Ingram Homes - Norwich

[New build survivor]

Definitely. We were too trusting and I remember saying to my husband we thought the MD had a lot of integrity.
Another point re not trusting anyone. Even the legal process, with a legally binding contract does not protect you.

We submitted a written offer which included dressed-timber gates. The estate agent who received the email and the MD deny ever getting that information. We also have a clause in our contract that incorporates all email agreements into it. The builder's solicitor has not responded to a query on his from our solicitor from early December? So how does that work?

No one sticks to the terms of the agreement. The solicitors bury their heads in sand and our only recourse is to accept the offer of the builder to provide them but with no aftercare. No protection from consumer law or NHBC as not covered. Our only recourse is to involve another solicitor at our cost, by which time we could have bought gold plated gates with the fees. The MD sent very stroppy email via his customer service manager. So our option is accept his reduced terms (which we have for an easy life) or sue. Not a great place to be with all the other stress and costs we have incurred.

So not only are individuals not adequately protected when buying a new build, even our existing legal process that costs hundreds of pounds is useless. Might as well have said invoice us and we'll pay and forget a contract. It is a complete joke!
Just an update, but after a visit from the architect, MD and site manager yesterday it does look like our ensuite velux has more than condensation issues. It might be the seals on the velux or flashing. Awaiting feedback on what will happen next.

[New build survivor]

Re the velux situation in ensuite and earlier posts.

It was confirmed yesterday by the architect that the property adjoining us has similar issue with velux and it is "streaming" water, so he was going to be inspecting that too. Don't know what it is with these roof windows.

We have had 2 previous properties with roof windows and one of them was a new build and did not have this problem. So we think there is some fundamental issue either with the roof light itself, which actually is keylite not velux, or it is in the fitting or roof design. We feel like we are a bit of an experiment as we are the 1st house of this design. So would advise anyone looking to buy new build where the house design has not been built before to be aware.

There seems to be so many technicalities the architect described related to pressure and wind speed and different types of membrane etc. Which is great for them as a problem to resolve, but not great when you're living with it and have to have people traipsing in and out, looking and shaking their heads. They might be doing some testing of seals or getting the keylite rep to take a look, they haven't advised us yet. Meanwhile we have tissues stuffed in the corners to stop the water running in. In some ways buying a less individual property that has been Road-tested many times on other developments is preferable to being the 1st of it's type.

[New Home Expert]

It is for situations such as you find yourself in, that I have been personally campaigning for a New Homes Ombudsman for the last 4 years.  Hopefully in 2018 we could see it finally set up by government.

[New build survivor]

Well, I need to backtrack a bit here, as it appears what I thought was our position re our offer etc was not correct.

After emailing both solicitors to find out why we had not had a response about our position I eventually had a response from my solicitor this morning. He had been telling us that he was waiting on a response from the other solicitor re our legal position and it turns out the other solicitor is no longer with the company so not sure what sort of contract had actually taken place.

He also advised us that our offer which included dressed timber gates was not actually part of the contract. He says we may have grounds for a claim against the agent for not passing our offer on, if indeed that was the case. You couldn't make this up. All along we have thought our offer formed part of our contract and that the terms had not been met.
 
So not sure where we go from here. We still have gates that are not satisfactory. The builder has offered to change to dressed timber but if they fail for any reason we have no comeback. We have emailed the MD to advise him of situation and to request we keep the gates we have , but can they be relaligned as we feel this is the safest option at moment. As I said earlier, I want to give a balanced and honest account and we were ill-informed as to our legal position.

So if we manage to get past this, it is mainly the roof light issues and redecoration and hopefully we can start to enjoy living in our new home. We're going to need some better weather though, as the garage trim was given a second coat of paint 2 days ago. But since the work wasn't done until late in the afternoon and the job only took 10 minutes we weren't expecting too much. 2 days later parts of the trim still aren't dry and there are raised patches that rub off. Will need to get that resolved in drier weather we think.

[New build survivor]

Things have moved on.
We reported our concern regarding our internal redecoration being done by the same person who painted the garage at 3 pm on a Tuesday and still not dry on Friday i.e. the finishing foreman.

After email contact we have had a really positive meeting at our home with MD today. We think he realises we haven't just been manufacturing problems. Some of the work that has been done was not satisfactory.

He is arranging for the decorator to cover our leaks in the dining area, which is a relief.
We need repainting of our front door frame snd garage trim and he is arranging for adjustment of the dreaded gates, with maybe an additional handle to help us open in adverse weather conditions.
That said, he did acknowledge he had received our offer email re the dressed timber gates, which was such a bone of contention, but by now we are so done with everything we just don't care.

There had been a lot of bullish communication re how great the team is supporting us and how lucky we are to have them. We think differently.

The main reason there are so many issues is that the MD trusts the finishing foreman is doing all the appropriate checks. We are proof it just hasn't happened.
The reality is that the Office/Customer Service Manager is very efficient and pleasant and probably worth her weight in gold. Though she is misled by the information provided to her by the finishing foreman. The site manager is great but focussed on the building side of things, not the fitting out.

We thought the finishing foreman was a great guy and kept telling us he was doing everything in our best interests. It turns out he just "covers his backside" and we would have not have had 90% of the problems we have had if he had done his job properly in the first place.
Can't understand how the MD thinks he is so dedicated and devoted. Very disappointed.

[New Home Expert]

Finishing foreman or assistant site managers still work under the site manager.
The site manager should still be going into every home under construction once a day regardless of what stage it is at. It is his site!

It sounds like this is someone who just bodges up and does a bit of snagging himself rather than "manage" and get the trades to come back and do it.

[New build survivor]

Yes you're right about site manager. We actually thought the finishing foreman was in charge as site manager keeps a low profile.
We were told by finishing foreman that MD preferred for issues to be resolved in house- obviously cheaper. The problem is the work he has done himself with a couple of exceptions seems to be a bodge. We still have huge stripes down our dining area ceiling as we don't want him back to redecorate after using woodwork paint as a primer and we need to wait for onsite decorator.

We have had the tradesman who fitted gates back and he has admitted they aren't up to coping with our exposed situation. He is making new gates with a recess close so the gates overlap and we don't have a gap and also more secure bolts and fittings as they are getting battered by storms. We did say they weren't fit for purpose and were treated with contempt but this has proved to be true.

Re your comments about management. The MD is on site most days to our knowledge now, so perhaps is taking over that supervisory role.
We still have 7 outstanding issues 9 weeks in, but hoping we can get these addressed and be left in peace in our new home.

[New Home Expert]

If the MD feels he needs to be on site everyday, there must be lots of problems and issues on the site.
Perhaps the site manager has now left?

[New build survivor]

No. It's only a small site and no one has left to my knowledge.
To correct an earlier comment, the site manager is a really good guy but focussed on the building side, and I've said before I think there has just been assumption everyone is doing a thorough job and also being the first of a new design has had some other teething issues. I think genuinely the MD wants to be hands-on as he said it has been stressful for him too and there are a few more properties sold now, so perhaps there is pressure now to meet deadlines etc. And it always helps to keep everyone motivated when the boss is working alongside you.

It's actually good to see and think the people buying the houses after us are not going to have half the issues we have had. Just wish there'd been a bit more oversight so we could have avoided some of them. Thankfully our issues haven't been catastrophic, but have been stressful and absorbed a lot of our time, and it's horrible when your living space is a mess, particularly when visitors come to see our new house and we have to start explaining why we have runs/stripes down our ceiling and wall.

Feel now that I'm going over old ground and there is not much more I can usefully share to help anyone else. We're getting there! Probably come spring we'll be in a completely different mindset and loving being here.

The only other comment is if anyone in Norwich is now looking for a semi that is a bargain - the prices have just dropped. The asking price is £25,000 less than when we were looking last summer with a garage, and £40,000 less without a garage! Bit of a sickener for us as we paid premium price with multiple snags, but the semis seem to be slow selling and two now sold on back of price drop we think. Anyone buying now will probably get a really well snagged house after us as guinea pigs. Had we have known we would be paying so much more than anyone else we'd have been tougher on the snagging list. Got scratches on patio door and door handles etc. That haven't flagged, but for that price differential it should have been perfect.

Not going to post again on this topic, unless I think there is anything significant worth sharing or I'm still looking at stripey ceiling

[New build survivor]

Well, been a while but just wanted to update on where we are with our remedial issues.

Two months on from last update and new gates have been fitted and they are better, but we are still waiting for them to be aligned as they are sticking and for plates and screws to be fitted and adjusted.
I can't understand that the guys who do this are constantly on site but can't take an hour or so to finish it off, it’s very frustrating. We've been promised it will be this week.

We had our ceiling painted 4-5 weeks ago but immediately noticed fresh condensation runs when we had the really cold weather in January. Not been so bad recently but we have stains again. MD has  checked out and there are no issues with external roof insulation but may be gap in drylining with velux. Not sure where we go from here as can't face more mess and disruption internally. Has been suggested there needs to be cutting into the boards around velux to check if there are gaps, but it will be messy and we are still unable to put TV on wall and do the things we want to until this is resolved.
Can't believe we have been here 4 months now.

Now the light is improving we are realising how poor the paintwork is. Sections of woodwork seem not to be top coated or have a very flat finish which differs from other woodwork. Window frames with multiple rust spots, which we understand is down to being painted when too humid.
Haven't flagged these as snags as just trying to get our more important issues finally resolved.
Just want to get to end of our list and finally be settled!

[New Home Expert]

Not good. All you can do is stick with it.
For anything Ingram Homes refuse to do, make a written claim using the warranty before the two years is up.