'He has destroyed us': Devastated family stuck in £107k debt with a wrecked home

A distraught family has been left £107,000 out of pocket after a building company went bust and left their home uninhabitable.

Danielle and Andrew Duffy, from Rochdale, agreed to pay £71,000 for a double-storey extension to their three-bedroom property but have been left with a wreck. 

They handed over £62,000 for the work to be carried out only to receive an email from building firm Nuera Construction Ltd stating it had gone into administration.

Now they have been told it will cost a further £45,000 to complete the extension, which is money they do not have. Mrs Duffy claims that building firm boss Michael Ashley Wood is now no longer contactable.

The 37-year-old mother said: 'He has absolutely destroyed us both financially and mentally. He has taken every penny that we own from us.

'We had been saving for five years to help pay for the work to be done. We have had to scrimp and scrape and missed out on holidays to help pay for this.

'We managed to save £15,000 and then remortgaged the house for the remainder.

'We have not lived in our house for over a year now. Fortunately, my mother-in-law let us have her home, while she lived elsewhere but it was only supposed to be for a maximum of 16 weeks.

'She has been brilliant but, obviously, wants to move back home. It has been a nightmare for everyone.'

The family decided on the extension to add a fourth bedroom so daughters Chloe, 14, and Sophie, 13, could have their own bedrooms.

'My eldest daughter is autistic, and her sister is suspected of having autism and ADHD, so we decided to extend so they could have their own space,' explained Mrs Duffy.

The extension also included relocating the bathroom and increasing the size of the kitchen.

The couple, who have a son Lewis, nine, moved out of their house in March 2023 for the work to begin but have not returned since.

Mrs Duffy, who works as a lunch lady at a school, added: 'We have been quoted £45,000 to complete the work.

'I just don't know how we are going to pay for it. We don't have that kind of money. 

'We have already remortgaged the house for the initial extension and are paying for that.

'I am so embarrassed. I have never asked for financial help in my life. Everything we have, we have worked hard for. 

'We work to provide a decent life for our children, and Michael Wood has destroyed this.'

She added: 'I have my eldest daughter blaming herself for what has happened. She told me that if she didn't have autism, we wouldn't have had the work done and wouldn't be in this mess.

'That is heart-breaking. She cries herself to sleep at night.'

Danielle and warehouseman Andrew, 38, said they found Rossendale-based Nuera Construction Ltd on several trade websites and opted for the firm after boss Michael visited their home.

Mrs Duffy said: 'We contacted a few businesses and he seemed to be the most interested and thorough. 

'He appeared to be the most knowledgeable and he inspected the whole house. He really seemed to know his stuff.'

The couple signed a contract and work began in March last year, but while everything was fine at first, they claimed he started not turning up and making excuses that he was waiting for materials or the subcontractors had let him down.

She added: 'We were constantly chasing him but because we weren't living there, we didn't keep a close enough check on the progress. 

'He told us not to worry because he would oversee everything.

'In hindsight, we should have we shouldn't have kept paying him, but we had a contract, we thought everything would be okay and we were desperate to get in finished so we could move back in. Naively, we trusted him.'

Mrs Duffy also said because her semi-detached home was left exposed to the elements for five months, their furniture, possessions and internal renovation work are all ruined.

A Nuera Construction LTD representative told MailOnline: "To date the value of works completed at the Duffy residence totals a value of £59,600. 

"There is also a balance remaining on the total invoice generated of approximately £5,000 which is able to contribute to the majority of remaining works to their project.

"Nuera Construction LTD was forced into the liquidation process in Late November 2023 due to a commercial contract failing to pay a substantial balance owed.

"Nuera sympathise with the situation and has ensured any materials stored with ourselves have been returned and will continue to assist the Duffys where possible.

Nuera will not be providing any refunds as although the works were unable to be finished as intended, they have had the value in works of paid balances and the finishing cost is actually greater than originally quoted due to amendments and unforeseen works throughout the project. 

"That said, Nuera is actively seeking potential avenues of compensation to help towards the completion under the circumstances."

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise money to renovate the Duffy family's home: https://gofund.me/a5293d04