A Nightmare of New Builds
Alexandra Druzhinin and Daniel Bruce experience a strange sensation beneath their feet, as if they are on a ship in rough waters. However, this is not the luxury cruise they expected — it is the reality of living in their “luxury” new build apartments, which together cost them almost £2 million but are now considered worthless due to a range of serious problems.
The block of seven new flats on Agar Grove in Camden, north London, was marketed as a luxury property for affluent buyers who believed they were purchasing their dream home. Unfortunately, these properties are now valued at zero because of the numerous defects that make them unmortgageable and uninsurable.
“I am scared for my life,” Ms Druzhinin said. “The building is crumbling beneath us and I am terrified our homes could collapse at any time. I’m petrified as the building is timber-framed and isn’t insured. There are so many cracks and every time there is a loud bang, it makes me jump.”
Even though she moved into the block in March 2019, Ms Druzhinin has never used the bath and is too scared to invite more than a couple of friends over at the same time. “I would love to use the bath but am too frightened because the structural elements in the floors are so weak and badly made,” she explained. “I am terrified that if I fill the bath with water and my weight, it will fall through.”
The lack of insurance means those living inside the building live in constant anxiety. “It doesn’t have to be a collapse,” said Mr Bruce. “If there’s a fire we’ll lose everything. Where will we live if something happens? How much longer does this building have in its life span? We can’t move anywhere else because all our money is tied up in this building.”
Ms Druzhinin and Mr Bruce shared their ordeal with The i Paper as part of a new miniseries highlighting issues with the quality of new build homes across the UK, as the Government attempts to deliver its target of building 1.5 million homes by the next election.
Dream Became a Nightmare
Ms Druzhinin, a self-employed stylist, moved into her £900,000 three-bedroom leasehold apartment with her 17-year-old daughter following her divorce. “I viewed it multiple times, everything looked fine, it was brand spanking new and I had a survey done,” she recalled. “I had this expectation that new flats would be better built as they would be built to new standards and practices and strict regulations.”
“It was marketed as a luxury flat and was in a central location and it ticked all my boxes. It seemed like a perfect heaven and me and my daughter called it our sanctuary.” But shortly after moving in, Ms Druzhinin noticed the smell of damp but couldn’t find the source. When she went to redecorate – more issues were discovered.
Her electrician noticed multiple wiring issues and while he was replacing the lights in her daughter’s bedroom, water came gushing out of a socket. “The freeholder and developer were trying to deny there was a problem so I ended up hiring people to take the ceiling down and it turned out the entire ceiling cavity was damaged by water ingress,” she said. “When the contractor drilled a hole in the ceiling, black water gushed out and it was running for days and days. The whole ceiling cavity was black with mould.”
Determined to Fight for Justice
Ms Druzhinin and Mr Bruce have spent years wrangling with the freeholder and developer, the warranty provider and insurer for their flats to no avail and have racked up a staggering £400,000 so far between them on legal fees. They fear the fight will eventually bankrupt them.
“It is quite cruel because everyone who buys a new home believes they are protected by a warranty and by the law,” said Mr Bruce. “When you buy a home, you should get the home you think you are buying,” he said, adding that buying a home now is “like playing roulette”.
“There should be really strong protections in place, but there’s not. If I bought a PlayStation and it was faulty, I would take it back to where I bought it from and they would immediately give me my money back and then take it up with their supply chain. Then the manufacturer of the product takes the hit.”
But in this instance, the manufacturer of the product has got away with all our money and Alex and I are taking the hit. We have lost our money and are trapped in a legal fight. “We’re broken individuals.”
Despite knowing they might lose even more money if they go to court and lose, Ms Druzhinin and Mr Bruce are determined to go all the way. “I am so incandescent at the injustice, I am willing to take that risk,” explained Mr Bruce. “What we want is to be made whole – get our purchase price back, our stamp duty back and our legal fees back. We are two innocent parties who have borne the cost of this whole thing.”
Long Lasting Repercussions
The perpetual cycle of fighting for justice and hemorrhaging money on their legal fight has taken its toll on the pair. Ms Druzhinin says she has sleepless nights and suffers shooting chest pains as a result of all the stress. While she is lucky enough not to have a mortgage, she has to borrow money to carry on funding her legal fight.
“Seven years on, I am trapped in a home that is worthless,” she said. “I am trapped financially, personally and emotionally. I can’t move on with my life because the most important aspect which is the safety of habitation is not being met.”
For Mr Bruce, the anguish has led to him losing patches of hair and suffering from stress-induced conditions including psoriasis. “It has absolutely destroyed me,” he said. “I used to be a confident and fearless person and built a business. I don’t know if I would be able to do that again because I am now nervous of everything.”
Mr Bruce still has a £160,000 mortgage so says he is effectively paying a mortgage on a worthless building. He has recently taken a position as a chief technology officer at a firm so he can afford to carry on fighting the legal battle.
‘Politicians Have Failed Us’
Mr Bruce is particularly angry with his local MP, who just so happens to be the Prime Minister. Mr Bruce says that when Sir Keir Starmer was in opposition, he called for people in their situation to be put back in the place they would have been if their homes had been built correctly.
He also argued that people should be able to rely on warranties to put things right. “Politicians have failed us – and our MP is now the leader of the country. When he was in opposition, he said one thing and that we shouldn’t be having to worry about any of this. But now that he is in power, he has taken no substantive action and the support has completely collapsed.”
“If [the Government’s] goal is to build 1.5 million new homes but you know there are people trapped because the quality of their homes isn’t sufficient, surely the first thing you should do is put the protection in place for people and then build the homes.”
A spokesperson said the Prime Minister is committed to supporting his constituents, and his constituency office said it will continue to work on the Agar Grove case.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “The situation faced by the innocent residents of Agar Grove is deplorable, and we have been absolutely clear that those who should have helped them have all moved too slowly.”
‘New Builds Are Not Worth the Risk’
“We don’t know anyone who hasn’t had significant issues with a new build, even when they have bought luxury ones,” said Ms Druzhinin. “When you buy an older home that has stood there for 50, 60 or 100 years, at least you know it has stood the test of time.”
The freeholder and developer of the flats, Prime Metro Properties, said the company who built the development, Cite Construction, have now gone into liquidation. “We continue to do what we can both legally and otherwise to bring this matter to a fair conclusion,” Prime Metro said.
Acasta European Insurance Company Limited, the insurer for the building, said it has underwritten structural defects insurance for apartments at Agar Grove. A spokesperson said that court proceedings are now active so they are constrained in providing specific information but said that Acasta remains committed to fulfilling its obligations under the relevant insurance policies.
“We continue to engage with the relevant property owners regarding progression and resolution of this matter,” they said.
‘Buyers Have More Rights Buying a Kettle’
More homes are needed in this country and new builds are an essential part of meeting that demand. But the way new homes are being delivered is broken, says Paula Higgins, CEO of HomeOwners Alliance, which champions the interests of homeowners and those who want to own.
“We hear from people every week who regret buying a new build. Some homes are well designed and energy efficient, yes – but far too many are riddled with defects, handed over incomplete, or come with hidden costs and long battles for redress.
“It is staggering that buyers have fewer rights when buying a new home than they do buying a kettle or a toaster. New build buyers will continue to be let down unless there is an overhaul of the system, which is central to our Campaign for Better New Build.
“We’re not anti-new build – but we are pro-consumer. Building more homes shouldn’t come at the expense of quality, fairness or basic rights.
On the Agar Grove flats, Higgins said: “This utterly unjust situation is exactly why we’re calling for a comprehensive overhaul of the warranty system. It’s simply not right that victims – in this case Camden leaseholders – are forced into a legal battle to seek accountability and compensation. The system is fundamentally unfit for purpose.
“Our current framework – where warranties exist more to reassure lenders than genuinely protect homeowners – is clearly broken. Consumers shouldn’t need deep pockets or endless resilience to stand a chance; they deserve robust, enforceable protection from the outset.”