Residents on Persimmon estates have reacted with a mixture of anger and bitter laughter to the news of a £100m-plus bonus for the company’s chief executive, with some saying the sums involved were not justified by the standard of their homes.

On the George Ward Gardens development in Wiltshire, the revelations over Britain’s most generous ever bonus payout, which will give more than £500m to 150 senior staff, drew disbelief.

“It is obscene,” said Neil Bridgeman, who was carrying boxes into his brand new Persimmon home as his partner, Roxanne, painted inside. “I don’t know how they can justify picking up that sort of money when so many people are struggling and so many are homeless.”

The plot of land at the back of the couple’s house looks more like a muddy puddle than a garden at the moment. “If there’s that sort of money around you’d think they could have given us a lawn,” said Bridgeman. “What would it have cost? £50?”

Some 250 homes are being built by Persimmon on this old school site on the edge of the market town of Melksham. The brochure features glossy pictures of pristine houses with names like The Roseberry, The Corfe and The Hadleigh and images of sweeping lawns and trees laden with blossom.

But the Bridgeman plot is not the only muddy place on this estate. Though people have lived here for more than a year it is very much a work in progress. Diggers and trucks trundle past every few minutes. A street cleaner was on constant patrol on Friday to try to keep the mud at bay.

“It’s still a construction site here,” said Becky, a civil servant. She has had to deal with faults such as a leak in the bathroom that left her with a flooded kitchen. “That wasn’t much fun,” she said. “Once they’ve got your money their attitude changes. For the bosses to be picking up that sort of money is absolutely disgusting.”

Actually, most people say they are happy to have moved to George Ward Gardens. A tight little community is already forming and neighbours look out for one another. The homes are cared for and clearly cherished. But most do have a grumble or two.

Russell Burgess said carpets at his home, rented from a housing association, had been damaged by a leak and tiles on the roof needed fixing. Sue, one of the first to move in, said her garden had been flooded because the drainage wasn’t good enough and complained that her whole house shook when construction traffic passed by.

Mark Drew, an odd-jobs man who was working on one of the houses, said the bonuses were disgusting. “It’s hard for people to buy houses around here. (A three-bedroom mid terrace on George Ward Gardens is on the market for £232,995.) “These people should take a little less money and make the houses a little cheaper. Simple as that. It’s just greed. Nobody needs that sort of money.”

Mark Drew working on a house at George Ward Gardens. Photograph: Sam Frost/The Guardian

On Persimmon’s half-built Bluebell Gardens estate in the Yorkshire market town of Morley, residents were similarly unimpressed.



“In my personal point of view I don’t think anyone is worth that sort of money,” said Dave Tate, who moved into his new-build townhouse in July.

“People at that level negotiate their own contracts – his contact will have targets and he’s done the job – but it’s the people who do the work for him, the ones who are told: ‘Do this, big lad’ – they won’t see any of that bonus.”

Tate, a 47-year-old Highways England worker, said he had experienced a few problems with the £190,000 Housing Association property, which he rents, including damp affecting the brickwork. Is he happy with the house? “Yes and no. There’s certain things we’ve had issues with but all new houses have issues.”

Stylish new houses ranging from £170,950 to £300,000 began springing up on the estate, five miles south of Leeds, last year as Persimmon cashed in on the government’s help-to-buy scheme.

A steady stream of young couples arrived at the estate’s marketing suite on Friday afternoon, while outside a constant sound of drilling reverberated from the building site where more homes are shooting up.

On Layburn Avenue, one homeowner said she had lived in her semi-detached house for just three months after purchasing it under help to buy. “We are happy here but the quality is very low,” she said, declining to give her name. “We’ve been complaining about the plumbing – it’s very close to the electric and it’s a danger – but we’re still waiting for them.”