11 Month Delay On New Build & Mortgage Expiring

[Spartan87]

Hi All,

We are in the process of buying a two bedroom new build pre fab house from Urban Splash in Manchester City centre. We put a reservation fee down and were told completion would be June 2015. We then had a 5- month delay due to a sewer being found onsite so it was November 2015 completion. Then this turned into December 2015 for no given reason. Then in December we were told about another 5-month delay due to house factory over committing to two companies. This makes our current completion the end of May 2016 (no exact date given).

So far, for various reasons not related to our own finances, we have been through 3 IFAs, 2 HTB applications, 2 valuations, 11 months of initial build delays and pushed through hurdles of a self-employed mortgage application.

Because of the delays we had to move our Halifax approved mortgage product to one with a later drawdown deadline and now have a product that with a drawdown deadline of June 30th 2016.

We wanted to exchange contracts soon but are now hearing there may be yet more delays. We are worried about having to change mortgage products if the delay pushes us past June 30th. What is the process for this with timescales like ours? We have been through so much since starting this process that we can't bare to lose our £11,000 deposit (if we exchange) and get turned down for mortgage.

Note that our developers are not pushing us to exchange, as the delays are entirely their fault. They are likely to push soon though.

I know that most people would have pulled out by now but we are two very driven people trying to aquire the perfect house that we know we can afford. Does anyone have any advice or experience with this?

[New Home Expert]

Urban Splash have breached the Consumer Code for Home Builders requirement 3.2 regarding giving accurate information on a completion date and keeping you informed and giving reasons for any delay.
3.2   States:- "The Home Buyer must be given reliable and realistic information about when construction of the Home may be finished, the date of Legal Completion, and the date for handover of the Home."
There were 15 breaches of 3.2 in the 47 cases brought in 2015.

If your builder cannot be relied on to build and plan his works in a professional and timely manner, choosing to blame others then why would you still want to buy from them.  There is every likelihood that your home will be badly-built (or more accurately assembled!) and riddled with defects.

My advice as you have not exchanged, is to cancel and buy a second-hand home.
If they do not refund your reservation fee in full,  make a claim using the Consumer Code Arbitration Scheme, until we get a New Homes Ombudsman, that is all you have.

[Spartan87]

Thanks for that information.
I think that from an outsider's perspective it is easy to simply say 'drop out of the purchase'.
But we have lived in the City centre for 7 years. We do not want and cannot afford the houses we want to buy in South Manchester or the outskirts of Manchester. Plus we don't want to go from City centre living to living away from everything.

This build is the perfect oppurtunity for us to live in the centre but get the house, space, garden and parking we want/require. Having been in this process since Aug 2014 we have committed a great deal of time, stress and money into getting this house. To quit at this stage may seem logical but it's not something either of us want to do.

[Spartan87]

Urban Splash have breached the Consumer Code for Home Builders requirement 3.2 regarding giving accurate information on a completion date and keeping you informed and giving reasons for any delay.
3.2   States:- "The Home Buyer must be given reliable and realistic information about when construction of the Home may be finished, the date of Legal Completion, and the date for handover of the Home."

The website says:
The Consumer Code applies to home buyers who, on or after 1st April 2010, reserve to buy a new or newly converted Home built by a Home Builder under the insurance protection of one of the supporting Home Warranty Bodies.

• NHBC
• Premier Guarantee
• LABC Warranty

Sadly I have not seen anything to suggest Urban Splash are part of one of those...

[Spartan87]

I finally got around to reading the Checkmate Warranty used on our Urban Splash houses:
http://www.checkmate.uk.com/Downloads/CheckmateConsumerCodeForBuildersOfHomesForSaleA4.pdf

Makes for interesting reading on what Urban Splash have not done:
9. Information about Completion - Page 9: "The Builder must give the Buyer information about when the construction of the Home is estimated to be finished and made available for occupation and will regularly update that information to enable the Buyer to make informed arrangements. The Builder will ensure that the information it gives to the Buyer is correct at the time it is given. Please also see paragraph 13, which deals with practical completion dates in more detail."
11. The Contract - Page 10: "excessive unreasonable delay in finishing the construction of the Home and serving the notice to complete. "
13. Timings, practical completion and handover - Page 11: "The Builder should provide the Buyer with a schedule detailing timing of key stages and practical completion for the Home. General guidelines for timings and completion should be part of the Buyer information pack and frequently updated. Builders must ensure all information on timings is accurate at the time it is given."

[Spartan87]

Just found out another month delays takes us to 1 year of delays. Anyone know how to convince a developer to add a long stop date?

[New Home Expert]

I'm sorry that it's not what you want to hear, but quite frankly you would be mad to progress with this.

You say warranty is with Checkmate. I couldn't find any mention of warranty on Urban Splash's dreadful website - now I know why!

Checkmate are not part of the official Consumer Code for Home Builders. The Code Checkmate is quoting is NOT the same, it is their own version. Obviously Urban Splash and Checkmate do not want to be part of the CCHB such as it is,  and that is far from perfect in my opinion.

Despite this, you say Urban Splash are breaching Checkmates's Code all ends up anyway!

I am sorry, but I am not going to waste time going through clauses in Checkmate's warranty or their mocked-up version of the Consumer Code. If you want to ignore my very good advice and still go ahead and buy from Urban Splash, that's your decision.

I believe this property will be nothing but trouble for you.

Finally, Urban Splash could have given you a "long stop date" of a year, yet still this would have been missed! 

[KristyJoh]

we have been through 3 IFAs, 2 HTB applications, 2 valuations, 11 months of initial build delays and pushed through hurdles of a self-employed mortgage application.

Do we need to go through these procedures in order to get a self-employed mortgage?
I am also looking for a self-employed mortgage and I thought of using my tax documents to get the mortgage since I don't have any stable income or salary.
I even read an article  that says so, isn't 11 months too long for getting your mortgage approved?

[New Home Expert]

It's 11 months of "build delays"!
And no link spamming is allowed on this forum!