Builder changed floor plans before the exchange - Bedroom 3 now a Study

[krox88]

Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year.

Just wondering if you can advise me on my options on an issue I have come across my recent house purchase.

I reserved a 3 bed detached house before Christmas. The mortgage and the HTB loan has been approved. But just before the exchange of contracts the builder has contacted me about changes to the floor plan.

This house does not have a gas supply so the heating and hot water works on heat source air pump. This will also need a hot water cylinder that was previously designed to be hidden away in a cupboard. But they have changed this plan and moved the cylinder to the 3rd bedroom taking the bedroom floor area from 6.71 to 5.9 m2. And they have renamed this as a study instead of a bedroom.

I looked up on the building standards and the minimum floor area set for new homes is 6.5 m2 for a person over 10 years old and I am assuming this is the reason they have change the floor plan from a bedroom to a study. So now this is a 2 bed + study detached house on paper. They have not discussed or given me a discount on the initial sale price yet.
Can you please advise me on my options here?

[New Home Expert]

They have complied with the new Code of Practice and current Consumer Code for Home Builders by informing you of a material change and also before you exchanged contracts - which my advice is you should not now do.

You agreed to buy a three bedroom house at a certain price.  Reducing the number of bedrooms greatly adversely reduces the value of the home and the re sale value. 
So unless the price is substantially reduced to that of a 2 bedroom detached house, I would cancel your reservation.

You should get a full refund of your reservation fee although the builder can deduct reasonable admin costs, which he shouldn't morally do in the this case.

Walk away!