Our journey to buy a V&A home started as a dream and ended a nightmare…
Our journey to buy a V&A home started in the summer of 2021, after 10 years living in Knaresborough, we thought we already had our dream home but when the opportunity of riverside living came up in the form of a unique build, we followed our hearts and decided to make the move. To make a reservation we had to be in a proceedable position, we quickly sold our home and worked towards a seamless move from one home to another aiming for a September completion date.
The dream soon turned into a nightmare that six months on left us without a home and over £10k out of pocket. The timeline and extent of the stress we were subjected to goes into such depth that a brief review doesn’t allow me to share the full detail. We were taken in by the ‘Family values’ of V&A, moving out of our home for what was meant to be a 4 week delay, this then went to 7 weeks and then 6 months!
Verbal support offered for the delay was then denied, written changes were challenged and changed, major changes to the design were made to reduce costs (A large skylight that was featured in the brochure and planning permission was just not included). We were not made to feel like a customer. The changes / customisation turned into a massive ordeal any sign that we weren’t compliant we were told “don’t buy the property then”, or “I don’t think this is the property for you”.
We realised what a vulnerable position we were in and the sort of person we were dealing with, but we just had to keep quiet and accept whatever we were subjected to. The cost of the delay to us was considerable and our family was split over two family houses for 6 months, we had to reapply for our mortgage 3 times due the increasing delays, each time at a worse rate due to the base rate increasing.
Initially V&A weren’t in a position to exchange but when they were my solicitor advised it was not wise to exchange and hand over 10% without a completion date and no end in sight. Over the course of a week this was communicated by my solicitor and by me politely over the phone, the only direction I could get was “it will be ready when its ready”. This was the get out they were looking for and the very next day we got an email saying they were going to relist the property for £105k more than we were buying for. There was no talking Victoria around based on 6 months wait we had endured and the situation we were being left in, I was accused of emotionally involving her and they were a business that needed to be profitable.
My wife begged me to pay the extra money, I just couldn’t do it, paying over £100k more than the two neighbours, getting a finished product where the spec was getting reduced to save costs and I knew it still wouldn’t be the end, the stress and problems would continue right up until the move in date and probably beyond.
It’s taken me 2 months to document our experience with V&A in the form of this review, I’ve only just calmed down after such a devastating experience. As I write this review, we are over £10k out of pocket, we lost six months of family life chasing a dream and trusting a small developer, we have experienced untold stress. We learned a valuable lesson and saw what people will do in self-interest. It’s the 20th April (another month on from the completion date we were given) there is still no sign of the property being finished.
I don’t like to dwell or share a bad experience; I only hope it spares another family going through what we have.
20 aprile 2022
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