I bought an off-plan studio apartment from The Guinness Partnership and moved in in September 2022. I immediately discovered that the wet room had a colossal problem. The floor sloped in the wrong direction, channelling the shower water away from the drains and into the hall. Guinness has admitted it is a flaw with every studio flat in the development, but has repeatedly ignored emails and deflected responsibility. Our contract states that any non-emergency defects will be resolved within one month of reporting. However, Guinness claims that this is a “design flaw” and not a “defect” and thus not bound by the same obligation. A recent survey valued the flat at £10,000 less than I paid for it, citing this issue as one of the reasons.
CA, London
You first contacted me in April after seven months of fruitless complaints. It’s taken both of us a further eight months to enable you to shower without flooding your home. In that time, Guinness has delayed, obfuscated and misled. First things first: what is the difference between a “defect” and a “design flaw”? “Semantic gymnastics,” according to consumer lawyer Gary Rycroft from Joseph A Jones Solicitors. “The flat owners bought a flat expecting it to work and it does not.”
