Residents of a recently completed housing estate in Kingsbridge have railed against the developer, claiming many homes have been poorly built and are blighted by severe damp.

Applegate Park, built by Devonshire Homes, is a modern housing development with 94 properties located on the edge of the town.

The last owners moved in earlier this year, but residents are already complaining that the builder has ignored repeated calls to tackle damp issues, which has reportedly caused black mould in some properties and raised fears that children could develop respiratory problems.

Others have complained of poor quality rendering, resulting in unsightly patches on the exteriors of some homes, as well as poor drainage.

One of the social housing-designated properties became uninhabitable for months due to a severe roof leak, which was first reported in February and finally repaired at the end of last month, according to a council source.

Although no residents were willing to go on record, Devonshire Homes issued a statement to this paper, saying it had been made aware of “some issues with render and interior damp at some homes”.

It said: “We apologise for the inconvenience these homeowners are experiencing and can update that we have been addressing these complaints internally, with our customer service, technical and construction teams.”

It said it was “now confident” it had identified the root cause of the damp issues and found a way to fix the problem.

“The process is not straightforward and will require engineering and technical input prior to rectification. We will be discussing each individual case with the homeowners,” it said.

Regarding concerns over the render on some properties, it said: “Our initial conclusion was that the visual changes to the render were being caused by efflorescence, which is naturally occurring. We consulted with the paint manufacturer, and this identified a high moisture content within the render.

“We are now organising our own testing of the render and will be booking appointments with homeowners affected by the issue to take moisture readings. A render drying out process will then follow, and we will repaint once the readings are sufficient for us to do so.”

The stamenent stressed that all the properties are covered by a 10-Year Local Authority Building Control (LABC) policy, with the initial two years covered by Devonshire Homes.