New homes hold the promise of worry-free home-ownership. Unfortunately, that’s not always how it turns out.
Since 2005, on the instigation of the government, the House Builders Federation (HBF) and NHBC – the new homes warranty scheme – have commissioned an annual survey on satisfaction with new homes. In 2015, it was reported that 27% of buyers said their new home had more problems than they had been expecting. The survey also revealed that 35% had reported more than 10 problems to their builder and 20% had reported more than 16 problems in a new build home.
With most goods you have the right to reject them and demand your money back if they fail to live up to expectations. Property, however, is exempt from the Sale and Supply of Goods Act, with the result homebuyers are stuck with faulty properties.
What can you do about problems in a new build home?
Paula Higgins, chief executive of HomeOwners Alliance, has the following advice:
If your home is less than 10 years old – even if you are not the first owner – it is almost certainly covered by a warranty. In 80% of cases this will be the Buildmark policy provided by NHBC. Other policies include BLP, LABC, Premier Guarantee, Checkmate and Zurich. Most of these policies work on the same principle:
- During the first two years, the policy covers most defects. Contact your builder directly in the first instance. If your builder is no longer in business; contact NHBC.
- In years 3-10, the policy will only cover only major defects, such as structural or weatherproofing problems.
- From year 11 onwards you will have to rely on your own insurance policy
Before the initial two-year period expires, give your home a thorough going-over and write a final report of any outstanding problems to your builder.
One option is to employ a surveyor to undertake a ‘snagging survey’ to list defects which need attention and send copies to you and your builder. This will cost from £300 upwards. At its best, a snagging survey will help apply pressure on a builder to sort out defects.
If your builder does not respond satisfactorily your next move should be to escalate your complaint to the NHBC – or other warranty-provider – as soon as possible.
If you don’t receive any satisfaction from your warranty provider you could:
- Complain to NHBC or other warranty provider
- Make a claim about the warranty provider to the Financial Ombudsman Service
- Issue a claim in court
- Contact the Consumer Code for Homebuilders. However, for example in 2013, homebuyers using the service claimed a total of £133,845, but only £26,512 was awarded to homebuyers
If you are still unsatisfied with your builder’s response you can either take a legal route or you could consider some form of direct action in an attempt to shame your builder into taking your complaints seriously.
Homebuyers have, for example: Contacted the press; hung banners from their home, visible from the sales centre, with such slogans as: “Don’t buy a home here until you have spoken to me”; set up websites and Twitter accounts to advertise the problems to potential buyers.
However, take great care not to make statements which are libellous. You must stick to the facts.
Before pushing the nuclear button be aware that:
- You could be upsetting your new neighbours and lowering the value of your home. Content can hang around on the internet for years – even if the problems are resolved.
- When you come to sell you will be asked by the buyer’s solicitor to fill in a form disclosing any disputes you have had connected with your property.
Never fail to apply a common sense test. For small problems, such as badly-painted walls or minor cracks, it might be better to give up pursuing your builder, get out a paint brush or some filler and sort out the problem yourself, rather than spend time and energy fighting your builder – even if it leaves you dissatisfied with the service you had expected.