Cracked tiles, wonky gutters, leaning walls – why are Britain’s new houses so rubbish?

‘We need to change builders’ mindsets. There’s just no pride in the job any more.’ Illustration: Lisa Sheehan/The Guardian

In a new-build housing estate on the edge of Peterborough, where rows of identical redbrick homes march along a freshly tarmacked street, Orlando Murphy stands outside a house wielding a long telescopic pole with a camera on the end. A few doors down, builders in hi-vis vests look on with expressions of concern, as he casts his camera across the roof and points it towards the gutters, like a metal detectorist looking for treasure. The bounty he is seeking is not golden coins, but evidence of bodging.

“Cracked tiles, guttering on the wonk, pooling water, dodgy fascia boards,” Murphy says, reeling off the common issues. “The things they get away with are absolutely shocking.”