A FURIOUS resident has slammed a developer for leaving his £500,000 new build incomplete – here’s how he got his revenge.
After being ignored by Avant Homes for nearly two years, the frustrated homeowner took matters into his own hands.
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The row was sparked after Balbinder Singh claimed the company abandoned the Mickleover house riddled with problems.
To warn potential buyers, he has plastered a huge sign on the front of his house, and it reads: “Avant Homes our review.
“We moved in 1st April 2021 and work is still uncompleted. Avant is no longer responding to us.
“There is lots of uncompleted work. We are happy to share pictures. Don’t make the mistake we made.”
The fed-up resident, who lives on the Cotchett Village estate, Derby, has slammed Avant Homes for shoddy work on his pent-roof porch.
He claims, due to faulty design, water runs off the ledge and down a wall by the side of the front door which has resulted in moss and damp build up.
There are multiple unresolved issues inside the property such as broken bifold doors, terrible paint jobs, cracked toilet seat and faulty lighting.
The outraged homeowner told the Derby Telegraph: “They’re ignoring us and they’re not bothered. We’re fed up. How can they leave it like this?
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“They agree with me when I speak to them and then nobody comes. Someone has to come forward.”
But the developers – who have found themselves in hot water with several local residents – argue Balbinder caused his own problems when he began building an extension.
Avant Homes have hit back claiming the home improvement renovations affected their customer’s warranty.
However, Balbinder is not the only buyer to come forward and express frustration towards the company.
Kevin Crisp and his family settled into their property in 2021, but very quickly noticed a hoard of problems left behind by the developer.
Kevin said: “There’s been loads of stuff. We had a street barbecue for the Queen’s Jubilee last year and the theme was that everyone is having the same problem.”
“The customer service is diabolical. Even through the process of buying it, they ignored us”, his partner added.
The Crisp family claim a faulty sink led to a replacement kitchen worktop – but it was cut too short and never fixed.
They also allege part of their garden is continuously flooded due to poor planning and construction.
Another disgusted property owner on the street, Steven Bosworth, moved into his home in 2020.
Since then, the resident’s house has been plagued by problems that never get seen to.
There is lots of uncompleted work. We are happy to share pictures. Don’t make the mistake we made.”
Balbinder Singh
“We’d never buy from them again. They’re a waste of time and don’t want to fix anything”, the furious homeowner said.
“I’m constantly pushing them to come round and fix stuff and we’re still waiting.”
He described having his downstairs toilet ripped out and refitted after he was shocked to find water leaking through the walls.
It has also been necessary to pay for new flooring and kitchen units due to damages and missing plug points.
However one couple, believed to be the first to move onto the street, claimed they haven’t faced any problems with the developers.
But, they did agree customer service has “gone downhill” since the Covid lockdowns.
An Avant Homes spokesperson said: “We have been in ongoing dialogue with the occupant (Mr Singh) regarding his property.
“Having fully investigated the occupant’s concerns regarding his home, we believe a significant number of them were caused by the building of an extension on the property after the house was purchased.”
According to Avant, they have told Balbinder that his extension voided some aspects of the property’s NHBC Buildmark warranty.
“We have inspected the house and communicated back to the occupant what is acceptable for us to resolve in relation to his concerns outside of those created by the extension,” the spokesperson added.
“Our customer liaison team is proactively dealing with a very small number of residents at the development who have raised concerns to ensure any reasonable requests are addressed.”
What are your rights?
All new build homes come with some form of warranty.
Most often, this is a builder warranty of around 10 years, against structural issues, and a shorter developer warranty against issues with fixtures and fittings.
Registered builders are bound by a Consumer Code, which sets out quality standards.
If the house is not complete at the time it was promised, the customer can cancel the purchase, with a full refund of any deposit or reservation fee.
Complaints can be resolved privately with builders/developers in the first instance.
However, if you are not satisfied, there is an independent dispute scheme that can be used within the first three months of receiving the final response to the complaint from the builders.
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