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Stewart and Atenea Bottomley bought their three-storey house on what was a new estate in Hockley, Coventry, in 2019. However, the couple began to notice water seeping through walls in one of their bedrooms at the beginning of lockdown last year.

Professional roofers inspected the problem and have claimed the issue stemmed from when the home was initially built as brickwork was completed too high. The contractors said a metal joist hanger had poked into the roofing felt which water runs off and that this, in turn, had created a hole.

Coventry Live reports the contractors believed the roof was “never installed correctly and was probably leaking from day one”.

Repair works were carried out in February costing £7,812, with the couple contacting house-builders Persimmon calling for “fair compensation” after being told the issue stemmed from when it was built 13 years ago.

Mr Bottomley, 42, said: “At worst we thought it would cost a couple of grand but when we were given quotes it just became more and more.

“The roofers told us the house was never built properly and it was not just a case of wear and tear, it is the fact it has been manufactured incorrectly.

“We thought we might have a chance of getting some help as it was just outside the 10 year warranty, but Persimmon just don’t seem to want to know.

“We presumed we would have to fork out something, but when it came out it was down to bad workmanship we shouldn’t have to.”

The couple said they had contacted a number of people at Persimmon byt had been told they would not be helped.

Mr Bottomley added: “We have had nothing at all from them.”

Atenea, 36, said the problem turned their dream first house into a nightmare.

She added: “It started with the damp at first but when the rain came down it just got really bad.

“It is our first house together so we were so excited and then we have all these problems.

“The money we spent on it was our savings. We had that put away in case of any issues in the house such as a boiler breaking or something but when it is not our fault it is a bit unfair.

“We just want them to give us fair compensation against what we have paid.”

When contacted about the problem, Persimmon said it would not compensate Mr and Mrs Bottomley as the works were carried out before they inspected the issue.

A spokesman said: “This house is over 13 years old and is not owned by the original customer as it has been sold on in that time.

“The current owner asked that we pay for a contractor who had already completed works, without asking us to first inspect the house.

“Further, given the age of the house it is also beyond the industry standard 10-year warranty. We are therefore not in a position to support this claim.”

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