The High Court directed the National House Building Guarantee Company Limited, known as Homebond, to pay Margaret Brennan €50,952.99 for remedial work on her house in Boyle, Co Roscommon. The judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Dunne on 20 March 2013, resolved Homebond’s liability under its guarantee but left the claims against the builders open for further consideration.
Brennan bought the newly built house at 10 Mockmoyne Heights from Thomas and Catherine Flannery. The total purchase consideration was stated in the pleadings as £85,000 (€107,927.74), including £80,000 for the building agreement with T. & C. Developments Limited. She began proceedings in 2003 over alleged construction defects.
The court rejected Brennan’s contention that Homebond’s guarantee made it responsible for all defects or that it owed her a wider duty of care. Justice Dunne found that the guarantee expressly limited Homebond’s liability and that Brennan had signed it with the assistance of solicitors. The court also found no evidence of a separate representation by Homebond or of a failure to exercise care in assessing the builder’s application. Homebond’s liability arose from the guarantee’s terms.
The judgment recorded serious problems with the property, including poor site drainage, a damp-proof membrane that did not overlap the damp-proof course, and a footpath that had subsided, tilting the central-heating boiler. The court was not satisfied that a crack in the gable wall resulted from unstable foundations, and it did not accept the evidence that standing water was beneath the house. It found no basis to order demolition and rebuilding.
Homebond had proposed two repair options. A quantity surveyor estimated the limited option at €19,984.61 and a more extensive repair at €50,952.99. The judge found the latter work was required to eradicate the damp problem and directed that it be carried out. Because it was no longer realistic to expect Homebond’s contractors to do the work, Homebond was ordered to pay that amount to Brennan. The award exceeded the guarantee’s stated €38,000 limit; the judgment noted evidence that Homebond sometimes carried out work above that limit.
The court said the house’s construction was unsatisfactory and that Brennan was entitled to a remedy against the Flannerys and T. & C. Developments. But she had not presented evidence of the cost of repairing the other defects. The judge said she would hear further from Brennan on whether she wished to provide that evidence. The court found no basis to impose liability on Seamus Quinn or Midland Design Services Limited.