Housing Solicitors

Bovis, one of the biggest homebuilders in Britain, were accused of pressuring customers to move into poorly built, incomplete homes in order to meet sales targets. They have been ordered to pay compensation after a group of angry customers formed a Facebook group to draw attention to the issue. The Facebook group titled ‘Bovis Home Victims Group’ has over 1,400 members.

The scandal has resulted in £100m being wiped off the stock market value of Bovis with shares falling 10% to 757p. Customers were experiencing a variety of problems including half-finished tiling, faulty plumbing, no guttering and incorrect kitchen fittings. Questions are now being raised about the quality of new builds and how the market is being regulated. NHBC, who offer warranty and insurance on new homes, whilst also claiming to be a ‘standard setting body’, are being accused of failing to protect customers. This follows Clarion Housing Group – Britain’s largest housing association – agreeing to buy back some of their properties in Havering, East London, after the construction had so many faults calls were being made for its demolition.

Earl Sibley, interim chief executive for Bovis, has declared that fixing these faulty homes is an “absolute operational priority” and a “thorough and detailed review” will be carried out to ensure this does not happen again.

Chair of the all-party parliamentary group on new builds, Oliver Colvile commented:

“A lot of developments across the country are not very good, and I’m concerned about all of this … There is a genuine need for more housing but we need to ensure they are going to be good quality housing rather than the something frankly rubbish”

Anthony Okumah of Duncan Lewis’ Housing Litigation Department had this to say on the matter:

“It is unsettling that in this day and age, and alongside advances in construction and technology, that multi-million pound corporations can still provide such services at such a poor quality. Hopefully the kick-back from residents will show these big businesses that they cannot sacrifice quality and safety in order to cut costs.”

Author Anthony Okumah is a Director and Head of the Duncan Lewis Housing Litigation Department. He also specialises in dispute resolution (litigation, arbitration or mediation), professional negligence claims predominantly against solicitors, debt recovery; insolvency; contractual disputes, leasehold disputes and contentious probate cases. Anthony also has an in-depth experience of boundary and neighbourhood dispute cases and additionally he regularly conducts his own advocacy in both the County Court and the High Court which allows him to represent his clients throughout their retainer.

Duncan Lewis Housing Department

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors can guide clients in any matter or issues arising with local housing authorities, housing applications, tenants, landlords, ownership and repairs. The Duncan Lewis housing team specialises in representation in all social housing proceedings including reviews, appeals and judicial review relating to homelessness, disrepair, succession for tenants and neighbourhood disputes against local authorities .If you have any housing related queries or require representation please do not hesitate to contact our team of expert solicitors on 0333 772 0409.