A BLOCK of ‘beautiful’ affordable housing flats in Timperley is sitting empty, despite all of them having been sold months ago.

The development on Baker Street in the village, from Trafford Housing Trust (THT), looks complete from the outside and owners of the shared ownership flats were able to go in in May to have a look around, get excited and even have their floors laid.

Some residents are understood to have bought the flats as long ago as October 2020, but more than eight months later, they’re still not able to move in.

A delay in signing off the building, which residents understand to be a result of concerns regarding a smoke extraction system, has lead to owners having to find alternative places to live, get extensions on their mortgages or rental leases and pay out thousands of their savings that they did not intend to spend.

Helen, 56, is a first time buyer who lives with her daughter in Timperley in a rental house and has done for the last 17 years. They were due to move into their new flat back in February.

The single mother said she considers herself lucky that her landlord has been so understanding and allowed her to continue extending her rental agreement, month by month, since she handed her notice in with them seven months ago.

But it has been an incredibly stressful time for her.

She said: “My mortgage offer runs out at end of month, I’ve lived and rented in Timperley for 16 almost 17 years and I’m 56, I’m worried about getting another mortgage offer, it’s difficult enough to secure that in the first place.

“I had to cash in my pension early to get a deposit, this could be financially ruinous for me.

“The communication has been shocking. THT hasn’t really given a reason for the delays, first we were waiting for electric meters, they then said there were building delays; nothing specific. In the last two months there’s a problem with window design and the smoke extraction system.

“There’s a lack of transparency, I now have absolutely no idea what’s happening.

“My daughter has been studying for her A-levels and it’s been on her mind really.”

Helen said the latest indication she had from THT was that the building is due to be signed off on August 13.

She added: “But we’ve had so many other dates, I just said ‘I don’t want your dates, they mean nothing’.

“It’s been emotional, it shouldn’t be like this, there’s no reason other than poor planning for it to have gone this wrong.

“I can't for the life of me figure out what to do next, I’ve exhausted every avenue, we’re getting no response. It’s everybody’s lives. 

“Work isn’t still ongoing, the flats have been ready for weeks, the garden’s dying outside, it’s such a shame as they look amazing. It’s been horrible and really difficult and leaves you feeling deflated.”

Helen, like other residents has been living out of boxes for months after she packed everything up ready to move out in February. She said she just wanted to move and get this whole experience over with.

Alick Cross has also bought a shared ownership flat in the building after splitting from his partner last year.

He was due to move in February too.

He said: “I signed up for the property in December 2020, they said it would be ready in February, then February came, then it was March, April – it all seemed a bit off.

“We were getting different information from different people, it was really disconcerting and weird really.

“There’s a problem with the smoke extraction system, but if this is the only problem put in the resources to fix it – they didn’t seem prepared to do that.

“We were told the building was ready May, we were allowed to go in and look in May, there were still things to do but they weren’t rushing to get it done.”

Alick said he has spoken to other residents who are ‘running themselves into debt’ due to the delays.

He added: “It’s been a nightmare really. We have a residents WhatsApp group and we joke about it now because you’d just go mad if you didn’t.

“People are having to reapply for mortgages, forking out money that you can’t afford and waiting to get it back.”

Both Alick and Helen said they have spoken with Trafford Council leader Cllr Andrew Western about the issues they’ve been having, as he sits as a member of Trafford Housing Trust’s board.

Both residents said he has been very helpful and arranged face to face meetings between developers and residents, but they feel like they’re now hit a brick wall.

Helen said: “I’m not sure what we can do to get us in quicker. I just want to move, it’s been awful.”

Alick added: “Who’s going go to pay for it? Indirectly we already are.”

THT has offered all residents a goodwill gesture of two months' rent and a £100 John Lewis voucher, regardless of the share of the flats they each own.

A spokesperson for Trafford Housing Trust said: “We are very sorry for the delays customers have been experiencing with our Bakers Court development in Timperley. The safety of our customers is our number one priority and we are working closely with the relevant organisations to ensure the development is signed off to the highest standard.

“We have been liaising on a weekly basis with all customers affected and have met/offered to meet customers individually to keep them up to date with the progress of the development.

“We will continue to do this until the development is complete. We would like to thank our customers for their patience, understanding and cooperation as we move towards completion.”

Cllr Andrew Western declined to comment on the issue when approached.