Prepare
If you don’t know what is wrong, how will you ensure it is put right?
Knowledge is power
Letting the developer investigate defects might not cost you in professional fees, but the developer owes you no duty to ensure that they investigate things properly, or tell you what they find, or put things right properly. If you leave it to them, chances are you will get what you are given, which may be a very long way short of what you are due.
It is vital you get your own professional help to properly investigate and identify defects in your home, advise you on what should be done about them, and what it will cost you if the developer or warranty company fail or refuse to put things right. Without this, you will not be able to make fully informed decisions or engage effectively in negotiations with the developer or warranty company, or obtain fair redress if they fail or refuse to put things right properly.
This is very specialist work that your local surveyor is unlikely to be able to undertake for you. With our New Home Buyer Claims service, you can access our nationwide network of leading surveying and other experts who we will instruct on your behalf to provide a comprehensive, tailored service to properly investigate and diagnose defects in your home, advise you on a suitable scope of remedial works and price those works up. This is the gold standard for obtaining fair redress in relation to construction defects in new build homes.
Once you are signed up to our New Home Buyer Claims service, we will walk you through the process and make all necessary arrangements to ensure you have what you need to be able to take on your housebuilder and secure a fair outcome.
Legal principles – duty, breach, loss, and proving it
Duty:
If you are the first owner of your new home, the developer owed you contractual duties to build it properly. The developer also owed you a statutory duty to ensure your home was fit for habitation when complete.
Breach:
Defects generally amount to breaches of contractual and (if they render the home unfit for habitation) statutory duties.
Loss:
If those breaches cause you a loss, you are normally entitled to a remedy. For new build defects, the usual remedy would be remedial works or damages.
Evidence:
The legal burden is on you as claimant to prove breaches of duty, work out what the loss is, and prove it with evidence.
Our New Home Buyer Claims service ensures you can meet all of these requirements so you can then go on to obtain fair redress from the developer or warranty company, affordably and cost-effectively.
Please get in touch now for a free, no-obligation discussion to see how we can help you with your investigations and surveying needs.