how responsible is my mortgage company for this mess?

go4it

some people may know that I bought a new build flat which has had some problems. Been trying to sell as I have a new job, but buyers are put off by these problems.

There are issues with:

* the developer - poor finishing of flats. Poor construction, which has result in flooding of communal areas and dampness in flats.

* management company - non existant

* the council - they signed off the flats.

* mortgage company - they inspected the property on completion of the flat and also passed the flat / complex.

Work needs doing to the flats. It needs a team of better skilled builders (not cheap foreign labour) to come in and blitz it.

We as the tenants are looking at taking legal advice, but is there anything I can do with my mortgage company? They passed this complex also.

Any ideas?

MortgageMamma

who is your mortgage company? It wouldnt be the mortgage company you would complain to but the firm of surveyors who did the survey. what kind of survey did you have? thats important - was it a basic mortgage valuation or a homebuyers report?

TwelfthMan

Isn't the building covered by 10 year NHBC guarantees?

go4it

Mortgage company Standard Life, but they outsourced the valuation to SPS Surveyors.

The flats were off plan. SPS went out at the start to value it, and also were sent out at the end to inspect it. No report was given, they valued it at £X at the start and were sent out again to make sure it was still worth £X and that the complex was actually finished.

Someone mentioned to me that I should look at complaining about this, as in the state it was the surveyors should not have passed it, or at least come back saying that it was not worth £X.

go4it

TwelfthMan wrote: »

Isn't the building covered by 10 year NHBC guarantees?

Thats the thing, a lot of us were taken along for a big ride by the developer and we got a lot of the info quite late in the process. It does not have NHBC or Zurich, but has an architects certificate which we were told was equivalent to the NHBC. This is another issue we have with the developer, as from what I can gather it is not worth the paper it is written on.

MortgageMamma

Ok, it sounds to me like you have had a basic mortgage valuation which basically means you have no recourse (directly) against the surveyor. When you pay for a basic mortgage valuation it is the lender to whom the surveyor is contracted and not to you, hence why you dont get a copy of the valuation report. The report itself is very basic and basically a tick box form so not much use to you.

For a surveyor to be equally reponsible to you you should have had a homebuyers report, which means you pay more money but you get a more indepth report and the surveyor is equally reponsible to you AND the lender. As you have not had one of these I doubt you have a leg to stand on.

I notice your mortgage is with Standard Life, which leads me to conclude that its quite likely you got this mortgage through a broker (very few go to standard life direct) who should have explained this to you when doing the mortgage application.

I think one way of dealing with this is to alert the lender that you are concerned about the condition and safety of the property, and say you are concerned that the surveyor they sent out has passed the property as you now have x, y, z problems. The lender will then take it up with the surveyor and probably have the property revalued.

I would also speak to your solicitor about the leasehold management company who you say don't exist. it is very very important you have this discussion as the leasehold management company MUST make themselves available to you in instances like this, they have an obligation to you.

Sorry you are having such a hard time, but fight your corner and keep pushing. its hard enough buying your first property without having unexpected expense and inconvenience of repairing the mistakes of builders!

Also, check if your builders were member of their trade body, and also the architect if they were member of a trade body. this link should help you

http://www.uksuperweb.co.uk/trade-associations/building.html

Ephemera

Getting together with others in the same situation can help - more flat owners make more noise than individuals, and are harder to ignore. You can share legal costs and get ideas flowing between you all.
Good luck!

go4it

Ephemera wrote: »

Getting together with others in the same situation can help - more flat owners make more noise than individuals, and are harder to ignore. You can share legal costs and get ideas flowing between you all.
Good luck!

We are looking at envoking the right to manage and creating our own company. This company would appoint a new agent to manage the complex, and also liase with a solicitor regarding the legal side of everything and trying to get the building up to standard.

mircea

go4it wrote: »

some people may know that I bought a new build flat which has had some problems. Been trying to sell as I have a new job, but buyers are put off by these problems.

There are issues with:

* the developer - poor finishing of flats. Poor construction, which has result in flooding of communal areas and dampness in flats.

* management company - non existant

* the council - they signed off the flats.

* mortgage company - they inspected the property on completion of the flat and also passed the flat / complex.

Work needs doing to the flats. It needs a team of better skilled builders (not cheap foreign labour) to come in and blitz it.

We as the tenants are looking at taking legal advice, but is there anything I can do with my mortgage company? They passed this complex also.

Any ideas?

Since you seem so upset for being let down by cheap foreign labour, may I suggest you employ some good old English builders - I am sure Rogue Traders will be happy to give you a list of some of the most featured ones in their shows.

All the best,

A cheap foreign labourer.