New build house off plan - changes in spec

njlj1992

Hi all 

We’re in the midst of buying a new build house off plan so we’ve not yet physically seen the property as it’s still being built. 

We were casually made aware by the sales office that the doors downstairs will be French doors rather than bifold (which is not our preference) and he mentioned that only the 4 bed+ houses would have bifold doors fitted. 

Due to us buying off plan we’ve studied all of the specifications and planning permission drawings in detail to ensure we’re happy with what we’ll get. Both the working drawings and specification show/say that bifold will be included. 

Is this the norm? Could they end up doing this with other parts of the house? Does anyone have a view as to what our options are? Could we insist bifold doors are fitted as per the spec/drawings (this could be unlikely as I understand the doors are now in) or would it be reasonable to negotiate some money off the price? 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/suggestions. 

TheJP

Builders tend to change spec all the time, it will be likely listed in the term and conditions in your agreement. You can insist, but they can say no or they can say yes or they could pull out and sell to someone else.

Was the bifold doors listed anyway in the sales particulars?

ThorOdinson

Whatever they could get cheap that week goes in. It's the British builder way.

BikingBud

I am certain they cover their !!!!!! position by some phrase within their Ts&Cs but it just show what cowboys English builders are and how they abuse their position.

This is the kind of blatant disregard/incompetence they get away with:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c175dpglpz0o

I mean how inept must you be to build an estate nearly 8 feet too high, or been more cynical how much did they save even after the reparations by not removing all the volume of earth?

david29dpo

As above. Get it writing NOW what the specs say or pull out.

gwynlas

You will be paying a premiumfor a new build and using french doors rather than bifolds suggest that the aperture is smaller.
Are you sure that they will not be using patio doors?
If you want bi folds the time to insist is now.

whizzywoo

My understanding is that they have to notify you in writing of any significant changes to the specification.  I think this change would count as significant.  It's not just a change of handles on the kitchen doors which would be a small change.

Have you exchanged yet?  If you have then I think you can hold them to the drawings, plans and specs that you agreed on.  If you have not exchanged then you need to get bi-fold doors written into the contract so speak to your solicitor.

Either way it's a significant change and I think you can get your reserve deposit back if you decide to walk away.

eddddy

Have you exchanged contracts?

If you haven't exchanged contracts, the developer is free to make whatever changes to the spec that they choose - and you are free to either agree or walk away. (But there might be arguments about getting your reservation fee back.)


If you have exchanged contracts, you need to read the contracts to see what they say about changes to the spec.

Typically, the contract will allow the developer to make minor changes to the spec, but if they make major changes, you have the option of walking away (and getting your deposit back). So there might be arguments about whether the doors is a minor change or a major change.

But do you want to walk away over this?


(I'd be pretty certain that your contract doesn't allow you to insist that no changes are allowed - e.g. to doors. I don't think a developer would agree to a contract that restricted them to that extent.)

njlj1992

Thanks all, we haven’t yet exchanged contracts, they were originally advising this needs to happen by end of April but seems there has been delays and this is no longer required (which kind of helps, as my flat sale is taking some time!) 

We’re not really willing to walk away from the sale on this basis, but we are quite disappointed that the goal posts have shifted again. We were originally told by the sales rep all flooring would be included (on the phone) only to be told casually on a later call that this wasn’t the case - so we’re expecting to fork out an additional circa £5k that we hadn’t provisioned for. We argued this and were offered some (but not all) cashback on completion to contribute towards it. 

To then again be casually told that bifolds are “only a feature of the larger properties” feels like a bit of a kick in the teeth, as the house price isn’t exactly cheap and this simply doesn’t reflect what’s in the brochure or the planning permission drawings that we’d already studied and were told to review during our time within the sales office!

We have our hearts set on this house but think we are hyper sensitive to changes as we haven’t yet physically seen it (so wondering if anything else is going to change) and have had a few problems crop up now that is putting a dampener on the whole process for us.  

Section62

whizzywoo said:

My understanding is that they have to notify you in writing of any significant changes to the specification.

It depends what the contract says.  Developers normally allow themselves considerable freedom to make amendments to designs and specifications.  For example, it would be unusual for a developer to allow the details on a planning consent drawing to bind them to provide certain features such as a particular type of door.

whizzywoo said:

I think this change would count as significant.  It's not just a change of handles on the kitchen doors which would be a small change.

Probably a matter of opinion, and very much subject to the specifics of the situation.  For example, if the opening is only ~6' wide and can be filled with a pair of standard width french doors hinged either side then it might be difficult to argue this is significant change compared to having a ~6' wide bifold.  Whereas having a ~12' opening which will be filled with a pair of french doors plus two fixed glazed panels would be quite different to having ~12' bifolds.

Understandable the OP wants bifolds, but if this eventually ends up in court with a judge being asked to decide on what is 'significant' in terms of the contract then it may need to be more than just what the OP wants.  For example will the property be worth appreciably less because it has french doors rather than bifolds?

whizzywoo said:

Have you exchanged yet?  If you have then I think you can hold them to the drawings, plans and specs that you agreed on.  If you have not exchanged then you need to get bi-fold doors written into the contract so speak to your solicitor.

Again, it depends on the contracts the OP has already(?) entered into.

whizzywoo said:

Either way it's a significant change and I think you can get your reserve deposit back if you decide to walk away.

Likewise, the significance will depend on the circumstances. And the options the OP has in response will depend on the contract(s).

GDB2222

If you really have your heart set on this house, then they can downgrade the spec as much as they like. Maybe, you should start looking at other estates, just to see what the options are currently.  No harm in letting the sales team know that you are looking. 

Oh, and when is the company’s financial year end?