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CRIM & AGGIE
Fraudster’s property firm turned How Clean is Your House? star Aggie MacKenzie’s £770k dream home into ‘house of horror’
AS the star of TV’s How Clean Is Your House?, Aggie MacKenzie has seen many nightmare homes.
But nothing she witnessed on the hit show with co-host Kim Woodburn prepared Aggie for her own house of horrors.
She bought a beautiful new two-bedroom house, complete with top-spec fittings, three years ago. But Aggie says: “My dream home has become the house from hell.”
Shortly after she moved in the ultra-modern, wood-clad house in Haringey, North London, had to have a new roof and heating system.
Then water leaked in due to bodged damp-proofing and the toilet soil pipe poured RAW SEWAGE under the kitchen floor.
The workmanship was so bad the entire downstairs has had to be dug up and the walls and floors repaired to make the property waterproof.
Also, badly fitted windows have swollen and will not open. So far, more than £136,000 has been spent rectifying dozens of faults and dealing with associated problems.
Although she has had insurance pay for part of this, she is still out of pocket and the entire process has been exhausting. The 64-year-old says: “I’ve had to move in to rented accommodation while my house has had to be virtually rebuilt.”
‘WASTE OF TIME’
Just days before Aggie bought and moved into the £770,000 house, in November 2016, the development company responsible for organising the building work was wound up.
Today The Sun can reveal the man behind that company is a convicted fraudster jailed for five years in 2011 for his part in a £10million scam.
Property developer David Tunnicliffe was one of the masterminds of a gang that created dozens of false identities, using them to open bank accounts amd get large overdrafts.
It was claimed in court that Tunnicliffe — who also went by the name David St John Tunnicliffe — made £2million from the fraud and had not paid tax for six years.
After his release from Prescoed jail, near Usk, Wales, he began calling himself David Farrah-Tunnicliffe. As the boss of Glenmore Construction, he hired sub-contractors to build Aggie’s home.
Wearing a hard hat in the building site that was once her gleaming kitchen, Aggie says: “The house was stunning. A lot of money had been spent on the internal detail.
“There was a wine fridge, boiling water tap, good quality dishwasher, washing machine, high-end taps and marble surfaces.
"But the basic infrastructure of the house is a disaster. If I’d known a tenth of what I was facing I wouldn’t have touched it with a barge pole.”
Planners gave permission for a house to be built on the plot which used to be the garage for a neighbouring property, but insisted it had a flat roof and that the lower rooms were below ground level.
Within months of moving in, the roof began to leak, but by then David Farrah-Tunnicliffe had wound up his company.
Thankfully, the house came with new-build insurance but Aggie discovered it did not cover the flat roof and a ten-year guarantee certificate she had been given proved worthless.
Aggie says: “I footed the £5,000 bill for the new roof because it was excluded from the main policy. There was a separate policy for that but it was a piece of paper that meant nothing.”
If I’d known a tenth of what I was facing I wouldn’t have touched it with a barge pole
Aggie MacKenzie
The house’s air-source heat pump system totally broke down but the company that installed it had also gone out of business, so Aggie was again left to pick up the bill of £5,000 for a new heating system.
Then, 18 months ago, Aggie — who had frequently lit scented candles to mask a strange smell in the house — noticed the walls and floor around the French windows were damp.
She says: “A damp-proof specialist discovered the front wall of the house did not meet the floor and water was getting through the gap. Also, the damp-proof membrane was not installed properly.”
And when the builders lifted the floor to install a pump to take away excess water, they discovered the source of the terrible smell.
Aggie adds: “The six-inch soil pipe from the loo upstairs coming down into the lower-level loo had two connectors. One was open. There was raw sewage inside the house.
“If all that was not enough, the glass roof above the kitchen had just been plonked down with no kind of fixing. That led to a cupboard housing the washing machine and storage for linen going rotten.”
Thankfully, the ten-year warranty the developer had taken out has paid £106,500 for the repairs, plus a £10,000 project manager and £8,000 rent on a house Aggie has had to move into for three months while the repairs are carried out.
But she says: “Although I am insured for this place, each claim carries a £1,000 excess. So I have had to spend £1,000 on the damp proofing and the glass is a separate issue, so I have another £1,000 excess.
“It’s been very stressful. It took months for the insurance company to agree to the work and for it to begin.
“There are other problems upstairs, the windows weren’t sealed properly so the windowsills have expanded and I can’t open the windows. So that is another insurance claim. It just goes on and on.
On top of the £10,000 Aggie paid for the flat roof and heating and the two £1,000 excesses, she fears further external work not covered by the insurance will total £8,000.
She said: “The wooden boards on the outside had not been sealed properly and are shot to pieces.
‘IT'S A DISASTER’
“Who the hell signed off this house? What were Building Regs doing? Everything is meant to be signed off at every stage. It seems that’s a waste of time.” David Farrah-Tunnicliffe, 47, is still in the property business, based in Brighton.
He told The Sun: “I managed the building of the house with a company who gave what is called the New House Builder Insurance, which should protect any consumer that has a new house built.
“The company also managed all the building control of the house, not the local authority, although they have to, of course, liaise with the local authority and show all their certificates along the way.
“The house was surveyed through every single stage of the build and signed off, every stage of it. Without signing off every single stage of that build it would not have got its insurance policy.
“The building inspectors are pretty stringent and it is very surprising that there has been this level of problems with the house.” The father of two claims his job as developer was to manage a series of sub-contractors who did the work.
He said: “I am not wishing to pass the buck but if there is a problem with the ground works, that is down to the ground-working contractor. If there is a problem with the walls that is down to them. And if there is a problem with the roof that is down to them.”
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Mr Farrah-Tunnicliffe denied being a convicted conman. He said the closing down of his business after selling the house to Aggie was “a complete coincidence” and Glenmore Construction was wound up because of an unrelated project.
In a later text he added: “We paid a hefty price for warranty and that was backed by further warranties from other subcontractors.
“On the basis we believe the company has paid all claims for defective works we fail to see what the actual complaint really is.” Standing amid the rubble of her home, angry Aggie says: “I just hope no one else goes through the trauma I have had.”
AVOID AGGIE'S AGGRO
HERE are our tips to avoid a new-build from hell:
- Have a survey done before completing. Don’t assume you don’t need one because the property comes with a ten-year warranty.
- Your survey should follow the same format as if you were buying a lived-in home and cover the interior and exterior, including mechanical services and drainage.
- Download the National House Building Council’s guide and checklist for new homes at . Go through the checklist before you complete the deal and again when you move in.
- Your solicitor should double-check all insurances and guarantees that come with the property before the sale goes through.
- The HomeOwners Alliance believes buyers should be allowed to keep back 2.5 per cent of the asking price for six months to cover defects – known as snags. Aggie is in favour of buyers holding at least £10,000 until they are satisfied.
- Tell the builder of anything you are dissatisfied with, ideally in writing.
- Commission a snagging report that will examine “fit and finish” items not usually included in a survey.
- Or, use the snagging checklist on snagging.org. It costs £9.99 or there is a free version. The website also has a forum where you can find out what other new-build buyers are saying and news of legal actions.
- For more information on the pitfalls and legal rights of buying new-builds see brand-newhomes.co.uk and the HomeOwners Alliance (hoa.org.uk).
- Tell us about your new-build horror home by emailing HERE are our tips to avoid a new-build from hell:
- Have a survey done before completing. Don’t assume you don’t need one because the property comes with a ten-year warranty.
- Your survey should follow the same format as if you were buying a lived-in home and cover the interior and exterior, including mechanical services and drainage.
- Download the National House Building Council’s guide and checklist for new homes at nhbc.co.uk. Go through the checklist before you complete the deal and again when you move in.
- Your solicitor should double-check all insurances and guarantees that come with the property before the sale goes through.
- The HomeOwners Alliance believes buyers should be allowed to keep back 2.5 per cent of the asking price for six months to cover defects – known as snags. Aggie is in favour of buyers holding at least £10,000 until they are satisfied.
- Tell the builder of anything you are dissatisfied with, ideally in writing.
- Commission a snagging report that will examine “fit and finish” items not usually included in a survey.
- Or, use the snagging checklist on snagging.org. It costs £9.99 or there is a free version. The website also has a forum where you can find out what other new-build buyers are saying and news of legal actions.
- For more information on the pitfalls and legal rights of buying new-builds see brand-newhomes.co.uk and the HomeOwners Alliance (hoa.org.uk).
- Tell us about your new-build horror home by emailing [email protected]
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- GOT a story? Ring The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or email [email protected].
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