Picture the scene: you've finally scraped together enough cash to buy your dream home, you move in and live happily ever after.
Sadly the opposite turned out to be the case for Joe Tompkinson, 33, and his wife Claire, 43, who claim to have found over 400 faults in their new build home since they moved in in December 2017.
The cracks started to show just three weeks in when a tile fell off the roof of the home causing £3,000 of damage to their car which was parked on the driveway, and Joe claims he has since uncovered more than 400 examples of "appalling" workmanship at the detached £400k property in Swindon, Wiltshire.
In what could pass as a particularly bad episode of Homes Under The Hammer, the couple has uncovered everything from botched repairs, tiles held in place with duct tape, unbolted banisters, sinking bathroom floors, micro-cracks, subsidence and missing brickwork. And that's just so far.
Now fearing for the safety of their three children, Joe said: "We had been in the new home for a couple of weeks when Claire found a smashed tile on the driveway which had come off the roof.
"We've heard tiles falling from the roof when we've been in bed. We are worried a tile could come off and hit us or our children. It's not safe."
Following a subject access request under the Data Protection Act, Joe says an independent survey condemned the roof because the majority of tiles were incorrectly secured and soffits built too low.
"Linden Homes have allowed by family to live under this roof now for 18 months but for six have known what is wrong with it," Joe added.
"I repeatedly asked for this report, at time sending several emails a week. They withheld it until I put in a subject access request under the Data Protection Act."
In a further blow, after Linden promised £7,350 to cover expenses while the family vacated the house for a few weeks to allow repair work to be undertaken, Joe booked a three-week holiday to Florida only to have the offer withdrawn.
Calling for the government to step in and review future developments by Linden Homes, Joe now hopes to stop further families going through the same nightmare.
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"It's alarming they are insisting on building more houses all the time - I want the government or local authority to step in and assess whether this is safe," he explained.
While it's yet to be seen how this will all turn out, we hope for Joe and his family's sake there are no more nasty surprises hiding around the corner.
Featured Image Credit: SWNS