help needed

[Holly]

After recently exchanging on a new build home and discovering that the layout is entirely different to a showhome that we beleived to be buying we find ourselves left with a house so small and without storage space that it is really quite dissapointing. Upon expressing our dissapointment to the developer they have since passed over the matter to their legal department and are serving notice. What does this mean? we have not said we are refusing to go ahead with the purchase, just that we are very dissapointed with the handiling of the sale and description etc. Our solicitor is not very helpful so we are left in the dark and obvuisly very worried. Any info or advice would be very much appreciated

[Tony]

Hi Holly,

Firstly, 'serving notice' is a normal pat of the off-plan house buying process. It happens when the house is practically complete or build complete i.e. finshed or nearly finished. It is notice to 'complete' the conveyance i.e. the trasfer of ownership from the builder to you. You should be given ten days notice.

With regard to your being misled, it is very common for this to happen but there is little you can do. Remember show homes often benefit from lanscaping, higher specification fixtures and fittings as well as professional staging. The sales staff should make this clear to you and you might see it mentioned in the small print.

I hope this helps Holly

Tony

[Holly]

[b]Hi Tony Thank you for that info.
I guess thats a hard lesson learned then regarding dealing with new build developers. The sales rep kept us beleiving one thing and we were never advised to refer to the plans. On top of that the price of the model we bought has been reduced by £15,000 since we exchanged a few months ago..ouch. Oh well...you live and learn.
Thanks once again for your help Tony

[Tony]

Hi Holly,

They are on commission and when times are hard they may have less integrity than usual. They should have asked you to sign the plans to say you had seen them. It might be worth giving Trading Standards a ring as the builder may be in breach of the Property Misdescription Act. This is an interesting read:

Walker Morris UK solicitors, corporate and commercial law firm

Sorry to hear about the proce going down, again this is becoming more common.

Tony

[Will]

That's a really intersting link Tony. Show homes are so misleading it's like being given a test drive in Ferrari and buying a Lada, if you know what I mean. The legislation needs to be tightened up esp. for off-plan newly built homes.

[Holly]

Firstly thanks for all the info and links I have been sent regarding the problem with the new build house we have bought. I just wanted to give a quick update (or to be frank lack of update!!)...Further to emails and phonecalls logging our complaint about the incorrect layout of the house etc, the developer stated that as we were unhappy they would pass over our complaints to their legal dept to deal with and that our solicitor would be informed. As yet we have recieved no further communication but they have written asking for the remainder of our deposit and the money for the turf in the garden. We have contacted them and are being met with silence from their office. I just feel like I don't want to go quietly and maybe it can help another person to avoid being duped by these developers. Any advice as to where ot go from here..is there an ombudsman for new home buyers?

[Tony]

Hi Holly,

Thanks for the update. Unfortunately, there is no ombudsman for the industry. The Office of fair Trading are investigating the industry and will report back in the summer with their recommendations, which could include creating one. Not much help for you now though.

I would get your solicitor to take it up with them.

I hope this helps

Tony