Our £300,000 dream home turned into a nightmare when we found 173 faults – even the fire door has a deadly error
A FURIOUS dad has slammed a housing company after discovering 173 faults in their dream new-build home – including dangerous gaps around their fire doors.
Kristian Sanges, 42, bought their £306,000 four-bedroom detached property in Newport, South Wales, in November 2020.
The engineer and his wife Veronica, 47, were initially thrilled with their new home, but quickly discovered that there were more than 100 faults with the property.
Dad-of-three Kristian claims that there were leaking pipes, windows that were incorrectly sealed, power sockets without power and more dangerously gaps around their fire doors.
He has slammed home builders St Mowden after commissioning an independent snagging report, which discovered 173 issues with their home.
Speaking to The Sun he said: “Everything was great, but then I started picking up issues with the property on the building site.
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“I just kept noticing things, and was pointing it out to them, thinking no this isn’t right but they just kept saying it was fine.
“The fire doors had gaps between them, there was some leaking from pipes and damage to window seals.
“Nothing was being done, I was just told it would be fine so I paid for the private firm to come and look at the property and inspect it.
“I then passed this on to the housing association, and they took two weeks to get back to use in the first place.
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“They said that they wouldn’t be able to get anyone out until the end of February, which is a year after we moved in.
“One of the main issues is the fire doors, that’s obviously a huge risk to my family, if they don’t work properly then it could be fatal.
“The situation has just been dragging on and on, being told that various people will be in touch with me to sort it out.
“I was then told that they would get someone to come out in May, to get the property sorted before my daughter's 21st birthday.
“The man I was speaking to promised that he would get it done, but then I was told it would be another eight weeks because they needed someone else to do the work and they would cover the cost.
“Then he said that he would be coming to visit, to check on the snags but the day he was meant to come I called and was told that he doesn’t work for the company.
“It’s just so unprofessional. We have been struggling with leaks, and damaged flooring and all we get told is ‘sorry he’s left we’ll have to get someone else to look at the issues’.
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“We’ve heard that two other homes on this site have had to be completely knocked down and rebuilt because they were so bad, and we don’t want it to come to that.”
A spokeswoman from St. Modwen Homes said: “We have received correspondence from our customer, and although we don’t accept that we are liable for all aspects raised, we have and will continue to be in contact with the customer to conclude any outstanding issues St. Modwen Homes is liable for.”
