How f-***ked are we?

[Frazzled252]

We bought a Barratts David Wilson (BDW) five bed home in Bedford this year. It has turned out to be the home from hell, with sewage smells, gurgling and no ceiling or floor plumb.
BDW have admitted that they need to take the house back to brick to sort the issues, and that we will need to move out. That’s not okay with us as we bought a newbuild for the convenience. BDW have offered three months mortgage payments, but we don’t have a mortgage so have no idea what this cash goodwill would look like.
BDW have also offered to provide a cash settlement in lieu of fixing the house but then we’d have to pay ourselves to fix the house and would likely lose money.
We are also keen to move from the dystopian and apocalyptic looking area (Wixams). The issue is that the house was relatively cheap because it is in such a horrific area.
what options do we have?
is there anywhere in the south east that we can get a decent house for 800-900k?
TIA for replies

Will they buy the house back?
plenty of places in the SE you can get a nice home for 800k

They have said they will but they want us to move in three months which will be an issue, as finding somewhere will most definitely take longer than three months. We suspect that’s why they’ve made that stipulation. Their best deal is to give us another house in a different part of Wixams but the lack of amenities is just untenable

If they're willing to buy it back then why not find somewhere to rent and then start looking for a new house to buy once the money comes through?

Take the money and run, surely?

If you don’t want to live in the same area anymore then take the option of them buying the house back and move. You could rent for a bit whilst you find a new area and house.

Take the money!!
This house will never be right and neighbours / locals will know about the issues if they have to do major work on it. This could be problematic if you want to sell in the near future.

I would rent too. Don't get fixated on renting as a perceived waste of money. It would be money well spent to get you free of this situation!

take the money, and get out of there. Especially if you don’t like the area. Rent until you find somewhere. Not ideal no, but likely your best option.

I can't believe with £800k plus to buy a house you bought a nasty new build in a horrible area. What on earth is your criteria that you couldn't find a nice house in a nice area for that money!?

I’ve just posted on your other thread.
If they’ve offered to buy it back accept. And ask them to also pay the packing and removals out as a good will gesture. Then you can leave your possessions in storage and just stay in a small Airbnb for a few weeks whilst the purchase goes through on the next one.

Sell it back to them and get the hell out of there.

Take the money and go. Plenty of places you can buy a house in the SE for that. Either rent for a bit or stipulate in your house search that you will only view houses with no chain-in which case, as an essentially cash buyer without even a mortgage to negotiate, you can easily get the purchase done in 3 months (or thereabouts-you might have a few weeks in an air b and b or something, or go on holiday even if you can), but it’s all doable in that time frame with no chain involved if you get cracking.

Take a look at the New Monks Farm in Lancing you might like that

I am guessing that part of the issue is finding a five bed property to rent is not that easy. But still in your situation I would take the money and leave. Could you rent something smaller since it is only hopefully a temporary arrangement?

The answer to your question is "not at all!" They are offering to buy back: grab the offer with both hands and rent until you find a house in an area you like.

Imagine yourself in a new house in a year, then work backwards to ask yourself how you would get there. It will show you that it's 100% realistic and achievable if you accept their buy back offer.

Renting won't be wasting anything like the amount of money you could lose by staying then having to sell at a knock-down price later.

This. Even if you only average 2% interest due to tax (although you can use your tax free savings allowance if you have one, plus Premium Bonds and your ISA allowance) that's £16k pa interest, which will go a long way towards the cost of rent.

I wouldn’t think twice, take the buy back!

Out of curiosity, what does ‘buy the house back’ mean in reality? Is it just the sale price of the house, or does it include all the sunk costs such as stamp duty (expensive on an £800k house!), legals, removals etc? Also, not relevant in this situation, but say there was a mortgage involved, would they pay the Early Repayment Charge too?

Just genuinely interested because if it was purely just a ‘refund’ of the sale price you could still be £50k out of pocket.

Take the sale and run for the hills.
Rent or even an open rent property will be a stop gap but cant see you beibg able to sell this house easily for a decent price in the future onve buyers start surveys and searches. Future buyers may even struggle to get a mortgage against it, even once issurs resolved. Not a risk id be prepared yo take.
Start house huntkng for your next house to buy now and rent as a stop gap.

dh and I were “homeless” due to a problematic house purchase and since it was winter we negotiated a very good value four month stay in a holiday home.

the owner was pleased to have it let continuously through winter.

It was beautiful and balm to our souls after the nightmare we’d had

I think you need to also acknowledge that you have made a mistake buying there in the first place, that there will be some costs involved.

I imagine they are looking to avoid being sued, I would probably advise you to get legal advice and find out what you are entitled to op. Start there and negotiate your way out. Rent in the south east and that way you can trial run a new life/house there.

I was going to say this - you could get a decent deal on an airbnb or a holiday home if you’re willing to rent it for a while.

Run with the money.
Look up the sunk cost fallacy and feel no guilt in moving on.
I saw a quote from someone the other day - The longer you stay on a train you don't really want to be on, the harder it is to get back home.
They were talking about relationships but the same is true for your house.

Yeah, I’d let them buy it back. I would never trust this house and you say you want to move anyway! I wouldn’t want to stay there for 3 months anyway!

I’m sorry your house is such a disaster. Take the buy-back and move somewhere nicer. Come to Letchworth. It’s lovely, well connected and you’d get a beautiful house for 900k. Fab for kids.