PLOT 15, PENDRILL PARK, CAMBRIDGE
We purchased a new home from Countryside Properties in May 2006 with a full Ten year Zurich Insurance Policy.
Over the following six months it became evident that there were fundamental fire safety and structural defects within the property.
Should the reader be considering buying such a new home just remember the stark warning from the National Consumer Council who famously stated that “a buyer has more rights when buying kettle than when buying a new home”. This - unfortunately for us - has proven to be very true.
Summary of defects identified by an independent Surveyor
- The fire wall in the roof space separating us from our neighbours had been left incomplete
- Safety critical fire stops had not installed to the cavities leaving us at risk to the spread of fire from our neighbours
- The party wall was not constructed behind the fire place leaving just a sheet of black polythene against a potentially hot gas flue
- Roof trusses had not been properly installed and then cut up and altered after the completion of the roof
- The roof was not fixed down to the rest of the house and could have actually shifted in a high wind
- More than half the rainwater down pipes were not installed and one actually terminated in the lawn and not the sewer
- No ventilation had been installed to the roof causing black mould growth on the fascias
- Roof tiles were not fixed down causing them to lift and rattle on windy days
- The gas boiler had not been installed correctly causing constant breakdowns when continually running during cold periods
- None of the required acoustic insulation had been fitted causing sound and vibration to be freely transmitted around and between the houses
- The newel posts to the stairs had not been fixed adequately causing the handrails to become very loose and liable to eventual collapse
- The damp course had been bridged by the render leading to rising damp in our kitchen
For the full story of our fight to get our house put right, visit our diary page