A heartbroken and grieving daughter has slammed the Isle of Wight Council and Vectis Housing for a lack of communication after months of delays saw what should have been a momentous and happy occasion turn sour.
In 2021, an 18-year-old from Apse Heath (who has asked to remain anonymous), was successful in applying for one of the new build houses at Branstone Farm.
She said she was delighted to have the opportunity to buy a house at such a young age with her mum and expected to be moved in by March earlier this year.
The move-in date has now been delayed five times, she said, and two birthdays later, at the age of 20, she is still no closer to moving – and now has a a devastating loss to comprehend following the death of her mother.
Before the mother and daughter duo applied for the housing, her mum had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, but the pair believed they would have a long time together in the house.
However, the mother’s health declined and in May this year, she died before even seeing the finished building.
The daughter has since been accepted for a mortgage on her own, but has planned for her grandmother to move in with her.
In a letter sent to the council, she said:
“I am greatly disappointed I never got to spend time in the house with my mother … I missed out on precious time with her due to the constant changing of moving dates and financial situation I have had to deal with.”
She has also hit out at the public relations campaign which deemed the rural housing and business park development as the ‘Jewel in the Vectis Crown’ when, as a housebuyer, it has been nothing but a very stressful situation.
She said:
“I am highly disappointed in the communication from Branstone.
“We are left in a financial worry, we are left wondering whether we will move in before our mortgage offer runs out and risk losing the house we had our hearts set on.
“However, the council and news outlets are painting Branstone as a perfect housing project benefiting first-time buyers and making their moving process easy, which is entirely false.”
Work first started on the site in January 2021.
Vectis Housing has said it understands her frustration, and has been equally frustrated itself, but is confident at no point would anyone be lied to about the position of their purchase of housing.
It said it has always passed on information regarding progress when they have received it.
Chief executive Martyn Pearl said there was always an element of uncertainty in new build sites so it is never possible to be exact about completion dates.
He said many matters are controllable and some are not — like an issue providing electrical connections to the houses as it was in the hands of third parties.
He said he was now ‘reasonably confident’ they would be in a position to complete with purchasers by the end of October.
He said:
“Branstone does represent the jewel in the Vectis crown and I think it is fair to say that everyone who has been involved in it, or seen it, would agree with that.
“We would obviously have preferred the delays would have been avoided, but we continue to work tirelessly to ensure a completion date is reached as soon as possible.”
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