Couple 'furious' as giant fence ruins views from new £359k house
A Newcastle couple recently bought a new home which developers failed to tell them would be situated next to a giant fence.
A Newcastle couple are angered by a 40-foot metal fence which has been put up outside their home.
The couple spent £359,995 on their four-bed house which had countryside views… until they were obstructed by the fence.
Ewan Botcherby, 25, and his partner purchased the property from developer Bellway in October 2023.
Upon their move into the property in January, they were disappointed to find the large fence so close to their home. The fence was erected to protect residents from stray golf balls.
The couple claimed they were not told about the full extent of the fence by the developer. An investigation was launched by the New Homes Ombudsman Service.
As a result, Bellway were ordered to pay £700 to the couple in compensation, but they do not believe this is sufficient.
Ewan told ChronicleLive: "We live on the edge of a golf course and no one instructed us, or my solicitor, that there was going to be a 12 metre metal structure built in front of my front door to hold golf netting up.
"The structure in front of our door is 12 metres and it doesn't look good. How is £700 going to fix the issue?
"It’s nowhere near what we thought it would be. I won't accept the offer from the Ombudsman. I'm really frustrated about what has happened. It's like Bellway is getting away with it."
His main concerns are that this will affect the resale of the house if and when they go on to sell it in the future. The couple bought the house for its countryside views which are now not visible.
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In response to the complaint, Bellway refuted that it had breached the New Homes Quality Code and that the property was mis-sold.
However, the Ombudsman upheld the complaint in August. It said: "I am satisfied that the Developer should have given fuller information to the customer about the netting and its location relative to their property and that the customer has suffered distress as a result.
A spokesperson for Bellway said: "Bellway has not received any previous complaints related to golf balls landing in homeowner’s gardens or the location of properties in relation to the golf course. The 12-meter-high golf netting was a key requirement of our planning conditions, as it is designed to prevent balls from putting homeowners at risk, and it has been installed by a company who specialises in installing netting of this type.
"Due to poor weather and issues with the supply and installation of the netting, it was installed after residents moved into the properties but has now been fully completed earlier in the summer. However, considering the issues being highlighted to us, we are organising an inspection from the specialist firm to ensure the netting is working as designed.
"As part of our regulated sales procedures, customers are given detailed information of a plot’s location and any information relevant to the sale such as being adjacent to a golf course. This is clearly highlighted in site plans and other key information provided to our customers at the point of reservation.
"In addition, during the conveyancing process, solicitors would provide any relevant information to customers about their property, its location and any other relevant information. Prior to legal completion, customers are also given the opportunity to visit their new home to undertake home demonstrations, and again, in this instance, no complaints have been received in relation to the location of the homes at the time of those visits or subsequently."
