'Defects' mean dream home now valued at £1

A COUPLE thought they had purchased their dream new-build property in Devon - only for it now to be valued at just £1.

- By MATT JACKSON

Grandparents Dayle Dixon and Mark Lee paid £275,000 for their house in 2018. However, due to numerous "major defects" with the Ivybridge property, including structural problems, it has now been rendered almost worthless.

They say the problems are so severe that their grandson cannot even visit and stay at the home. Dayle said that she feels "utterly trapped" in the property.

She added: "I still cry about it all the time as we were sold a dream that turned out to be nothing but a nightmare.

"We can't sell our house and we can't decorate it. We are just living here knowing it is crumbling beneath us and we fear it will collapse."

Dayle and Mark told The i newspaper they had always rented before they managed to purchase what they believed was their dream three-bedroom property from Barratt.

Dayle says she inherited £100,000 after renting for her "entire life".

The pair managed to utilise £55,000 from the Conservative government's Help to Buy scheme.