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

You’re being rude- loaded questions designed to call the Op stupid. I’m sure that’ll make her feel better, to know a stranger on the internet thinks she’s a twit.

Ask for 3 months rent on top of the purchase price/costs. It’s their fault, they need to rectify it. Have you spoken to a solicitor?

I'm obviously being a bit thick here
But you paid £800 k to live in a horrific area ...
Why ...

I'm puzzled because there are still identical houses on that estate for sale.
5 beds, just under £800K. They are on Right Move and one like OP's.

If there are huge issues with plumbing or serious structural things why are they still for sale ? (Happy to be told why by anyone!)

It's a big estate, but so are many at the moment. They aren't awful per se, yes they have tiny gardens but you're getting 5 beds , over 3 storeys, and several showers & loos. It's only 'dystopian' if you think that way.

For many young or growing families they offer a lot of space.

Getting those amount of rooms in a village even in Beds would set you back over £1M.

Hello

Firstly thank you to everyone that’s posted and sorry I haven’t been replying/engaging; I’m post night shifts with only one hour sleep in the last 72 days :(. Will reply properly once had a nap.

I had at the back of my mind refused to believe that Wixams was as awful
as it it. I thought they’d be secret places or things people knows that I’d be told about once I’d met people and got talking.i was wrong. There really is nothing. And we were sold “fantastic amenities”. There’s a chip shop, a small and always rammed Co-Op, and a Turkish barbers. What more facilities could one need

I think it’s as fair to assume the issue is isolated to OPs house as not; it would be fairly usual for a whole estate to be full of dud houses.

I’m struggling with this, so you knew it was awful but didn’t want to believe it was as awful as you thought and thought there was “secret” places you’d be told about when you bought there? That’s a really unusual mindset. I’d have assumed you bought as you got more house for the money, that’s why most folks do it, move to bad areas.

but again I also can’t work out your mindset now, you have all the options available to you, but are dithering so much you’re even asking on mumsnet,

surely if you don’t want to live there and have a cast iron offer of buy back and comp, you just do that?

I’ve got a friend like this. Everything is a big stress drama and mistake. He’s had the attitude with buying a new house himself (there was nothing wrong with the house though tbf) I think some people just get massively anxious about big decisions, and tbf to OP, it’s also gone massively wrong so she’s probably down about the whole place/ area now, and who can blame her really.

I suppose everyones idea of horrific is different
Horrific to me ,is stabbings shootings murder burglary ect
Is that what you mean ..or

If you can get your money back and a bit of compensation ,I'd do that .
Then start again looking at where you want to live
Put your stuff in storage if you have to and maybe rent for a bit

I'm struggling to understand your latest post.

You thought there'd be 'secret places' that you would find out about.

If you want 'amenities' surely you'd expect to go further afield than a very small suburb and the housing estate?

Did you not do what most people do when buying which is to really investigate the area - day, evening, weekends - and see what it's like?

I'm sorry about the faults with your house .

But you did start complaining about how unsuitable your house was many months back when you realised your elderly parent couldn't access a shower because they can't climb stairs.

There is a big retail park just up the road towards Bedford and other smaller towns with shops.

It's not a 'bad area' . It's an area that has been built on with lots of new housing estates where you get a lot of bang for your buck, relatively. You've got Bedford just up the road, a retail park closer, and lot of towns within a fairly easy drive including Milton Keynes, or more quaint towns like Olney not too far.

Where did you move from? A completely different area?

This . As soon as they agreed to buy it back I’d be looking to move out , in case they change their minds and you end up in years of litigation

^This.
You’re clearly sleep deprived! Revisit this thread once you have had a proper nap, a meal and a glass of water and I’m sure you will then see that actually you’re quids in as someone is offering to buy a house that you clearly shouldn’t have bought in the first place.

Sell and cut your losses. You hate the area, its a blessing that this happened.

OP you need to take a step back and stop thinking that moving out in 3 months is impossible. It’s not, challenging yes but not impossible. It strikes me that it answers all your problems because you’ll get your money and be free from the area. If you stay I think you will forever regret it and then look to move, costing you £££.

Start today, look at options. Short term let, an sur bnb (I think you can do these for 6 months), storage options. Just get your head in the space and brainstorm options. You’ll be there for Christmas so that’s covered.

So major construction issues with the house on the one hand and major cold feet with the area on the other.

If you loved the area it would make sense to allow them to fix the house; as you’d like to get away I agree with others - take their offer and run.

It’s certainly possible to buy a property in 3 months you just need to buy an empty or no chain property (ie sellers are intending to rent).

Do you have a full price offer from them in writing?

It's really not! That's like an hour north of London!

I'd buy this one if I had your budget Lovely house

The south east includes Bedford @Zonder regardless of your wiki post.
A town can be 'east' but still south!

I know what you mean- or rather Wiki- because for electoral purposes, as an example, the country is divided into segments. But no one living near Bedford would say they were in the Midlands, for instance.

There are thousands of people commuting from London to Bedford every day on the train which takes 40 minutes.

I’m interested in this idea that the south east of England is anything south east of London- I have literally never heard this before

I would class Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire as south east, for example. None are south of London.

Well she was getting 5 bedrooms and the convenience of a house where everything was modern, new and functional. Or so she thought.

Administratively Bedford is in the East. SE is London and the Home Counties.

I've not managed to read all posts so apologies if I am repeating myself.

I agree with the other posters I have read - I would not want to live in this house even after the work. They need to buy it back. You need to think of protecting your assets in the future for example even after said work, you may have to declare issues if you were to sell in the future.

Spreadsheet up everything. Rental, removal, stress, time off work etc.

I absolutely would get free legal advice first, your building/house insurance may have legal cover, the paperwork and work will take months more than likely a year. So there needs to be formal agreements in place about rent and then paying it etc. I would also seek advice from the New Homes Ombudsman. www.nhos.org.uk. This is to ensure you get everything you are entitled to and don’t end up signing for something you may later regret. NHBC will be covered. You should also send correspondence to mortgage provider just to keep them aware. What has your conveyancing solicitor said?

What a nightmare. Diarise all stress and comms.
This is because of personal and financial compensation are two different things. Good luck and keep us updated. But do not agree to live there after the work.

When we look for SE we have been meaning Home Counties sort of way, maybe even more north, as you say Beds Bucks Herts then down to sort of North London