Outcome: Complaint upheld

Case date: 21st February 2024

The Issues

The customer had a new home completion complaint and complained that the developer lied to them throughout the process and concealed information about the progress of the build.  The property was completed late causing distress and inconvenience for their family through the need to move into temporary accommodation.

The Circumstances

The customer reserved the property in late 2022 with an estimated completion date of June/July 2023.  There were a number of delays in the build process which resulted in completion not taking place until early November 2023.

The customer was living in rented accommodation with a lease ending in late August 2023, allowing time for some delay.  Although the customer was able to secure a brief extension to the lease, it was not possible for them to remain in the rental as the deadline for completion was extended further.

The developer arranged for the customer to move into a property which they had taken in part-exchange and the developer covered the costs of this until completion.  The customer encountered problems with the property during their stay and these were addressed by the developer.

The customer began their new home completion complaint by complain to the developer about the information they had been given throughout the process, including information posted on their portal page indicating that a key build stage had been completed when it had not.  The customer felt they had needed to chase the developer repeatedly for updates, and that the estimated completion date had been moved a number of times.  The customer had a young family including one child with a disability and was distressed and anxious as the end of their lease approached and uncertainty about completion continued.

The developer acknowledged that there had been delays with the build and that incorrect information had been posted on the customer’s portal page about the progress of the build.  The developer felt they had acted reasonably in securing and covering the costs of temporary accommodation for the family and had relied on their agent’s assurance that the property was ready for occupation. The concerns raised by the customer about cleanliness, the boiler and the oven were addressed promptly. During their handling of the customer’s complaint the developer had provided a partial refund for an extra paid by the customer and a goodwill payment of £500.

The Ombudsman’s Decision

The Ombudsman considered the available information about the communications between the developer and the consumer about the progress of the build.  Elements of this were unclear but the customer had to chase the developer for information and the anticipated completion date moved several times, creating continuing uncertainty.  Overall, there was a delay of three months on an estimated completion time of 6-7 months.

The new home completion complaint was upheld on the basis of the standard of communications around the delays, the number of changes to the anticipated completion date and the error in the information posted on the developer’s portal about the stage completion. However, there was no evidence to suggest that the developer deliberately concealed information from the customer.

The Ombudsman acknowledged the efforts made by the developer to accommodate the customer’s family while the build continued, and the payments already made. Taking account of the customer’s evidence of their family situation and levels of stress and anxiety over the continuing delays, poor communications and changes of completion date, the Ombudsman considered that the developer should make a further payment of £735 to the customer, taking overall compensation to £1500.