A homeowner claims he has been left out of pocket by £20,000 after a developer sold him a four-bedroom house that actually only had three bedrooms.
The man, who is using the name John Smith to protect his identity, 30, bought a new house from developer Persimmon on October 31, 2019.
A Persimmon brochure advertised the Birmingham property as a "four-bedroom home", and the house was priced with that in mind.
But Smith claims the fourth bedroom was suspiciously small, measuring just 3.12 x 2.04 metres.
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Smith said he began to suspect something was not right, and started looking into the issue.
He went to the Valuation Office Agency and found that the house was registered as a three-bedroom home, not a four-bed.
The fourth 'bedroom' was actually meant to be an office, Smith says.
He now claims that Persimmon sold the property as a four-bedroom home in order to make more money.
Bedrooms bump up house prices more than any other room, so sellers have an incentive to fit in as many as they can.
Smith estimates the extra bedroom means he has overpaid by £15,000 to £20,000 for the property.
The house is worth £275,000 overall, and Smith still lives there, along with his partner and child.
The fourth bedroom is also a factor in how much he pays in mortgage payments and council tax on the property every month.
But it also means he is paying money he won't be able to get back when he sells the house, as he will have to sell it as a three-bedroom one.
Smith has raised the issue with Persimmon, but claims they will not help.
He claims one Persimmon employee told him: "It won’t be an issue when coming to sell as the average Joe doesn’t look at council plans for the property."
To make matters worse, the house was also sold with 120 faults, including two floors flooding with raw sewage after a pipe was not capped off properly.
Other faults included guttering installed badly, wonky windows and paving that was a trip hazard.
The property also had damage to doorframes and electrical wiring in the oven hood exposed to water and grease.
Almost all of the faults have now been fixed, although Smith claims his garden has sunk by around 50cm since he bought the home.
He wants Persimmon to either update the planning permission for the property or give him £15,000 to £20,000 in compensation to make up for the extra 'bedroom'.
Smith said: "Even now it's still stressful. I've had to fight tooth and nail for the last year and a half.
"I've probably spent two to three full weeks of my own time on this."
Persimmon are refusing to help in either way and are washing their hands of any responsibility.
A spokesperson for Persimmon Homes said: “[Mr Smith] bought a stock plot and was made fully aware of the layout and dimensions of the property. In addition, he visited and viewed the completed house before purchasing.”
The Mirror put the planning permission issue to Persimmon, which did not deny it.
Smith is now looking to sue Persimmon over the extra 'bedroom'.
