Warwick family say new home delays have ruined their lives

Gilly West said she has been left thousands of pounds out of pocket by the delays

A mother said her family's lives have been ruined after months of delays preparing her new-build family home.

Gilly West sold her house to buy her dream home at the Purbeck Village development in Warwick in December, and was told it would be ready by April.

But six months on she still has not heard from developer Avant Homes when they can move in and said the delays have cost her thousands of pounds.

Avant Homes said material and labour shortages had contributed to delays.

Mrs West said she decided to buy the home after yearning for more space during lockdown.

After signing up for a new-build in December, they sold their house in May after initially being told it would be ready in April.

'Our life savings'

They put £150,000 from the sale on the deposit for the new build, but were soon told the house would not be ready on time.

Repeated promises their home would be ready "next month" meant they relied on expensive short-term rentals, often far from her eight-year-old son's school, only for the house to be continually delayed.

"It's had a real impact on my family finances," she said.

To make matters worse, their mortgage offer expired and a new deal will see the family repaying an extra £300 every month.

"I tried to do a calculation of [the costs] and I got to about £15,000 and I started to cry and I stopped," Mrs West said.

"We had saved and saved and this is our life savings that we're using.

"I wake up at night with panic attacks, I cry a lot, I'm angry, I can't concentrate, it has ruined my life."

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She said she no longer trusts Avant Homes who she said "just don't care".

"I'm not just a transaction, this is my dream, this it my family's home," she said.

In a statement, Avant Homes said it expects the property to be "completed and ready to hand over this month".

"It is regrettable that we have been unable to meet the timescales provided to Mrs West at the point of reservation," the company continued.

"We have unfortunately experienced some delays at the development due to factors out of our control, including significant materials and labour shortages, which have disrupted the build process."

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