"After a Year of Homelessness and £126k in Debt, Our Dream Home Became a Nightmare Thanks to a Cowboy Builder"

A COUPLE have lived in a caravan for over a year after a building firm allegedly left a £100,000 home renovation half done – then went bust.

Loraine and Rob Deering, who both served in the , invested ten years of savings into the project.

Loraine and Rob Deering who have been left living in caravan after home renovation hasn’t been completed Credit: SWNS The couple spent £100,000 on their home renovation Credit: SWNS

They have lived in their Dundee home since 1994 and attempted to renovate in an effort to make the house more suitable for them as they age.

Loraine, 66, and Rob, 74, signed an agreement with RPM Group, who promised to rework their bungalow and add another bathroom in just 12 weeks, at a cost of £126,000.

But work came to a halt, and now, RPM Group are in the process of dissolution, leaving Rob and Loraine in their caravan for a year, as their home is still uninhabitable.

Loraine said: “My husband and I had both decided that we wanted to future-proof the property for our old age.

Loraine and Rob signed an agreement with RPM Group, who promised to rework their bungalow and add another bathroom in just 12 weeks Credit: SWNS Loraine and Rob invested ten years of savings into the project Credit: SWNS

“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.

“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.”

The couple had been told that work would finish on June 6, 2025 – a deadline which was then extended to mid-September.

After Rob had a major operation in September, the couple were told again that they would be able to reenter the home, but work then 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.

The couple were hoping to make their home more accessible in their old age Credit: SWNS Loraine and Rob have been eating into their savings to afford Airbnbs Credit: SWNS

“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.”

As settled in, the couple were forced to eat through their savings by paying to live Airbnbs.

The pair have attempted to make a fraud report to Scotland, but were told that the burden of proof would be so high that prosecution would be almost impossible.

They contacted DBLaw Chartered Surveyors, who surveyed the property and found that the house is not currently inhabitable, as the kitchen, bathroom, heating and electrical fittings are all missing.

They estimate that just under 50% of the contracted works had been completed – meanwhile Loraine and Rob have paid 90% of their bill to RPM Group.

Rob and Loraine have now lost ten years worth of savings, and are struggling to continue living in their caravan with their mobility and issues.

The pair said the company ‘just walked off the job’ Credit: SWNS RPM Group has since been dissolved Credit: SWNS

They are currently being supported by Veterans First in Dundee, who are assisting with reaching out to legal organisations.

“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,” said Loraine.

“Now all our income is going on paying for accommodation and trying to save again.

“It took us ten years to save the 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 have claimed that the couple requested several changes while the work was ongoing, 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 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.”