developer concelas contaminated land problem-

[sambam]

Any advice on following would be appreciated.

My friend and her family are now homeless after exchanging contracts on a new build property in sept 2006.

The new house costing them £300 K was due to be completed in late September but the developer has prevaricated and
prevaricated on completing the finishing touches ( tiling , stairs etc) ; while visiting the property my friend
noticed a gas monitoring pipe in the garden. The developer was cagey about the monitoring pipe and would not provide any information.

Investigation with the City Council now shows that the soil is contaminated with Benzene and the planned pre- construction remediation works
were done on the cheap if at all and the house and garden still fail the benzene soil measurement parameters.
As such the house will not get its NHB certificate for at least a year if ever.

MY friend was forced to move out of her own house ( sold for £185K) by her buyers who had added a closure date of end of November
at contract exchange in September. At the end of nov the developer was still saying completion by xmas 06 with no mention of the benzene issue.
Trusting him they agreed to complete their sale and moved into poor but temporary borrowed accommodation until the new year.

Now my friend just wants her deposit back but the developer can currently not be contacted.Rumours are that he is about to go bank rupt

What rights does she have to get her deposit back on the grounds that the house may not be certificated for a year ?

Can she get compensation for the fact she sold her house when the developer was still quoting a dec finish date ?

What culpability does the selling agent have who liased on all issues between my friend and the developer ?

Can she offer to pay say £150 k for the house ( they would not require a mortgage for this sum)
and undertake the further remediation works herself ( original cost of house was £300 K ).

[Tony]

What rights does she have to get her deposit back on the grounds that the house may not be certificated for a year ?

It depends on the contract terms, she should go through this with her solicitor. Usually, delays are not breaches of contract, but one year is excessive.

Can she get compensation for the fact she sold her house when the developer was still quoting a dec finish date ?

Unlikely, this is very common and the contract wil allow it. Liquidated damages are payable if the house is delayed after notice was served - I doubt this was the case.

What culpability does the selling agent have who liased on all issues between my friend and the developer ?

If the agent knew about the contamination and if the fact that the site was an industrial site was not made clear then the employer and employee could be finded by Trading standards under the Property Misdescription Act. Your friend might be able to sue for misrepresentation in a civil court.

Can she offer to pay say £150 k for the house ( they would not require a mortgage for this sum)
and undertake the further remediation works herself ( original cost of house was £300 K ).

I suppose so, but she would not be allowed to live in it until the area was made safe.

I hope this helps

Tony