Fuss about god-awful houses (3)
I believe the answer is:
ado
'fuss' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'about god-awful houses' is the wordplay.
'about' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'houses' indicates a hidden word (part of the clue houses the answer).
'oda' can be found hidden inside 'god awful'.
'oda' in reverse letter order is 'ADO'.
(Other definitions for ado that I've seen before include "Fuss, difficulty" , "carry-on" , "Flap" , "stew is provided" , "Hoo-ha" .)