New build - leak damage ...who is responsible

ellz97

Hello, i moved into a new build property in dec 2019 - i am the first tenant ( renting from housing association) 
there has been a large leak in the upstairs bathroom which has made under the bath wet, all under the bathroom flooring wet and made the lino mouldy , the leak has then spread all over the floor under the flooring to my carpet and due to the wet carpet the bathroom door has swelled at the bottom . There is also 2 large brown stains in my downstairs toilet below the bathroom.

my question is that my carpet is ruined , it stinks like a wet dog and has a large stain, the flooring in the bathroom is also ruined. Who is responsible for this ?
i have contents insurance but i dont want to make a claim, nor see why i should make one when i have just moved in 5 months ago . Why should i suffer with higher premiums due to shoddy workmanship & the house being less then a year old.

please could anyone help.

the house was built by Bovis Homes 

thank you 

[Deleted User]

ellz97 said:

Hello, i moved into a new build property in dec 2019 - i am the first tenant ( renting from housing association) 
there has been a large leak in the upstairs bathroom which has made under the bath wet, all under the bathroom flooring wet and made the lino mouldy , the leak has then spread all over the floor under the flooring to my carpet and due to the wet carpet the bathroom door has swelled at the bottom . There is also 2 large brown stains in my downstairs toilet below the bathroom.

my question is that my carpet is ruined , it stinks like a wet dog and has a large stain, the flooring in the bathroom is also ruined. Who is responsible for this ?
i have contents insurance but i dont want to make a claim, nor see why i should make one when i have just moved in 5 months ago . Why should i suffer with higher premiums due to shoddy workmanship & the house being less then a year old.

please could anyone help.

the house was built by Bovis Homes 

thank you 

As a tenant you report it to your landlord, the HA, as that's who you have a contract with.  If the HA then want to take it up with Bovis Homes or whoever that's up to them.

[Deleted User]

As far as the carpet is concerned didn't you try to dry it out and remove the stain? Did you turn the water off?  You could have removed the bath side and dried underneath that.  Even towels would have helped (I am lucky, I always have a shampooer handy but you could have hired one for a day and taken the carpet up to dry out. 

What caused the leak? Has it been repaired (this will affect what you can do to limit damage)?  Is it still leaking? Has anyone put fans and dehumidifiers to help dry out the floors.., are the floors safe?  If you don't know the answers, (we don't have any idea from your post what action has been taken, if any, so far), these are the questions I'd be asking.

Depending on what caused the leak, if its a building defect, ultimately the builder would be responsible but the HA will have to pursue damages.  Your contract is with the HA.  I am not sure if you should claim on your contents insurance, I suspect doing so will make the repair process even slower.

AdrianC

As the others say - you kick your landlord. They choose whether to repair it themselves or involve the builder.

And, yes, it probably will make life a LOT easier to claim from your insurance for your damaged contents.

Is the carpet and flooring yours, or part of the landlord's fixtures and fittings? If the latter, then there's no obligation on them to repair it, but you will want the damage noted for any future deposit repayment.

carefullycautious

Agree totally with AdianC as we were flooded from top floor flat and had to claim on our insurance for new carpets. Landlords are not responsible for fittings

xylophone

there has been a large leak in the upstairs bathroom which has made under the bath wet, all under the bathroom flooring wet and made the lino mouldy , the leak has then spread all over the floor under the flooring to my carpet and due to the wet carpet the bathroom door has swelled at the bottom . There is also 2 large brown stains in my downstairs toilet below the bathroom.

This must have happened over a period - surely you noticed within a few days that there was a problem? Did you do nothing about it? You should have advised the HA immediately you noticed.