We promise to…
Build you a house. Sort of.
Contractual Inequality
Most housebuilders have their own standard term contracts that they must enter into if you want to buy a new home from them.
A contract means certainty, right?
Well, your commitment to pay them the full stated purchase price is certainly certain.
But what about their commitments to you? Their contract will certainly say what plot you are getting, but what does it say about the house they are building on it?
That they will build in a good and workmanlike manner? According to whom? Assessed how?
That they will comply with the plans and specifications available to view (but not take copies of) in the sales office? But if you are not allowed copies, how can you check if they complied with them later on? (You can’t, which is the point).
Other common terms allow them to make changes to the design, size, layout, materials, specification etc - within certain ‘limits’. But who determines those limits?
Most contracts also exclude liability for anything the sales staff may have said to you during the sales process, which of course they knew but you might not have done when making your purchasing decision…
So whilst your obligations are fixed, theirs are not. And so the stage is set for housebuilders to overpromise (to maximise the price you pay) and underdeliver (to maximise their profit) - and you only discover the consequences of this inequality after you have paid over the full purchase price and moved in.
If you find your new home is not built to the standards you think it should be and you are wondering what you can do about it, our New Home Buyer Claims service gives you access to comprehensive legal expertise including how to get around any contractual hurdles or inadequacies your housebuilder may have sought to impose on you at the outset, empowering you to get the home you were promised, not what they want to get away with.
Please get in touch today to find out how we can help you.
“It’s all good, we are NHQB registered…”
Many housebuilders are now registered with the New Homes Quality Board (‘NHQB’) whose Code of Conduct says
“The developer must make sure that the terms of the contract of sale are clear, fair and written in plain language, and that they keep to all relevant legislation”.
But does being registered with NHQB mean your housebuilder is compliant with its Code of Conduct?
No.
NHQB is not the arbiter of whehter a housebuilder’s standard term contract is fair, or clear, or compliant with ‘all relevant legislation’ (whatever that means).
Would you know if your contract was fair? Would you know if your housebuilder was seeking to rely on an unfair term in its contract to deny you redress in some way? Clauses designed to this end are extremely common. Would you know what to do about it if your contract included terms like this?
You are not expected to know the answers to these, certainly not by your housebuilder which doubtless has every intention of keeping it that way in an effort to profit from your loss. But we know the law and our New Home Buyer Claims service allows you to overcome unfair terms and every other obstacle housebuilders are liable to put in your way in an effort to deny you fair redress.
Please get in touch today to find out how we can help you.
Right action gets right results.
Common Conveyancing Misconceptions
Your conveyancing solicitor is very unlikely to offer or agree to advise you on whether a housebuilder’s standard term sale contract contains potentially unfair or unlawful terms or whether what you are buying is inherently vague or uncertain.
Buying a new build home is a high value, unregulated and potentially very risky transaction. One of the biggest risks is entering into the transaction in good faith not realising how potentially imbalanced and unequal the contract terms are. Chances are, you will only find this out once you have moved in and discovered that things are not as you reasonably expected they should be.
Do not be deterred. We have the solution. Our New Home Buyer Claims service may not be the answer you might have expected when you agreed to buy your new home, but that is only because the industry is very good at drawing in new customers and keeping you in the dark about the kind of information we make available to our clients through this service.
Our way is what works, reliably, affordably, cost-effectively, and is how you ensure that you get what you paid for, not what they want to get away with.
Contact us today to find out how we may be able to help you.