A “sad tale” of four council homes with wobbly floors may finally be coming to an end after £114,225 was found to repair defective homes in Farnham.

Four homes in Cedar Close off Middlefield were built as part of a new Waverley Borough Council housing programme in 2017.

But they soon began to develop faults with people noticing noisy joists and uneven floor levels.

The original contractor that built the homes on behalf of the then-Conservative controlled council went bust after a “12 month defect period”.

Efforts to pursue the Local Authority Building Control warranty were refused.

The council was able to repair one of the homes in 2019 but the onset of the Covid pandemic has left residents in the remaining homes in limbo for years.

Councillor Paul Rivers (Lib Dem, Godalming Binscombe & Charterhouse), co-portfolio holder for housing, told the Tuesday, January 9 executive committee: “This is the sad tale of new builds in Farnham that didn’t go to plan.”

He said the money, from the council’s latent deficit budget, would allow the “rather nice three and four houses to be complete and be perfect for our tenants to move in".

He added: “I can’t say how much of a sad tale this is.”

Council leader, Cllr Paul Follows (Lib Dem, Godalming Central & Ockford), said: “This is something we need to do to make sure these homes are fit and compliant.”

The council expects the repairs to take about nine weeks to complete, including the removal and re-installation of sanitaryware, lifting and relaying floor boarding and installing noggins to joists.

The full extent of what needs to be done will not be understood until staff get inside the properties and remove carpets.

The council expects residents to be able to stay in their homes while the work is carried out.