I have recently bought a new build house from a builder.
I had it entered as an ‘agreed extra’ in the contract of sale that the builder would put some flooring in the attic for storage purposes.
I did not know nor did the builder tell me that strictly speaking this was not possible. Nor did he tell me that if he did put any flooring down, he would have to remove the insulation and it would invalidate any guarantees against the property/roof with NHBC for example.
Now 5 weeks after we completed, he is coming out with this horse shit.
He completely strung me along during the process…oh I can’t put the floor in yet, the insulation needs to be inspected, the insulation has only just been inspected so I’ll start on it now. I’ll do it while you’re on holiday etc etc. Anything to push this into the long grass and after the completion date. I did not check that he had done this prior to completion because there were several other things to check and he caused a huge drama on the day of completion about my solicitor not getting back to his in a timely enough manner. I clocked this as a smokescreen for something at the time and withheld some money in order to provide him with an incentive to finish some other small things he was supposed to so….but to was all to high drama and confusing to be able to really decipher what was going on.
Anyway now that I’m back from holiday he has only put in 3 planks of wood which he says is the flooring in the attic. When I challenged him on it he said, that was all he could do because the roof cannot take much load and it would indemnify any guarantees I had….and he would have to lift the insulation which is not ideal. However at NO TIME did he mention this prior to completion and indeed I had him laying flooring in the attic for storage purposes written into the contract of sale. However the fact that this is written into the contract of sale seems inconsequential to him and does not seem to be a threat/impetus.
Anyhows I’ve checked it with building controls and what the builder has now told me (after completion) is accurate. The attic has a truss rafter (w shaped) roof and is not designed for use as a storage space. Also it is against building control/regs to remove insulation or compress it (this makes it 50% less effective.
My position therefore, after substantial investment in this new build detached house is…..
I wouldn’t have bought if the attic could not be floored. It is one of the things I asked about early on, if I could get a storage floor put in.
I would not have bought the house if I’d have known that storing things in the attic would make me lose my guarantees on the house. Who would accept this? Having everything under guarantee is one of the reasons for buying a new build house.
I would not have bought the house if I’d have known that putting storage flooring in the attic would mean removing the insulation, when lower running costs were another central reason for moving into a new build home
I have paid for a home with modern insulation, that is guaranteed and that has storage.
It is a bit like buying a house with a garage and being told all along you can use it for storage only to find out after you have bought it that this is impossible or it would only be possible if you traded the storage aspect in for a less well insulated house or one without normal home builders’ council guarantees. There was NO mention of any conditions being put on the contracted agreement to put in flooring in the attic for storage purposes prior to the completion of sale (of the house).
It is apparent that the builder has strung me along to believe that he was going to put flooring in the attic for storage purposes with a series of deliberate and calculated lies designed to push this issue to after completion of the house sale. When I asked why he had not put down the flooring 2 week prior to sale completion, he said that the insulation needed to be inspected first and the flooring put down afterwards, when I asked again about this he said that the insulation had just been inspected the day previously and he was doing it now. When I noticed after completion that he had not done it (in the midst of the news of the leak and the various other things that he didn’t do) he told me he would do it while I was away on holiday. When I came back he had put down 3 planks of plywood around the attic door which wouldn’t hold a few suitcases and a Christmas tree.
WTF can I do?
Has anyone been in this or a similar position?
Can I sue him for mis-selling or breach of contract?
The building Control officer said that raised batons would need to be put down to raise the height of the floor so that the insulation would not be compressed and that, at the owner’s own risk, flooring could be put down in a large middle section of the house if desired. However as I am only finding out all of this deception now (5 weeks after moving in), I have spent any spare cash on blinds and furniture – so I haven’t got the oney to put this right in the meantime if I have to sue.
And also WTF (where W = why) should I even think about this when I have been consistently deceived and filibustered with drama, guff and tripe….When I cannot tell you how many conversations I had with the builder about the attic storage, what I was going to put there, how important it was to me, the fact that I was going to put up shelves (which I’ve bought) that I tended to buy older sizes of clothes for DC in the sales and wanted to keep them in the attic, etc, etc, etc.
I’m passed myself.
Any advice welcome.