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Wimpey the Facts |
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This story involves the fabled George Wimpey and is so bad we didn't even get into our new home, let alone get the chance to snag it! We were first time buyers and had saved a decent deposit after a lot of hard work. Our rent was a ridiculous amount per month and worked out the same as a decent mortgage so it was time to find a home. We looked at a number of places in our budget and ended up reserving a new build flat (off plan) on the top floor of three. We paid our deposit, got a shiny A4 buyers folder and returned to our rented home in excitement.
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We made a few visits to the site as the development (1st phase) went up and were shown plans outlining street furniture, types of soft landscaping etc and all was well. We ended our rental agreement as we didn't need another six month lease and moved everything we owned into garages amongst friends and family. We then moved into my parent’s home for the last three months in anticipation of completion. A few weeks before exchange our solicitor called to say there was a big problem. Basically Wimpey had built the flats in the wrong place meaning that around 10% of the property was on unowned land. As such Wimpey could not offer full legal title on any of the homes.
Wimpey’s renowned legal department however had different ideas. We received a letter from Wimpey which quite honestly looked as though a child had written it. The number of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes in such an important letter was crazy and this from their legal manager! In essence they stated that there is no problem at all with the property as Wimpey have bought an indemnity policy to protect the owners against some difficulties. Some...not all...and Wimpey felt that was more than adequate.
Quite rightly we were advised that this was highly irregular. Wimpey indemnity policy or not many lenders would be unhappy with this situation as would future buyers with any sense. The policy would not cover us for this type of problem, amongst many others, potentially leaving us and the other affected buyers in an impossible position. Advice from Wimpey legal department?
'If you make a statutory declaration that there is a title problem to future buyers this will only improve the situation.' So, if we tell people there is a major issue with the land suddenly everything will be fine? A clearly unbiased view from Wimpey then! After much arguing and disbelief at the Wimpey attitude we had to walk away from the sale. In the meantime property prices had risen meaning it was harder to find something suitable and we'd wasted thousands on fees, surveys, checks etc.
Wimpey felt that they had nothing to do with this as quote 'it was your choice to walk away from the sale.' Not really a choice as such is it? The solicitor felt so bad for us that he actually discounted his price and it was nothing to do with him! In over 20 years of conveyancing he'd been offered various forms of title but not once had he been offered no title at all.
On top of these immense difficulties we also lost some of our property stored in garages which got too cold and damp as we'd never intended it to be stored in the colder months. Wimpey didn't care at all, as far as they were concerned a dodgy indemnity policy was sufficient and we should have been grateful to them. That's our story in a nutshell.
There is a happy ending however. Disgusted family and friends gathered together to help restore our wasted funds and we bought a great factory conversion apartment which is awesome compared to the damaged shell of a home Wimpey tried to force us into. Not once have they offered any form of apology or recognition of the money they cost us despite admitting in early letters that there had indeed been 'a slight problem' with the land. Please tell your friends, family and enemies about my site. No-one deserves to go through the hassle this company will happily put you through. Simply avoid them!
www.wimpeythefacts.co.uk
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