New Flat Help - Direction Needed

mkosucu

Hi All,

We have searched a lot but we are still lost. Could you help us please?

We have bought a flat in August. it is a brand new flat built by a small developer. We used help to buy scheme for this.

We have seen the flat once before we bought it, we assume that it would have built with due diligence as it is almost 500k flat. After we moved in, we did out snagging as no snagging had been done by them. As soon as we found the issues, we reported them, some of the snags are deep scratches in window frames, bath tube, moving laminates, un-finished silicons and many more. For example, there are 2 big deep scratches on the entrance door which was there first time when we moved into house as they opened the door. When I reported these scratches to owner, he replied with, you bought the flat as it is, I will not change the windows for you. It was astonishing to see his reply as he was so nice until the process is completed... At the moment there are 20 snags that needs to be done most of them are really deep scratches around, the flat as I said in window frames, there is a chip on toilet, bath tray and unsettled laminate... We reported these in the second day we moved in. Now they are no being helpful to resolve these issues. For example, they said, how would we know that you did not scratched the window frames of bath tube.. I told them that one should really psychopath to get a screw driver and make deep scratches to bath tube, window frames, electrical switches and door that they paid almost 500k... I thought to fix small cracks and silicon issues by myself, but I cannot change and spend money for rest of the major issues...

The owner does not reply to my emails and phone calls and building company really not being helpful and blame us all the time. The things they fixed so far has been really bad quality of fixes..

Apologies for long story. Could anyone help us what are our options to get them sort these things? Should we go to a lawyer, sue them? I have got all the email threads and dates. What is the best way of resolving this?

Your help would be really appreciated.

Many thanks

Comms69

Speak to the solicitor you used to buy the property

davidmcn

mkosucu wrote: »

Should we go to a lawyer, sue them?

Presumably you've already got a lawyer? What does your contract say about the condition the property was meant to be in?

AdrianC

mkosucu wrote: »

We have bought a flat in August. it is a brand new flat built by a small developer. We used help to buy scheme for this.

We have seen the flat once before we bought it, we assume that it would have built with due diligence as it is almost 500k flat. After we moved in, we did out snagging as no snagging had been done by them. As soon as we found the issues, we reported them, some of the snags are deep scratches in window frames, bath tube, moving laminates, un-finished silicons and many more. For example, there are 2 big deep scratches on the entrance door which was there first time when we moved into house as they opened the door. When I reported these scratches to owner, he replied with, you bought the flat as it is, I will not change the windows for you. It was astonishing to see his reply as he was so nice until the process is completed... At the moment there are 20 snags that needs to be done most of them are really deep scratches around, the flat as I said in window frames, there is a chip on toilet, bath tray and unsettled laminate... We reported these in the second day we moved in. Now they are no being helpful to resolve these issues. For example, they said, how would we know that you did not scratched the window frames of bath tube.. I told them that one should really psychopath to get a screw driver and make deep scratches to bath tube, window frames, electrical switches and door that they paid almost 500k... I thought to fix small cracks and silicon issues by myself, but I cannot change and spend money for rest of the major issues...

The owner does not reply to my emails and phone calls and building company really not being helpful and blame us all the time. The things they fixed so far has been really bad quality of fixes..

You are the owner of the flat.
By "owner", do you mean the vendor, the building company?

What does your purchase contract say about snagging?

Is there any new-build warranty on the property? If you used HtB, I presume you also have a mortgage - so I'd presume the lender insisted on one. What does that warranty say about snagging?

Did you use the vendor's "recommended" solicitor, or did you find one yourself?

mkosucu

Thanks for your reply.@AdrianC. What I mean by the owner is that the person who we bought the flat from. But he is not the builder, the builder is another company working for this man(obviously he has a limited company). We have not checked the contract. We will do it tonight. We were told that there is a full guarantee for 2 years and NHBC for 10 years. But can they say that they do not cover anything after you move in?

We found our solicitors. Did not use theirs. I contacted our solicitors today to see what we can do.

mkosucu

davidmcn wrote: »

Presumably you've already got a lawyer? What does your contract say about the condition the property was meant to be in?

We do, I have emailed them today. I will check the contract today, but I assume handing over things with let alone poor quality but with really bad snags should not acceptable right?

Tiglet2

The best time to do a snag list and get the issues sorted out is ideally before exchange or with a new build, before completion. Once you took ownership of the property, there is no longer any urgency on the developer’s part to address the issues. Are the developers still on-site or have they already left to work on another development? Once they’ve left the site, it is even harder to get them to return to address any issues. You may have to look at your NHBC Warranty to see what you are covered for.

mkosucu

Tiglet2 wrote: »

The best time to do a snag list and get the issues sorted out is ideally before exchange or with a new build, before completion. Once you took ownership of the property, there is no longer any urgency on the developer’s part to address the issues. Are the developers still on-site or have they already left to work on another development? Once they’ve left the site, it is even harder to get them to return to address any issues. You may have to look at your NHBC Warranty to see what you are covered for.

No They are not on site, but they are local(In London at least) We will check the contract today. But what I do not understand is that issue may appear even 2-3 months after you move in. Is it not developer's responsibility to cover it for a certain period of time? We did not know that we can go and have a look at the flat for snags as we assumed that it has been already done by the developer. So if they refuse to help us? Isn't there anything that we can do? I will check the warranty to see what it says.

davidmcn

mkosucu wrote: »

We do, I have emailed them today. I will check the contract today, but I assume handing over things with let alone poor quality but with really bad snags should not acceptable right?

It depends what your contract says. You had already read it and had it explained by your solicitor before you signed it, right?

mkosucu

davidmcn wrote: »

It depends what your contract says. You had already read it and had it explained by your solicitor before you signed it, right?

True, what I remember is that my solicitor said that you have full warranty for the flat. I do not remember the exact terms. I assume my solicitor would have made me aware if there is a catch as she did for other few issues. But I do remember that she said you have full warranty. I must check contract again for the details....

eddddy

It's probably the warranty that you need to read.

Are you saying that you have a NHBC Buildmark warranty? If so, here's what NHBC say about that warranty:

Years 0-2
For the first two years after legal completion.

Builder warranty
This is the builder warranty period. Your builder provides this initial warranty and agrees to repair defects that are not general wear and tear or maintenance issues.

Resolution service
We provide an independent resolution service and guarantee should the builder not do this.

Policy conditions and limits apply. Please refer to your policy documents for full details.

Link: http://www.nhbc.co.uk/Homeowners/WhatdoesBuildmarkcover/

It's worth telling the builder that you intend referring the matter to NHBC.

To show that you're serious, you could also get a snagging survey done by a professional surveyor, if you want. But you'd have to pay the surveyor's fees.