AIBU - Complain to housing developer that sofa doesn't fit in our house?

[binkyblinky]

Oh wise women of mums net, I need some advice please!

We recently moved into a new home on a brand-new development. It is a three story townhouse and the lounge is on the middle floor.

On moving in day we discovered that our sofa would not fit up the stairs and into the lounge. It is not a large sofa it is a modular sofa, the end units went up fine but the middle section which is a corner unit would not fit. The staircase is so narrow that we had to take apart the tops of our single Ottoman beds to get them up the stairs as well. This is in a large family home.

There are four identical homes to ours on the estate and every other person in those homes has had the same issue, with our neighbours sitting on beanbags for three months. The beanbag neighbours have had three sofa deliveries, all unsuccessful at getting up the stairs.

I feel angry that I had to throw away part of my sofa. The show home has a massive Corner unit in it. We were not advised when we moved in that staircases was so narrow and that we would have trouble fitting furniture up them.

If we were to team up and complain to the housing developer about the poor design, and that four families have been left with no seating, Would we get anywhere? Is there anything that we could do to ask for monetary compensation to buy sofas that you assemble at home? The other three families currently have their sofas in their kitchens while they try to solve this problem. It's ridiculous, being sold a £400,000 house And not being advised of this issue.

I can't see how they should say it is our fault, when they show home clearly written misrepresents the size of the furniture we required. Wisdom needed, thank you

@hopeishere

We had this. Luckily the developer was still on site so they somehow popped the window out and used a cherrypicker to put it in the window. Flipping sofa workshop just abandoned it in the hall!!

The sofa in the show home was probably carried in through the window. Try and see if the front window can be popped out, I had to do that and it was a total pita but it was the only way we could get the sofa in.

Afraid you're unlikely to get anywhere with the developers OP- what solution would you be after? A reduction in price? Demolishing the existing stairs

It’s literally in the opening post, she wants money to buy new sofas.

Are you saying the measurement given for the stairs was wrong?

Also, were there any disclaimers about guide measurements?

Our new build has a living room that’s 17x15 and a family room that’s 20x 15. I wouldn’t regard that as small. I imagine that the majority of sofas stay downstairs, but of course, town houses will be different.

Our doors are wide enough to allow wheelchair access too. We know that works because we’ve had a wheelchair through them.

Friends of mine had this in a much older home. They took out windows to out furniture upstairs, then put the windows back in

You may need to do this too.

My friend lived in an old cottage with narrow doorways. Everytime they wanted to change any piece of furniture that wasn't flat pack they needed to get the front window removed. They were on very good terms with the local glazer!

You want compo because you can't read the dimensions on a plan?

YABU to think you have much of a chance with complaining unless the developer actually misled you but YANBU to be pissed off.

It’s hard to get sofas up staircases at the best of times.

We had to have our window frame taken off to get our sofa in, then have it put back again.

Just one of those things with townhouses/terraces.

We've also had to send a wardrobe back because it wouldn't fit around the turn in the stairs. We measure everything now.

The ambulance men had a terrible time carrying my bedridden uncle down the stairs to transport him to hospital. He was about 6 foot and very lean.
Statistically the UK has the smallest houses in the western world.
I accept land here is very expensive but this has been a “thing” re houses for all but the wealthy throughout history evenin the countryside.
Most houses not fit for reasonably comfortable living with lack of storage space and small rooms, no dedicated utility room.
OP you are unlikely to get redress but if enough of you and your friends etc are happy to approach the building firm to protest nd to publicise the matter the firm might feel embarrassed by the bad publicity to offer assistance.
In Holland the houses have traditionally had hoists on the front of their houses to enable furniture to be listed up and through the first and second storey windows. Maybe this needs to be introduced here?

It’s not because it’s a new build that the sofa won’t go round the stairs, the stairs will have been built to building control standards, many old houses have very narrow staircases so getting furniture in them can be difficult too, it’s down to you to measure and check furniture will fit in any house, old or new.

@binkyblinky. Not a Barratt queensville or brentford. Tons of them I’m the village I’m in and all have had the same problem. We eventually got ours in (3rd sofa lucky) but scuffed both sofa and wall doing it and it was not fun.

@DoubleTweenQueen

I can also recommend sofa.com, who make qualify chairs & sofas, give excellent size information and deliver & put together beautifully.

Was coming to say this. Some of their sofas come apart into small bits, making it even easier.

I once had a massive, 3 seater sofa (the Isla) delivered up two flights of tiny old Victorian stairs to my London flat - then out again when I moved. No problems at all!

Do you have a balcony? Our house has the same layout and we have to have the sofa lifted over the first floor balcony to get it in via the french doors.

Building regulations (when I last look, albeit about 5 years ago) do not cover the width of flights, just the rise, going, nose detail, size of landings, height of handrails and head clearance. Its a weird one.

@LegendDairy

Go through the window. That's what I've done in the past moving into townhouse flats.

Yep, I’ve had two friends buy townhouses and have to do this. It’s part of the reason I’d never consider buying one. But I probably wouldn’t even have considered the issue if I hadn’t known people it had happened to, you don’t think of this being a problem with a modern house!

We moved to a Victorian property with a teeny staircase last year, and we had to buy a flat pack futon sofabed for the spare room and even that was a struggle up the stairs. DP did consider going in through the sash window at one point!

@whatisthislifesofullofcare

Building regulations (when I last look, albeit about 5 years ago) do not cover the width of flights, just the rise, going, nose detail, size of landings, height of handrails and head clearance. Its a weird one.

Which means as long as it complies with these there is no come back really,

The developer will fight tooth and nail not to pay for their sofas, because it sets a precedent that they would need to do it for other developments.

And quite frankly it’s the ops responsibility to make sure she has furniture that fits, not the builders responsibility to ensure they build round the furniture.

I haven't RTFT but I know of a developer fined for using 3/4 size furniture in the showhomes and I mean all of the furniture was smaller than standard and some fitted furniture was half the normal depth of what people would be bringing to their own (not the show) home. I am assuming it was under legislation such as below?

m.brand-newhomes.co.uk/consumer-protection-regulations.htm

Have a look here.

@Whymustyoubringinthebirds

My understanding is that show homes have smaller made furniture in them because new build rooms tend to be smaller

They also take the doors off to make the rooms look bigger than they are.

We're in a Victorian 2-up 2-down and bought a sofa only to find it wouldn't fit. I measured very carefully before buying another!

And we had the divan hauled in through the window when we moved in. (A double in two sections).

When our landlord put double glazing in, they put in a "furniture window" upstairs. The whole thing opens like a door to get furniture in and out, with a smaller opening pane within for normal use.

So yeah. Unless you were misinformed before purchasing the house, or it actually breaks relevant building regulations, it's your own fault you've got furniture that won't fit unfortunately.

@Squittly

Did you pivot?

😁😂😁😂😁😂

I understand older houses struggling to accommodate furniture but tbh building new houses where the sofa is supposed to go up stairs and not building the stairs big enough is surely only something done for money making purposes.

I used to live in a house like this, it had narrow windows so you would be unable to get it in that way. I purchased my sofa from furniture village, they had an option in the range where it came in two parts and clipped together

Annoying I know but tape measures were invented a long time ago! Hopefully in few months it will just be a distant memory.

Our 1930s house has a narrow staircase that doubles back on itself and a narrow landing with bedroom doors angled towards each other, right at the end. Most of our upstairs furniture is flat pack!