Mortgage – Breach of contract. The diminution in value rule in Philips v Ward [1956] 1 All ER 874 was not inflexible and, in a proper case, diminution in value could be determined by the cost of repair. Accordingly, the Technology and Construction Court dismissed the appellant bank's appeal against an award of £115,000 to the respondents for breach of contract in relation to a mortgage from the bank, which had been used towards the purchase a flat, and in circumstances where the bank had failed to provide a 'Home Buyers Report' and where the respondents had subsequently discovered that the flat required extensive repairs. The court held that the bank ought to have provided a survey to the respondents which would have indicated to them that the property had serious defects and that, on the evidence, the judge had been entitled to award the respondents damages based on the cost of the required repairs.