New House Building Error

gemmypaddy

Hi all,

Really in need of some help...

My wife and I have just had mortgage approval and are due to exchange next week on our first house. However, by chance we visited the development today to see that our house is being built in reverse to the agreed plans.

This wouldn't be a problem if the house was detached, however, it is a semi-detached house with a landing window, and now the stairs are on the internal wall side of the house, meaning the planned landing window has vanished and where it would be is a dividing wall between a bedroom and en-suite.

The plans definitely show a window (I even have photos of these plans) so we are really upset by this as one of the main features of the house was the light and airy hall/stairs area.

Short of asking the builder to rebuild our house (which I highly doubt they will do) I am weighing up my options regarding what to ask as compensation for the error.

We really love the house and waited over a year for it to be released and now we are around 3 months from completion, so still really want the house, but feel we should not have to pay the original agreed price as this is not the house we are now getting.

There is an en-suite to the master bedroom (which should have been on an internal wall) which now could have a window fitted and there are around £3k of extras/options we would like on the house which I have considered as potential compensation for the error.

Has anybody had experience with something like this before?

Are we in a strong position to negotiate compensation or a reduced purchase price?

Should we act now or wait until we exchange to push this?

What do people feel would be a reasonable/realistic request/settlement?

Apologies for the number of questions and many thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

MamaMoo_2

Someone who had a similar issue.


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4752665

jaybeetoo

Has the house been built as per the planning permission consent? If it is different to what the local authority approved, then I wouldn't exchange until that is sorted out.

gemmypaddy

jaybeetoo wrote: »

Has the house been built as per the planning permission consent? If it is different to what the local authority approved, then I wouldn't exchange until that is sorted out.

Thanks for your reply

The house appears )at least to me) as per the plans in ever other way. It is only up to roof level at the moment and we have only spotted the issue from the road as we cannot access the property yet.

It was my wife's keen eye who spotted the house was in reverse.

If it is in line with regulations (as I think it is), where do we go from here?

Thanks

gemmypaddy

MamaMoo wrote: »

Someone who had a similar issue.

Thanks - I searched but did not find this thread.

I'll have a read!

jaybeetoo

You need to decide before exchange. Once you've exchanged you have zero bargaining power.

The first question is do you want the house as it currently is?

You are in a strong position if the builder is expecting exchange before the end of December and their financial year end is the end of the year.

gemmypaddy

jaybeetoo wrote: »

You need to decide before exchange. Once you've exchanged you have zero bargaining power.

The first question is do you want the house as it currently is?

I agree - but therein lies the problem. We love the house, but love it a lot less with no landing window.

I don't expect a £10k discount or thousands of pounds of extras thrown in, but I do feel there should be some reasonable action from the builder.

Possibly a window fitted in the (now external) en-suite and some contribution towards extras.

Any thoughts?

gemmypaddy

jaybeetoo wrote: »

You are in a strong position if the builder is expecting exchange before the end of December and their financial year end is the end of the year.

Unfortunately I believe their year end is June, so maybe their 6 monthly results might be important to them?

Here's hoping!

jaybeetoo

If they need you to exchange before year end so they meet their targets then you have nothing to lose by asking for what you want.

You need to decide if you are prepared to walk away from the deal (and peruse the builder for your costs) before you negotiate.

I completed on a property at year end a few years ago and the builder gave me a couple of grand off if I completed before year end and they could come back and fix a few issues in the new year.

You also need to check the paperwork. Often there is a disclaimer that the final building may not be exactly the same as the brochure.

gemmypaddy

jaybeetoo wrote: »

If they need you to exchange before year end so they meet their targets then you have nothing to lose by asking for what you want.

You need to decide if you are prepared to walk away from the deal (and peruse the builder for your costs) before you negotiate.

I completed on a property at year end a few years ago and the builder gave me a couple of grand off if I completed before year end and they could come back and fix a few issues in the new year.

Thanks again for your response.

It is a good point. We don't want to walk away from the house, but if the builder does nothing at all, we will out of principle, as it is not how I would conduct business in their shoes.

However, a reasonable offer (and attitude to sorting the problem) would go a long way.

We will speak to them tomorrow hopefully.

Any other comments/advice from anyone would be really appreciated.

DaftyDuck

Depending on the design of the rest of the house, a change like this is the kind of thing I'd forever regret, and it might make me likely to pull out. Financial comp. might lessen my regrets if I wasn't planning on being there very long, but... but...

On the other hand, presumably there is a window somewhere else your design did not have? Are there advsntages to this layout?

I'd certainly press the builder hard - but politely - for as much as possible.

Any chance of a skylight or light tunnel?