Company ordered to pay £400k over size of homes
A Bath man’s company is owed hundreds of thousands of pounds from a building firm after a pub redevelopment went badly wrong. East Park Investments’ first foray into the residential development market turned into a nightmare when Crossman Homes Ltd - now known as HDL Development Ltd delivered four homes too small while one was actually larger than intended. In total the five-plot development in Batheaston was built almost 15 per cent - or more than 1,000 sq ft smaller than originally specified in planning documents meaning one of the three-bed homes, which would have been listed for £479,000, was sold for £348,000. Mani Chauhan, director of East Park Investments, obtained a High Court order in February to recover nearly £400,000 of his losses – HDL Development Ltd has yet to pay. In April Crossman Homes Ltd changed its name to HDL Development Ltd - the firm’s original name when it was registered in January 2005 with Companies House. Brad Hughes resigned as a director on May 3. The company’s offices were also changed from London Road to its accountants in Wellsway. Mr Hughes said he has resigned as a director from a number of his companies “to reduce my stress levels”. He said the company cannot afford to pay East Park in full and believes it should not have been held to blame for the homes being built too small. He also disputed the degree of difference in size. Despite this ‘Crossman Homes’ appears to be working on a number of multi-million pound developments across the city. Boards bearing its name can be seen at sites in Lansdown, Weston, Newton St Loe and Bathford where it is building four ‘luxury’ homes. And there is a live planning application lodged with Bath and North East Somerset Council to build a second office for Crossman Homes, describing itself as “a successful local building developer”. But Mr Hughes said they had “many companies” operating under the Crossman trademark. “HDL or Crossman Homes Ltd do not have anything to do with our development sites in Bath or anywhere else. It was a contract build company that no longer operates,” he said. Mr Chauhan’s East Park Investments bought the site of the former Waggon and Horses pub in Bath in July 2013. He appointed Crossman Homes Ltd as builders. It was not until May 2015 that a prospective buyer noticed an error in the footprint of the homes. They had been listed by estate agents as per the dimensions given in the original planning consent. The homes were withdrawn from the market, re-evaluated and re-priced according to the size. Because the homes were not built as per planning consent, an application for amended permission had to be submitted to B&NES Council, which was granted within a month. Mr Chauhan said the firm was “refusing to pay it or stating they can’t afford to as they’re not trading”. He added: “These individuals have messed us about for three years. We’re going to continue until we receive our debt and right this wrong.”