Homeowner awarded £420k over foundations problems

The case was heard in May and the judgement was released earlier this month

The owner of a house built on "inappropriate" foundations has been awarded provisional damages of about £420,000 at the High Court.

Their four-bedroom, detached house was bought in 2015 on Persimmon Homes' Sibley Park development in Earley, Berkshire, on land previously used for a University of Reading halls of residence.

The owner had claimed the whole house should have been demolished but it will instead undergo an extensive set of works to mitigate issues, including major cracks and gaps.

Mr Alan Bates, sitting as a deputy High Court judge, said he had "considerable sympathy" for the owner, but that the house's demolition would have been "extreme and disproportionate".

He said the house should have included pile foundations which extended down to below the level of roots of removed trees which previously stood on the site.

Persimmon accepted that the property was "lacking the appropriate foundations" and that it had breached its contract with the homeowner.

The house was bought for £649,495 10 years ago, part of which was funded by part-exchanging the owner's former home, which was also in the Reading area.

The building will be kept but a new superstructure will be built to support it and the ground floor will be replaced.

Other support will be provided for its external garage and porch.

The judge said he would have not found the house to be unfit for human habitation because of the foundations alone.

"The degree of movement in the house, whilst it has given rise to some cracking, etc., was not such as to give rise to a risk to safety of its occupants, or to render their occupation of the house unduly inconvenient or uncomfortable," he said.

Building work is estimated provisionally at £385,543, while the home owner was granted £27,700 to pay for alternative accommodation while work is carried out and £10,000 in aggravated damages - a total of £423,243.

The case was heard in May but the judgement was released earlier this month.