New build (personalised) opened as show house without our consent

Utah

We bought a new build. We snagged last week. Due to get keys in next 2 weeks so nearly have the deal completed.

We got a call today from a friend saying that our house was open as a show house for the next phase of the development. We drove out to the house and sure enough, open to the public.

We got our floor tiles put down YESTERDAY and here's Joe-public walking all over them.

The main estate agent wasn't there but his colleague was. I let rip. She was all apologies and said it was a mix up. The house that was supposed to be showing was 2 doors down and they have rented it for showing, off the owner. The house that was supposed to be open is nowhere near complete as ours and the owner is getting paid for ours being open!! I do not believe it was a mix up.

Our house is not a fair representation of the houses on sale, we spent a lot of time and money customising and adding our ideas. Our bathroom tiles alone are a complete change from the standard. We don't like that people were in there taking photos etc.

It's supposed to be open tomorrow but I made sure it won't be. I'm not sure what to do next but I'm livid.

I'm going to look for the compensation the other owner was getting. I want an apology. But as we haven't drawn down I'm wondering do I have a leg to stand on.

The fact the snag was done and people could have been causing further issues/damage is bugging me

Any ideas?

kala85

Don't know if this is good advice or how it stacks up legally but I would go and change the locks asap.

Utah

kala85 wrote: »

Don't know if this is good advice or how it stacks up legally but I would go and change the locks asap.

We don't have keys yet so can't do that

kala85

Why are you putting in tiles then etc until you have the keys and the property is fully yours.

Who owns it at the moment legally.

Pawwed Rig

Do you have a solicitor still involved? Bounce it off him/her and see what they say. I would be livid.

Pinch Flat

Have you exchanged contracts yet?

Utah

We are allowed tile it.

No solicitor involved yet but I will be talking to him on Monday.

Yes contracts are signed. Mortgage cheque has been issued, we are nearly in the door!

I think they may be allowed use the house legally but the fact they didn't have the decency to ask us is just lousy or unethical or something like that!

Fiskar

Utah wrote: »

We bought a new build. We snagged last week. Due to get keys in next 2 weeks.

We got a call today from a friend saying that our house was open as a show house for the next phase of the development. We drove out to the house and sure enough, open to the public.

We got our floor tiles put down YESTERDAY and here's Joe-public walking all over them.

The main estate agent wasn't there but his colleague was. I let rip. She was all apologies and said it was a mix up. The house that was supposed to be showing was 2 doors down and they have rented it for showing, off the owner. The house that was supposed to be open is nowhere near complete as ours and the owner is getting paid for ours being open!! I do not believe it was a mix up.

Our house is not a fair representation of the houses on sale, we spent a lot of time and money customising and adding our ideas. Our tiles alone are a complete change from the standard. We don't like that people were in there taking photos etc.

It's supposed to be open tomorrow but I made sure it won't be. I'm not sure what to do next but I'm livid.

I'm going to look for the compensation the other owner was getting. I want an apology. But as we haven't drawn down I'm wondering do I have a leg to stand on.

The fact the snag was done and people could have been causing further issues/damage is bugging me

Any ideas?

Change the locks

Even 25 years ago when we got our new build it was happening, what bothered me most was finding tea bags on my garage floor 2 years later when getting driveway work done by the same builder. We had changed the house locks but not the garage!

Utah

Fiskar wrote: »

Change the locks

Even 25 years ago when we got our new build it was happening, what bothered me most was finding tea bags on my garage floor 2 years later when getting driveway work done by the same builder. We had changed the house locks but not the garage!

Haha

I will be changing once I get the keys. Not there just yet

Fiskar

Utah wrote: »

I'd love to! But I do want the builders to be able to finish off the snag fixes

Then you have no leg to stand on, builder still has legal ownership. He is accommodating you in allowing you tile and decorate but he retains the ownership and therefore the access.

Forget about it and move on

Utah

Fiskar wrote: »

Then you have no leg to stand on, builder still has legal ownership. He is accommodating you in allowing you tile and decorate but he retains the ownership and therefore the access.

Forget about it and move on

Yeah was afraid of that. Does the builder then allow the estate agent to do what they must?

Fiskar

Utah wrote: »

Yeah was afraid of that. Does the builder then allow the estate agent to do what they must?

He can do what he likes I'm afraid

Utah

Fiskar wrote: »

He can do what he likes I'm afraid

That's a little bit heartbreaking to be honest.

BettePorter

I'm assuming the extras / higher spec you've asked for is all being done by the builder and you're just paying the diff? The builder will see this as just a detail. Its still not your house yet. Whilst its annoying to think ppl are traipsing round your home it is technically still just a unit on site. I worked for builder and while we wouldn't have an open day to solely view a specific house we would allow possible buyers to have a look and if a particular house was 'further on ' the tendency would be to have that open too to show them ' how they could have it' ( of course we'd advise them this wasn't the basic spec)

Utah

BettePorter wrote: »

I'm assuming the extras / higher spec you've asked for is all being done by the builder and you're just paying the diff?

Correct. We could do anything we wanted using their vendors (painters, tilers, etc..) if we wanted to bring in our own, it'd have to wait until we got keys.

And our house would be the furthest on of its house type.

This sucks

Utah

But what about the snag? I've paid for for someone to complete that. What happens when Joe public launches the door into a wall as there's no door stops in

BettePorter

Utah wrote:

But what about the snag? I've paid for for someone to complete that. What happens when Joe public launches the door into a wall as there's no door stops in

Some snags are done officially by professionals others are done by the homeowner themselves on the back of a fag packet. The builder is still on site. Tbh in our case as long as we were still on site we were happy to accommodate you with issues found long after the fact. Nobody will say oh well you didn't mention the busted plaster in the snag so were not fixing it. I know u feel ur space was somewhat violated but honestly its still just a shell of a house. If your personal things were being nosed over by strangers that's different . But as is its just an empty unit that they have a buyer for.

Utah

Yeah I suppose. I know that the builders are great and would fix things long after the fact.

I've had a sleep on it. It was probably an overreaction on our part but I still feel we should have been informed.

Turtle_

Actually I'd say that you do have a leg to stand on. By offering the other purchaser rent to show the house they've created a constructive obligation to provide the same for you. And today, asap, I'd be in there inspecting for any sign of damage and ensuring that it gets fixed before you close.

tradesman

utah, it is bad what has happened to you without consulting you. You say contracts are signed but then again you say no solicitors are involved yet? You might have signed a contract but i doubt if the builder has signed so technically you are the only one committed to the sale & the house is still his property. I would definitely stop the open house until you come to an agreement with the builder. You have snagged already, lots of joe & mary public through the house potentially causing more problems. You need to get an agreement in writing that the builder will let you do another snag at his expense & if i were you i would look for a couple of extras thrown in to sweeten the deal.

athtrasna

Turtle_ wrote: »

Actually I'd say that you do have a leg to stand on. By offering the other purchaser rent to show the house they've created a constructive obligation to provide the same for you. And today, asap, I'd be in there inspecting for any sign of damage and ensuring that it gets fixed before you close.

Precisely this. They set the precedent that permission and payment was necessary and then neither got permission nor offered payment to you.

Utah

Turtle_ wrote: »

Actually I'd say that you do have a leg to stand on. By offering the other purchaser rent to show the house they've created a constructive obligation to provide the same for you. And today, asap, I'd be in there inspecting for any sign of damage and ensuring that it gets fixed before you close.

I will be looking for it as they said they were paying the other house that was supposed to be in use.

I'll be down there to discuss later

Utah

tradesman wrote: »

utah, it is bad what has happened to you without consulting you. You say contracts are signed but then again you say no solicitors are involved yet? You might have signed a contract but i doubt if the builder has signed so technically you are the only one committed to the sale & the house is still his property. I would definitely stop the open house until you come to an agreement with the builder. You have snagged already, lots of joe & mary public through the house potentially causing more problems. You need to get an agreement in writing that the builder will let you do another snag at his expense & if i were you i would look for a couple of extras thrown in to sweeten the deal.

Great advice. I'll do just that. Thanks

BettePorter

tradesman wrote:

You need to get an agreement in writing that the builder will let you do another snag at his expense

Do not do this. This is a complete overaction and won't do u any favours if you're going to be on site with the builder for the next however long. Whatever about asking for fees that the neighbour a few doors down is getting that's fine ( personally I think the estate agent was guessing at that, it may have been mooted as an option once the house is fully finished / furnished but certainly not at this stage)

The house is still a unit. Albeit a unit with some tiling done that the client paid extra for. That's immaterial to the builder. The damage ppl can do wandering round is at most cosmetic unless they're swinging from the light fittings. As I said the builder will be happy to fix anything once they still on site. However, in my experience. If you go all officious with them looking for written this and new snag list that, you ll be the last on the list of homeowners to do favours for come 6 months time.

alexonhisown

Utah wrote: »

Yeah I suppose. I know that the builders are great and would fix things long after the fact.

I've had a sleep on it. It was probably an overreaction on our part but I still feel we should have been informed.

I dont think you are over reacting, i wouldnt be happy that the public were walking all over tiles i have paid for.
And whats the point using your house as a show house, its been customised for you, and paid by you, so as you say, its not going to be what other buyers get in their house,
i would mention it to my solicitor, see what they say

Boater123

If you ever come to sell, you can legitimately say that your house was used as the show house, ie the best house in the estate and therefore worth a few pound more.

BettePorter

alexonhisown wrote:

i wouldnt be happy that the public were walking all over tiles i have paid for

Seriously? Trust me when I tell you that a few couples with brochures in their hands is the least invasive thing that happened in her unit this week. On Monday morning someone goes around and unlocks every unit. Throughout the day builders are in and out for various reasons, they don't take their boots off at the door either and let me tell you if u saw the bathroom of every unit before the final builders cleaning was done, you wouldn't buy a new build. It's all very well people saying oh I wouldn't put up with that go down to your soliciter and unleash hell but seriously its not being used as a showhouse .... its being used as a unit on site that nearer completion than the others.

tradesman

BettePorter wrote: »

Do not do this. This is a complete overaction and won't do u any favours if you're going to be on site with the builder for the next however long. Whatever about asking for fees that the neighbour a few doors down is getting that's fine ( personally I think the estate agent was guessing at that, it may have been mooted as an option once the house is fully finished / furnished but certainly not at this stage)

The house is still a unit. Albeit a unit with some tiling done that the client paid extra for. That's immaterial to the builder. The damage ppl can do wandering round is at most cosmetic unless they're swinging from the light fittings. As I said the builder will be happy to fix anything once they still on site. However, in my experience. If you go all officious with them looking for written this and new snag list that, you ll be the last on the list of homeowners to do favours for come 6 months time.

When buying a house there are no such things as favours! Your paying your money you will only get what your paying for. A resnag paid for by the builder is the least they could expect. You say damage people can do is minimal can i ask you that when you go to buy your brand new car from the showroom in 2017 will you ring me so I can borrow it for a coupe of weeks just to see if i would like one? You also say builders will be happy to fix anything on the list well I have carried out snaglists for clients & have had to fight for things to be rectified and once nearly literally fight!

alexonhisown

BettePorter wrote: »

Seriously? Trust me when I tell you that a few couples with brochures in their hands is the least invasive thing that happened in her unit this week. On Monday morning someone goes around and unlocks every unit. Throughout the day builders are in and out for various reasons, they don't take their boots off at the door either and let me tell you if u saw the bathroom of every unit before the final builders cleaning was done, you wouldn't buy a new build. It's all very well people saying oh I wouldn't put up with that go down to your soliciter and unleash hell but seriously its not being used as a showhouse .... its being used as a unit on site that nearer completion than the others.

Lol, thats very true, builders with muddy boots would do more Damage

Eric Cartman

athtrasna wrote: »

Precisely this. They set the precedent that permission and payment was necessary and then neither got permission nor offered payment to you.

+1 I'd be looking for the rent , a complete professional clean and the locks all changed.

Eric Cartman

Boater123 wrote: »

If you ever come to sell, you can legitimately say that your house was used as the show house, ie the best house in the estate and therefore worth a few pound more.

conversly , I have been told by many builders to never ever buy a show house. They are thrown up as quick as possible so sometimes if things need time to set (adhesives , concrete etc…) this time isn't necessarily given, also things like design issues with routing of pipework / cables etc… are all discovered when building the show house and the tradies learn how to avoid that in the following houses.

Boater123

Eric Cartman wrote: »

conversly , I have been told by many builders to never ever buy a show house. They are thrown up as quick as possible so sometimes if things need time to set (adhesives , concrete etc…) this time isn't necessarily given, also things like design issues with routing of pipework / cables etc… are all discovered when building the show house and the tradies learn how to avoid that in the following houses.

I hate to buy a house from one of the many builders that told you never ever to buy a showhouse. Must have been all celtic tiger cowboys

The ones I have had dealings with put a bit more care and personal input in to the show house, after all it was the one that sold the rest. Could you imagine a tile coming off the bathroom wall on an open Sunday? Word of mouth about shoddy construction would have the tiler kicked off site first thing Monday.

I'll agree to a degree about design issues, but only to the point that the plumber or sparks would come up with a more efficient or cost effective way of doing things after working on a few houses.

davo10

For those advising the op to look for "rent", op is not the owner, until the contracts are signed, sale completed and keys handed over, the property is still owned by the builder, not the op. It sounds like op got a PC sum for tiling/ware etc and added to it to upgrade, that is very common and the builder is indeed doing the op a favour by allowing him/her to proceed with this, the builder could start the tiling etc after completion during which time the op would have to begin mortgage repayments before the work is completed. This way the completion will be timed to coincide with the date when the op can start moving furniture/personal items in and so reduce the time during which the op cannot move in but still has to make repayments. By the sounds of things the op does not have any personal items in the house, he/she can inspect the house before his/her solicitor hands over funds and the op signs final contract.

Much ado about nothing.

Del2005

Eric Cartman wrote: »

+1 I'd be looking for the rent , a complete professional clean and the locks all changed.

Even if the builder changes the locks the OP will still need to change them once they move in, since they'll have no idea who's had access to the keys.

Change the locks yourself once you sign/move in.

Utah

davo10 wrote: »

By the sounds of things the op does not have any personal items in the house, he/she can inspect the house before his/her solicitor hands over funds and the op signs final contract.

This is right yes. We have no furniture etc, just our own personalised kitchen, bathrooms, tiles, wardrobes, paint and a few other bits. The builders have been very accommodating and I got my knickers in a twist because I didn't want anyone in there "ruining" it, when in fact, they would probably be doing less harm than the normal day to day goings-on in the house.

We went down to the showhouses yesterday to see the EA, again he wasn't there. I left a message for him to get in contact as I just want to discuss why we weren't informed. I realise we don't have to be informed but I think it would just have been a common courtesy. Our house was not open as a unit for viewing, next door was though!

MrDiyFan

Boater123 wrote: »

If you ever come to sell, you can legitimately say that your house was used as the show house, ie the best house in the estate and therefore worth a few pound more.

When I worked on the buildings I would have considered the showhouse the least desirable to purchase.
They were usually built hurriedly with all the trades working together for the first time and issues not ironed out until later in the site development.

MintyMagnum

davo10 wrote: »

. It sounds like op got a PC sum for tiling/ware etc and added to it to upgrade.

Can someone explain PC sum?

Pinch Flat

MintyMagnum wrote: »

davo10 wrote: »

. It sounds like op got a PC sum for tiling/ware etc and added to it to upgrade.

Can someone explain PC sum?

It's really just an allowance a builder includes for tiles / bathrooms - for use for purchase / supply from their own subcontractors / suppliers, so you can't take it and go somewhere else i.e. Your own supplier / contractor.

the_syco

Utah wrote: »

No solicitor involved yet but I will be talking to him on Monday.

Yes contracts are signed. Mortgage cheque has been issued, we are nearly in the door!

Have both parties signed the contract, and if so, have you had someone with legal knowledge have a look over the contract first?

I ask, as you may have already agreed to this, in said contract....!

Utah

the_syco wrote: »

Have both parties signed the contract, and if so, have you had someone with legal knowledge have a look over the contract first?

I ask, as you may have already agreed to this, in said contract....!

As far as I know they have signed and yes, I might have agreed without really reading the small print!

Anyway. We spoke to the EA yesterday and the matter is now closed.

MintyMagnum

Pinch Flat wrote: »

MintyMagnum wrote: »

PC sum


It's really just an allowance a builder includes for tiles / bathrooms - for use for purchase / supply from their own subcontractors / suppliers, so you can't take it and go somewhere else i.e. Your own supplier / contractor.

So is it included in the sale price or do you have to fork out extra?

Gumbo

MintyMagnum wrote: »

So is it included in the sale price or do you have to fork out extra?

If the builder allowed a PC sum of €500 for kitchen tiling, you then go to his supplier and pick out tiles to the value of €500. If you spend €300 then the balance of €200 is reduced from final figure.

If you spend €700 you pay the €200 above the PC sum.
Very common in extensions and one off builds. Not so common in large multi unit developments.

Utah

Pinch Flat wrote: »

So is it included in the sale price or do you have to fork out extra?

kceire wrote: »

If the builder allowed a PC sum of €500 for kitchen tiling, you then go to his supplier and pick out tiles to the value of €500. Of you spend €300 then the. A lance of €200 is reduced from final figure.

If you spend €700 you pay the €200 above the PC sum.
Very common in extensions and one off builds. Not so common in large multi unit developments.

Yeah that's it.

You can really personalise it as options were vast.