By Lars Niven

A FIFE couple have told how their dream of owning a brand new home in Dunfermline turned into a nightmare thanks to shoddy workmanship by builders Redrow Homes.

Mark Hunkin and his fiancee Kelly Watson have been forced to move in and out of their home in Kings Drive no fewer three times to enable workmen to fix faults.

After 16 months of battling with Redrow over snagging problems, wrangling and botched repairs, Mark and Kelly are still not satisfied with the state of their house.

The couple, who have just been told they will not get any compensation, are so sick of Redrow they are paying for workmen to rectify any remaining faults out of their own pockets.

The nightmare began as soon as Mark and Kelly moved in, back in June last year, after moving from an older property which they had done up.

They were looking forward to having little to do but furnish the property as they settled in.

However, they soon totted up more than 200 faults when they checked the house over.

Both downstairs and upstairs floors were uneven, the driveway was too narrow for two cars, the wrong kitchen was installed and ceilings were textured when they should not have been.

The list just went on.

“The house looked as if it hadn’t been finished,” Mark said.

Some of the worst problems lay in the floors, which were so uneven that the couple were unable to lay the vinyl and carpets they had ordered.

Mark and Kelly said that at first Redrow tried to deny there was anything wrong with the house, but finally agreed to sort the problems.

Over the past year or so workmen have been in and out of the house trying to put things right.

Downstairs in the hall it took no fewer than eight attempts to level the uneven floor.

The downstairs floors were eventually fixed, along with most other faults, but the upstairs floors are still uneven.

Having been forced to take time off from work, racked up huge phone bills and incurred solicitor’s fees dealing with the problems, the couple have had enough.

“It has been a nightmare,” Mark said.

“We have been through a lot emotionally in the last 16 months.

“This has really completely stressed us out and we have come close to splitting up a couple of times.

“Kelly has been off work with stress.

“It has just been too much to deal with, day in and day out.

“I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through what we’ve been through.

“If we’d had any idea when we bought a new house there was a chance of this happening then we’d never have bought it.

“Redrow have been particularly lax in the way they have built this house, checked it and then handed it over to us.”

Mark and Kelly reckon they will have to spend about £3000 of their own money to get the upstairs floors level.

They have asked Redrow for compensation, which they say they should be due as they have effectively not had the home they thought they had bought 18 months ago.

A spokeswoman for Redrow said, “Customer satisfaction is important to Redrow and it concerns us greatly when anyone is unhappy with their new home.

“We are aware that there have been issues with this property and have completed all of the necessary work to rectify any snagging matters.

“As with all newly-built homes, the property is covered by a warranty from the National House Building Council. At the customers’ request, a representative from the NHBC has inspected the floors and agreed that no further work is necessary.

“Where work has been required in the past we have always done our best to fit in with the customers’ timescales and to minimise disruption.”

The spokeswoman added, “We have promised to give due consideration to reimbursing any expenses incurred as a direct result of work undertaken, provided the customer supplies a receipted invoice.”