Poor communications from sales team

[Wasted_legend]

Hi,
We have had continuing niggling problems since initially reserving our new home back in January. Most of which had been dealt with satisfactorily.

However, upon exchange of contracts we had been advised that due to a 3 week period of adverse weather, the completion date had been moved back to 2 months later. (August) Our current mortgage offer is valid till August also which would mean in the event of delays we would have to reapply for a mortgage. A step we would not like to take unless absolutely necessary.

This has been repeatedly communicated to the sales team (even the development's sales manager). We had been promised "Regular Updates" as to the progress of construction of the house as of March time.

Since then we have had without prompting, a total of ZERO updates. So - on occasion, we have popped into the office (some 15 miles away from our current home) and made phonecalls to enquire about the progress of the build.

Unbeknownst to us, the sales rep who had been dealing with us had been relocated to another development so we would now have to liase with another rep. Having told this person that "We had been promised these regular updates" her response to us was "Well, we try". As far as we were told back in April everything was in hand and on schedule.

We went back to office in June as we hadn't heard anything further about the house. We were enquiring about deadlines for ordering any electricals and plumbing. The first hint we got about any delays was when "September" was mentioned. I asked the rep to clarify whether this was certain and explained again about the mortgage and why this was a concern. I then mentioned that the sales manager had told us August and the response was :-

"Well if you've been told August then that's when it should be - Don't worry"

Over the next few weeks we made multiple calls to the office. We left multiple messages on the answer machine, emailed the sales manager and consistently had no callback or response.

A month later (early July) I emailed the sales manager again raising our concerns regarding the completion date. The response was along the lines of

"I can confirm we are aware of your situation and this has been communicated firmly with our constructors"

Last week (Monday) I enquired again now that the roof had been finished, and was told everything was on schedule. This week, the sales rep informed me (I called them) and they then told me that we were looking at the end of September. They told me this has been communicated to our mortgage broker.

On calling our broker (who was on annual leave) I was informed that he had been made aware of this before going away and intended to deal with it upon his return. Turns out that this would have been at some point last week. So they have told the broker and not told us. Surely that is not standard practice.

I can't help but feel let down. I believe the whole team have been aware that the date has been put back for some time. Despite numerous explanations and asking for them to just tell me, they have refused to keep me up to date on the construction of the house we are paying good money to buy.

We acknowledge that one month delays is common and to be expected. Our issue though is that we have legitimate reason to be concerned with completion date due to our mortgage. We do have to reapply now. This isn't necessarily a problem, but given the serious implications with regard to MMR and increased interest rates, we have good reason to have been kept informed.

Has anyone else has a similar experience, or could anyone suggest an appropriate channel of complaint? Obviously expressing my disappointment to the sales rep will achieve nothing.

Thanks

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Three weeks "adverse weather" means the completion date is moved back two months!
Why not just the three weeks? In any case the good, hot, dry weather now means they can make up for lost time!
If you need to re apply for your mortgage make sure the builder stumps up any extra fees you incur, after all its not your fault they can't plan and don't expect "adverse weather" in the first three months of the year.

No doubt the mortgage broker was "suggested" by the builder and is being controlled by them!
I hope you didn't use their solicitor as well! It is against the rules of the Consumer Code for Home Builders. (2.5)
If you are worried about the MMr and interest rates rising perhaps you should be buying at this time, at the TOP of the market!

 

[highseapirate]

We have had similar problems with delays (for different reasons) having also made our reservation with the same developers in January. We have constantly delayed exchange of contracts until we can be assured of a rough completion date by saying that we are not prepared to apply for a mortgage and receive an offer that would expire before legal completion. In our case this has moved from September to October and is currently December. This has worked to our advantage because the property has now been roofed.

At exchange of contracts under the Consumer Code for New Build Buyers the developer must give an Anticipated Legal Completion Date (ALCD) which is inserted into the contract- this is an estimate of the date 10 working days before which the developer's solicitors will be able to serve the Completion Notice. If the property is roofed and weatherproof at the time of exchange of contracts then the developer must given an estimated month that completion is expected (e.g. "30 November"). You are then entitled to terminate the Contract if the Completion Notice has not been served 2 months from the ALCD.

In your case from what you have written you probably exchanged in February and the property was at that time below roof. The developer should have inserted the ALCD into the Contract (you should be able to check this with your solicitor) which presumably was August from what you are saying. This would be unusual as if the property was below roof then the developer only has to give an anticipated calendar quarter for completion (March, June, September or December). In this case the Completion Notice has to be served within 6 months of the ALCD. So...if you were below roof at the time of exchange and the developer gave the ALCD as August they have to complete by end of February the following year or you are entitled to terminate the contract and receive a full refund of any monies paid including reasonable legal, mortgage application and removal costs.

In any case the roof seems to have been finished in July so in my limited experience the property should be ready by October or November at the latest. Assuming you reapplied for your mortgage in July/August and you had a standard new build mortgage offer of 6 months you should have an offer in place until January or February.

As far as any complaint goes you will find, in my opinion, that the terms of the Contract still heavily favour the developer and you're unlikely to have much in the way of formal redress. I would strongly advise you to speak to your solicitor and see what they say.

Finally, don't even bother dealing with the sales reps - they will tell you whatever you want to hear and none of it is legally binding. Instead go to the site office and ask to speak to the Site Manager (be polite - they tend to be a surly bunch!) - they are often a lot more straightforward and honest about build times and should give you a much better idea of the completion date.

 

[Wasted_legend]

In our case, I ended up writing a strongly worded letter to the sales manager we had been dealing with for some early issues. As renting FTB we are under no pressure to move at a certain time, but our mortgage offer did have a drawdown date which has passed. We did have to apply for a new mortgage, and that application has gone through successfully. Interest rates however, have risen so our monthly payments went up significantly. My complaint to the developer was that they failed to keep us up to date with construction progress. Had they told us when they knew the estimated date was not to be met, we would have taken action earlier and not incurred such significant increases (as they went up at beginning of August). They did respond and they have agreed to contribute the total costs of the increased monthly payments over 2 years towards our stamp duty.

Hopefully, we should be able to move in the next few weeks, as far as I'm aware, the house should be finished very soon.

Highseapirate - good luck with your situation, hope it all works out

To NewHomeExpert, thanks for your comments. We did arrange the option to walk away without penalty if we were unable to secure a new mortgage, and any associated costs would be paid for by them. At the time, I felt this was as good cover as we were going to get.
Hindsight tells me there are things I should have done differently, and I will know for next time. After all, people learn from their mistakes

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Both of you need to be aware that David Wilson, who are a Barratt company, have half year figures at end December.
That means, ready or not, you will be expected to legally complete on your homes so they can be included in their figures for the interim statement to the City.
PLEASE................ make sure you get your new home professionally and independently snagged and inspected before you legally complete!