Help with new build woes...

[chizzy]

here is the score...


I put down a deposit on a new build from plan 4 months ago and paid £500 reservation. The house in question was £190K and the builder is Persimmon.

About 40 days later i exchanged and paid £3k towards my 5% deposit (the other 6K paid by Persimmon as an incentive) when the house was a 30% shell.

All was good until the house was nearing completion when i became apparent there were problems. The main being a severe brick mis-match on 1/2 the brick on the front elevation. They have now tried to tint the bricks twice. The first was a disaster, and the second was a lot better but I'm far from happy.

I have discovered other problems which the builders have attempted to cover up. The overall workmanship is shocking, including:

-A PVC porch being poorly fitted. It was cut 2' short and covered up with a PVC trim which fell off in my hand.

-Chipped bricks being filled with mortar.

-The plumb line on the first and second elevations not matching on the rear of the house.

-A few rows of bricks have been laid with ridiculously large mortar gaps (around an inch wide).

On top of this, the customer service has been shocking.

The NHBC inspection is on Monday and i expect it to pass as we all know where their allegiances lie.

Where do i stand legally? and what do i stand to loose should i pull?

any advice is will be appreciated.

[Tony]

If you pull out without good reason you will probably loose your deposit as I GUESS this is written into the contract you exchanged with them. However, if you kick up enough fuss they may release you.

You are right. It will probably pass the NHBC inspection and get green carded. Ask to see the NHBC handbook for the house.

You could instruct a surveyor to look at the property, but this would only result in delaying completion at best while they, hopefully, put the defects right.

There is very little legal protection I am afraid.

I hope this helps.

Tony