A new home buyer on the Bovis development at Mitford Fields near Reading, has been forced to move out of her new home for health reasons after green mould spores started to appear everywhere.
Pensioner Rosanna Rowberry, had hoped to be back in her new home for Christmas having been forced to move out on 7 November after suffering serious, potentially health damaging, issues with green mould dust in her brand new flat.
There has been a delay in sorting out the problem after Bovis' own appointed surveyor reported that the cause was due to the bathroom extractors in the block of flats not being connected and ducted to the outside air, probably pumping condensation into the cavity.
In response, the BBC reporter said 4-star rated house builder Bovis, claimed that
"modern construction standards and increased insulation, it can take longer for certain materials such as plaster to dry out. Bovis acknowledged that there had been problems with mould in this block and said they were doing the best they can to resolve it and the real issue now is getting the keys to this particular property and gain access and sort things out for good." No apology and no acknowledgement this is Bovis' fault. Indeed, Bovis even appear to have used this issue as an attempted opportunity to promote their new homes (
"modern construction standards and increased insulation") Most new homes, especially those built by the big five plc house builders will have plasterboard drylining to walls and ceilings not plaster. The clue is in the name! Drylining dries out quicker than wet plaster! It is also likely this block of flats is timber frame construction, with an internal vapour barrier that without adequate ventilation, will add to the likelihood of condensation and mould.
Bovis told Rosanna Rowberry that the problems with her flat would be sorted out in two or three weeks after she moved out on 7 November 2014. But as this was in the run up to Bovis' half-year figures cut off, could it be that the company's efforts were focused elsewhere?
Finally the cynical attempt claim the
"real issue now is getting the keys to this particular property and gain access" blaming their customer for the delay in starting remedial works is appalling. Perhaps this is why Bovis homes are one of just four national plc house builders rated only 4 stars in the last
HBF Customer Satisfaction Survey.
BBC South Today report comes less than a month after Nick Boles, Minister for Business Innovation and Skills, said house builders
"need to design beautiful places that respect the local environment, and they need to build houses to a high quality which will stand the test of time. If they don't,
I cannot and will not defend them." After seeing similar appalling standards of new homes on a Persimmon development in his own constituency.
It is time that the house building industry was forced by legislation and properly regulated to improve both the standards of UK built new homes and the service they give their long suffering customers. A
New Homes Ombudsman would be an essential start, paid for by the industry.
Mould in new homes is quite common as this Taylor Wimpey
photograph below shows. It is often the housebuilder's first reaction to claim it is caused by the new home owner's "lifetsyle" creating high levels of moisture in their home, rather than investigating the real cause!
