However, only Trading Standards can take action under the act, so you should speak to them. You can make a civil claim for misrepresentation, which your solicitor can help you with.

It is not uncommon for the builder to include substitution clauses in contracts that allow them to change the specification. This is not unreasonable as specified products may not be available when the property is built for a number of legitimate reasons. However, these changes should be like-for-like substitutions.

If the contract does not stipulate like-for-like substitutions it may also contravene the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCRs):

From the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) website:

The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCRs) superseded the UTCCRs 1994, and apply to standard contract terms used with consumers. The UTCCRs protect consumers against unfair standard terms in contracts they make with traders. The OFT, together with certain other bodies, can take legal action to prevent the use of potentially unfair terms. A term is likely to be considered unfair if it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract, to the detriment of consumers. The UTCCRs say that a consumer is not bound by a standard term in a contract with a trader if that term is unfair. Ultimately, only a court can decide whether a term is unfair.

The Office of Fair trading took action against Barratt Homes that resulted in clause 3.2 being removed from Barratt's standard contract. This clause gave the supplier a wide discretion to change what was being supplied to the consumer, for such widely defined reasons as 'as may be expedient or necessary and as the Company in its discretion thinks fit'.