Finish to persimmon property

mikemurk · 23rd August 2006, 12:10

Hi all,

Just a quick plea for advice really, regarding a persimmon home i purchased about a year ago.

First some background - the house was six months late, and we were not allowed on site to view the property / plot until completion.

During the purchasing process - my solicitors sent a list of questions to Persimmon's solicitors - all standard stuff. One of the questions was - 'Please could you confirm the finish to the surround areas of the property' to which Persimmon's solicitors replied: 'Front garden only to be turfed, all other areas to be levelled and left with a reasonable amount of top soil'. Upon completition, it was immediatly apparent that the rear of the property was neither level or inclusive of top soil; It did however, have a lovely assortment of plates, bricks, scaffolding fittings and concrete. It also drops with a gradient of 1 in 4 across the property (8m).

Other purchasers on the same estate were given a gradient in response to that question, and the original plan for the site, off which we bought, featured a retaining wall, and hedgerow.

I've pursued this with my solicitors, and they think i have a case, however persimmon are just stone walling htem, and neither they or there solicitors will give any response at all to their enquiries.

The cost of levelling the property is £5k, is it worth pursuing them for this?

Amusingly the NHBC have been out, and failed to find fault, and accepted the defense from the builder that 'the top soild had either washed away or settled' in the few weeks since they, apparently, put it down.

Any advice greatfully recieved, sorry for the long winded diatribe..

Mike Norton

Tony · 23rd August 2006, 20:07

There should be at least 10cm of top soil which is unlikely to settle or wash away, unless you live in an area that experiences tropical storms. A good builder would also rake out all debris and builders' mess before putting down new top soil. Some builders actually remove topsoil from sites and sell it.

I am not a legal expert, but I would agree with your solicitor and would say that you had a good case. The most economical way to resolve this would be to use the small claim court, but talk to your solicitor first. This can be done online. Moneyclaim Online

Hope this helps,

Tony

mikemurk · 24th August 2006, 09:44

Indeed - however i can't pursue the topsoil claim as the NHBC found no breach - which is what persimmon hide behind.

Small claims does seem to be the way ahead - assuming Persimmon show up!

Cheers Tony

Mike

Cyberhell · 15th February 2007, 16:29

Also a Persimmon customer (Westbury house taken over by Persimmon before build completed) with garden problems.

Our 1 yr old homes back onto land where 4 yr old homes suffering from subsidence (undiscovered seam of peat) were recently demolished. Due to land treatments because of the subsidence, our land was dug out 30ft deep then back-filled with a hardcore of crushed slate, stone and clay. On top of this was a 4-6inch pad of what they called topsoil, but was in fact like plasticine (solid baked in summer, boggy in the wet), and also filled with bits of scaffolding, wall ties, water & pop bottles etc.

To plan anything deeper than bedding plants, you need to dig a tree pit using a pick axe, trenching spade and fill it with compost to provide some nutrients (I actually used a mini pneumatic drill to plant a mature tree deep enough to survive). On digging one pit about the size of a top hat, I discovered an aubergine sized chunk of slate and 23 2.5 inch nails!!

The 'soil' doesn't drain at all so if there's a slight dip water collects and makes a pool.

We weren't told anything about the composition of the land and as a keen gardener I was terribly disappointed. I ranted on at Persimmon for months about this and finally got their Customer Services boss to come round with a landscaper and they agreed to do 2-3 days work to provide a proper topsoil area and install part of the path we were laying.

It still causes us all sorts of problems and I'm concerned about the long term effect on plants sitting in soggy compost and possibly not spreading their roots wider, but at least I got some benefit from them in the end.

mikemurk · 15th February 2007, 17:11

Well done for getting somewhere with them. I've attempted to get someone senior out, but have failed miserably. I've submitted a small claim based on quotes i received from landscapers, and Persimmon have fainally acknowledged me, via their solicitors, and issued a defence. It's looking like this could go to court, which would be interesting. I have to return the allocation questionnaire and a cheque for £100 to the court by the 28th Feb. I'll let you all know how I get on.

Tony · 15th February 2007, 21:56

Hi Mike,

It would really useful to have an account of how you get on with the claim, as I often advise people to go down this route. There is one here on the Webarchive - Westbury Homes Court case- I can set up a blog for you if you like. Let me know what you think

Tony

mikemurk · 16th February 2007, 01:32

Yeah, that'd be great thanks - at least other people can learn from my experience that way.

To tell the truth i'm a little apprehensive about it all, but it's cheaper to try this than to rectify the garden myself.

Mike

Tony · 17th February 2007, 17:40

The good thing about Moneyclaim online is that the costs are low and you have little to loose. I'll set up the blog for you shortly and send you some instructions.

Cheers,

Tony

Tony · 22nd February 2007, 23:48

Just about finished your setting up you blog Money Claim Online. If you send your e-mail address to tony@snagging.org I'll send you the log-in details

Cheers,

Tony

Geesh · 9th March 2007, 22:54

Hi,

I am also in process of getting my snag list sorted by Persimmon homes and am after some advice really.

But first a little history (well alot!!)

We moved into our property on the 29th June 2006 and we went around the house with the salesperson and site foreman. Whilst going around the house the wife and I pointed out roughly 40 faults (luckily!). We have had to fax our snag list to the Customer Care department 4 times. The only list that they acknowledge having was sent by my solicitor in October.

Well, here we are nearly 9 months down the line and I am still waiting for them to finish fitting the sink in the main bathroom properly!!.

Also, I have been informed by someone called Chris (Ed. Surname removed) so called Contracts Manager (would like to add some swear words about the way this person spoke to my wife!!), that he will not honour any marks on the paint or damage to doors etc as we have been in the for over 6 months, regardless of these being pointed out at the time of inspection. Also, they are standing by the snag list sent by the solictor, and using this against us by saying we did not send the snag list in within the first 4 weeks of living in the house.

Threats of reporting them to NHBC and Watchdog and letters from my solictor go unheeded. I am tempted to take them to the small claims court for the unpaid holidays we've had to take when someone was supposed to come around.

I sympathise with anyone having issues with them I have never dealt with such a useless bunch of people in my entire life.

I apologise for the essay - and hope that some of you have read this!!.

Any adive would be gratefuly received

Thanks

Geesh