FAMILIES on a prestigious housing estate in Ilkley have had to move out of their new homes because of building faults, the Gazette can reveal.

The CALA Homes development was built 18 months ago on the site of the former Ghyll Royd School, Grove Road, and the seven houses are worth between £400,000 and £800,000 each.

It is understood that since moving in, some of the residents have complained about a number of problems, including issues with workmanship, building faults and uneven floors.

The problems have been so severe that families have had to move out and live in rented accommodation while they have been rectified.

At the moment, one home is empty while builders are working on the property; and the Gazette has learned that one family had to move out for six months last year and another is due to move out soon.

Residents at the development told the Gazette that they did not want to comment about the problems. The company later stated that the residents had signed a confidentiality clause in the contract to put the defects right.

However, there is no suggestion that the home owners are unhappy with the deal worked out or the way CALA has reacted to the problems.

A spokesman for the company said: "Four houses at the development have experienced problems but these have been design problems with the floor. These problems have now been identified and remedial work is being carried out to correct them.

"CALA Homes (Yorkshire) takes great care in the design and development of its properties and regrets that its purchasers have been inconvenienced by these problems.

"The company is committed to customer care and has addressed each of these cases on an individual basis agreeing the solution with the purchasers.

"This does involve the family leaving their property for a period of time. However, when they move back in everything will have been rectified and resolved to the satisfaction of an independent structural engineer."

The company said that by the time all the problems have been sorted out four families will have had to move out temporarily.

The spokesman added: "There are no further structural problems at Ghyll Royd. A structural engineer has visited and checked each of the other properties to confirm this. Yes, there have been problems with a number of properties at the development, but as a responsible and reputable house builder, we have identified and accepted these and are putting them right.

"One of the benefits of buying with CALA is our commitment to our customers. We do not walk away from our responsibilities and will resolve them to the satisfaction of our purchasers.

"Affected home owners have signed a confidentiality agreement. This is a normal, ordinary business document that details the private remedial agreement between the house builder and the homeowner."

CALA Homes (Yorkshire) Ltd is part of CALA Group, which has been in existence for 125 years, CALA has head offices in Edinburgh and operates five subsidiaries across the country.

L The company is due to build a block of flats at another site in Ilkley after successfully appealing against a decision by the Keighley Area Planning Panel to refuse planning permission.

The Panel chaired by Rombalds Conservative District Councillor Chris Greaves had said that the planned flats would be too high but an inspector from the Government's Department of the Environment rejected the argument.