For the above reason, the Houses of Parliament petition has been launched in the following terms:

 “Pls amend s.1(1) Defective Premises Act 1972 to reflect what was intended.”

“Purchasers of defective new dwellings are faced with considerable financial difficulties adversely impacting on their marriages and lives when they discover the purchases are defective. House-builders do not want to know having taken the purchaser’s money. Law Comm 40 (1970) is clear as to what was intended

Widely accepted, the statute has been wrongly interpreted by Court of Appeal etc. This is a significant hurdle to ordinary people seeking legal redress in England & Wales, who have, through no fault of their own, been burdened with defective new properties that they are unable to sell at full value, without informing prospective purchasers of the defects which often results in negative equity situations…”

Please refer to the page How to Improve the Situation to redress the current significant imbalance of power in favour of house-builders.

Next Section: Do the Insurance-Backed Warranty Provisions Help?