HOUSE HELL
Our homes are CUT OFF after 2 devastating landslides sent tonnes of earth smashing onto roads – we wade through rubble
Watch to see the frustrated residents who have had their lives upended
FED-UP residents on a newbuild estate say their £400,000 homes have been cut off for more than six months after TWO landslides blocked their road.
People in Haden Cross Drive, in Cradley Heath, West Midlands, were unable to park on their driveways after earth and rubble tumbled across the street just feet from their front doors.
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A temporary sandbag wall was built following the landslip last March but it collapsed following days of heavy rain just before Christmas.
Newly released CCTV shows the moment tonnes of earth smashed through the barriers and across the road.
The landslip blocked access to 12 properties, forcing homeowners to once again leave their cars on nearby streets and walk through the rubble to enter their houses.
Locals say they are still unable to park outside their homes six months later while they continue to wait for the rubble and earth to be moved, a problem that has caused accidents among elderly residents.
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They also say the estate has become plagued with drainage problems with some complaining that sewage cascades into gardens and onto verges when it rains.
These concerns are now reportedly impacting both the mental health and physical safety of residents, with some resolving to sell their homes and leave the "nightmare" situation.
The problem has been made worse by a lack of street lighting on the almost five-year-old estate which despite being installed has yet to be turned on.
The estate is privately owned by Dunedin Homes but residents claim no one is taking responsibility for the issues.
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Reece Aleksander, 33, said residents felt abandoned and feared the problems on the estate would never be resolved.
The engineer, who lives with his wife Georgia and their baby, said: "We've been given no indication of when it will be sorted ever since our MP got involved in December.
"It's all been a load of nothing."
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Reece told the Sun that Dunedin Homes apparently have a plan to implement a temporary fix.
"We've been told it's going to be a gabion wall but we haven't been given a timeframe" he said, adding "It's a nightmare. When I step outside my house we've just got this big mound of dirt to look at.
"Even going up onto my lawn I can still see this big mound of dirt.
"I literally said to my wife that I hate living here. We bought a newbuild under the impression that there wouldn't be any issues, maybe a few snags.
"But instead I'm having to deal with this. It's just too much."
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Reece says the stress of not knowing if another landslip could occur has triggered a decline in his mental health.
He confided: "My mental health has gone down the toilet basically. The stress of seeing it and wondering if any more are going to come down into my garden.
"It's just become an absolute joke.
"They still can't get their cars onto the drivers. Through the winter it was bad. Trying to get a pushchair or anything near that soil is impossible."
Sandra Whitall, 77, says the situation has been that severe that her and her husband Glyn are looking to move.
The gran said: "We've lived on this estate for six years in October and we want to leave.
"We've had loads problems that they've never come and finished.
"A lad who lives past the landslip has had a leak in his drainage pipe for about 12 months.
"We tried to sell our house about 12 months ago before the landslip but it wouldn't sell.
"We had to put a kitchen in when we moved in as it wasn't right, it was a disgrace.
"There are holes along the path. It's a mess."
Sandwell Council have given the housing firm until September to clear the road and have threatened taking enforcement action.
Retired restaurant owner Irene Taylor, 82, says she is also desperate to move.
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She said: "I've lived here five years. I've got a nice house, design and garden but I'm not too happy with the builder.
"There were cracks in the bathrooms.
"Everyone I've spoken to has a problem within their homes.
Irene pointed out flaws with the drainage system as well as expressing concerns over the safety of the homes following the landslip.
"I've got five cars blocking my footpath and no one can get by with a pushchair.
"The lady up the top of the road had a fall trying to get over the earth from the landslip.
"At night we also live in the pitch black because of the lack of working street lamps.
The retiree now intends to sell up and move house, saying that she finds it difficult to relax with her home in its current state.
Dan Canavan and his family moved into their new build in St Dominic's Place in 2019 and said sewage began overflowing into their street.
He said: "We had a big problem last year with a collapsed drain on a street up from us and it was causing backfill issues on our estate.
"Severn Trent wouldn't accept that we were on their system - we had to all pay together I think £700 to have 13,000 gallons removed from the system.
"We had raw sewage running down the fields behind us as a result of it."
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Sandwell Council said it was in "contact with the developer."
A spokesperson said: "Even though the land is not owned by the council we have, however, been in ongoing contact with the developer to check what action the management company responsible for maintenance and repair is taking to rectify the problem."
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