Morris Homes – Homes with NO Warranty

tomas.hs

Hi All,

Just want to share my experience with Morris Homes and warn any potential buyers about future implications from today’s decisions.

Jumping straight to the end, Morris Homes might be losing shortly their certification with their Home Warranty body (NHBC), which means that future houses they are building (those which have not gone through the NHBC assessment yet), might not come with that promised 10 years warranty…

Elaborating that a little bit, we bought a house from Morris Homes back in 2016. I can certainly say that they are not the worse builders in the country, but their customer care let them down. The house quality is acceptable considering current building UK standards, but the flaw comes after the site is complete and there is nobody there you can go ant talk to, leaving just the customer care phone and email address to complain to.

We had some minor issues which were addressed in time and manner. However, we had a particular one which has not been resolved after more than two years.

We filed a claim against Morris Homes through the Consumer Code for Home Builders. They ruled in our favour, but Morris Homes has formally refused to comply with the decision. This act will surely cost them the registration with the Code, and consequently with any warranty body.

I will update the thread if things change, but at this moment in time I would think twice before reserving any house or exchanging contracts with Morris Homes as you could get into something you could regret for a long long time…

eddddy

tomas.hs wrote: »

Jumping straight to the end, Morris Homes might be losing shortly their certification with their Home Warranty body (HSBC), which means that future houses they are building (those which have not gone through the HSBC assessment yet), might not come with that promised 10 years warranty…

I guess you mean NHBC.

If their houses don't have a 10 year warranty from an 'approved' provider, they won't be mortgageable.

But I'm not sure that all warranty providers take part in the Consumer Code for Home Builders scheme.

(Here's details of other approved warranty providers: https://www.cml.org.uk/lenders-handbook/englandandwales/question-list/1913/)

tomas.hs

Yes, NHBC, thanks for spotting that eddddy - I do banking with HSBC, hence the confusion... haha

Paraphrasing the Code, "The Consumer Code applies to homes being built under the insurance protection of one of the supporting Home Warranty Bodies: NHBC, Premier Guarantee and LABC Warranty. Between them, the above bodies cover 90% of the new Homes built in the UK. Other Home Warranty Bodies may offer their own Code Schemes."

So, I guess Morris Homes can decide to go with another "smaller" warranty body, but this doesn't leave them in a good situation... If I was buying another house, I would like it to be covered by a big warranty body.
Also, if they move to another warranty body with no Consumer Code, what is going to stop them from doing to other people what they did to us over and over again?

New_Build_Sufferer

Do not buy from Morris Homes. They tell lies.

They released a statement about me on BBC radio Leicester saying I refused them access to the property. I never have and never will, as my contract dictates it.

I have this quote in writing from the BBC, so as far as I am concerned this is an attack on my character.

The quote from Morris Homes to ITV yesterday stated they will come and fix my house as soon as I give them access. Well you have told me three times in writing to go away and take up my issue with the NHBC, so thats interesting.

Morris Homes and or their contractors have been to my house 60 times in 18 months. All documented. They have told my neighbours that the drainage issues are all mine. I have CCTV footage of my neighbours pipe that feed to mine, it is subsided. This is from their own survey. My other neighbour has a drain that violates building regulations, yet he has his house signed off by building control. His house also blocks my drainage, again I have photo evidence to support this claim.

My house is 18 months old, has no building regulations. The local authority stated in a subject access request that morris homes where informed of issues with my drains many months before we completed the purchase and it appears they have not been corrected. They fail to do anything about this matter with Morris Homes even though they have the power to prosecute. So they are OK with this abuse of regulation it seems.

I have had drain cleans every week for well over a year.

I have been removed from residential meetings with our local MP, I am no longer able to attend at the request of Morris Homes direct to my local MP. This was not an issue the first time, also being in litigation, but the second time all of a sudden it is an issue. My local MP told me Morris Homes had spoken to her.

I have a house I cannot sell due to missing building regulations, Morris Homes refuse to address my issues as stated in three separate letters telling me to go to the NHBC to have my problem addressed.

After over 18 months we are still no further forward.

Should you buy Morris Homes, I will let you decide

thinking-of-buying-a-new-build.net
@NSufferer [twitter]

tomas.hs

Wow. Your case is miles worse than mine, although at the end the issue is the same: the warranty is a scam.

Have you not tried to put a claim through the Consumer Code for New Homes?
You would have to pay £150 fee which Morris Homes would return to you if the claim is successful. However, bear in mind that in my case they decided not to do it...

The whole warranty system sucks. HSBC, The Consumer Code, etc. is made to make the purchase of a new home more appealing. It always favours the home builder and it is not designed to protect the buyer.

Sad, but the honest truth.

Davesnave

tomas.hs wrote: »

The whole warranty system sucks. HSBC, The Consumer Code, etc. is made to make the purchase of a new home more appealing. It always favours the home builder and it is not designed to protect the buyer.

Ask yourself, could it be any other way, with the NHBC funded by the industry itself?

However, dealing with any national, well-funded body as a consumer needs rigorousness and attention to detail, so if you still can't get their name right......

tomas.hs

I fully agree with your first statement, but the second paragraph… that looks like an attack…
Do you mean that a typo/slip change the fact that they are not complying with their responsibilities?
And that the fact that Morris Homes did not comply with the decision from the Code adjudicator on my claim is due to that typo in this forum?

Davesnave

tomas.hs wrote: »

I fully agree with your first statement, but the second paragraph… that looks like an attack…
Do you mean that a typo/slip change the fact that they are not complying with their responsibilities?
And that the fact that Morris Homes did not comply with the decision from the Code adjudicator on my claim is due to that typo in this forum?

Making the same 'slip' twice doesn't alter material facts one iota.

I'm simply pointing out that as a consumer challenging a large, well-funded organisation, you need to have your wits about you. If you're as sloppy as you've been here when taking this matter to the next level, say through your MP, it won't help your cause.

I found out how detailed and complex the correspondence becomes in cases like this, when I was forced to deal with a different trade body a few years ago. There's a thick file as testament to that. I spent whole weekends writing those letters, not just hours. It took a massive effort to do research, find the right information and achieve a outcome I could live with.

Best of luck.