 What's the snag? |
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| Sian Lloyd |
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Week In Week Out reveals that the eight thousand people who buy new homes in Wales every year have surprisingly little legal protection. |
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Every year thousands of Welsh house buyers opt for a new home because they think it will mean less hassle. But we have found an increasing number of new houses have numerous defects. When it comes to getting things fixed they have very little legal protection. And we hear from one insider that the snags are sometimes caused by deliberate sabotage by disgruntled workers..
When Philip Evans bought a brand new Persimmon four bedroomed house in Bridgend, he expected it to be perfect. But a few months after moving in, he and his family had to move into a hotel for four weeks - with a month old baby - because there was so much remedial work to be done. He says his dream home was a nightmare which he's still living six months later."Why should we accept it ?" he says "would they have accepted a penny less when we transferred the money ? I don't think so." Philip Evans is not unusual in having a new house with numerous defects. According to an independent survey only 55% of people who buy new would do the same again - and one in six would criticise their builder without being asked.
But new house buyers have little legal comeback."People assume that because this is the biggest financial expenditure of our lives, there is going to be some kind of consumer protection," says building expert Jeff Howell, "and there isn't".
"New houses are not covered by the Sale of Goods Act, therefore, when you buy a new house, you do not have any legal protection at all. You have more consumer protection if you buy a stereo, or a tine of baked beans than you do when you buy a new house." Snagging companies which carry out inspections - identifying defects to the finish of a house - are becoming increasingly busy as buyers come up against more problems. As Catriona Bright, who runs a snagging company, tells the programme: "Once you actually buy a new build and move in, snagging is a term that you will be very familiar with and will come to rule your life."
One former building site worker also tells the programme that problems can be caused by deliberate sabotage. "If people haven't been paid, and it doesn't look as though they will be, then they will sabotage houses". He has known of people who've drilled holes in pipes, and put a dead cat under a kitchen unit.
The developers are represented by the Home Builders Federation, whose chief executive Rob Ashmead says that's an issue that's never been raised with him. And overall he says builders are very anxious to look after their customers.
In response to the Evans family case. Persimmon says it is an exceptional case and while they accept and apologise for snagging issues at the property, every effort has been made to carry out remedial works quickly and to the highest standards, and they remain committed to completing outstanding works.
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