A COUPLE say they have been left effectively homeless due to delays at a York housing development.

Natalie Langan, 21, and Alex Altham, 20, were expecting to move into their new home at the Hob Stone development on the site of the old Our Lady’s RC School, in Acomb, at the end of June.

As reported in The Press, a late check of the site found some of the houses had been built out of position, and fresh plans have had to be put to City of York Council to determine whether the development must be completely rebuilt.

Mr Altham said the couple had paid two months’ rent to exit the contract for their accommodation, ready to move into their new home, but were told just days prior to their expected move that the date had been changed.

He said: “They originally pushed the date back six to eight weeks, but we had an email this week saying it’s now going to be some time in October. We’re first time buyers, struggling with money - we’ve had to beg and borrow to buy our own house.

“It’s so hard buying a house these days but we have managed to get our heads together and do it. We were really excited.”

The couples’ belongings are in boxes at their parents’ homes, and they are sleeping on their sofas or at friends’ homes.

Yorkshire Housing, who built the development, gave the pair £500 after the date was first changed, but Mr Altham said rental accommodation would cost up to £800 a month and would mean they would be tied into contracts potentially longer than necessary.

He said: “They are messing with our lives. We’re real people and there are more like us in the same situation and I just think it’s disgusting. We’re just stuck and have to wait for them to tell us when the house is ready and it might not even be this year.

“We’ve worked so hard to get where we are. We thought we were doing really well buying a house but now feel like homeless people and we’re sick because we’ve got nowhere to go.”

A Yorkshire Housing spokeswoman said Mr Altham and Ms Langham would receive twice-weekly progress updates and would be moving in “as soon as possible”, but the variation of conditions could take up to 13 weeks to be processed.

She said: “We clearly explained the situation and offered buyers the option of continuing with the sale or to cover costs if they wished to withdraw.

“Building work is due to complete at the end of August so we hope renters and buyers will be able to move in as soon as we receive planning approval.”