EYESORE new builds have ruined a street and wasted money, livid residents say.
Graven Hill near Bicester, in Oxfordshire, sits on the site of an ex-army base and on completion will boast 1,900 new homes.
Cherwell District Council, who are spearheading the project, hope the custom properties offer an antidote to the identical home developments found across the UK.
And, with a planned 26 per cent Dutch-style self-build plots, 30 per cent custom homes, 26 per cent apartments and 18 per cent affordable homes, they hope they will achieve this.
Hundreds have been built so far, since the first residents arrived in 2015 to build their "dream homes".
But residents say the reality thrown up by Graven Hill Village Development Company (GHVDC), which is owned by the council, couldn't be further from the truth, Architects' Journal reported.
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In a blistering letter written to the head of the council, locals blasted Graven Hill's construction as "failing" in its mission and "abandoning" it's core objective.
They claim the homes are not energy efficient, costing residents money in wasted bills for heating and cooling.
Residents also say the homes are an eyesore and are identical "cookie-cutter" builds.
The letter said: "Sadly, the development is now becoming just another volume-build development of energy inefficient, identikit houses.
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"The developer has abandoned their commitment to build to the high-energy performance standard set out at the beginning of the project.
"And is rapidly backpedalling on their provision of self-build plots."
Their fury is rooted in a change of direction from the housebuilders who claim they have been forced to speed up development of homes – or face a "2050" project completion date.
"It became very clear that if we were going to stick to just doing self-build, we would be waiting till 2050 to deliver the site", GHVDC said.
Residents now say the estate is slowly representing the same-old copy cat houses seen on new build estates up and down the land, smashing promises of a new vision of housebuilding.
To add insult to injury, residents in the affordable homes are also fuming about mould and poor air-tightness which leaves them "freezing in winter and boiling in summer".
And they say the shortfalls fly in the face of the supposedly energy efficient homes of the future, according to the BBC.
The group accuse the council for allegedly not scrutinising the building work closely enough and not keeping on original builders behind the custom kit homes.
Paul Troop, one of the first self-builders to arrive in Graven Hill, said: "The handful of councillors … who are supposed to supervise this project have really dropped the ball here.
"There is little or no effective scrutiny of the management of [the development company] and little engagement with stakeholders.
"This allows the project to get away with repeated shortcomings."
Residents now want the council and GHVDC to meet them to "confirm and reiterate the vision for Graven Hill".
A council spokesperson said: "Graven Hill is a unique development that has allowed for diversity in the local housing market.
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"It takes a ground-breaking approach to housing delivery and great progress has been made.
"We have acknowledged receipt of an open letter and our chief executive Yvonne Rees will respond."
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