to build any.

The 37 units were completed in early 2013, but they are still empty almost two years later, owing to SLI’s failure to negotiate terms with a social housing provider to manage them.

In July 2014 the council took the unprecedented step of blocking the sale of any new private homes at the site after “losing patience” with SLI, and in February this year announced its intention to sue the developer for breach of contract.

However, four months on, the issue is still no closer to being resolved.

Speaking exclusively to the NWN, Mr Robson said: “This is our first home together as a couple.

“It was supposed to be a major milestone in both our lives but it has given us nothing but stress.

“We feel that we have been messed around and were not given all the facts when we entered into the buying process at Parkway.

“It is clear to us that Standard Life knew about the issues and still let us enter into the purchasing process and did not inform us.

“No-one appears to be taking responsibility for what is going on or attempting to resolve matters.

“We have no idea when this will end and we do want it to end so we can move on with our lives.

“We both have put our wedding on hold due to this as we don’t know when we are going to complete 12 months after we exchanged.

“We both feel we have been victimised and deliberately misled into buying our property.

“All we want to do is own our home, but we still don’t yet.

“We are stuck. We can’t sell because we don’t own it and we can’t leave because we will lose.”