A couple who spent their life savings on a dream home say living there descended into a “nightmare”.

Carolina and Roberto Revilla moved into a newly built house in Morphou Road, Mill Hill, last July.

The house, part of the Millbrook Park estate, was built by developer Taylor Wimpey and cost £950,000.

But the couple quickly found a large number of problems with the house, including scratched glass and cracks, missing insulation and noise problems.

They say the floor was damaged in places, and the garden was poorly designed, leaving it waterlogged because there is nowhere for the lawn to drain.

A fire wall was also installed on the second floor of the house, which is unnecessary as the developers fitted a sprinkler system as well.

This has also blocked the couple from being able to move anything to the top floor of the house as the stairway is too narrow, leaving empty rooms upstairs.

The defects have led Mr and Mrs Revilla to nickname the house ‘Hogwarts’ – because “nothing is as it seems.”

Mr Revilla, 38, a menswear designer and tailor, said the worst problem has been the heating, as the house was freezing throughout the winter.

He said: “When the weather changed, we found the house wasn’t heating up at all. We had the heating on constantly at full blast. We were so cold through the winter, as there was cold air blowing through the bedroom.”

Mr Revilla said they eventually found cold wind had been blowing through the skirting boards, which had not been finished properly.

This was after they had been hit with a four-month bill in January for £1,200.

A thermal imaging survey carried out last week also showed numerous cold spots throughout the house due to missing insulation.

Mr Revilla said they felt they were not being listened to by Taylor Wimpey, and were being made to feel as if the problems were their own fault.

He said: “Mistakes happen, but they are in complete denial the whole time. It’s been extremely stressful.

“It has definitely been a life changing experience, but not the way we thought it would be when we put down the deposit.

“We put our life savings into this place. It was all part of this next phase of our lives, but it’s not the big dream we thought it would be. The experience has been a nightmare.”

A Taylor Wimpey spokesman said: “We have made every effort to resolve the issues Mr and Mrs Revilla have reported to us and have carried out all the necessary works, some of which were completed as a gesture of goodwill.

“On our suggestion, Mr and Mrs Revilla have a mediation meeting scheduled with the National House Building Council (NHBC) where NHBC will review their concerns. We are awaiting the outcome of this meeting, and we will abide by and carry out any findings that the NHBC believes are our responsibility.”