Lack of Available Land and Skills

There is increasing pressure on house-builders and developers to use brownfield and increasingly difficult sites (for instance, sites that were previously on flood land), especially given the HM Government plan to double house-building. When there is a shortage of skills, sometimes dwellings end up being defectively designed and/or constructed. This leaves purchasers of such dwellings in a very difficult position, often with their only significant asset rendered defective, potentially un-mortgageable and/or unsalable or only saleable at a substantial discount, leading to negative equity. Clearly this is not right.

Additionally, with a shortage of land and dwellings to live in, the UK house-builder has a lot of power and, as a direct result, a culture exists in UK house-building where developers often neglect to pay due care and attention when constructing new houses. This is despite the fact that, as a buyer, you have paid your hard-earned money and burdened yourself with a mortgage for many years into the future.

If your new house is defective and has serious problems, what’s the next step?

Work with an experienced legal professional who has significant experience and expertise in this area, with the appropriate knowledge of negotiation and litigation involving defectively designed and constructed buildings/dwellings. They will be able to give detailed consideration of areas of the law that may include construction, real property, commercial (contract and insurance), tort (e.g. negligence and nuisance) and statutory law.

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