NHBC warranty

bogeymen

Hoping someone may be able to help.

I bought my flat in 2015. The development was signed off by NHBC in 2008 but the developer struggled to sell a few of the apartments including mine. I've only found out recently there is a NHBC warranty. I've called up NHBC and they said there is a policy but it hasn't been activated - they asked if the property was rented out previously. It was rented out in 2013. NHBC have said that because the developer held onto some apartments the warranty expired in 2018 but they wouldn't provide any documentation to validate where this is mentioned in the terms and conditions.

I did a google and could find the following relating to a NHBC warranty: 'NHBC cover starts from exchange of contracts and lasts up to a maximum period of 10 years after the legal completion date.'

I'm showing as the 1st owner on the property so does anyone know where I stand? I just don't have a great deal of faith in NHBC from what I've read about them.

lisyloo

The nhbc warranty is quite limited after year 2.
it only covered if the structural elements of the building weren’t  done to NHBC standards.
do you have a structural issue? And any cause to believe it wasn’t built to the correct standards?

davidmcn

Do you have a copy of your contract from your purchase, and if so what if anything does it say about NHBC?

I doubt you have a right retrospectively to be covered if it was never intended at the time of your purchase, though I also wonder how your solicitor signed off on a new-ish flat without seeing NHBC (particularly if you bought with a mortgage).

bogeymen

Sorry for not replying earlier. There are structural issues with the building - not sure how it got passed by building control. It's going through legal channels and I'll report back in detail when I'm allowed. Thanks for the replies though.

AdrianC

bogeymen said:

I bought my flat in 2015. The development was signed off by NHBC in 2008
...
NHBC have said that because the developer held onto some apartments the warranty expired in 2018
...

I did a google and could find the following relating to a NHBC warranty: 'NHBC cover starts from exchange of contracts and lasts up to a maximum period of 10 years after the legal completion date.'

That seems to be pretty much a dead-cert that your warranty expired two years ago, ten years after the flat was completed and signed-off by NHBC.

Structural issues with the building have always been the freeholder/management company's pigeon - whether they had some recourse to the developer or a warranty or not.
Your warranty would have covered work inside your flat, because that's the only bit that's your responsibility.