Couple recall stress and turmoil of home deal falling through

A couple has told how Stewart Milne Group’s (SMG) collapse revived painful memories of a scuppered house move.

Samantha Leckie and fiance Allan Ogston thought they had found their dream home in Aberdeen’s Countesswells development.

But just a week before they were due to move in they were left devastated when Countesswells Development Limited (CDL), a subsidiary of SMG, went into administration in November 2021.

The couple had already paid a £1,000 reservation fee and a five-figure sum of money was waiting to be transferred as a part deposit.

Just over two years later, the whole group is in administration, leaving partly-finished projects.

Samantha, 32, said: “When I heard the news I got really emotional because I can just imagine how these people feel.”

Samantha and Allan, 37, were already living in Countesswells when they made the decision to buy a new fourbedroom house.

The brand marketing manager was already mum to Jacob, who was five, and pregnant with their daughter, Olivia-Jade.

Recalling the stress of their planned move, she said: “What we were essentially told is because we’d be buying from administrators, it meant that even though Stewart Milne were promising they would finish the tarring of the road outside our house, if they went bust we would be liable to pay for and arrange the tarring of the road.

“We were also told if we bought from the administrators and Stewart Milne went bust at any point over the next 10 years then our house could be repossessed by anyone who was due money.

“We felt like we’d be living with that hanging over our heads for the next 10 years.”

The family pulled out and moved in to Allan’s dad’s home. After a two-week wait they got a call from solicitors Aberdein Considine to confirm they wouldn’t lose any money.

Samantha added: “It was one of the most traumatic experiences I’ve ever gone through.

“I would never buy a new-build house again for fear of it happening again.”

The site, marketed by Shepherd Chartered Surveryors, remains in administration.

A spokesman said: “Discussions continue with various parties.”

The family never got the keys to their new home.

Samantha Leckie.