A GRAND design has turned into a grand nightmare for some residents of the Triangle.

Celebrity designer Kevin McCloud was behind the 42-house project, just off Northern Road in Ferndale, which was completed last summer.

But residents are less than impressed with the project, which this week won a Royal Institute of British Architects award.

Mum-of-one Jessica Jones is disgusted with the home she moved into last August.

Since the move she has had roblems including the flooring of her sitting room coming away from the floor, damp on the kitchen walls and a rat infestation.

The project prided itself on being eco-friendly, but residents’ electricity bills have soared, with Miss Jones paying more than £150 a month.

She said: “It is a really poor development. I have a 21-month-old son and there is flooring that has come up which is dangerous for him.

“He is also getting ill because the ventilation system has not been cleaned out since they built so it is blowing out dust through the night and we have had a rat infestation.

“We are tired of it. They do send builders round to do work, but they usually don’t know what they need to do or can’t get the parts.”

A number of other residents are also unhappy.

Sophie Mackay, 23, moved into her home last June with her fiancé.

She said: “It was my first move with my fiancé and we were really excited because we were told it was a real community feel. It went quickly wrong though with problems with the washing machine.

“We love living here because it is a perfect location for us and there is a community feel, but it is just the house that gets us down.”

Sarah Harvey, 22, is pregnant and she says that she is concerned about the health impacts of living in her house.

She said: “We feel really unvalued. I have 11 weeks left of my pregnancy and I am worried about the impact.

“We have had leaking which started when we moved in and builders have come in to fix it but have got bits wrong or had to order parts in from abroad.”

The residents have said that McCloud seems to have washed his hands of the development in favour of a £30m project he is involved with in Gorse Hill.

The Triangle was the first scheme by Haboakus – a joint venture between McCloud’s development company Hab and the housing association GreenSquare Vic O’Brien, GreenSquare’s development director, said: “Whilst we remain very proud of the design and ethos of the Triangle, we have experienced, and continue to experience, ongoing problems with the construction quality in a number of areas.

“We take these problems extremely seriously, and have taken on a full-time surveyor, as well as a number of specialist tradesmen, specifically to respond to – and resolve – issues raised by residents.

“The wellbeing and happiness of our residents is always our primary concern.”

A spokesman for the company added that they had sent a pest exterminator to the property with a mouse infestation, employed a company to clear up the dust and are investigating the high heating bills.

It was announced earlier this month that Haboakus were pulling the plug on building 250 homes on green space known as Kembrey Grass.