Barratt homes...are they worth buying with?

googler

xmaslolly76 wrote: »

We almost got bitten with a barrats house we are going back a good few years now but they were doinga first time buyer package and you had to use their solicitors for conveyancing. It all came back clear but one day we went to have a look round and asked about a little plot of land between ours and the house next door and asked who it belonged to the sales person pulled out the plans and low and behold there was a wacking great mineshaft right under the front of the house needless to say we pulled out. I've no doubt it was capped properly but if they tried to hide it what else had they hidden from us ? If you do go for a house with them get your own solicitor to do the searches and ask to see the plans.

If looking at a new-build - ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS look up the local council's planning department, and either online or in person, look at the planning applications for the site.

The original outline application, the detailed application, and any subsequent amendments to these. These will tell you if the estate has been built in line with the plans, or if the builder has made any alteration along the way that he/she will be applying for 'retrospective' consent later. It should show any surprises like a capped mineshaft. Read the planning officers' report wherein they grant the consent, and look for any conditions on the application, and any preamble or summary that may indicate the history of the site. There may also be planning apps for treatment of the site before the housing appln was made, possibly for infilling shafts, capping or other groundworks.

A bit of time spent googling may turn up the history of the site, and let you know if it was farmland, previous housing, industrial or commercial land before the new housing arrived. This may influence your decision too.

mark5

I bought a freehold house from barretts, Jue.

No serious problems with the house after nearly 4 years, overall ours seems to have been built well although I agree with the bit about snagging, once they get your money they wont come back to put the little problems right but this is more down to the site manager, you get good ones and bad ones.
I think ppl who like old houses tend not to like new builds and vice versa so you will always get negative comments.
New builds are expensive compared to older properties but you get new boilers, new central heating, new electrics, new cookers, new bathrooms etc etc.

Jue_xx

mark5 wrote: »

I bought a freehold house from barretts, Jue.

No serious problems with the house after nearly 4 years, overall ours seems to have been built well although I agree with the bit about snagging, once they get your money they wont come back to put the little problems right but this is more down to the site manager, you get good ones and bad ones.
I think ppl who like old houses tend not to like new builds and vice versa so you will always get negative comments.
New builds are expensive compared to older properties but you get new boilers, new central heating, new electrics, new cookers, new bathrooms etc etc.

No problem, I stand corrected. I wasn't sure if this was unique to our development. I gather that the leasehold households on our estate were given the option of purchasing the freehold at a later date for a fee.

Were you given the choice of whether to buy leasehold or freehold when you purchased the property? If so, did you have to pay a premium for the freehold?

ILW

Is the property of brick construction, or is it built onto a timber frame?

planning_officer

I live in a large newish development of around 900 houses, built by three developers - Bellway, Barratt and Wimpey. The Wimpey homes are of a noticeably higher quality than the Barratt homes (and I know of a lot of people who had problems with their Barratt home when they moved in). Not to say this is the case all the time, but it is the general impression Barratt give - and there's no smoke without fire...

OzzMosiz_2

I bought a Barretts home in 2001. It was a show house.
NEVER AGAIN

- The firewall between the garage and house was not completed
- The GAS oven was not attached to the wall and could come lose
- Electrics under the drive were frayed and the power went for the whole house.
Electrical company said they had not buried them deep enough either
- The waste water pipes were not tilted enough and took ages for water to drain
- The water pipes in the utility room leaked, plumber took the pipe out and it had a hole in which Barretts had used solder to seal!!

Other than that it was fine.

LandyAndy

david29dpo wrote: »

Barrett pay there contractors peanuts (been there) And what do you get if you pay peanuts?

You, apparently.:rolleyes:

mark5

I think there's 55 houses in our development and all were freehold. Barratt's paid about 2.2 million for the land around 00-01 from what I could see from the deeds.
I've never understood how it works when houses get built on leasehold land?

Ian_W

LandyAndy wrote: »

You, apparently.:rolleyes:

You asked for that david!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Hopejack

Personally, would never buy Barratts. My Mum bought one some 14 years or so ago - it was a show home. About 3 years or so down the line she started stripping the wallpaper to paint the walls and noticed half the wall boards coming away with the paper! The whole house was like it top to bottom. Turned out in a 'cost cutting' exercise they did not 'seal' the gypsum boards. As a result, they were tearing as the paper was coming off. Needless to say my Mum went through hell. By this point the site was well finished so it was legal action with Barratts head office - it went all the way and Mum researched and found many other people in the same situation (it was even on Watchdog years back). Barratts settled out of court about 10 days before the hearing - it ended in them having to 'make good' the whole house top to bottom, this included fitting some new boards in places, plastering the whole lot and paying my Mum's legal fees. I personally think she should have gone for 'alternative living' costs too as they place was almost inhabitable while they were working but she chose to stay in the house - was out at work during the day anyway but it took ages to get the plaster dust etc sorted!

So, in a nutshell, nope, wouldn't touch them. I bought a Bellway home NB about 10 years ago and while to be fair, the build quality isn't that great, it's been fine and dandy. I don't think there are many new home builders who have exceptional quality - not the 'churn' them out type anyway, maybe an independent 'craftsmen' one might but then that is reflected in the price tag imo.

As others have said, in the current climate, if you do intend to still go ahead (and this thread would seriously put me off!), make sure you haggle with your life - otherwise if you need a largish mortgage expect the valuer to undervalue. They tend to stick on a 'second hand/resale' value on NBs right now and that means a lower price than you buy for in this market!

Good luck!