Barratt Homes Face Penalty for Bending the Truth

Reporter: Ask Bury
Date online: 29 February 2008

Britain's Premier Home Builder, Barratt Homes were in Bury Magistrates court on February 28 to face the penalty for breaching the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991.

The case first came to light in October 2007 when a complaint was received by Bury Council's Trading Standards.

Barratts advertised in a local newspaper that Hamilton Place, Walmersley Road had secure parking facilities. This was one of fourteen advertisements which had been placed since October 2004 which indicated that the "many properties include...private secure parking". 

Upon completion the development at Walmersley Road provided only communal, insecure parking.

Whilst there is no statutory definition of what is required to establish "secure parking" the case rested on the basis that the term "secure parking" requires there to be some form of security present that would prevent access on to the car parking areas by those who had no right to be there.  In this case there was nothing to prevent access to the car parking areas by any member of the driving public. People wanting to steal vehicles could enter the area and drive a vehicle out without having to negotiate a barrier.
Barratts' explanation to the court was that there was a scale model of the development at the site showing to potential buyers the absence of barriers and that they interpreted the word 'secure' in the adverts as meaning secure by design, but that they were pleading guilty because they could see how it could be interpreted differently by members of the public.
 
After pleading not guilty Barratts were found guilty and fined £2500 with additional costs of £2255.