Olivia Burke
A family have told of their devastation after discovering that their dream newbuild home is now 'worth £1' due to developers allegedly botching it's construction.
Dayle Dixon and her partner Mark Lee claim that cracks literally started to show just days before they got the keys to the pad in 2018, as they noticed numerous fractures in the floor.
But the couple - who have been together for 25 years - say they were reassured by construction firm Barratt Homes that the property was simply just still drying out.
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Nearly seven years after they moved into the detached property in Ivybridge, Devon, the pair claim the pad has been plagued by damp, floor movement and dangerous dust.
As a result, a surveyor reportedly informed Dayle and Mark that what they thought was their 'forever' home was now worth a measly £1.
The parents, who have three adult children, allege that they were told that due to issues with damp proofing, water was able to run under their home and wreak havoc on its structure.
According to the surveyor, the property which they purchased for £274,995 would boast a value of £330,000 if it weren't for the problems.
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So, you can understand why Dayle and Mark are urging Barratt Homes to pay £330,000 to buy the botched house from them so that they can move elsewhere.
The fact that relatives of the pair are also refusing to visit them due to the risks the home presents isn't helping matters, either.
Dayle, 53, claimed that when one of her elderly family members called round two years ago, they were struck down by breathing issues due to the excessive dust covering the bare concrete floor.
"[We have elderly relatives] in their 80s and they can't visit because it makes them so ill," she explained. "The last time relatives stayed was a couple of years ago and one ended up on antibiotics because her chest was so bad."
The grandma-of-one says their house woes have even spoilt the festive season for them six years in a row, as 'nobody wants to come round when you're sat in chaos'.
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She said that her and Mark, 59, will instead spend Christmas alone 'lying in bed' without any decorations up, which she described as 'depressing'.
"We can't have a family meal with everyone around the table or Christmas presents on the floor because it's wet," Dayle fumed.
"We've got no Christmas tree up because we can't even decorate the house, never mind decorate a Christmas tree.
"It's Mark's birthday on Christmas Eve and we don't even celebrate that.
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"I pray for the day when we can have a proper celebration, because I can't even have my own family come and stay with me anymore."
The couple are calling on Barratt Homes to exercise 'a bit of Christmas spirit' by stumping up the £330,000 and heavily compensating them for their ordeal so that they can move elsewhere.
The pair reckon they have spent around £15,000 on ruined furnishings such as ceramic tiles that cracked and moved due to the floor's instability.
Dayle said that the property firm have agreed to meet the independent valuation price and give her £5,000 in damages, but that isn't enough, as forking out for mortgage and Help to Buy repayments would leave the pair 'homeless'.
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She explained: "It makes me cry all the time and it gives me nightmares.
"We're living in a building site with bare concrete floors, dust, damp, mould and even damp mites in our food. It's disgusting.
"Because the water is taking the moisture out of the concrete floor, it'll end up as sand and cement with no glue in it, so the floor will completely crumble to nothing.
"If we accepted the offer we'd be technically homeless because once we've paid the mortgage off and repaid the Help to Buy fee we wouldn't have enough money to buy another property.
"If we wanted to sell it privately the surveyor said we wouldn't get anything for it because of the amount of work that needs doing," Dayle said.
"I want them to compensate us adequately for the seven years of hell. The stress, the health problems and everything we've lost."
According to the couple, the surveyor's report states that the concrete flooring in the home was not built with adequate support and was too thin.
To fix the problem, the walls would need to be removed.
Dayle said that upon selling the home, she'd need to clear around £88,000 outstanding from her non-transferable mortgage and around £70,000 in Help to Buy repayments.
Her and Mark plan to take legal action to claim money to cover the home's value, the repairs they've paid for, and the required Help to Buy repayment.
A spokesperson for BDW Bristol, who own the brand Barratt Homes, said: "As a five-star housebuilder we are sorry that Miss Dixon is unhappy, however, all of our attempts to remedy the situation have so far been refused.
"This has included using external independent surveyors and contractors of her choosing, but instead of trying to find a solution, Miss Dixon has ceased communication with us leaving us unable to resolve the situation."