NHBC - customers not thrilled with their build...

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Take, for example, a 2007 two bed Miller Homes apartment. It comes with all the mod-cons - open plan kitchen and living room, en-suite master bedroom - and lots of mould.

But don't worry - it's a new build. So it also comes with an NHBC ten year warranty. Any major defect and they promise to investigate and put it right in a "timely" manner. At least that's what they promise.

Watchdog met Kimberley Dearden, who had been in the Wigan apartment for just three months when the mould started appearing. When she contacted the NHBC, they did come out to inspect the flat. But then, they blamed her. She told us:

"Initially we'd noticed that the mould had appeared on the walls in the spare bedroom and the master bedroom, and then it spread and began growing then on clothes, personal possessions, our bedroom furniture.

"The NHBC quite clearly told us on more than one occasion that the excess mould was due to our lifestyle through the use of a shower, hanging washing in the apartment and cooking."

The NHBC warranty only covers condensation if it's caused by a building defect. If it's the result of lifestyle factors then it's excluded.

Earlier this year, Kimberley replaced her belongings and ordered a deep clean, costing around £2,500 in total. But the mould soon returned. So was Kimberley at fault? Or was it the apartment?

We sent in an expert - Chartered Surveyor Barry Cross. He told us that the insulation in the outer and inner brick work is inconsistent, and there was no insulation between the plaster board and the inner wall. According to Barry this means there's a gap where cold spots are occurring on the inside wall.

Barry's thermal imaging camera meant he was able to show a link between these cold spots, which are coloured blue, and the mould growth. His verdict: the NHBC's diagnosis was wrong, and to advise the occupier to reduce cooking and bathing was unacceptable. He told us that it's no wonder there's a huge problem with growth on the wall, and that the NHBC should be carrying out further investigations to see if the house has a problem - which he thinks it has.

But when it comes to the NHBC signing off sub-standard new homes, Kimberley's case is by no means the worst. Ellen Burnell had seven years of her warranty remaining on her three bedroomed house, when cracks began to appear. And they were deep ones - both inside and out.

The NHBC took nine months to investigate, and another six to send their report. Then they admitted the builder hadn't dug deep enough, causing the foundations to move and the walls to crack. Worse, they argued the ground had now stopped moving - there was no danger of further cracks, so they didn't to carry out any major work. Ellen told us:

"I was really angry because I felt that we were just about to be duped in some way. Our home and the value of it were at stake."

Since Watchdog became involved, the NHBC has started monitoring the house once more. They've also agreed to meet Ellen next month, along with her independent surveyor.

But if you think Kimberley and Ellen have been let down by the NHBC, imagine living for over a year with such a severe mould problem that it's had a serious impact on the life and health of your family.

In 2008, Rebecca and David Myers discovered the five bedroom dream house they'd bought from Westbury homes, was riddled with damp, and their ground floor carpets covered in mould.

The NHBC told them to hire their own surveyor. He thought the problem was likely caused by a defect in the house's damp proofing, and gave a chilling warning about mould. He told them in his initial report that types of mould that could be caused by the dampness in the Myers' house could cause respiratory problems, skin problems, headaches, fatigue, ear and nose infections, and even cancer.

But did this serious assessment spark the NHBC into moving the family out? No. Instead, they ordered a series of four further inspections. At the end of it all, the NHBC came up with their own conclusion, blaming the damp on the family's carpet underlay telling them it was trapping moisture. They said the problem could be solved by simply lifting up carpets to air the floor.

After nine more months of wrangling, the NHBC commissioned another expert to test the mould. He said it presented a direct threat to the Myers' health.

The NHBC finally moved the family out saying they'd be back in within three months. But as a final blow, the NHBC didn't start work on the house for a whole year. Rebecca told us:

"It's been two years of hell really, nearly every week we've had to write a letter, do an email contacting NHBC for some problem. It has just been absolutely horrendous. I wish we hadn't bought the house really."

Watchdog general statement

We sincerely apologise to the families featured in tonight's programme for mistakes that were made and delays during the handling of their claims.

NHBC's overriding purpose is to provide consumer protection for new home buyers, and we work extremely hard to ensure that homeowners are happy with the way their claims are handled. Our warranty currently covers 1.6 million homes in the UK and we resolve claims from around 15,000 new homeowners each year on homes up to 10 years old. We also help to resolve around 5,000 disputes each year between homeowners and their builder.

These three cases illustrate how complex construction issues can be and show that expert opinion may differ, both in respect to the cause of problems and the appropriate way to resolve them.

We will ensure that these cases are resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible. Visits to Mrs Dearden and Ms Burnell's homes have already been arranged and we are fully committed to dealing swiftly with any ongoing problems they are experiencing.

NHBC takes quality of service issues extremely seriously and a key priority for us is to continually improve. We review cases on a regular basis so that lessons gained from them will feed into any necessary changes to our processes and further staff training.

Miss Burnell
Following discussions with Miss Burnell in May this year, we agreed to continue to monitor her home for a further period of six months for any signs of continued movement. This monitoring will be complete next month and a meeting has been scheduled for 12 October when a decision will be made between Miss Burnell, her surveyor and NHBC as to what remedial work needs to be done. Since the monitoring began, we have been providing Miss Burnell and her surveyor with monitoring reports every month. NHBC agreed to pay for the cost of Mrs Burnell's surveyor.

Mrs Dearden
When we first investigated Mrs Dearden's home in 2008, the evidence we saw was consistent with condensation build up and we therefore gave advice to her on how to address the problems and instructed the builders to check that the extractor fans in her home were working efficiently.

After this we heard nothing from Mrs Dearden until August this year, when we learnt that regrettably these measures had not resolved the problem and that in the two years since she first contacted us, the problem has got considerably worse. We would urge any one in a similar position to get straight back in touch with us should their problems persist.

Once Mrs Dearden contacted us again, we immediately agreed to re-investigate. This visit will take place on 29 September, and we plan to undertake an investigation of the points raised by Watchdog's surveyor.

We have also contacted the builders who will attend this re-investigation and have given a firm commitment to undertake any necessary repairs to ensure that the issues affecting Mrs Dearden's home are resolved once and for all.

Mr and Mrs Myers
While Mr and Mrs Myers' claim has been unusually complex, we recognise and have apologised to them for the mistakes we made in handling their claim, and the delays they have suffered as a result.

Although a range of extensive investigations and surveys were carried out, the precise cause of the problem was never clearly established. Ultimately we decided on an extensive remedial solution which involved replacing and up-grading the entire ground floor of the home. This work has now been completed and the family have now moved back into their home.

The overall cost of this claim to date has been £194,000, incorporating ex-gratia payments of more than £23,000 for costs they have incurred (including replacement of carpets, contribution towards contents damage and increased heating bills, re-decoration of the upstairs, garden work and other miscellaneous items). It was made clear that once the repair work was complete, we would make a further good will payment to recognise the inconvenience and distress they have suffered as a result of the delays. We have written to Mr and Mrs Myers with our additional offer.

How is NHBC funded?
NHBC is an independent, not-for-profit company. We have no shareholders to pay dividends to, which ensures that any surplus is reinvested in raising standards in new house building.

Approximately 50% of our funding is from investment income. The remainder comprises fees for Buildmark insurance, Building Control services, and ancillary services. These are paid for by builders - in the same way that 'Gas safe,' previously Corgi, is paid for by gas fitters.

Sue Warwick, National Sales and Marketing Director for Miller Homes, said:
"Customer satisfaction is of utmost importance to Miller Homes and we are very proud of our track record in buyer feedback. Mrs Deardon's ongoing concerns were only brought to our attention recently through the NHBC. As soon as this matter was known to us, we reopened Mrs Deardon's customer care file.

"We have had no direct contact from Mrs Deardon since December 2008 however, now that we are aware of the situation, we are working with the NHBC to attend to our customer's concerns as quickly as possible."

Statement of behalf of PERSIMMON HOMES for BBC Watchdog

David Thornton, Divisional Chief Executive, said:
"As a leading national housebuilder, we of course take all issues of build quality and customer service extremely seriously.

"In January 2006 Persimmon Homes acquired Westbury Homes and whilst we fully acknowledge the unfortunate case of Mr and Mrs Myers - whose home was built and purchased in 1999 - the issues relating to their property were prior to our ownership of the company.

"Due to the age of the property, dealing directly with the NHBC is the correct way to resolve such matters and we understand that the NHBC is now addressing this particular case.

"We hope that a swift resolution can be resolved."

Watchdog Viewers' Responses

Just watched your programme, and I can only agree about NHBC. Utterly useless, I bought a two year old house in the UK, and discovered that it had no loft insulation. NHBC and the builder denied there was a problem!! Sadly, as I was dealing with a bereavement I did not pursue, but I would never, ever trust a builder or the NHBC. And finally, if you have a survey, ensure you have a contract with the surveyor that makes it clear if they miss a fault, you will hold them liable....the surveyor missed looking in the loft!!

Andrew Webb, Brussels

We made a complaint because the builder had omitted to finish tiling the roof and this was not picked up by our surveyor. I made a complaint under the NHBC policy that covered the property but was told, having obtained an estimate for doing the work, that they had a minimum claim value of some £700 but this was only going to cost £650. They therefore rejected the claim. Our surveyor eventually paid under a goodwill gesture.

Michael Conway

It's time it was sorted out. My (ex) wife & I bought a new house in 1987 with an NHBC warranty. Every property on the development had major faults. You will be surprised to hear that NHBC attempted to blame householders for faults such as 10cm gaps in plasterwork, gaps around door frames and leaking roofs.

NHBC in my opinion is there to support the building industry - not the consumer.

Bob Norfolk

When I moved into my 1 bed house and a huge lump/cracks appeared in my lounge ceiling, the NHBC were fantastic. I was the second owner of the house, but it was still under the 10 year NHBC warranty. It turned out to be a joist that had come out of place, and poked through the ceiling. The NHBC sorted out the necessary work to be done, they replaced the joist. They were positively good and made my house safe to live in.
So it's not all bad. Mind you, this was 16 years ago!

Nikki Wilkinson, Bedfordshire

I just wanted to tell my story in brief when I purchased my new build flat in October 2008. After one month my flat began to develop mould in both the bedrooms and in the lounge room.

I had NHBC come and assess my mould and I was told that it was my fault as I did not let the flat air out enough after purchasing and they advised me to have the windows open constantly and have the heating on 24 hours a day. I did do this but obviously my gas bill went through the roof and in the end had to deal with the problem myself as NHBC said it wasn't their problem.

I hope that NHBC finally get shown how unhelpful they really are....

Chantelle Dellow, Greenhithe, Kent

My partner and i live in a ground floor flat and have also had issues with mould. This is mainly in our bedroom but does effect other areas. We have had clothes and furniture ruined and have sent photos of this to redrow at the request of the nhbc. The nhbc tell us because we reported this to them within 2 years of buying the propurty they have to give redrow the oppotunity to sort the problem themselves. However Redrow tell us that is our fault for washing and drying clothes in the flat (ironically they fitted the washer dryer). Redrow have taken bricks out of the wall but say its all fine. But only have there word for it because i don't know what i'm looking for. Looks like were in for another mouldy winter :o(

Kelly, Bexhill

I contacted the NHBC last Thursday about the numerous problems that we have had in our 3 year old new build home, that we have only lived in for 2 years. I only own half of the flat and the rest is owned by Town and country housing group. We had mould in the flat from the time I moved in, however I was 9 months pregnant and couldn't do anything about it at the time. After having my baby i rang the housing association they told me to clean it off with bleach and if it came back they would deal with it, however they were only responsible for the 1st year. The mould had been all across the wall in our bedroom and around window in my sons bedroom. We had to redecorate and throw away all the clothes that had been in the drawers against that wall. The mould has come back but not as bad on the walls, the housing association don't want to know and NHBC said they would help if the claim would be over £1000. I also have cracks round windows and doors, the tiles came up in the bathroom window because the wood they had put underneath had gotten damp and swelled and pushed up the tiles. This has all had to be ripped out replaced and retiled by myself. The electrics are dodgy, a light switch fell out of the wall when we tried to check the fuse for the extractor fans which don't work. They said that each individual problem would have to cost over £1000 to be covered, although if i'd rung them before may (when the house was 3 years old) they could have helped, however I hadn't heard of them before last week, the housing association had not given me any information about the NHBC or the warrenty, except for the certificate.

This was supposed to be our first family home, but it's just one problem after another :(

Danielle Harry, Crawley

I watched your program with interest and would like to tell you my experiences with N.H.B.C.
We bought our house when it was 2yrs old ,reassured by the 10 yr. guarantee. Shortly after, we noticed cracking in the bricks at the corner of the house.The cracks were in every brick from the floor to the roof.

Advised by the N.H.B.C. we had an independant surveyer check the damage.He reported that the cracks were caused by thermal movement .He told us that although every brick was broken in half it was not a serious defect because of the cause.

We have since found out that the other houses of the same design in our road have the same problem.Surely this means that something is not right with either the materials or the plan of the houses.The N.H.B.C. are insistent that they are not liable to do anything to help.

Although we have been told that the damage is not detrimental to the house I feel that it would be impossible to reassure any potential buyers let alone actually sell the house if we wished to,

Linda Brown

Watchdog viewers' responses were received between the 23/09/10 and 29/09/10.