Poorly built new council homes opposite Shoreham Harbour need repairs estimated to cost more than £3 million before tenants can move in.
Adur District Council said that extensive work would be needed before new the 49 new council homes in Southwick would be fit to be lived in.
The council said: “Investigations have revealed that major work is required to our new seafront council housing development before residents can move in.
“We’re building 49 much-needed new council homes in Albion Street, Southwick, for local residents on our housing waiting list.
“The project has faced significant delays since the collapse of the original contractor, Westridge Construction, which went into administration in September 2023 while work was under way.
“For the last two years our replacement firm, Cheesmur Building Contractors, has been attempting to rectify issues of poor construction work done by Westridge’s teams.
“As that work has progressed, further significant issues with the building have been discovered relating to its weatherproofing and design. Dozens of the flats are at risk of serious ongoing damp issues if they are not resolved.
“Problems that have been discovered include design features that funnel rainwater into the flats, faulty damp course systems that have been installed and poorly chosen materials which are allowing excessive levels of moisture into the building during bad weather.
“Specialist engineering teams are now working through a list of potential solutions to determine exactly what is needed to solve the problems and allow the homes to be made habitable.
“Initial estimates suggest more than £3 million may need to be spent fixing the issues and repairing damage already caused to individual flats in the building.”
Councillor Jeremy Gardner, the leader of Adur District Council, said: “I am appalled that tenants are not able to move into these homes because of shoddy construction work and poor building design.
“I apologise to those who have been waiting patiently to move into the new flats. They will be even more frustrated than I am that they are still not ready.
“This simply should not have happened and I have asked for a full report so that I and the public can get the facts on this.
“Investigations into water penetration in these flats are uncovering more and more issues. I want those problems rectified as soon as possible so Adur families in need of somewhere to live can move into these new homes.
“That is what we will be discussing at this committee this month. Later in the year we will consider a report on how this shocking state of affairs came about.
“We must get to the bottom of how this has taken place. It looks like that will include reviewing poor practice or errors from several years ago.”
The council added: “We have contacted all of the residents who were due to move into the new homes and will keep them updated about their options.
“A report outlining potential plans to resolve the problems will be presented to our joint strategic committee on Tuesday 14 July.
“The project involves the creation of a total of 25 one-bedroom and 24 two-bedroom council flats on what was brownfield land facing Shoreham Harbour, comprising a mixture of homes for social rent and affordable rent.”
I’d be firmly pointing fingers at the Architect, Surveyor and Building Inspector. Faults should be picked up early on in a build. It will probably be cheaper to demolish and rebuild because that estimate will grow….