EXCLUSIVE The newbuild estate frozen in time: Residents left staring at barren building site after 50 abandoned houses demolished when builder went bust
For the prospective owners of homes on one new-build estate on the outskirts of Nottingham, this worst-case scenario became their reality.
When developer Ilke homes collapsed in June 2023, it left 43 unfinished factory-built houses fall to ruin.
These homes had mostly been agreed upon, leaving families, couples and single parents - who should have been living in them today - devastated and stuck in makeshift housing arrangements.
Those that did manage to move in to completed properties on the Birch Fields estate in Arnold were perhaps unluckier still.
Their promise of a new, open plan country housing estate revealed to be a sham every time they opened their curtains.
Instead they were greeted with the shells of demolished homes and today ugly plots of the development site litter the areas around the cosy newbuild houses.
Exposed pieces of metal, marking out plots for future houses, and scaffolding remains and the sounds of diggers and construction are constant.
For the prospective owners of homes of one new-build estate on the outskirts of Nottingham, this fever dream became their reality
When developer Ilke homes collapsed in June 2023, it left 43 factory-built homes to fall to ruin - exposed to the harsh elements for years
It's far from the dream residents were promised.
But for the unlucky tenants-to-be currently being housed in hotels or squeezing into temporary shares with relatives and friends - there is hope.
When MailOnline visited the once-frozen in time estate, there was signs of life and even progress at the site.
Due to the quick-thinking of a local housing company who swooped in to pick up the project, work has started on finally completing the homes.
Most of the 88 completed properties, which tenants had been waiting months for, are now being lived in - apart from a row of four flat-roofed terraces which have had a problem with solar heating panels.
They are made from fake brick and stone render - to the surprise of some residents - but are said to be 'warm and quiet.'
One recently moved in resident said: 'They look like real red brick but if you tap the outside wall they sound like plastic.
'But we're not complaining, and we're happy to have a roof over our heads, unlike some.'
In a fortunate twist for the tenants who lost their 43 homes, their newly-constructed properties with foundations being lain in the ground this week, will be built of real brick.
Eddie Lowe, construction manager of Morro, leading Midlands-based house builder and developer, which replaced Ilke Homes after it collapsed in June 2023, told MailOnline: 'We are rebuilding these 40-plus homes out of brick because we don't manufacture factory-made properties. It's not what we do.
'Hopefully the tenants will appreciate proper brick houses.'
Today, the scars of the newbuild debacle are still seen on the site
Scaffolding is everywhere and the sounds of diggers and construction are constant
His firm was appointed by housing association Jigsaw Group after Ilke Homes folded.
He said: 'We've helped save the day. People have waited too long and we stepped in and it is nice to be able to help and give something back to the community.'
Mr Lowe explained that the 43 time frame and brick facade properties, originally built off busy Rollaston Drive became 'damp and full of mould' after they were left without roofs - apart from one home which remains standing but is not lived in.
He told our website: 'We are a contractor for social housing which is in partnership with the local authority.
'These houses are now being rebuild from start after Jigsaw paid to have the damaged ones knocked down.
'They will be rentals and shared ownership and will hopefully be finished in 2026.'
Asked if he would want to live in one of the homes on the estate which is an ongoing building site in parts, Leicester-based Mr Lowe, said: 'I would happily live in one but luckily I don't have to.'
Morro stepped in a year after Ilke Homes, which had firstly been appointed by Jigsaw.
Many of the partially-built properties had not been fitted with roofs when construction suddenly halted, and were left exposed to harsh weather for a year.
Over the past months Morro has been demolishing the damaged homes, leaving ruins near streets of completed houses.
The final ones were raise to the ground two weeks ago, and now foundations for the newly built brick hones are being dug in.
People living in the partially finished estate have now welcomed the start of work to replace the demolished homes.
Taxi driver Hossein Ali moved into the development in March with his wife and their 10-year-old son and daughter, aged eight.
Home is a pitched roof factory-built three-bed semi which he said: 'We are happy with.'
He admitted: 'It is not perfect and there is a lot of noise but we could have been destined for the houses knocked down.
'It could have been us so we're thankful it's not.'
Mr Ali, 51, told how his family had been privately renting but got kicked out when the owner said he was selling the property.
They had been on the waiting list for a housing association property for seven years.
Unfortunately, the family's home is next door to a row of four terraced homes which have never been lived in due to continual problems with solar heating panels.
Mr Ali, pointing up to the scaffolded buildings under repair next door, said: 'It is a shame these houses aren't ready to be occupied.
'There has been a continuing problem with the flat roof and solar panels and workmen are coming back and forth, taking things off and putting things on.
'It is very noisy at times.
'We look forward to the time when people are living there.'
Mother-of-seven Yasmin Akthar moved into her comfortable four bed council home in November last year after being in temporary accommodation for three years.
She stressed the importance of replacing the demolished properties, saying: 'I totally understand why they pulled the houses down. They were not fit for purpose and were badly damaged in the rain with the roofs missing.
'It makes no sense to put somebody in a place that is damp and full of mould.
'The homes had been factory made in Yorkshire but the company went under.
'We were fortunate that our house had already been made and put in place, like dozens of others, so we were saved.'
The mum who lives with her taxi driver husband Mohammed Islam and five daughters, aged three to 18, said: 'I feel sorry for the residents who haven't moved in yet.
'We've been stuck in temporary accommodation, we've had to wait for ages, and it is a very stressful situation.'
Ms Akthar, who has two sons, aged 21 and 28, who no longer live at home, added: 'We're living here and we're thankful.
'The structure material is odd because it's not real brick.
'They look like real red brick but if you tap the outside wall they sound like plastic! But we're not complaining, and we're happy to have a roof over our heads, unlike some.
'We're a big family and we're glad we're living somewhere new, despite the building works going on.'
Her husband Mr Islam, 51, told how his desperate family had been on the council's waiting list for eight years, and were grateful to be finally houses.
But he stressed the importance of the estate being completed quickly for the sake of stranded families.
He said: 'We feel compassion towards the people who are stuck in the position we had been in, as we had waited for a year for work to start on the estate again before we could get here.
'It should be finished as soon as possible, families with children, or anyone else, cannot live in hotels forever.
'They desperately need these homes and we need it to be completed too. We want a vibrant community not a building site where we have to deal with all the dust and noise that brings.'
He added: 'But the properties became very poor and mouldy so I totallly understand why they pulled them down. It makes no sense to put somebody in a property that's already damaged, knowing that you're going to have long-term health complications.'
Beauty therapist Gemma Handley, who luckily, recently moved onto her new home with two of her four children, said: 'It is a great place to live and being on a a construction sire doesn't bother me, I hardly notice it as I am always so busy.'
Tenant Carl, a ground maintenance worker at Derby City Council, moved into his house in March after beige homeless for eight months.
He told MailOnline: 'We should have moved in last November but there was some water damage inside which needed fixing.'
The resident, who declined to be fully named, lived with his partner, his 21-year-old daughter and his nearly three-year-old nephew, whom he is special guardian to, said: 'We love loving here an thin we have the prime spot at the back of the estate.
'We were made homeless after our private landlord served a two-month notice on us to get is out, despite us doing nothing wrong, so he could move his ex wife in.
'Jigsaw offered to pay for a hotel for us but we stayed with family.'
Another resident, a mum-of-two who had been sofa surfing for months and also moved in March, said: 'I am happy living here. It was either this or nothing
'There is construction work carryon on but you turn a blind eye to it and try not to let it bother you.
'The demolished houses are being rebuilt so that's positive for the families die to lobe there,.'
The 30-year-old mother, who chose not to be named, said: 'I have a three bedroom home, through social housing, and me and my kids are thankful. It is good living here after we were kicked out of out rented home of 11 years because the landlord was selling it.'
Another resident dad-of-two Rajan Rajput, 38, who had waited for eight months before he recently moved onto the new estate recently, said: 'It's a real shame for the people who are still waiting for a good home.
'I feel very lucky. But I work from my home, so to look out and see a construction site makes the view horrible at the minute, and I would like to be able to let my kids go out and play without worrying about them.'
The Arnold-born businessman, who was housed in a hotel for months while on the waiting list, said the sooner families could be given real homes the better.'
He said: 'There are people that obviously need these homes, the longer you live in a hotel or somewhere else at the more it takes a toll on your mental health and family.
'It will be a building site for a bit longer, but it's just what it is. We're in, we're okay, we're working around them and they're working around us.'
Jigsaw Homes Midlands, which has moved residents into the rest of the development, said the newly built homes needed to be fully compliant with the requirements of the NHBC, the UK's leading provider of new home warranty and insurance.
They said the current residents had been informed about the work, which insisted was taking place away from their homes and would not impact them.
The estate includes 85 affordable homes that will be allocated to people on the Gedling Borough Council's housing waiting list.
Leader John Clarke, said: 'It has been an incredibly difficult period following the collapse of Ilke Homes and we know that Jigsaw Homes have done everything they can to get this site back on track.
'We will continue to be in dialogue with Jigsaw Homes about the progress of the site and we appreciate the patience of the residents who have been waiting on our housing list for one of these new homes.''
The land now occupied by the housing estate was previously owned by Nottinghamshire County Council, which once had a depot on the site.
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