elphinstone homes article

[cunningelphinstone]

By ADAM MORRIS Edinburgh evening news feb 8th 2008

(Elphinstone are currently are developing The mansions at cunning park Ayr)


IT was supposed to be their dream home, for which they'd saved for years. M P and J W set their sights on the £285,000 luxury flat on Edinburgh's Waterfront and were overjoyed when they finally paid the deposit.
But their dream was to slowly turn into a nightmare.

The couple claim they were made homeless for months as the development at Corinthian Quay, Granton, and faced delay after delay.

And when they did move in to the Elphinstone Homes development, the problems didn't stop.

The couple say they have been forced to contend with dozens of defects ranging from missing door handles and poor workmanship to major problems with dampness and a faulty boiler.

They eventually contacted their MP Mark Lazarowicz, who was so moved by their story he had their case taken up in parliament during a housing debate this week.

Mr P who runs a removals firm, said: 'I would say in all we had about 60 issues we had to raise, from the very minor upwards.

'In my work I'm in and out of people's new homes all the time and I've never seen anything like the problems we have had.'

He said the couple put down a deposit in February 2005 and were told they would be able to move in the following February.

'Then we were told it would be delayed by three months, so we sold our flats in accordance with it, and then we were told pretty much month on month that it was delayed again.

'There was even a time when we turned up to get the keys to be told the flat wasn't ready. The whole thing caused us sleepless nights and cost us more than £10,000 by the time we'd rented property and delayed other things.'

When Mr P and his partner Ms W eventually got the keys in March last year, he said the problems continued.

'There were paint streaks on the windows, some of the doors and windows to the balcony didn't have handles, faulty appliances, intercom, electrics, and most of the windows need replacing as well as glass balustrades, the boiler broke down for a week and there was dampness, list too many to mention

'The window in the kitchen is so low that, if you open it, you could easily step out into the street. The problem is we are 60 feet up and still Elphinstone didn't seem to think they had to put in safety bars. It's just unbelievable some of it.

'The staff were very unhelpful and rude, and would say things such as 'there are people in worse situations than you' but that's not the point. You pay a lot of money for something and you expect a product at the end of it.'

``Elphinstone tell us all new properties have snagging issues`, well I don’t recall when we signed the missives agreeing to have the contractors in our flat almost a year after moving in and probably longer the way things are going, that’s a lot of days just waiting around and arranging access, they were very late with the build, it wasn’t ready when we moved in, as far as I was aware we entered into a contract with them for a finished product, it still isn’t. It seems everything is in the developers favour.


He is now demanding compensation from the housebuilder and says he has unsuccessfully tried to take the case to Trading Standards. He added that he believed others in the block were reluctant to come forward.

He said: 'A lot of them are older people and not really the type to take action, and probably don't want to draw attention to anything. I know the guy upstairs has had his balcony replaced several times. Some of them have had compensation, but we've had no joy.


'I made a buyer beware sign and put it outside in an attempt to warn people.'

Mr Lazarowicz, Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, feels a change in the law is needed to help people in similar situations.

He told MPs: 'Many people buying newly constructed homes often find themselves in a situation when their homes are not built or available when they are meant to be.

'Many also find defects in the building work, or that the defects are not rectified.'

He wants to extend to new home buyers similar rights to those available under the Sale of Goods Act to consumers. He also wants a standard builders' contract which is fairer to buyers.

An Elphinstone spokesman said: 'Mr P home was handed over seven months later than our anticipated completion date. We were unhappy with some sub-contractors and had to appoint replacements. Regretfully, this led to delays in work and in turn delays in some owners taking possession of their homes.

'Every new development requires snagging repairs and the problems with sub-contractors exacerbated the situation here. We're active on site and fully committed to dealing with snagging work as quickly as we can.

'We're sorry if Mr P felt t
hat staff were unhelpful, we try to ensure that anyone representing the company is sensitive and considerate when dealing with complaints.'


DEVELOPER WITH COMMERCIAL FOCUS

GLASGOW'S Elphinstone controls more than 3000 acres of land in Scotland and boasts of having a £175 million 'war chest' to invest in projects.

Corinthian Quay is one of two residential developments the company has, the other being the mansions at cunning park Ayr. Commercial ventures are the firm's main focus, and it is currently working on the Elphinstone Place development in Glasgow which will become the country's tallest building.

The Corinthian Quay project was the company's first such exploration into the Capital. On the official website it says: 'Finding a home that reflects your lifestyle and exceeds your expectations may seem like an impossible task. That is, until you discover Corinthian Quay.'

[cunningelphinstone]

ELPHINSTONE HOLDINGS KENNETH ROSS O.B.E
BEWARE DISHONORABLE SCOTTISH PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY ELPHINSTONE HOLDINGS/GROUP/LAND BASED FENWICK ROAD NORTH LANARKSHIRE SCOTLAND

Read this if you have or are thinking of dealing with a dishonorable property developer called Elphinstone Group/Land/Holdings located in Glasgow, Greenlaw Business park Newton Mearns, also currently at Fenwick road North Lanarkshire .The chairman is the right (DIS) honourable…. Kenneth Ross O.B.E. .Director/s we had some dealings (very very rarely replying to correspondence- Never Ever if it was K Ross) Alastair Carlyle whom we have had one reply, an inadequate explanations about our issues about what we paid for and didn’t get, that was when he could bothered to reply to a letter, more or less saying in rather flowery letter, yes there are some problems, mostly blaming contractors (whom they owned, capital construction) and suggesting they have stringent customer care and the BIG BIG laugh ….they wont leave site till everyone was happy in the end (ha bloody ha) …

We have also had Email dealings with a Craig Mckillop Elphinstone`s project director as well, Oddly a ski instructor at the slippery fake slopes of Bearsden ski club whom we had no idea he was involved with THIS site till quite late on … being Elphinstones project director an all that…. ..Well the final 1.5 years lets say, he complained about our Emails regarding OUR complaints sent to Susan Mcolgan who was supposedly dealing with site snagging issues, Apparently Mckillop told Elphinstone staff not to reply to abusive emails, abusive??? All we did was constantly asked why we hear nothing back with outstanding issues and made points about what we and others had paid for and didn’t get!! nothing abusive, maybe just a bit embarrassing if you put yourself across as a top Scottish property company I suppose …Craig Mckillop felt it was being abusive prob as it suited him not to answer questions (it clearly wasn’t Abusive - we said we have been ripped off…. is that being abusive knowing what we know now on how ELPHINSTONE do business??)………

Nice words to turn the story TO make the customer who paid Elphinstone for a luxury flat feel guilty, SHAME they didn’t say back then we are only consultants for HOLYROOD SERVICES so please don’t contact us with snagging issues its nothing to do with us ….….head office staff being too upset to deal with unpleasant facts concerning the grand rip off OR MAYBE JUST being a property company out if its depth, MORE so it seems now just playing for time … some project director he’s turned out to be…Never mind the head/Manager of ELPHINSTONE sales Pauline Coates which I would rather not say what I think of her, some residents just roll their eye when she is mentioned, nothing worse than bad people doing bad jobs.

Lets get down to Basics/truth/facts ,WE paid for a luxury flat, JUST like another 80 odd people so far, strung along…we tried to blow the whistle to others Pretty quickly,Not a lot happendd til pretty much late on and guess what - too late

((((((IVE TAKEN A LARGE CHUNK OUT OF THIS ARTICE I WROTE TO SAVE TIME AND BLEATHER BUT READ ON ))))))

Then the company we paid the cheque HOLYROOD SERVICES to goes into administration, this wasn’t really a surprise to us (Kenneth Ross O.B.E. was director) how did he get that by the way ??? then Elphinstone Homes say they were only consultants for that company ….which Kenneth Ross O.B.E again was a director, same director of Elphinstone Holdings, so as you have it… they can walk away and claim it’s nothing to do with them even if it was sold under Elphinstone Group/ Holdings banner, clever stuff eh … AND ALL very gentlemanly !!!!!

ive checked the company out at they seem to have dozens of companies reg at fenwick road address so the plan must be set up a comany do a build under that name then jump if the costs get too high.

Customer care at worst ……allegedly?

THEY HAVE A DEVELOPMENT AT THE MANSIONS, CUNNING PARK, AYR AYRSHIRE, SCOTLAND SO THINK ABOUT IT BEFORE BUYING CHARLOTTE TRUST IS THE NAME ON THE CHEQUE.

ALSO MAYbe SOON AT ELPHINSTONE COALBURN NORTH LANARKSHIRE

[cunningelphinstone]

Some advice for people looking to buy NEW HOMES from companies like ELPHINSTONE GROUP based in glasgow, do your homework, sites like this are really good it gives information to others about pitfalls and some tips, its a great shame more people don’t do this, maybe if some had an once of guts we may have seen how they do business as im sure this will not have been the first time this has happened, I suppose what it boils down to is protection of value, so they are happy in the knowledge about problems but quite happy to lie to potential buyers if any issues have not been dealt with properly, that’s the worse sort of deception !

Even worse deception is how these companies like ELPHINSTONE HOLDINGS & KEN ROSS O.B.E do business, I’m sure they have a formula on how to deal with customers complaints at the start, (that’s if the you complain and don’t naively think the developer will sort it out without being asked as many people did and now probably regret) apparently dealing with it then taking an age to actually doing anything.... Fading away once complaints dry up when people give up, which is more or less guaranteed as far as I can see.

You may have residential groups formed but it’s of no use if they don’t have GOALS like timescales for work to be completed by the builder and actually chase things up so as not to go over old ground again and again like its all new issues, get written evidence on what’s to be carried out from the builder/developer don’t accept verbal or worse still a private telephone call from head office, also no one can do it themselves or hold all the info, that’s not a mass action that’s self interest held up as mass action .Don’t waste time gathering lots of very technical info… think- if it doesn’t work… it JUST doesn’t work!!! So it’s to be repaired, pretty simple really – technical info can be found in seconds on the internet but really it’s no use to anyone not related to what need to be done.

Really at the end and the end will come if its common for outfits like Kenneth Ross’s Elphinstone based in Glasgow to have a’’ front’’ company they can wind up if need be when costs or times drag on , the only action left is informing people how they do business, that’s if you have any morals !!!

[cunningelphinstone]

You can read more on this on other pages on this site

elphinstone homes article local paper

[cunningelphinstone]

PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE - ELPHINSTONE

Elphinstone - Welcome


The following debate about Consumer Rights took place in Westminster Hall at 11am on 12 May 2009 and was recorded in Hansard. It was raised by Mark Lazarowicz, Member of Parliament for Edinburgh North and Leith:
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Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh, North and Leith) (Lab/Co-op):
I am grateful, Mr. Sheridan, for this opportunity to discuss consumer rights. I shall highlight three constituency cases, in each of which an individual or group has been treated badly as a consumer, and then suggest how each problem might be dealt with. They are very different, and there is no common theme, but this is too good an opportunity for me not to raise issues that have caused me and those constituents great concern. Although there is no common theme, I shall conclude by making some general comments about and suggestions for improving consumer protection.
The first issue that I want to cover is the problems frequently faced by people who buy newly built houses from a developer. I raised the issue first in a debate in April 2002, less than a year after I became an MP, and again just over a year ago in February 2008. The problems may be numerous and include lengthy failure, sometimes over years, in getting snagging work completed; dates of entry being delayed time and again; serious defects, such as flooding, not being dealt with; problems with property management companies, and so on. I will not go into all of them in full detail this morning as I have covered them before.
The particular problems that I want to raise this morning were highlighted for me in the case of the ********** **** development at ******* ******* in my constituency, to which I referred at length during my debate in February 2008. There were water supply problems, sewage coming through floors, and external finishes and areas not completed. I will not go into all the problems, except to say that some of them were first reported by residents in early 2005 but have still not been dealt with.
After I highlighted the specific case of ********** **** in my previous debate, there seemed to be some movement. Two senior directors of the development company came to my office and promised action. For a while, things seemed to improve, but that did not last long and residents told me that the situation deteriorated again. Earlier this year, on 20 February, there was a dramatic development. My constituents discovered that the company from which they thought they had bought their houses and would receive after-sales service was not Elphinstone, but its wholly-owned subsidiary, Holyrood Services Ltd, even though all communication with residents had been from a company going by the name of Elphinstone, and its name was on all the sales and marketing boards around the site. The original seller’s brochure made no reference to Holyrood Services Ltd, but referred only to Elphinstone, saying that over 10 years it had built up an enviable reputation for its ability consistently to initiate and manage high-quality residential projects. All correspondence seemed to come from Elphinstone, as did the packs given to would-be buyers. Indeed, my correspondence was with Elphinstone and not the mysterious Holyrood Services Ltd. However, it turned out that the eventual contract between the purchasers and the building company was with Holyrood Services Ltd, not Elphinstone, with which they thought they had been dealing.
On 20 February, matters moved on dramatically, and the residents discovered that Holyrood Services Ltd had gone into administration, while Elphinstone had escaped scot-free from any liability, reducing the chance of a satisfactory outcome for the residents. The National House-Building Council became involved and, to be fair, seems to be actively dealing with the problems, but the residents are not certain whether all the outstanding issues will be dealt with because, for example, they complained not to Holyrood Services Ltd, as they should have done formally under the terms of the NHBC guarantee, but to Elphinstone, the parent company, which seems to have walked away from the problems.
That experience highlights three issues. First, there are clear questions about the way in which Elphinstone seems to have been able to escape its responsibilities using a front company, Holyrood Services Ltd. That happens in areas other than building, but I would like a request to be conveyed to the Minister that his Department urgently investigate the circumstances in which builders—in this case, Elphinstone—are apparently able to evade their responsibilities by using a subsidiary. Will the Minister investigate whether that arrangement is legal, and whether his Department can take any action in this case?

Mr Russell Brown (Dumfries and Galloway) (Lab):
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. Will he clarify whether Holyrood Services Ltd is a construction company, or a factoring company?

Mark Lazarowicz:
I understand that Holyrood Services Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elphinstone, the builders, and not a separate property management or factoring company. It seems to be Elphinstone in another guise, but the eventual contract and deed of conditions was with Holyrood Services Ltd, although the preceding material had come from, and many of the subsequent dealings had been with, Elphinstone.
The second issue is wider, and relates not just to the ********** **** development, but to the long-running issue of how purchasers may assert effective rights against builders who do not fulfil their side of a bargain. Owners may in some circumstances have the right to cancel a purchase if defects have arisen, but that is often not an effective remedy if people have sold their existing house and moved job, and would have to get involved in lengthy litigation to try to cancel the contract.
There have been five such developments in my constituency. The one at ********** **** is the worst, but there are others. One problem is that owners may be able to pursue good legal avenues, but may be fearful of entering what may be very expensive proceedings against a large and powerful opponent. My constituents have found that no independent body can provide even initial free advice, and there is clearly a gap in the representation available to consumers. I will return to that, but I hope that the Minster will address the matter today, or write to me in due course.
The third matter concerns NHBC cover. In the particular case in my constituency it now seems to be doing a good job in actively trying to sort out the problems that it has inherited. However, through no fault of its own, but because of arrangements under which it operates as a backstop for problems with developments, it could become actively involved only at a fairly late stage in the process because residents must first go through a number of other steps. Is there a way of encouraging the NHBC—I understand that it is an industry body—to have a more proactive role in such cases, perhaps with a mediation or ombudsman role at an early stage, to try to persuade developers to deal with problems such as those that my constituents have suffered for far too long?
~
It should be noted that Elphinstone, under the Chairmanship of Kenneth Ross OBE, is currently building a new development at Cunning Park, Ayr