Shared Ownership Don't Get Done Get Dom

I'm Dominic Littlewood and I'm here to champion your consumer rights.

If I give you the details, can you tell me

if that's going to be possible, please?

Any problem, whatever the size,

I'll help you get the service you deserve.

If he's not giving us the basic information that we'd asked him for,

what else hadn't been done?

'Whether that involves getting your money back...' A full refund, yeah?

-Yeah. We'll give the lady her money back.

-Right, that is smashing.

'..or taking on your contract conundrums...'

The 12-month warranty basically wasn't worth the paper it was written on...

'I'm here to help you.'

Today I'm on the case for a home owner whose new-build property

isn't quite up to scratch.

How can somebody leave screws out?

It just doesn't look like it's been finished properly.

I can see a piece hanging down.

Plus a how faulty video recorder

caused warranty woes for one particular lady.

I was furious - the replacement machine

was just over eight months old so how could it be out of warranty?

And the high-tech testing centre where household

materials are put through their paces.

We're flexing leather so we're making it loose and then taut

to make sure the leather surface is not going to crack.

I'm taking on your consumer problems to make sure you don't get done.

With property prices rising the way they are,

it's an incredibly tough time for first-time buyers.

We all know that.

Many of them have got to save up for years to get together a hefty deposit.

But there are some schemes out there to help people

get a foot on the property ladder.

One is called shared ownership

and the idea is you buy a share in a property

and rent the rest from a housing association, who co-own it.

For thousands of people, it has been the only way of actually buying somewhere.

What appealed to me most about the shared ownership option

was the fact that it was affordable for me at the time.

I rented privately and then decided my money was being wasted.

Then I got the opportunity of buying this and jumped at it.

But if Brendan Parker's story is anything to go by,

shared ownership isn't always plain sailing.

Being a homeowner, you want to feel that you have certain rights

and privileges, but in this situation I don't - I'm powerless.

Originally from America, Brendan came to London six years ago.

Well, most people go through certain midlife crisis,

and mine was to leave New York, which was my home for 20 years.

Having moved across the pond, it wasn't long before

he decided to enter the property market.

I'd been saving money for a couple of years,

so I was interested in making a purchase.

But London prices are pretty daunting for most people,

so Brendan took note when he was told

about the idea of shared ownership.

Because mortgages were very scarce, it was pretty much my only option.

In 2011, Brendan began hunting for properties

and when he viewed a top-floor apartment

close to the River Thames, it was love at first sight.

One of the features that really attracted me

to this apartment was the outdoor space.

Um, it has great light and generous proportions.

The apartment was part of a new-build block

owned by the Peabody Housing Association.

Although still under construction, the apartment was being

offered as part of a shared ownership scheme.

I bought a 30% share, and it was understood

that you could purchase additional shares in a stepped sequence.

Brendan took out a mortgage for his 30% share

and would rent the remaining 70% from Peabody.

He would also have to pay a monthly service charge.

But it meant he would finally have a place he could call his own.

I was thrilled, I...

this was a big moment. I couldn't wait for my parents to come,

to have my, my furniture shipped over from the States,

because you want to have a home.

But his champagne moment didn't last long.

Unfortunately, things started to go wrong from the very beginning.

Er, the property wasn't completed on time.

Brendan had to stay with friends for a few weeks,

and when he did then move in,

he began to notice problems with the fit and finish of his new apartment.

Every day I'd find something new and, um,

I had this list and it kept growing and growing.

Of course, most new-build properties do have minor issues

that need to be fixed, but over the next few months, Peabody's

contractors had to make numerous visits to carry out repairs.

They've replaced the stove, they've replaced the tub, several times,

the security monitor, several times, the front door downstairs, twice.

And there are still outstanding issues.

One of the problems with the flat is the exterior fascia.

It's this soffit that they built and it's covered by metal cladding.

They kept installing the metal fascia with defects.

They've actually replaced this about five times.

And since the fascias were last replaced,

they appear to have come loose again.

Then there are the windows.

All of the windows, all of the doors,

have condensation, and the condensation then creates mould

and uh, that's a problem - it really shouldn't be there.

But chief among Brendan's complaints is the internal floor, which he

noticed was sagging about a year after he moved in.

There are some things I've done just to mask it,

such as this built-in and huge wardrobes and shoving carpets

next to the baseboards to disguise the deflection.

Um, some areas, however, I just can't hide, and that would be

in the hallway where it's very clear that there's deflection.

There's nothing I can do about that.

On two separate occasions, Peabody Trust sent in contractors to try and

fix the floor, but it still seemed to sag

underneath Brendan's furniture.

There was a lot of work done on the flooring to repair it.

Unfortunately none of the work was successful.

And while I respect that the effort was made, uh,

without success it's...

Well, it's just not there.

In March 2013, Peabody employed a flooring expert to examine

the floor and their report seemed to confirm Brendan's

belief that the sagging wasn't normal.

It says, and I quote,

"The floor has been seen to deflect under relatively light loads

"from normal domestic furniture..."

"None of the furniture can be regarded as abnormal or particularly heavy."

The report also concluded that the flooring was showing

a level of deflection that does not appear to be correct

and recommends that it was opened up to correct the lack of support.

But Peabody Trust's contractors have deemed the report invalid.

There was an argument from the contractor about one

of the photographs used.

A section of the report commented

on the structure underneath the floor, but the only evidence

available was a photograph Brendan had taken during a previous repair.

The contractors dispute the use of this photograph

and the floor hasn't been touched since.

So we reached an impasse because the contractor

didn't want to do the work again.

If Brendan owned his flat outright,

he could deal directly with the company who built

the apartment to try and get snagging issues like the flooring fixed.

But the shared ownership arrangement

means he is reliant on Peabody Trust.

What they would never do is actually commit to a time and a deadline.

They'd just say, "It's going to be done." I'm like, "Well, when?"

Brendan has even escalated his complaint to

the Housing Ombudsman, and whilst they found there was

no maladministration by Peabody,

they did agree that they have not

always responded to Brendan's complaints in a timely manner.

But all he wants is to get these problems sorted out once and for all.

If Dom was able to get this fixed...

..it would be amazing, it would be the sense of accomplishment that

I didn't have on my own.

And that I could really enjoy the flat and it would,

it would be my home and that, you know, just relax.

Having finally managed to get himself a London pad,

Brendan's over the moon and he wants it to be perfect.

But there are clearly some issues that need addressing.

So let's see if I can help him.

Founded in 1862,

Peabody Trust is one of the oldest housing associations in the UK

and now has around 27,000 properties in London.

It offers everything from supported housing to shared ownership homes

like Brendan's, and is a highly respected organization.

I've dropped them a line to let them know I'm on the case

and I'll be following that up with a call, very soon.

When we buy something, like a sofa or a bed, we know it's got to

put up with years of wear and tear and that goes for just about

anything - it could be the brakes on your car,

TV, door on your fridge.

So when something goes wrong,

how do we know whether it's wear and tear, or a manufacturing fault?

Well, each year Furniture Industry Research Association, or FIRA,

tests thousands of sofas, chairs and beds

to see how they stand up to daily use.

But some familiar household materials are also subjected

to their rigorous wear and tear tests.

We can test all types of surfaces here,

whether it's a kitchen worktop or an office desk, however,

predominantly we are concentrating

on the kitchens because that's where the most spillages happen.

A kitchen surface will have all

sorts of food and drink spilt on it during its everyday use.

Here we've got a kitchen worktop

and you'll see we are placing the liquid onto the surface,

covering it. After an hour remove the liquid

and wait 24 hours before we wipe the surface clean and assess

whether there's been any staining or change in the gloss of the surface.

But it's not just food and drink that cause the damage to your kitchen.

The main issues we see with wear and tear are where

the surface becomes damaged or where the consumer will leave

a lot of water on the surface

because water will go into the chipboard core of the work surface

and then start to swell

and that can cause a lot of problems in the kitchen.

Many of us think our kitchens will last a lifetime.

There's no real time limit on how long any particular surface will last.

Obviously if you look after it, keep it clean,

keep it dry, it can last 15, 20 years.

But if you leave chemicals or liquids on a surface

or you cut directly on a surface,

any surface will deteriorate quite quickly.

But when buying a kitchen,

most of us probably expect to get what we paid for.

The performance levels of worktops do vary by material

and it's a peculiarity that actually, high-pressure laminates,

which are generally at the cheaper end of the worktop market,

tend to perform consistently well and are very easy to maintain.

Some of the higher-end materials such as marble and solid wood,

whilst they look fabulous, can be more difficult to keep serviceable.

However, it's not just kitchens that come under the scrutiny of FIRA.

This is our textile testing laboratory,

where we're testing all types of fabric and leather used in upholstered furniture.

There's many different types of fabric used in upholstery.

A number of these exhibit different faults in use.

With leather, there may be cracking of the surface

or the surface starting to lift off because of poor adhesion.

With other fabrics, we may see pilling, which is

the little bobbling that you may see sometimes on your clothes.

Other issues that we see with fabrics are dye transfer,

and this would be often with highly patterned fabrics

where the dye that's used isn't necessarily properly sealed in the fabric

and can transfer to your clothes when you're sitting on the chair.

FIRA's hardworking machines are there to replicate

a lifetime of household activity.

This is one of the most common tests.

It's call a Martindale Test.

It is an abrasion test where we are looking at the wear of fabrics.

It's a durability test

and we are looking to check that there is no dye transfer

from the fabric and that there... the fabric is strong enough,

the threads are not going to break in use.

Leather may seem pretty durable

but even that doesn't escape the clutches of these machines.

Here we're testing leather.

We'll do a basic test on the strength of the threads

by placing it into the machine and pulling it.

In addition to this, we also carry out a number of other tests,

particularly things like colour fastness to light, where we have a powerful

xenon arc bulb that we use to try and accelerate fading on fabrics.

There's no real guidance on how long a fabric should remain pristine.

It is very much how it's used. If a fabric is looked after and cared for,

it can have considerable life.

However, if the environment is such that there are things that will contaminate the surface,

very quickly a fabric can lose its pristine appearance.

Right, so treat your furniture well

and it will keep you sitting pretty for many years to come.

For Brendan Parker, a shared ownership scheme with Peabody Trust

was the ideal way to get on to the London property market.

The people at the Peabody Trust were very charming.

They were very likable and, er...

they seemed to have my, my best interest at heart.

Um, and so that was a factor in the decision I made.

And three years on, the relationship between Brendan

and Peabody has become strained thanks to

a series of unresolved problems with his flat.

I felt defeated because, you know,

these things had progressed, I'd done everything correctly, to the

best of my ability, and yet I'm still living with a floor that sags,

I'm still living with these windows that are not correct,

I'm like, "Wait a second here."

Time for me to get on the blower to Peabody.

They're a big organisation, they've been around for donkey's years,

so I'm rather hoping that this is going to go quite well.

Oh, hi, it's Dominic Littlewood from Don't Get Done Get Dom on the BBC.

'I'm speaking to a chap in their press office

'who has asked me not to broadcast his voice. Fair enough.'

Can you give me a rough idea of where things are going from here?

In what way are they moving forward?

'Sadly, he's not in a position to discuss the details of the case

'but tells me Peabody is looking into Brendan's complaints

'and will get back to me soon.'

Right. 'It's clear from the call that Peabody is keen to try

'and resolve this situation so I'd say things are looking positive.'

I'm fairly hopeful we'll be able to try and mediate and get this sorted out

to everyone's satisfaction.

Thanks, then. Bye-bye.

The ball is now well and truly rolling on Brendan's case

but he's not the only person to have contacted me with property woes.

Matt Lovett bought a 50% share of his flat in Staines

with housing group A2 Dominion in 2004.

At the time, being relatively young,

it was the first...the best way that I could get into the property ladder.

It was the only affordable option I had at the time to

get out of home and have a bit of independence.

Like Brendan, Matt has a mortgage for his share of his flat

and pays rent on the remaining 50%, but for him

it's the additional service charges that are a problem.

Recently, A2 sent us a letter, um,

saying that the service charge

that we pay on the property would be increasing.

At the moment it's £63 per month for the service charge.

But the company have told residents this will increase

to £149 per month, more than double.

Apparently part of the increase in our costs from A2

are for repair works which include cleaning the guttering.

They've quoted £9,000 for scaffolding.

As you can see, it's not a very high property.

I know people that would quite happily do that off ladders.

I'd personally do it myself, to be honest, rather than pay

an extortionate amount of money to get gutters cleaned.

Under the terms of his shared ownership lease,

Matt and his neighbouring flat owners are liable for communal costs

including maintenance of the gardens

and he doesn't feel they're getting value for money.

I'm not a gardener, but it looks to me as if it's just all weed.

They say it's for nature reasons and conservation area,

but you've got nothing there.

There's a lot of stinging nettles in here,

there's a lot of children that live in this block.

It's not ideal for children playing.

He also feels there is a litter problem.

The whole path and walkway is an eyesore.

There's plastic bags, there's cans of beer,

you know, nothing ever gets done. And it needs to be maintained.

That's their responsibility, again it's what we pay for,

and it's not being done so we'd just like some action.

Matt is also unhappy at the amount he

and fellow residents are being charged for outside lighting.

There's bollard lighting along here which we pay

over £1,000 a year for the cost of the electricity.

The bollard lights haven't worked since at least 2011.

I wrote a complaint to A2, just stating that they don't work.

It's never been fixed.

There's two of them that stay on 24 hours a day

and the others just don't work at all.

Pat owns another flat in the same block

and for her, the sudden increase in service charge could have serious consequences.

Basically, I've really enjoyed living here

up until the last two years where the service charge

and everything else is getting out of control.

The overall effect of this service charge going up so much is that

I would have to sell my property, I wouldn't be able to stay here.

A2 Dominion told us the increase in service charge

includes a contribution to a fund

that will pay for any major refurbishments required at

the development. They also say the gardens are maintained fortnightly,

which includes picking up litter.

And they also say their records show

they've received no complaints about the bollard lights.

But what's interesting about Matthew and Pat's situation

and Brendan's case is

what your rights are when it comes to shared ownership

so I've come to meet Paula Higgins from consumer group the HomeOwners Alliance.

Paula, thanks ever so much for coming along. I appreciate that.

I'm trying to help somebody at the moment who's in a shared ownership scheme.

Can you just give us a breakdown of exactly what that means

and what do you think of them?

I think shared ownership schemes are great for certain people.

It's absolutely great to help people get onto the property market

if you cannot get enough deposit to buy,

or your income is too low to raise the money.

And you need to have a good credit history.

Give me an idea of any pitfalls of these schemes.

It's not a cheap way to get onto property.

It's not a cheap way to make a fast buck on property.

It's about giving people the chance to have a stake in property, so they can get that share.

But they will be paying rent on the other bit,

and this rent will go up and up and up.

As far as the rent of the section they don't own is concerned,

is that regulated?

Is it capped, is there any control over that, or is it at the housing

association's discretion to charge whatever they can get away with?

There is a formula that they charge initially and then

they can go to inflation plus 2% every year, so you have to

remember that that rent could go up quite dramatically year on year.

And as we've heard from Matthew and Pat,

the rent isn't the only cost that people need to be aware of.

They have to also remember that there's service charges involved,

and maintenance charges involved,

and they can be quite hefty and they can spiral out of control.

Hm. It seems all this is all at the discretion of the housing association.

With people in shared ownership, they can complain and can consult,

but they don't have the right to manage their own property.

So their hands are tied, aren't they, really?

A lot more than they would be under a normal purchase.

'So it's important to know who will have to pay for any

'maintenance works that need to be done.'

If somebody owns a percentage, let's say hypothetically 30%,

and the housing association obviously own the other 70,

if something needed doing that was going to cost some money, who

pays the 100%? Is it you pay your 30 and the housing association pays

70 or are you, as the leaseholder, responsible for the whole lot?

Unfortunately that is exactly the case.

So, with service and maintenance charges, you are responsible for 100%.

If you're going to repair the roof, you're responsible, 100%,

even though you have that 30% share.

Unfortunately people who are going into these shared ownership schemes do not realise that,

so it is quite a sort of a shock to the system.

'I'll say! It seems to me there are plenty of thing that anyone

'thinking about shared ownership needs to carefully consider.'

Do your research, you know. I think the best thing to do is to

talk to or find other people who are tenants or had

a shared ownership in those housing associations.

See what people are saying.

The ones that are established are the ones

-that you know are generally professional, help people out.

-The big names.

-Do you know what, Paula, I think you've answered all my questions. Thanks ever so much.

-Yay!

After that little chat about shared ownership, I think

the expression that springs to mind there is "horses for courses" -

some people it will suit, some people it won't, and if you're interested

in going down that avenue, make sure you do your homework first.

Over the last three years,

there has been a lot of back and forth between Brendan

and Peabody Trust over the problems with his flat, and I think it's

fair to say that relations between them have at times been strained.

I was trying to be accommodating, I was trying to work with them.

I wasn't satisfied with the first complaints - their response.

Of course there are always two sides to every story

and I think my role here is to be the middleman

and hopefully help both Peabody and Brendan agree a way forward.

I think it's time to give Peabody Trust a little bit of

a nudge along and say, "What's happening? Any news for us?"

Right.

'I'm quickly through to my contact in the press office.'

I just thought I'd give you a quick ring and see if there's any news.

'He tells me he is still dealing with various departments to try

'and get us some proper answers for Brendan.'

He believes he, you know, he has tried to sort this out himself

and there's been a reasonable amount of correspondence from him

backwards and forwards to you guys.

'Peabody acknowledge that there have been

'some delays and that perhaps things could have been handled better.

'The company has a possible solution for Brendan's floor,

'but is still discussing the issues with the windows and fascias.

'To help things along, I've got an idea.'

We're going to get a chartered property surveyor

to do a thorough investigation, give us a professional opinion.

It's not fair for me to turn round and say to you,

"These windows aren't fitted correctly," or,

"There's an issue here," so we'll get an expert's opinion on that.

'I've definitely rung the bell.'

We'll get this report, we'll send it over to you guys

and then hopefully you guys can agree on everything

and that's it, we get it sorted out and put to bed.

'I think we have a plan.'

Brilliant. Have a nice weekend and no doubt I'll be speaking to you next week. All the best. Bye-bye.

He seems very reasonable

and he seems quite switched on, and hopefully we can all start trying

to work together to get a sensible solution for all these problems.

It's a plan that makes sense to Brendan as well.

It'll be nice to get an independent opinion

because I have one view,

Peabody has another view, it's been going on for years now and, uh,

this will give, I think both of us peace of mind as to how to move forward.

Enter Jonathan Gillies, a member

of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, who has agreed

to take a look around Brendan's flat.

-Hello, Brendan. Jonathan Gillies.

-Nice to meet you. Come on in.

As Peabody hopefully have a solution for the floor,

I'm mainly keen to know what Jonathan thinks of the fascia

panels and the windows which seem prone to condensation.

Do you often find that it happens at any particular point during the day?

Primarily it will be if it's cold weather, morning times.

With a flat being so well insulated

with modern building techniques,

you can often have this issue where warm moist air

will get against a cold surface

and it will then condensate down the windows.

And condensation can have some unpleasant side effects.

Mould starting to form. It's very dusty over here.

Now this sort of mould, if it starts to build up,

can start to cause...have an affect on your health with breathing,

if it's allowed to build up over time.

This flat has a slightly worse problem

than we've come across, but it isn't uncommon

in modern properties.

Anything that's been really built within the last 30 years or so,

with modern double glazing, especially, has caused these issues.

It's an effect known as cold bridging and outside,

Jonathan notices something that could be making the problem worse.

The window is set quite far forward so that the insulation isn't

quite acting as it should do

on the external surface of the glass.

Windows traditionally are meant to be set quite

far into the building where the walls are so that the insulation

within the wall space can actually act as a beneficiary with the design of the windows

to stop the cold bridging effect happening against the glass.

It seems the design of the building could be a factor in the condensation.

Next Jonathan inspects the metal fascia panel.

If you look above, you can see the are holes for screws

in the metal fascia, just below the lip

and none of them have screws and that's for the entire length.

The amount of fixings in that fascia really aren't adequate.

I'd like to get in and take some of that cladding off

for us to get a further investigation

as to what they have actually fixed the fascia boards to.

I'm actually unscrewing this by hand right now.

That's amazing. I can't believe that.

The problem with a lot of these fixings up here is that they have been put in at an angle.

The problem that they're going to have is that water is going to be able to flow down here

and still get into all of this cladding.

These problems seem to relate to the construction of the building

and are not Brendan's responsibility to repair.

Most tenants who buy a lease on their flat are only responsible for

the internal part of their flat. As soon as you start to have an issue

with the external common areas, that is really the responsibility of the

landlord or freeholder to sort out these problems.

I'd say it's more poor construction and not being thought about

with somebody signing all of the works off.

Jonathan is going to confirm these findings in writing

and we'll forward them to Peabody Trust.

But the issue of who's responsible for what repairs is an interesting one.

The most common complaints certainly that I've encountered

from shared ownership leaseholders tends to be about repairs.

If the landlord owns the building,

it should be reasonably straightforward,

but a lot of shared ownership properties are themselves leased

from somebody else who owns the building

and finding out who is responsible for repairs can be impossible.

Which isn't an issue for Brendan as Peabody own the building

and it's their responsibility to deal with any construction issues.

Trouble is Brendan doesn't feel they've addressed all his concerns.

If you're unhappy with your landlord or your property,

there are limited places to turn.

Certainly, if you're unhappy with the state of the property

in the first place, you turn to your landlord.

The housing associations that provide shared ownership

are regulated by the Homes and Communities Agency

and there is the Housing Ombudsman, but it's a complicated situation

and can be difficult for all parties to resolve.

Well, I certainly think Brendan would agree with that.

I think it's time I met him to find out a bit more

about the problems he's experienced.

-Hi, is that Brendan?

-Yes, it is.

It's Dominic from Don't Get Done Get Dom.

-Come on in.

-Thank you very much.

'One thing Brendan certainly can't have

'any complaints about is the view.'

It's amazing. You've got beautiful views of Battersea Power Station,

you've got the Thames, you're on the south bank, of course,

so you're going to get a lot of sunshine,

and this garden looks like it's been here 100 years.

Thank you, I appreciate it. It's a lot of hard work.

Talk about these windows, what are your problems with them?

I know you've mentioned about condensation,

I can't see any at the moment.

What's happening is, depending on the weather,

we get condensation on the bottom in all the windows and doors,

and that...after that, obviously, mould forms.

'The surveyor has pointed out that the way the windows are positioned,'

flush to the exterior walls, could be part of this problem

but condensation can also be caused by a lack of ventilation.

Your bathroom, does it have an extractor fan in it?

It does. But I don't use it.

This is supposed to have this heat exchange.

It's supposed to take exterior air in and then do this heat exchange

and then, you know, filter throughout the flat,

but I've turned off the heating system completely

-and because of the light, I actually don't need it.

-Right.

You might not need it for heat,

but you might need it for airflow through the house.

The moisture needs to go somewhere, that could be adding to the problem.

In fact, even when we had the system on we got condensation, so...

-Ah, OK. So you believe it's nothing to do with that?

-No.

Besides the windows, we've got this exterior fascia which,

as you can see, there are no screws on the upper part,

it's just gravity holding it there.

It's also quite rippled, isn't it, as you go down?

Well, it's the wind.

We get gale force winds here, there's no protection.

Any time you get even the slightest breeze

they begin to waffle and make noise. It's scary at times.

You actually feel they haven't been fitted properly

-and that's a major concern, yeah?

-Absolutely.

But the windows and fascias aren't the only exterior feature

that Brendan and Peabody have disagreed about.

We've got issues with the door,

because it doesn't have an exterior handle, and it's not suited...

There's no way to stop it from getting caught in the wind.

And we've reached an agreement with the Peabody Trust to replace it

with sliding glass doors,

but rather than having them fix it

they gave me money and said, "Do it yourself."

And I'm not comfortable with that risk,

because the exterior's technically their remit.

-Did you take the money?

-I did, because at that point they were...

it was take it or leave it and it's like, what am I supposed to do?

Why didn't you say, "Keep your cheque, put the doors in."

I said that. I said that repeatedly, I said, "This is not acceptable.

"This is not acceptable."

And again, three years...

It's hopeless, they're not doing anything.

And at that point, because I wanted my life to go on,

it's like, all right, fine.

If no-one's going to do this, I'm going to have to accept this risk

because they just won't. They flat out refused.

Even though contractually, it's their responsibility.

'Although he probably shouldn't have accepted Peabody's cheque,'

I can understand why Brendan didn't want the hassle

of replacing the door himself.

The same is true of the floors, windows and fascias.

He just wants his concerns addressed.

You've been trying to sort this out for years now, haven't you?

-Yeah.

-OK, let's see what I can do, try and help speed that up.

-I'd appreciate that, absolutely.

-OK, do you want to show me out, then?

'Let's hope we get a response from Peabody soon.'

Do you remember these old dinosaurs?

VHS video tapes?

Well, thanks to DVDs and online video they're now old hat,

but there are still plenty of people out there using them.

Michelle bought a VHS player for her elderly mother Penny,

who sadly has recently passed away.

In her later years Penny found stairs difficult

so used to enjoy watching her favourite programmes

on the VHS player in her bedroom.

So when the old machine broke, Michelle went online

to try and order a replacement.

At the time only two companies made VCR recorders,

because of the switchover to DVDs.

I started looking on Amazon,

who I buy quite a lot of stuff with, so decided to purchase one there.

And Michelle was reassured it came with

a 12-month warranty as standard.

The warranty is important if the product goes wrong,

so you assume that it can be repaired, replaced,

and under the Sale of Goods Act,

one does expect it to last more than 12 months

if you've paid a good price for it.

Satisfied with her choice, she ordered the £195 machine.

The VCR that I ordered arrived within 48 hours

of placing the order.

Once I had shown my mum how to use the remote control

and explained the buttons, she just put the tape in and got on with it.

However, five months later Michelle began noticing

lines on the screen when watching tapes.

I thought initially that it was dirty tape heads,

'and I actually contacted the manufacturer's helpline to ask them,

'and they asked me to get a suitable quality tape head cleaner,'

which I did. Made no difference at all.

So she contacted Amazon, who sent out a replacement

the very next day.

The replacement VCR was exactly the same make and model number,

so it was easy to set up and I knew exactly how to use it.

Great. But eight months later the replacement machine

began to display some familiar picture problems.

The problems were exactly the same as the previous one

with poor picture quality and poor sound quality.

So I immediately suspected

that there was something with the tape heads.

But this time Michelle got a very different response from Amazon.

'They immediately started to say that it was out of warranty

'and it was my problem.'

I was furious because as far as I was concerned,

the replacement machine was just over eight months old,

so how could it be out of warranty?

Amazon pointed out that the 12-month warranty

began from the date Michelle bought the first VCR machine

and had now expired.

This case raises a rather interesting issue.

If you're given a replacement because an item is faulty,

when does the warranty start?

From the original date of purchase?

Or from the date you received the replacement?

If you have a product repaired or replaced during the warranty period

that you have, the warranty doesn't actually refresh.

So say you bought something in 2013 and the warranty lasted until 2015,

that is when the warranty period would end.

It wouldn't continue on after you have had that product

repaired or placed.

But in Michelle's case she twice had the exact same problem

with the exact same product.

If a product continues to break down

it should be replaced in full altogether.

There's clearly a manufacturer's fault that can't be fixed

and so they should get a brand-new product at the end of that.

Canny consumer that she is, Michelle did some research

to find out if the problem with her VCR was a known fault.

'I started to contact other retailers in the UK'

to see whether they still stocked the same model,

and only to be told that they no longer stocked recorders

because of the number of faults that their customers had encountered.

Armed with this information, Michelle went back to Amazon.

I followed my phone call up with an immediate e-mail,

and said that I wasn't satisfied and as far as I was concerned,

the item was faulty and it was a component part that was faulty

due to the manufacturing.

Amazon were soon back in touch.

The first e-mail response I got from Amazon

was offering me either £40 in Amazon vouchers or a £30 cash refund,

which I really wasn't prepared to accept.

After several more e-mail exchanges Amazon eventually increased

the offer to £50, which Michelle reluctantly accepted,

despite the fact that the VCR cost £195.

It does mean, however, I will never make a major purchase with Amazon

again, and I also will be very careful at looking at guarantees.

Michelle has since heard from the manufacturer of the VCR,

who have said they will replace her faulty machine with a new one.

We contacted Amazon and they said,

"Should a product become defective in the first 12 months from date

"of purchase, the item can be returned to us for a full refund.

"Thereafter, we will take into consideration all facts

"and circumstances on a case-by-case basis to provide

"a fair solution for our customers."

For many, shared ownership schemes offer an affordable way

to get a foot on the property ladder,

but not everyone has found it the perfect solution.

The money I've spent over the years paying the mortgage,

paying the service charge, paying the rent,

I could have had a mortgage

and had a place outright and paid less.

Pat and neighbours Matthew and his wife are unhappy with the cost

of their service charges for work they don't feel has been done.

We don't get a say in whether we believe that needs to be done, etc.

They'll tell us it needs to be done and we foot the bill, basically.

The residents are hopeful of some progress, though.

A2 Dominion have agreed to meet them all

face-to-face to discuss their issues.

We'd like a bit of transparency and to actually see the costings

and see bills, quotes, estimates.

I think we should be given the option to carry it out ourselves.

Some of us that live here are in the building trade

and may be able to do it for next to nothing.

In central London, Brendan is frustrated that a series of problems

with the fit and finish of his new build apartment

haven't been addressed by housing association Peabody.

Those problems persist and I'm constantly reminded

of the difficulty and the problems with the house.

And that takes away from the pleasure, the home.

Brendan is very keen to resolve his dispute with Peabody Trust

and get his flat sorted once and for all.

Isn't that what we'd all want?

At least we're moving in the right direction.

'We've sent Peabody the findings from our independent surveyor

'who said he thought there weren't enough fixings installed

'on the fascia panels and suggested the windows

'have been set too far forward, creating a cold bridging effect.

'It's been a week since we sent over these findings.'

I think it's time to give Peabody Trust a ring.

Hi, it's Dominic Littlewood from the BBC.

'I'm through to my contact at Peabody

'and I'm keen to hear their thoughts on what the surveyor has said.'

It might be the case in Mr Parker's flat that those

windows have been set too far forward.

He does seem to think that could be what's helping towards condensation.

'He tells me their development team are looking into what the report

'has said about the windows and fascias

'and will have a response for us soon.'

OK. It's working its way through the system as we speak, is it?

'But there is news on the floor.

'He tells me Peabody have commissioned a complete

'new investigation into the flooring.'

Do you know when that new report's being done?

'He tells me the inspection will open the floor to look

'at the structure and will carry out any necessary remedial works.'

Smashing. As far as the other issues are concerned,

the cold bridging, etc, you're going to have a chat

with the development team and see if we can work out what will happen.

Thanks, then. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

Just two days later, Peabody's response comes through

and we've passed it on to Brendan.

The e-mail explains that the mould

and condensation in Brendan's windows could be improved by

regular cleaning and maintenance of the filter and ventilation systems.

However, following our surveyor's observations,

Peabody has also agreed to carry out a joint inspection

of the windows by their own surveyor,

the buildings' contractors and architects,

and the manufacturers of the windows themselves.

Peabody has also agreed to repair or replace the external fascia

once access to the property is agreed with Brendan.

They've also told us that,

"The building went through a rigorous design process

"and gained NHBC certification as well as building control sign off.

It says, "It is Mr Parker's choice to replace the door

"and won't fit it as it's not defective."

"It is common not to have handles on the outside of terrace doors.

Peabody also says it will, "Always have responsibility for repairs

"and maintenance to the exterior of the property."

For Brendan the promise that Peabody is going to work with him to

address the issues with his property is the news he's been hoping for.

'I don't think words could convey just how much Dom has accomplished'

because, to have a home...it's everyone's dream.

To finally get that after so many years of fighting...

..that's the world.

I think that's a pretty decent result.

Peabody Trust have said they're going to investigate the windows

and floors and sort them out and to fix those fascia boards,

which leaves Brendan to enjoy that flat and his wonderful views.