A couple, Loraine and Rob Deering, approached RPM Group to renovate their bungalow, adding a bathroom. After signing a contract for 12 weeks, they found themselves living in a caravan due to unfinished renovation work. The company went bankrupt, leaving the couple with 90% of their renovation bill invested, their home incomplete, and uninhabitable.
A couple have lived in a caravan for over a year after they claimed a builder left a £100,000 home renovation half-done before going bust.
Loraine and Rob Deering, both Royal Air Force veterans, invested ten years' worth of savings into the building work on their Dundee home, where they have lived since 1994. But after signing a 12-week renovation contract with RPM Group, the builders went bust and the couple were forced to retreat to their caravan because their home was incomplete. Loraine, 66, and Rob, 74, wanted to make their home more suitable for their age.
They agreed to pay RPM £126,000 to rework their bungalow and add another bathroom in 12 weeks. Loraine said: 'My husband and I had both decided that we wanted to future-proof the property for our old age.
'I started drawing up plans in 2024, and took them to an architect. 'He recommended the firm we eventually went with - RPM Group Scotland - and they were chosen primarily on the fact that they were recommended and they were a Trusted Trader.
Rob and Loraine Deering have been left living in a caravan after the company renovating their home went bust Building work was left uncompleted, including missing and incomplete electrical fittings, meaning the house is uninhabitable 'We handed the keys over on 31 March 2025. From there, they said it was only going to take 12 weeks, and we were slightly sceptical.
'But as things progressed, they weren't turning up - we were finding no workers on the premises. ' Loraine and Rob had been told that work would finish on June 6, 2025 - a deadline which was extended to mid-September. After Rob had a major operation in September, the couple were told again they would be able to re-enter the home but work soon stopped altogether.
'We had to tell them my husband was going in for this major surgery - they promised we'd be back in the house,' Loraine said. 'We ordered our furniture and we didn't get in. Our furniture is in storage or sitting here in the damp.
'Then they just walked off the job after I had said about getting somebody in to have a look and see how much has been done. 'They tried to say it was our fault and we obviously don't want them on the job - nothing could be further from the truth. 'They just walked off the job and refused point blank to even respond to us.
' Over the winter the couple were forced to spend more money living in Airbnbs which impacted their savings. They tried to make a fraud report to Police Scotland but were told that the burden of proof would be so high that prosecution would be nearly impossible. Surveyors examined the property and found it to be uninhabitable as the kitchen, bathroom, heating and electrical fittings were all missing.
According to an estimate by the surveyors just under half of the contracted works had been completed - Loraine and Rob had paid 90 per cent of their bill to RPM Group. The couple have now lost ten years' worth of savings and have struggled to continue living in their caravan with their mobility and health issues.
Rob and Loraine had agreed to pay £126,000 for an extra bathroom and other adjustments to their home but were left instead with a building site The couple, who are both RAF veterans, had invested ten years' worth of savings in the renovation They are currently being supported by Veterans First in Dundee, who are assisting with the search for legal help.
'We've been living in Airbnbs and our touring caravan - which is not ideal for our health and mobility, but it was only supposed to be 12 weeks and we felt we could cope with that,' Loraine said. 'Now all our income is going on paying for accommodation and trying to save again.
'It took us ten years to save the money to get this done, and there's even more needing done now because of what they've damaged and not done right. 'We don't know where to go. We don't know what to do anymore. We're just surviving and going from one day to the next.
We don't know when we'll ever be back in our home.
' RPM Group claimed the couple requested several changes during the works, leading to extra expenses and staff, but the couple deny these claims. Solicitor Ritchie McNeil, who is representing RPM Group, told The Courier: 'There has been no intentional, or reckless, wrongdoing by my client.
'At the beginning of the job, they went the extra mile to help Mrs Deering and even weeded her garden and plotted plants for her. 'After the work commenced, Mrs Deering instructed significant additional work and the knock-on effect of that was additional costs being incurred which were not foreseen or accounted for. 'RPM prepared a scope of works for the job to be carried out and provided that to Mrs Deering.
'This ultimately led to cash flow issues which meant RPM had to cease trading and could no longer finish the job. They have since taken the difficult decision to dissolve the company. This is truly an unfortunate set of circumstances. '
Home Renovation Construction Company Builder Royal Air Force Investment Living In A Caravan Unfinished Renovation
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