Persimmon stopped building our house - what can I do?

mrsf77

Hi,

Firstly, apologies I think this is going to be a long one!

We exchanged contracts back in Feb on a Charles Church (Persimmon) property at the time we were given a verbal "estimated" completion date of June/July. Each month they have added another month onto the completion date.
Just before Easter they stopped building the properties in our row, they continiously fobbed us off with why they arent building. They are now saying it's due to the economic climate and because only 2 out of the 10 houses have sold. We have been told unoffically that they will not resume building until more of the houses on these plots have sold.
Whilst I understand that this makes financial sense for them it leaves us in a situation where we are having to move into rented accommadation and dont have a clue when our house will be built. Basically we are getting the run around from Charles Church who do their best to avoid answering any of our questions and also our solicitor doesnt seem to be getting back to me as quickly as I would like (in fairness she is good and this is probably me being impatient and frustrated or it could be charles church arent getting back to them!)
I just wondered where we stand, I mean surely they cant just keep us hanging on indefinitely, the current economic climate could be like this for a few years to come! Our solicitor has sent a letter asking for deposit back and telling them we want out of the contract. I dont know if this will be sucessful (unlikely!) but I really want to know where we stand legally.
If you have made it to the end -well done! Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks.

MissBehaving

sorry to add some more bad news, but a friend of mine works for Persimmon. She, and a WHOLE LOADA other staff have been put on consultation!! So it seems they are struggling financially!!!!!

austincource

staff have been put on consultation

- missbehaving what does this mean?

mrsf77- which charles church site is this?

Premier_2

Check your contract - is there a completion date specified or is it an open ended contract? If it's an open ended contract, your solicitor should have advised you of this when agreeing to buy as they could simply just never build your house. Get back to your solicitor and ask them what you can do - that's what you pay them for!

In answer to your question, yes if there is no date specified within the contract when completion must take place by at the latest, the seller can keep you hanging on indefinitely and retain the deposit whilst doing so!
That's what your solicitor should have explained before asking you to sign the contract

mrsf77

We got our solicitor to send a letter asking what was going on with the completion date for the build to which they replied to us to check special clause 1 in our contract the second half of it reads

The seller will complete construction of the home as soon as reasonable practical, taking account of our programme for constructing the development (which may be varied from time to time).
The buyer aknowledges that construction maybe delayed for reasons beyond the sellers control.
The seller will use reasonable endeavours to avoid delays and to minimise the effect of any delay.

Our solicitor has said they cannot use this clause for the reasons they have given us for holding up the property build.

There is no completion date within the contract and it also says in the contract that we acknowledge that no one has given us a verbal date of completion even though the salesperson did.

The develoment in Fairfield Park near Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

I just feel so frustrated with them, they must have known what was happening when they sold the property for us, they gave us the impression that the properties had nearly all sold blah blah blah.
They are not giving us any firm indication to when it will be built, everytime I speak to someone I get a different story!

Generali

I'd talk to your solicitor about giving them an ultimatum - complete by dd/mm/yy or return my money. If you don't then I sue.

Doozergirl

"The seller will use reasonable endeavours to avoid delays and to minimise the effect of any delay."

I would argue that Persimmon are not making reasonable endeavour to avoid the delay. Simply saying that they've stopped building isn't good enough in my mind.

And I don't certainly don't believe other comments that the nature of the contract means they could simply never build.

Your solicitor needs to get some balls! Three months with no building work is pathetic. I'd issue the ultimatum and hope for my money back personally - if they're not selling at the price you bought at several months ago, when they do sell, they'll be selling for a heck of a lot less.

Premier_2

If you want to know the real plans, ignore the sales people who'll tell you what you want to hear and try and speak with the site foreman.

He'll know if and when there are any plans to complete your specific property. If he says he's moving on to another site before completion of your property, take that to mean there are no current plans to complete.

lonestar1

What are they doing 'to minimise the effect of any delay.'

Perhaps you could suggest they pay your rent

Premier_2

lonestar1 wrote: »

What are they doing 'to minimise the effect of any delay.'

Perhaps you could suggest they pay your rent

Using '"reasonable" endeavours' probably

Lawyers love the word reasonable - they can earn a fortune discussing it all day and still not be any further forward.

One things for sure, the developer will have bigger, better and more expensive legal advisors than the buyer could ever afford - and the developer will have much deeper pockets too!

Jonbvn

It all boils down to the legal definition of "reasonable".

Persimmon can delay construction for reasons beyond their "reasonable" control. Simply put they could delay for bad weather, lack of materials and other things they may have no control over. However, it is very clear that stopping construction completely for financial reasons is not covered by this contract clause, since it obviously within their control. Having spent many years in the construction business defending and making claims on such T&C's, any solicitor worth their salt should be fully able to pursue a claim against Persimmon to complete construction or return your deposit with interest. If your solicitor is reluctant to do this, change ASAP.

Make sure your solicitor is not one selected by Persimmon.

I would suggest you post over at www.snagging.org for more assistance.