Why were mortgages mis sold?

When the Howd family bought their dream home for £1.9million, they looked forward to sitting at the end of the lawn and watching the Thames flow past.

But they were soon shocked to discover that the river came regularly to them – flooding the 140ft garden almost completely on occasions.

Dr Adrian Howd and his wife Caroline are now suing the previous owners of the semi-detached 1920s house – known as Tide’s End – to reverse the purchase of it.

The Howds, who have two young daughters, accuse Bobby and Nicola Console-Verma of ‘fraudulently misrepresenting’ the truth about the house.

They say they asked the sellers if the property flooded before buying it, and were told it hadn’t in the 14 years they had lived there.

‘But the Console-Vermas claim to have misunderstood the question and say they thought it referred to the house, not the garden.

Dr Howd told the High Court yesterday: ‘So far as I am concerned, they can have it back.

‘We don’t want to live in a property which floods an average of 80 times a year.’

The City analyst, who has a molecular neuroscience PhD, said he and his marketing manager wife had considered selling the house, but the flooding meant it was worth far less than they paid for it.

He wants the sale of the house rescinded – returning the house to the Console-Vermas in exchange for the money paid for it.

He told the court: ‘This has ruined, to some extent, our lives. Why should I take a financial loss because of the way other people have treated myself and my family?’

He added: ‘I felt we had been lied to.

‘We had asked certain questions. There was flooding in the garden, but we weren’t told about that.

‘I don’t think they were honest in their description of the property before we bought it.’ 

The Howds bought the striking house in Teddington, West London, in October 2006.

The Console-Vermas’ three sons went to the same school as the Howds’ daughters, and were happy their house was going to another young family.

But a few weeks after the Howds moved in, the Thames broke its banks and flowed over the decking at the bottom of the sloped garden.

Mrs Howd phoned her husband at his office ‘crying and in shock’, but later learnt that whenever the river rises over 4.54 metres (15ft) it floods the garden, sometimes covering the majority of it.

Edwin Johnson QC, for the Howds, said their solicitors had asked a straightforward question before going through with the purchase: ‘Given its position, please confirm that the property has never suffered from flooding?’

The Console-Vermas’ lawyers responded: ‘Our clients confirm that the property has never suffered from flooding during their 14-year occupation.’

Mr Console-Verma, a financier, told the hearing, before Judge Pelling QC: ‘We answered the question with absolute honesty.’

He added: ‘From my perspective, “property” meant bricks and mortar.

‘I answered the question, and my wife answered the question, truthfully on the back of our experience of having lived on the river for 14 years.’

Mr Console-Verma described photographs of water in the garden as ’sensational’, and insisted that high tides only inundate the garden for 0.6 per cent of days in the year.

He said he did not consider ‘the occasional high tide’ amounted to flooding.

Mr Console-Verma added: ‘To my mind, flooding relates to damage, destruction, homelessness even.

‘That never happened at the house and that’s why we were emphatic in our answer.’

The hearing continues.

Source: Daily Mail