Persimmon Homes Shifting House

[Tony]

This thread discusses the Content article: Persimmon Homes Shifting House

I think you would have a good case for compensation, but you will need to push for this. The saleability and hence the value of your property are affected by this, as you have to declare the history to potential buyers. There is also the stress and worry as well as the time that you have spent dealing with this issue. You should instruct a good solicitor to help you with this - some snagging.org members have managed to get their mortgages paid off but have now signed gagging orders.

There are a number of television researchers looking for stories at the moment - you could leverage this to your advantage.

The cost to Persimmon Homes of this being on national TV could be in the millions.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Tony

 

[fedup]

Many thanks for your reply Tony. Do you have any recommendations for solicitors? I think this is the road we will go down first as we ultimately want to sell the house but don't want to lose a fortune in doing so.

Tracey

 

[Tony]

Hi Tracey,

Here are some solicitors:
Solicitor Links

The only snag is that this takes time and money. They tend to avoid going to court and will settle out of court. There are no guarantees and it will lead to more stress for a couple of years as you will be gambling up to £50,000 potentially.

Kind regards,

Tony

 

[Warwick]

Very imporatnt dont foget you only have six years from data of signing your contract to bring a claim against Persimmon Homes in the Courts

 

[willyj]

I quote directly from Part A of the Building Regulations (which you can download from the website of the ODPM):-
'The building shall be constructed so that ground movement caused by
a)swelling, shrinkage or freezing of the subsoil; or
b)landslip or subsidence insofar as the risk can be reasonably foreseen,
will not inpair the stability of any part of the building.'
Therefore this case is a clear breech of the Building Regulations Part A 2 a), if, as it appears, the problem is caused by swelling of the clay subsoil.
It is also a case of the NHBC Standards which cover the construction of foundations in clay in Chapter 4.2 not being adhered to.
I believe that while you heard the engineer use the word 'cardboard' what he probably actually said and certainly meant was 'clayboard', which is a crushable material used to form voids under concrete components in clay heave situations.

 

[Tony]

Great post Willy,

Cheers

Tony

 

[Utopia2308]

Hi

I'm new to this forum and I am very interested on how your case has progressed since your posting.

I am deeply concerned that my Redrow House now 8 years old may be subsiding and I am looking for some advice on how to proceed. Our current position is that we have had monitoring plates put across the major cracks and fear that NHBC/Redrow are using delay tactics.

Many thanks in advance for any help & advice you can offer

 

[GKandR4CH]

Don't waste anytime with the builder or the NHBC. The longer you wait the more the builder will try to fob you off with excuses like 'we are monitoring it' or 'it's settling'.
Your property is the biggest investment you will ever make and subsidence is a killer.
We have over 18 properties subsiding on our estate. I have never seen so many tilt meters on houses.
Take a summons out and sue them. Simples!!

 

[pjbtiler]

Hello!!

Im new here,

Quick description

Moved in to our new house (RED... ) in april 2010, in september, noticed a huge crack go through the front of the house to the roof and mirrored on bac of house.

had monitoring strips, holes dug, soil tests etc by them.

in mean time did our own investigation into what used to be there before the house, and discovered a large Tree, anyway, finaly theyve admitted there was a huge tree there, and there was no Clayboards/master or precautions done to take into account what would happen when the ground started to rehydrate .

the House is heaving, its on clay soil, with vibro columns, not good. we are apparently at the end very soon, they have a Solution to reveal to us next week.!

We dont see how they can repair our house, its clear theres a need to pull it down and just start again as it is seriously blighted in terms of its value

We love the road, and the house, just not the fact its rising in height, splitting open and worth nothing!!!

Any thoughts?

thx

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Please post in the correct forum and do not duplicate.
We want to help you but it wastes everyone's time re reading duplicate posts.

Do we now assume this is a Persimmon Home rather than a Taylor Wimpey one?

 

[pjbtiler]

no its Redrow... sorry wrong place!

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Name names! It is useful for the visitors to know which builders give new home owners the most problems.
Then they can make an informed decision if they still want to buy a new home.
The house builders may even try to improve their product when people stop buying!

 

[pjbtiler]

This past few weeks have been utter pants

After 18months of being in our Red..home, thats got ground heave from former trees
they have decided to give us some options

Stay in it for 24 months and and at the end they MAY repair it if Feasable, or offer to buy back

part exchange for another of equivelent value( theyll give us market value for ours despite issues.... whopdy do.

or sell it back at market value and get lost.


Solitors all seem to be saying we have a good case but well just break even, not enough to by me the wife and the four kids a house of equivent type anyware at the price we paid, in other words we'll be left in the shit. probably downgrade!


Surely if we brought a house in good faith with a nhbc guarauntee thats found to have major structual issues that would mean the builder should actually rebuild it (regardless of the fact the whole road would now)

they have to fix it dont they??

they cant leave us in a house 3 and a half years later thats falling down with no value??

or can they??

Currently seeking legal advise

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Stay calm and think about this!
You have been messed about for three years or so.
The house will have a history of heave/subsidence now even after it is fixed, even if it is rebuilt! Increased inusrance premiums, more difficult to sell etc etc.

So what's on offer:
1) Part Exchange. Would you really want another new house from this builder? NO!
2) Repair the home. See above. You will also have all the disruption and mess and temporray accomodation.
3) Sell it back to the builder at market value.
This is your best bet, but has the market gone down since you bought the home? You should be offered the price you paid for it, plus all costs associated with buying it and selling it back and moving to another home.
This for me would be the only acceptable solution. If prices have gone up then you should be offered market value.

You need a solicitor to act for you to ensure you don't lose out.
Time to walk away from this and get on with your life.

 

[pjbtiler]

Im sure that to walk away would suit them down to the ground.
Facts are that we got this house when it was the last left, it has everything going for it, size location, We will not find Anything in this area, anyware as good as what we have.

my question is if we sit, for 24 months and ride out the Heave..(we know it could take longer) can we do anything to get them to fix it,, solicitors say that a Judge would say well theyve offered to buy it back!! but this is not a option. I am in no rush to put me and the family out for the sake of an easy ride for them the builder

I can deal with mess and dissruption, even temporary accomodation, we also dont have any nor see in the future any desire to sell anyway.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

You have a problem now.
Why are you being expected to wait two years?
Could this be because the builder wont have to pay and the NHBC will then pick up the tab of the repairs.

Regarding the heave, the home could have been built and the potential heave been taken into account in the design so you don't have to wait.

On a personal level, I wouldn't want your house and I wouldn't but it even after it is fixed.

Don't wait get it fixed now!
Write the the NHBC they will force the builder to take action.

 

[pjbtiler]

Its obvious they are trying to just stall us.
they would like to just buy the house back, and then they could just sit back and no one would know anything, they dont want to pull it down as alarm bells would start theres on 50 odd houses here

we know heave was not taken into consideration either and so do they, they dont want to talk about that one!

On a personal level though you would have to be me or my family to want to live here as its an ideal location for us, worth repairing and fighting for.

its easy to say get it fixed now, if that was possible i would not be on here now, id be getting on with life, trouble is these Bestards Have more money and legal power than you or me will ever have! but having said that, I aint gonna let them win!

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Good for you.
You must involve the NHBC with this.

The NHBC will help force the builder to act or engage another builder.
It is a clear breach of NHBC standards.
Have you thought about legal protection cover for legal fees with your home insurance policy. Well worth the £15!

The NHBC will need to know the full extent of the problem ona site-wide basis. They will then be able make the housebuilder pay more for his NHBC policies on future new homes.