Barratt Homes

funetik

I've lived in quite a few new built houses (none of them barratt, though, i don't think). They're all the same. In order to save money they skimp on basic things.

Paint for instance. Rub the wall (somewhere that isn't obvious) for about 3 seconds with your finger and you're through to the bare wall, because they've watered it down. Windows are ridiculous. In a Persimmon home we had there was a one inch gap beneath a window frame. It took them months to do anything about it. Even then, all they did was put some expanding foam into the gap.

If you have the time and patience, don't get a newly built home. That's my advice. They're nice and fresh looking, but inferior to an established home you could buy. Would you rather live with about 500 people who own the same house or have an established house, with a decent garden, and the same fresh (magnolia walls) look for a weekend's effort?

There's less and less places to build houses these days. Generally, the land they build them on is crap. Flood-plains, side of hills that consist of silt etc.. It's a joke.

So, on one hand - ease and it might be a little cheaper than similar sized places in the areas.

On the other - There's not a hope it's going to be perfect when you move in. Once the builders have your money, they don't feel inclined to fix your problems that quickly (if ever).

Sorry, letting off a little bit of steam after years of frustration

terrierlady

no i don't work for the developer mentioned but i do know they build to nhbc standard. re the places where new homes are built, how could we get planning permission on new homes in a flood line area?
How would our purchaser manage to get house insurance and with out house insurance the mortgage company couldn't let them complete on the home.
Planning permission is usually granted by local authority made up of local councillors who know the area well.
Yes in truth every developer has faults in new homes, some small some more concerning however one only has to watch t.v. to know that,the product is only as good as the work force building it and thats where you need to keep a close eye on the home visit regularly insist you view the home and keep asking question, ask for an appointment to visit the site agent if any problems spotted etc,its not easy I know but chase head office if a problem persists and go above the sales manager if no joy there.
new build homes are not bespoke homes, they are built for a mass produced price and all come with 10 year guarantee as pointed out in post above.

Louise1521

I lived in a Barratt house about ten years ago, the walls were incredibly thin, so thin that you could see the heads of nails protruding through the wall. Shame really, because the design of the house was lovely. Now I'm living in an old house, it's solid but it too has many faults!!!!!!

terrierlady

pros and cons for both old and new homes, one pays your money and takes your choice, nice to see a honest poster who has faults in an older property.

zappahey

terrierlady wrote:

new build homes are not bespoke homes, they are built for a mass produced price and all come with 10 year guarantee as pointed out in post above.

It would be nice if they were sold for a mass-produced price too

apples1

Friend bought new Barratt house - total nightmare. Standard of finish and customer service worst you could imagine. It was a full time job keeping on top of them to get anything put right and it took months and months and months. We have bought in the past a new Westbury & a new David Wilson. Westbury also terrible (but better than Barratt). David Wilson much better but still not good. Seems to me with all new builds you must - write everything down, copy everything to them in writing. log all phone calls and know your NHBC number and the telephone number for the NHBC so you can confirm your rights when the builders try to make you feel like you are asking for something unreasonable. If you go into it knowing this and do a very detailed snag list you may still be sane at the end of it!

Now live in a 300 year old barn!!!!

terrierlady

new homes are sold per square foot equal to the market force of the area they are built in, a bespoke price is endless.......

terrierlady

zappahey wrote:

It would be nice if they were sold for a mass-produced price too

would you like to quote us a reasonable price for a new home/ in your area?
and also explain how you arrived at that price?

zappahey

The comparison was more between the current "mass-produced" bundles of breeze block and plasterboard and the more traditional houses on the resale market.

Compared to the quality of build and materials of traditional houses, I believe (and it is purely my opinion) that modern houses are poor quality and significantly over-priced. That opinion is based on about 3 months of viewing so far.

I do recognise that older houses have their own problems but I'm happy to live with that.

Another issue is the compromises that have been made to achieve maximum density on a given site. Many of the new builds that we have looked at so far have significant disadvantages such as building the garage in front of the living room window so that the view is nothing but brick wall. However there is still an expectation that this is worth more than a similarly sized older resale property.

I realise that you are in the industry, and I don't expect you to agree, but many modern houses are a joke and seem to make no allowances for actually living in the things.

m1n1adventure

My partner has just bought 2 flats from Barratt Homes just outside Manchester. He seemed very pleased with everything until he went to inspect the furniture packages that they had supplied at a cost of 5K each after he had completed the snagging inspection. Nothing like what was described and some furniture damaged.

He has requested a full refund and removal of the furniture from both flats or for them to supply what was originally described to him. So far, Barratts have been uncooperative -anyone else come across this situation?:mad:

Having checked the sale of goods act and supply of goods and services act, I feel that it is only reasonable for Barratt to sort this and quickly. They seem to be dragging this out and denying all knowledge - anyone got any advice??