New house problems

cam3048

Hi All,

I'm have a problem.

I bought a brand new build house, we are still living on the building site whilst the builders complete the other side of the road, we exchanged contracts in July last year and I moved in.

The problem is that the garden they have put in gets water logged when we have a little rain. The garden appears to have turf laid on a few inches of soil then that is on clay, this means no drainage and any rain simply stays as puddles on the garden, this makes it near impossible to cut and the kids are not allowed to go on it as they get covered in mud.

We have informed the builders of this back in November who said they cold do nothing over winter and would sort it in Spring. As we are now here they have sent someone round who has simply been coming round every few days and poking holes about 1cm in diameter in to the garden to try to drain it. This is not really a solution and I don't want to be spending the rest of my life poking holes in the lawn when it rains.

Does anyone know legaly where I stand because the lady who sold the house says that its not the responsibility of the builders and previously when she bought a new build she had the same problem and had to get it sorted out herself.

Personally I feel that when you make a purchase of this size it should all be built fit for purpose ad the garden is definitely not that but I'm not sure if that law even relates to house purchases ???

Can anyone please advise where I stand legally about this situation ?

Thank you for your help.

Cameron

ognum

I don't think you can blame the builders for the house being built on clay, surely this is something you would have seen before you bought.

What exactly do you want the builders to do?

brit1234

I think you need to take responsibility for yourself and just get digging deep, refill and relay the turf.

Where I don't usually like new builds you can't blame the builders for this.

cattie

This is a common problem with clay soils. You need to get out annually to make drainage holes in the lawn. It's quite easy to do with a garden fork or you can buy a gadget called a lawn aerator.

Practically the whole of London & it's suburbs is built on clay soils to give you an indication of just how common a clay soil is. The builder doesn't choose the type of soil he is going to build on, it's all to do with the geology of the area and the type of soils that are common to those parts of the country.

terrierlady

sometimes builders put in french drains to try to sort this, you could do the same but as rest have said they are not responsible for soil.

noh

I purchased my house new about 10 years ago. I had exactly the same problem. Clay soil and flooding.
I just kept on at the builders customer service department and eventually after a year or so they did excavate and install a land drain and sink hole which has cleared the problem.
In your position I would persist with the complaint and put it in writing.

prosaver

the builders firm have a ten year maintenance thing by law, and should of designed the house and gardens for the rain water to dispurst away from the house or drainage.
go down the lines of health and safety or contact the building inspector who passed the house (council, town hall )

chib

Surely when the foundations of the house were constructed they'd have noticed this and dealt with it at the time?

namecheck

chib wrote: »

Surely when the foundations of the house were constructed they'd have noticed this and dealt with it at the time?

Not necessarily. I know of an upmarket property built a few years ago with a similar problem. The developer was well aware of this but gambled (correctly) that with the buoyant house market - at the time - that the property would be sold before the issues became apparent to the purchaser.

cam3048

Thanks for the replies, I thought that when you lay a garden you need to put some form of drainage under the turf to prevent this from happening in the first place, I also though that if it's in clay then the turf needs at least a certain level of soil between clay and turf and if nothing's there and no soil just turf on clay then surely it's their fault?

Thrugelmir

cam3048 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, I thought that when you lay a garden you need to put some form of drainage under the turf to prevent this from happening in the first place, I also though that if it's in clay then the turf needs at least a certain level of soil between clay and turf and if nothing's there and no soil just turf on clay then surely it's their fault?

Would you have paid £10k to have the garden professionally landscaped?

I doubt it.