Barratt homes...are they worth buying with?

twohalfsapiece

My friend , stay as far away as possible as you can from a home built by Barratts. I speak of vast experience and I tell you now, never will I be so foolish as to place my trust in a Barratts Sales advisor - I was told lie after lie after lie about the development of my site, misinformed about the monthly service charge, the price was inflated far over what it was actually worth (and I was refused mortgages based on this but so desperate to get on the ladder I found a mortgage company that accepted the inflated prices but this was a more expensive mortgage as a result).

Problem after problem was discovered when I finally moved in, after lies of when it would be ready (new build) - the major problem I had to call in the NHBC who forced Barratts to carry out work.

The flats are not soundproof so I doubt the houses are - my property is built on a main road - the windows do nothing - I actually had a go off a new build office building window today which was shut - when I opened it, the noise of the traffic came rushing in but when close it was silent almost - you wont get this with Barratts - just poor quality - I have gaps above my double glazing windows on the inside.

Snags - I lost count and the sigh of the Barratt people, sales advisors, building mangers etc so annoying - I paid the most money I was ever going to pay for something for silly repairs that had not been completed.

I was forced to use their incompetent solicitor - on the final day of handover, everything having been paid, I was told I had to pay nearly £300 before they would give me the keys! After moving in, I continued to get letter after letter that the solicitors had given me the wrong lease to sign, other paperwork which they had forgotten to get me to sign - all important stuff mind you. Disgrace.

Now we have lease managers in place who are corrupt more than you would know - employing their own family to cut gardens without tendering works out - your money buying the large mansions for the leasehold management owners - and its not just the flat owners paying this money remember, its the home holders too.

If you buy - dont come back complaining five years down the line - oh and in five years - yes property will be worth so much less .....

Johnredman

Absolutely enraged by the disgusting attitude brought a flat of them in 2007 had nothing but little surprises due to poor quality workmanship ever since, plinth heater blew up and caught light first time I turned it on because they had sweeped building rubble under their poor quality sub standard kitchen that has done nothing but fall apart since it was fitted.

Latest escapade the leak under the bath that has been their for the last 7 years which they said they had fixed apparently I am told it is down to wear and tear and the house holders responsibility ,

Although I found that bath legs had not been adjusted and not touching the floor fitting kits had not been used to get to the bath I had to remove the bath screen which meant retiling because it had been glued to the wall tiles instead of fitting
Absolute cowboys cracks are appearing everywhere in the building including the external brick work and the NHBC warrant they give you is worthless.

wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. Quality is rubbish don't buy

RenStar

Not to discount anything anyone who has had a bad experience has to say, but do please bear in mind that this forum tends to lean towards the 'stay away from all new builds' stance. Personally, I know plenty of people living in Barratts homes that are prefectly happy. In general, people are more vocal if they're unhappy than if they are. We are on our second new build, (not built by Barrats though) and we will happily buy another provided it suits us in tems of space, layout and location. Developments can and do vary, even in the same town. Try and get some first hand experiences if you can, knock on doors and speak to people if you are able to and make your own mind up. All houses were new once, after all.

Btw - I find it odd when people talk about new builds having paper thin walls; I grew up in Victorian terrace and could hear every belch and fart of other gross couple next door :eek: We live in a new build semi and next door have 3 boys under 10; we only EVER hear them when they're in their garden and our windows or doors are open. Perhaps everyone else is used to living in detached houses??

Tancred

m_curiousity wrote: »

Hiya,

Barratt homes are in the process of building loads of new homes local to me and I'm interested in buying one. Trouble is, I'm a bit unsure about buying a brand new home in general, as I've heard that you can be more likely to make a loss upon reselling as the house usually depreciates in value once you've moved in. Does anyone know anything about resell values of new homes? Its a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom semi detached with garage 15 minutes drive from Brighton if this helps. Asking price is £267k.

Also have looked online about Barratts and have seen tonnes of bad stuff about them, mostly that once they've got your money they dont care and are impossible to get to fix the problems that invariably occur in the new house that they are required to fix as part of the contract. Or if they do repair it it is really shoddy work. Trouble is, most reviews online are going to be bad as people are more likely to write if they are angry about something, so should I not take these reviews too much to heart?

My final concern is that I've heard new homes can be not very good quality builds, and use poor materials which results in tonnes of problems such as leaky toilets, plaster collapsing etc. I am intending to view the property, but I really wouldnt know bad quality if I saw it, as long as it looks nice and shiny I'd be impressed, (which is the whole point of show homes right??). Is there anyway I can get this looked at independantly before making an offer, or would this kind of thing be included in the building survey?

Ta for any help, sorry for the long winded post!!

You seem to be so afraid of buying a new build that you are looking for us to justify your fears!

I've bought a new Charles Church house and it does have its issues, but I've also seen houses from the 60s, 70s and 80s in dreadful condition. New homes have the NHBC guarantee but you need to chase the developers to get things fixed - don't expect to send them an email and then everything is sorted. It doesn't work like that; you need to be on their backs all the time.

Ross53

Hi, my son went to view a property which was allegedly sold, but the buyer cancelled and lost the deposit. Barret offered a small reduction which interested him, and he put a small deposit on it.

This was based on him taking up the 'help to buy' scheme.

Barret got the forms for the government loan, they arranged a solicitor, and arranged a financial adviser, all in the space of a one hour viewing!

Now he's had a chance to think it over, and we've done a search of similar (identical) properties, only to find that the £113k Barret are charging him on a new property, relates to an actual value of just 85k on the resale market right now. They are - I would say - deliberately overpricing the properties, so that unwise buyers will add the Government loan, on top of their mortgage, and Barret will walk with money which is 33% MORE than the property is worth, while the buyer is stuck with paying the entire mortgage AND the government loan.

We verified the actual value of these properties with three local estate agent 'surveyors' one of whom has had an identical unit for sale for 89k for 4 months, and has had not ONE person wanting to view it. It has just been reduced (again) to 85k (asking price, which of course doesnt mean they'll get it).

Whatever you do, before you put a deposit on a Barret house or flat, get hold of local agents and get some valuations done, otherwise you could end up paying 33% more than the darn things are worth on the day of purchase!!!!!

jenko_14

Don't buy Barratts They don't care my neighbours and me have been living in hell for 14-18 months, and after a joint letter from 4 plots Barratts still don't give a flying F**K

m_curiousity wrote: »

Hiya,

Barratt homes are in the process of building loads of new homes local to me and I'm interested in buying one. Trouble is, I'm a bit unsure about buying a brand new home in general, as I've heard that you can be more likely to make a loss upon reselling as the house usually depreciates in value once you've moved in. Does anyone know anything about resell values of new homes? Its a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom semi detached with garage 15 minutes drive from Brighton if this helps. Asking price is £267k.

Also have looked online about Barratts and have seen tonnes of bad stuff about them, mostly that once they've got your money they dont care and are impossible to get to fix the problems that invariably occur in the new house that they are required to fix as part of the contract. Or if they do repair it it is really shoddy work. Trouble is, most reviews online are going to be bad as people are more likely to write if they are angry about something, so should I not take these reviews too much to heart?

My final concern is that I've heard new homes can be not very good quality builds, and use poor materials which results in tonnes of problems such as leaky toilets, plaster collapsing etc. I am intending to view the property, but I really wouldnt know bad quality if I saw it, as long as it looks nice and shiny I'd be impressed, (which is the whole point of show homes right??). Is there anyway I can get this looked at independantly before making an offer, or would this kind of thing be included in the building survey?

Ta for any help, sorry for the long winded post!!

ellesbellesxxx

Having just stumbled across this thread, from my experience it does depend on the site.
Our Barratt homes site and team have been nothing but perfect. Great site manager, great sales team, AMAZING house. We have only had minor snags, which were dealt with the week after being reported, nothing else gone wrong at all.


I know this is a very old thread but for people who are interested in Barratts, worth chatting to people who already live on estate

united4ever

Without trying to hijack the thread I am going through the process of buying a Barrett home built in 1963. Survey being done next week. Would a Barrett home from that era be better built than todays Barrett homes? It's a 3 bed semi and is quite small.

harrys_dad

united4ever wrote: »

Without trying to hijack the thread I am going through the process of buying a Barrett home built in 1963. Survey being done next week. Would a Barrett home from that era be better built than todays Barrett homes? It's a 3 bed semi and is quite small.

In my view any house built in 1963 will be better built originally than a new one today. It will certainly have larger rooms and bigger overall size, albeit without an en-suite. Today's new build are in general very pokey and of shocking quality whoever builds them.

themull1

united4ever wrote: »

Without trying to hijack the thread I am going through the process of buying a Barrett home built in 1963. Survey being done next week. Would a Barrett home from that era be better built than todays Barrett homes? It's a 3 bed semi and is quite small.

Wait and see what the survey says - get a full structural survey.