new home - misrepresentation

Milliewilly

Yes the Op's problem pretty much mirrors exactly my Aunts situation. I suppose there is a slight possibility you could sue the builder because there are several others who have made the same mistake but only a Lawyer can advise.

I would get the house valued and see what the difference is and decide whether its worth trying from there or just sell and put it behind me.

Milliewilly

breezyman wrote: »

We saw the estate agents own leaflets/flyers stating and illustrating the garden as ours and they verbaly told us it was also ours. And yes have lost all my front garden. Open my front door and i am on highways/council owned land. In other words anyone can let there kids play or dogs foul outside my house.......
You should check out - timesonline.co.uk for misrepresentation as think i have a just claim!

Frustrating but the fact you had the deeds with the boundaries clearly marked overrides anything the EA has done really - remember they have had to knowingly misrepresent- if they can prove the builder told them there were front gardens then they are in the clear, vendors have to check the particulars before the property is marketed so the EA really isn't to know if the builder is a liar. Trying to claim against the builder is really your only recourse and he has already said check your deeds.

I would let one of the other neighbours do a 'test case' and see how they get on before putting your hand in your pocket.

In my Aunt's case when I looked at the deeds it was obvious she didn't own the 'garden' at the back but she got carried away with the excitement of buying.

lincroft1710

I don't think the OP can afford to sell. Even if he did successfully sue the builder for difference between house with and house without front garden which could be a relatively insignificant amount (and I doubt he would be successful) he would have to sue for consequential loss and it would be difficult to claim house was totally unsuitable just because it didn't have front garden.

Hopejack

Oh dear! I do think it's a case of not checking deeds properly tbh BUT I also do think that verbally the EA was in the wrong and did misrepresent so it might be worth persuing that although tbh it's your word against theirs.

You cannot ever go off a plan brochure of what a new build will look like - they are often quite different - there will also be a disclaimer on there somewhere telling you so.....

I think the only option is to speak to a lawyer re the EA misrepresentation tbh..... But not sure how far you will get. What a nightmare for you

princessamy86

One thing to bear in mind is that sometimes for new builds EAs will not get the brochure approved by the vendor/builder. More often than not, we would be dealing with someone in an office miles away who had never seen the site, so we are asked to sign the brochure off ourselves. Whatever you do, don't mention this to anyone except the solicitor. If the EAs don't have a signed copy of the approved brochure on file, they will struggle to defend that they have not knowingly misrepresented. However, if they get wind of it I'm fairly sure a signed copy will mysteriously appear.

breezyman

Thanks one and all for your replies. The trading standards department have all the details now and are now bringing in the builders and EA for there views under caution. Will let you know what the out come is as and when i know.

Jonbvn

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

I have to agree with this. Whilst you may have a claim for misrepresentation I think it's likely to be seriously downgraded or even wiped out by the fact that you had the deeds before exchange. If the deeds clearly show that the title did not include the front garden, then you will be treated as having chosen to go ahead with the purchase on this basis.

I'm not sure you have a claim against your solicitor/conveyancer either - again, you had the deeds.

I also agree with DFC. I clearly remember our solicitor showing us the deeds of our property before we even exchanged. Everything else such as glossy brochures etc. always carry suitable legal caveats. Assuming you were shown the deeds before exchange I cannot see that the OP has any case.

Richard_Webster

I don't think that you have a chance of successfully suing the builder or the estate agent because they will say that you were provided with a plan showing the extent of the land you were buying and you didn't look at it!