Petrified residents who have invested in an upmarket housing development are worried their homes may need to be demolished after dozens of new buildings are found to have faulty foundations.
Stunning two, three, four and five-bedroom homes are part of the huge up-market Darwin Green development just 1.6 miles from the centre of Cambridge will all have to be torn down.
Developers have confirmed that 36 of the homes - some of which are worth up to £750,000 - will need to be razed to ground and rebuilt at a cost of £31m.
Barratt David Wilson Homes, said 'during inspections' of the site they found some of the unoccupied homes did not meet their 'usual high standards'.
It said it had since been decided the 'most effective course of action' was to 'demolish the properties and re-build them.'
The homes are part of a massive development which has outline approval for up to 1,593 homes, as well as a new primary school, supermarket and library.
The new community will also feature a central park with 15-acres of open space and sports facilities.
Local Lib Dem councillor Cheney Payne said she "couldn't quite believe it" when the council was first informed of the planned demolition.
And she has spoken of worried residents who are now unsure about their own properties.
She said: "The buildings are already in place and pretty much completed. To suddenly find they're not fit to be occupied and actually need to be demolished is absolutely shocking.
"It's certainly been quite concerning for the residents who are living in nearby properties, built by the same developer, in terms of what it means for their homes."
Phase two of the development is currently being built, with the homes now selling for between £575,995 and £850,995.
It is believed a number of the affected homes had already been sold, but are not yet occupied - while others are still in the process of being built.
Labour councillor Simon Smith said: "I will make sure to work closely with residents to navigate this distressing situation.
"Primarily, I will be calling on Barratt David Wilson Homes to take responsibility for this and provide residents with their records of the soil layers and as-built foundations.
"Unfortunately, this event reminds us of the risks of deregulation of standards and procedures that were put in place to secure high standards of development and avoid failures that present danger to the public and harm to the environment."
Cambridge City Council said it was made aware of the problems last week but has yet to receive an application for the demolition work.
A spokesperson said: "Officers will continue to work with the local community and site developer to ensure any impacts of the demolition works are appropriately controlled."
