Thousands of homeowners are being hit with double charges as roads, sewers and drainage on new housing estates remain unadopted by local councils, research from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) found.
Just 10% of developments of 10 or more homes built in the last three years had their roads adopted by local authorities, leaving 90% managed by private companies.
Data also found that 97% of new sewers and 98% of sustainable drainage systems stayed unadopted years after construction.
The research, launched at a round-table in Parliament, chaired by Alistair Strathern MP, highlighted major inconsistencies across local authorities.
One third of councils surveyed had no roads adopted at all in new developments built in the last three years, and only one council reported adopting all new roads.
Freedom of Information (FoI) data from the UK’s six largest water companies showed only 3% of sewer adoption applications were completed over the past three years, with just 2% of sustainable drainage systems applications successful.
Barriers to adoption include rising costs, differences in local authority design requirements, and long adoption processes.
The Competition and Markets Authority called for urgent reform, including a common standard for public amenities and mandatory adoption of infrastructure on new estates.
The HBF called for Government action on these recommendations, statutory timelines for adoption agreements, a review of financial requirements for highway bonds, better local authority resources, and lower bills for residents on estates with unadopted amenities.
Strathern said: “This research highlights the endemic scale of the unadopted estate challenge affecting new homeowners right across the country.
“It can’t be right that families on unadopted estates are being left on the hook for increased costs, paying again for services others receive through council tax, with little recourse over shoddy works or sky-high bills.
“I’m delighted Labour is committed to acting on this in our manifesto, and I’ll be working closely with Ministers, councils and housebuilders to ensure we do.”
Neil Jefferson, CEO at the HBF, said: “Unadopted housing estates leave homeowners unfairly burdened with ongoing costs whilst placing a significant strain on house builders.
“Home buyers are being forced to pay service charges for essential services such as roads, drainage, and sewers, alongside their Council tax, which should cover such services to be provided and maintained by public authorities.
“I welcomed the opportunity to discuss this important issue with MPs today and to build support for raising awareness of the urgent need for action.”
Jefferson added: “As the Government works to hit its 1.5 million new homes pledge, it must pay attention to bottlenecks to delivery, such as the incredibly poor adoption of essential infrastructure.
“A consistent, transparent, and efficient adoption process is essential to create a fairer system for both house builders and future homeowners.”
