A homeowner has hung up a large poster above his garage as part of an ongoing argument with his developer. Balbinder Singh is unhappy with his new build in Mickleover, over the other end of the A52 in Derby, and claims that he is still trying to get problems fixed with the Avant Homes property which have been there since he first moved in April 2021.
The developer said that as Mr Singth had an extension built this impacted his warranty. Mr Singh alleges that the company has been ignoring him, and so to put pressure on the developers he put up a large sign outside his property on the Cotchett Village estate, reports Derbyshire Live.
The poster reads: "Avant Homes our review. We moved in 1st April 2021 and work is still uncompleted. Avant is no longer responding to us. There is lots of uncompleted work. We are happy to share pictures. Don't make the mistake we made."
Speaking to Derbyshire Live, Avant Homes said that they had been in discussions with Mr Singh, and claimed a number of issues were caused at the £500,000 property due to an extension being built. Mr Singh said: "They're ignoring us and they're not bothered. We're fed up. How can they leave it like this?
"They agree with me when I speak to them and then nobody comes. Someone has to come forward." Out of frustration, Mr Singh felt he had no other choice but to put up the sign, which he had designed himself, on Monday, March 6.
Other residents on the street, including Kevin Crisp and his family, also claim that they have had similar problems. Avant Homes told Derbyshire Live that they are working with "a very small number" of residents at Cotchett Village, off the A516 Etwall Road, to resolve their concerns.
Mr Crisp said: "There's been loads of stuff. We had a street barbecue for the Queen's Jubilee last year and the theme was that everyone is having the same problem."
The family moved into their house in 2021 and claim a problem with the sink led to the kitchen worktop warping and a replacement was cut too short and that a section of the back garden underneath the tap has been sodden with water for months.
Mr Crisp's partner said: "The customer service is diabolical. Even through the process of buying it, they ignored us." Steven Bosworth, who also lives on the estate, claims that his house was riddled with problems when he moved in in 2020.
He stated that there was water leaking through the walls so he had to have his downstairs toilet ripped out and refitted, floors relaid due to scratches and kitchen units redone due to missing plug sockets. Mr Bosworth said: "We'd never buy from them again.
"They're a waste of time and don't want to fix anything. I'm constantly pushing them to come round and fix stuff and we're still waiting."
Another couple who live near Mr Singh said that their experience of Avant Homes has been positive because they were one of the first to move in. The couple got the keys to their property in March 2020, and any problems they had were resolved swiftly after the first Covid-19 lockdown eased that summer.
At the time, there were not many other people living on the site and tradesmen were always nearby working on homes. But they claim that the customer service has since "gone downhill."
An Avant Homes spokesperson said: “We have been in ongoing dialogue with the occupant (Mr Singh) regarding his property. Having fully investigated the occupant’s concerns regarding his home, we believe a significant number of them were caused by the building of an extension on the property after the house was purchased."
According to Avant, the extension in question voided some aspects of the property's NHBC Buildmark warranty, an issue which has been explained to Mr Singh, they say. The spokesperson stated: "We have inspected the house and communicated back to the occupant what is acceptable for us to resolve in relation to his concerns outside of those created by the extension.
“Our customer liaison team is proactively dealing with a very small number of residents at the development who have raised concerns to ensure any reasonable requests are addressed."
READ NEXT:
