Couple’s ‘3-week residence renovation’ turns into 2-year £60k nightmare

A retired couple who expected their home renovation to take three weeks have ended up paying almost £40,000 more than planned while their home remains incomplete two years later.

Malcolm Carter, 72, a retired firefighter from Hythe, Southampton, said the saga has drained his pension entirely and that two years on, he is still paying for the restoration after selling his car and releasing equity from his home.

After finding Nationwide Construction Specialists Ltd “highly recommended” on the tradespeople review website Checkatrade, Malcolm and his wife Terri, 71, paid the building company £23,891 to renovate their four-bedroom detached country home in September 2022.

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They booked a holiday in Guernsey after being told the property would be uninhabitable during construction, but when they arrived home, Malcolm described the house as a “complete mess with tools everywhere”, so they spent another three weeks living in nearby hotels.

During that time, Malcolm said little progress was made, and believing the project would never be finished he finally asked the builders to leave.

A representative for the company said they “strongly disagree” with Malcolm and claims the job was “completed and signed off”, and that the only reason “it went sour” was because of an unpaid electrician bill.

A survey carried out by loss adjusters at Crawford & Company on January 21 2023 concluded that “works carried out at the property are unacceptable” and estimated that finishing the build would cost in excess of £40,000.

Hampshire County Court has ordered the company to repay Malcolm around £8,000 after he submitted a claim to recuperate some of his losses, but he has yet to receive a penny.

The work is still being completed by another building company and Malcolm said he has spent £61,415 in total on the renovation, almost £40,000 more than originally intended.

“The money I had was from my fire brigade pension, but that’s gone now,” Malcolm told PA Real Life.

“It’s been a logistical nightmare because we were living out of suitcases and had the trauma of having to hire builders all over again. It was very traumatic.

“What was supposed to be three weeks, we are still living with today and it has taken a toll on our mental health.”

Malcolm contacted Nationwide Construction Specialists Ltd to renovate their home in August 2022 after seeing the company had “five stars” on Checkatrade.He was quoted £24,612.39 for the work, which involved fitting a new kitchen, converting part of the garage into a storage and utility room and turning one of the upstairs bedrooms into an ensuite.

On September 4, Malcolm paid a deposit of £6,700 to Nationwide Construction Specialists Ltd and booked the three-week holiday in Guernsey as their property was uninhabitable during construction.

He would go on to make further payments totalling £17,190 over the next few weeks.

“I now regret leaving the house unattended,” Malcolm added.

He and Terri were enjoying their holiday when work began on September 20, thinking they would come home to a finished house.

A few days before the couple were due to return home, Malcolm asked for a “progress report” and learned the builders were a week behind schedule.

They therefore decided to extend their trip, spending an extra six nights in the Imperial Hotel in Guernsey at a cost of more than £800.

But when they returned home on October 15, Malcolm said the house was still “filthy” and had no water upstairs or heating, so they checked in to a local Holiday Inn Express for another two weeks.

After a further two weeks, Malcolm said he felt the company was never going to complete the build and decided to throw in the towel.

He wrote a strongly worded note saying that despite being given plenty of opportunities the builders had failed to deliver their service and requested they leave the premises.

Malcolm said: “I did ask him if I would get any money back and he just said ‘no, you owe me’.”

“We then had to make the place liveable, so we got some other firms in.”

Representatives for Nationwide Construction Specialists Ltd strongly deny the allegations, saying the construction was “a few weeks overdue” because of additional requests but that it was completed and signed off.

A survey carried out by loss adjusters at Crawford & Company on January 21 2023 concluded that completing the works would cost in excess of £40,000.

Checkatrade removed the company from its platform after the investigation, and stated that cases such as Malcolm’s are extremely rare and are always taken very seriously.

Malcolm contacted a solicitor in Lymington as well as Citizens Advice and Hampshire County Council Trading Standards before bringing a claim for £8,454 against Nationwide Construction Specialists Ltd on March 29 2023.

The Hampshire County Court ruled in his favour after the company failed to respond, but Malcolm has still not received a penny back.

“He completely ignored everything and hasn’t paid a penny to anyone,” he said.

A company representative said they have been advised not to respond to the judgment as they are in the process of being closed down.

Now almost two years later, Malcolm is still in the process of restoring his home having hired another building company.

To front the new bill, Malcolm said he was forced to apply for equity release on his home as his firefighter pension had been depleted.

Equity release is when a property owner takes out a bank loan which is secured against their home, and means they must repay a certain amount every month.

“We’re paying about £470 a month, and that’s just the interest, because otherwise I worked it out and in about 10 years they (the bank) would own this house completely,” said Malcolm.

In February this year, running low on money, he decided to sell his 2012 Mercedes E-class estate AMG to pay for another week of work and materials.

At the time of writing, work still needs to be completed including connecting the kitchen extractor fan and installing a water pump, as well as replacing flooring and tiling in the bathroom.

Overall, Malcolm said he paid Nationwide Construction Specialists Ltd £23,891 and that the renovation has ended up costing him £61,415.

A representative for Nationwide Construction Specialists Ltd said: “I strongly disagree with what Malcolm is claiming as the job was completed and signed off.”

“Contractors bent over backwards for him and the only reason it went sour in the end was because he had several thousands of pounds worth of electrics done by an electrician knowing it was extra work and not in the quote.”

“Yes, it was a few weeks overdue but only due to him adding a lot more work on us and changing things several times.”