Mystery of 'disappearing' Chesterfield homes solved

The ‘innovative, modular’ houses, which were being built off Meynell Close, Brampton, have been dismantled leaving only scaffolding in place.

Chesterfield Borough Council says the ‘high quality’ homes will still by complete by summer but have been damaged as they were being transported to the site.

Michael Sissons, 53, who lives nearby, said the new homes seemed to ‘disappear’ when they seemed to be near completion.

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“It almost seemed like an overnight thing so it was quite a surprise to come back down here and see only scaffolding up,” he said.

“They looked like they were quite far on with the work so it was a bit of a surprise and we did wonder what was going on.”

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said the homes had looked ‘pretty modern and good’.

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“They seemed to be put up really quickly and then disappeared even quicker,” he said. “It did all seem a bit strange. Hopefully they will start again with them and get them up soon as we do need more housing in Chesterfield. From what the council was saying about them, these houses did seem to be a good idea.”

A spokesperson for Chesterfield Borough Council, said: “We are really proud of the innovative modular design for the new social housing at Heaton Court.

“These high quality new homes have vastly improved thermal efficiency when compared to traditional house building methods and will significantly reduce carbon emissions. Our tenants will also benefit from lower heating bills.

“However, during the installation in October, some of the homes were water damaged during transportation; consequently action has been taken to rectify the damage off-site, keeping disruption to local residents to a minimum.

“We continue to work closely with our contractors to ensure that this project is delivered to the required standard, with no increased costs for the council and we expect the homes to be completed by the summer with the first tenants moving in later in the year.”