Advice Needed on Taylor Wimpey

Hlk_2

moasi_ind wrote: »

We bought a house from Taylor Wimpey on Barking, they force to pay alll remaining money on completion otherwise I have to pay penalty, My husband was away and he managed to pay telegraphic transfer. Later we found that drainage bit hole left on our middle of garden and they haven’t complete finishing touches. We are still running behind them, the quality of work is very bad, they contracting to third parties for cheaper cost.
More over, sitll their legal hasn’t handed over the documents and the stamp duty is not paid to HM Revenue, We filled a case and we are running behind them and their legal department. Please be aware of all these.

Hi moasi_ind,

I am looking to buy a 4 bed house at barking site. Reading all views i am not sure how efficient the builders are at barking site. Can you able to help me in suggesting out ur experience with them.

Many Thanks in advance.

snell_tink

If buying new build you should either hire a professional snagger, or show a list of things you will expect to be done, fixed and warrantied. If they quibble in the beginning, walk away!

raven10011

Hi Guys,

Since we are just buying a new build with TW I thought I register so that I can share my experience as we progress. I hope that you can give us some advice on the way and also it might help someone else.

Why we decided to do this you ask? Well we are, professional couple in early 30s with a young toddler each earning about national average, plus paying around £600-700 a month for child minder. Have only 5% deposit and no help from either parents. This of course means no real chance to save up another 10% in the next 2-5 years. This of course means that our only option is First buy or another shared equity scheme. We are renting a poorly insulated house (effectively paying someone else's mortgage...) for about the same amount as our mortgage will cost for the new one. Also the last two house we rented was sold by the owners forcing us to move each time and our current landlord told us recently that she is intending to sell. Not impressed!

We found a 4 bedroom house that we liked (no dreamhouse but great first one!) and we managed to get a discount of 8K and some appliances thrown in which should help reduce the depreciation although not sure how much that will be at the end (fingers crossed :eek:)

Prior to buying my expectations were:
- We are buying a somewhat overpriced house (although not sure how overpriced at this stage). I am still dreaming that the area will become more desirable (one can dream...)
- Read a study conducted by researchers that concluded that in new build there will be loads of snags, however only a few will be real issues (relating to actual functionality of the house, like heating, etc)
- Build quality will be budget at best because developers are after profits! Let us have no illusion about this! We are not business partners to them that they have to please, but money bags and they will do the absolute minimum to keep us happy. Anyone else who buys a new house with a different mentality lives in la-la land.
- Optional items will be overpriced so will keep to an absolute minimum. Again remember profit point above!
- We will not pressure the builder if not necessary. They already cut enough corners to save money we dont want to force them to cut even more.

So far the staff have been very helpful and accommodating. I have been able to visit the building almost on on a weekly basis and see how they work. No surprises so far:
- Cheap construction, but no quality issue so far. The roof structure is unbelievable! I never seen so thin wood work in any roof before. I bet if it was any thinner the whole thing would collapse.
- For about 2 weeks no work done as resource was re-allocated to houses with closer deadline
- The development site is in place of a massive industrial estate so was worried about flooding but fortunately recently there was a massive rain during which there was no issue with flooding at the house. The sales office on site did get some water in though :rotfl:
- I asked the site manager if we can do a snagging a week before moving in just to make sure everything is sorted, but he refused and said that he will perform his own snagging and we can do ours once we moved in. I was not impressed, but I do have the option to visit the site regularly and film everything so I should be able to pick up a few things on the way

I might upload the video footage I did so far of the construction if anyone is interested what I mean by budget construction.

I will keep you guys informed.

PS: Yes, I agree that new houses are not as good as old ones, but thanks to current and previous governments attitude towards building affordable houses there is simply not a lot of choice for first time buyers. We would love to move into a bigger + cheaper second hand home and do a bit of re-decorating but we cant get a mortgage for that due to the low deposit and also there is not a lot of these houses going round as those home owners dont want a new build either!

geek1981

I'm buying my second TW newbuilt home - I didn't have any problems with build quality on my first one- also never spend a penny for fixing things as they give you 2 year warranty on everything (had a snag list which was all fixed in a month time). Keep in mind , when buying an old house there is always hidden fixes once you moved in + new homes are much more energy efficient.

terrierlady

any issues spend the time to visit the regional office and speak to the MD, site managers stretch the truth on their Monday morning meeting( all builders and sales included meet to issue colour choices sales updates, and pass over snag lists) if snags persist ask to see the meeting report which is faxed to the regional head office.Customer care have a copy the sales manager /Build director/M>D> so keep at them dont let them off lightly the M>D sometimes never knows what goes on the site manager will insist all repairs done!so speak to him or her or email if you keep getting fobbed off.Check to see if your site manager has won any awards the standard will be high on that site.

lessonlearned

terrierlady wrote: »

any issues spend the time to visit the regional office and speak to the MD, site managers stretch the truth on their Monday morning meeting( all builders and sales included meet to issue colour choices sales updates, and pass over snag lists) if snags persist ask to see the meeting report which is faxed to the regional head office.Customer care have a copy the sales manager /Build director/M>D> so keep at them dont let them off lightly the M>D sometimes never knows what goes on the site manager will insist all repairs done!so speak to him or her or email if you keep getting fobbed off.Check to see if your site manager has won any awards the standard will be high on that site.

Some very good tips here, especially checking out the site manager's credentials.

I have worked as a new build sales negotiator. I've not worked for TW so cannot give you any insider information.

The build quality will vary and it all depends on the site manager. A good one will crack the whip, will keep the trades in line and build you a nice house. A poor one.........

A good joiner can make a cheap kitchen look like a million dollars, a poor joiner will wreck the most expensive kitchen.

To get the best deals - especially with part exchange try to buy at their financial year end.

Re the list of remedial works required by Modeler who purchased a 1969 house.

You are talking about a house that was built over 40 years ago, of course those items need replacing and upgrading. I'm surprised you didn't mention the electrics, at the very least you will need a new consumer unit.

Houses are a bit like the Forth Bridge, they need constant work and attention to keep them up to scratch.

suchitmehta

PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM TAYLOR WIMPEY, i have bought my house on 2nd november 2012 and just within 3 months i realise that i have made the biggest mistake of my life.

EXTREMELY POOR QUALITY, CUSTOMER SERVICE AND HEAVILY OVER PRICED......

SAVE YOURSELF...

tim123456789

note wrote: »

wouldnt go anywhere near any new build.

was talking to one of the people in the know about new builds (building merchants supplier i think), of all the leading national housebuilders, all apart from 1 (wont say as i'll be accused of advertising) put the cheapest, crappiest fittings money can buy in the houses.

add in the fact that they're usually in a crappy location .

Though I don't think that you can blame them being in crappy locations on the builder.

That would be because all the good locations are either:

taken
or
green belt

tim

Ulfar

tim123456789 wrote: »

Though I don't think that you can blame them being in crappy locations on the builder.

That would be because all the good locations are either:

taken
or
green belt

tim

or

Some Nimby half wit screams their lungs out if you so much as even wave a brick at them.

Hadfield_1905

[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Remember, on 3 July 2007 Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey merged to form Taylor Wimpey. Taylor Woodrow shareholders held a majority 51% share of the combined company, whilst it was controlled 60:40 in favour of George Wimpey directors. Peter Redfern, the former Chief Executive of George Wimpey, is Group Chief Executive of Taylor Wimpey plc.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Taylor Woodrow legally acquired George Wimpey. Wimpey Homes Limited has been dissolved and no longer exists. The company no longer trades as Wimpey, Wimpey Homes or George Wimpey. Wimpey does not exist and it is now Taylor Wimpey. All the former “George Wimpey” branded companies (including George Wimpey Limited, formerly George Wimpey Plc) are Dormant and no longer trade. The main former George Wimpey trading subsidiary, George Wimpey UK Limited, has been re-named Taylor Wimpey UK Limited and has been transferred from George Wimpey Limited to Taylor Wimpey Developments Limited (formerly Taylor Woodrow Developments Limited, a former Taylor Woodrow subsidiary which mainly traded under the Bryant Homes brand (which Taylor Woodrow acquired in 2001)). [/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Taylor Wimpey has a number of National House Designs at Head Office, which they tailor throughout the country in their Regional Offices to local demographics. For example, House Type F, a former George Wimpey house design (which is a 2 1/2 storey three bedroom town house), trades as The Crofton at The Romans at Augusta Park in Andover, Hampshire, and is priced at £220,000. Meanwhile, House Type F trades as The Leyland at The Pavilions in Wokingham, Berkshire, and is priced at £335,000. There are a few differences in the layout, such as the positioning of the Cloakroom and the shape of the Kitchen. The Crofton also comes with a Single Garage as well as One Allocated Parking Space, whilst The Leyland only comes with One Allocated Parking Space. The Romans started trading before the merger, so was built to George Wimpey quality standards and is a re-branded estate from George Wimpey to Taylor Wimpey, whereas The Pavilions only opened last year (2012), so was built to former Taylor Woodrow standards. The quality control of George Wimpey was not good, so The Crofton was not built to a good standard. In contrast, even through The Leyland is a former George Wimpey design, it was built using former Taylor Woodrow suppliers and quality control standards, so the quality is better.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]There are a number of ways to build homes. With apartments, they can be made from timber frames, bricks/ breeze blocks, concrete or steel. George Wimpey and former George Wimpey apartment designs used timber frames, whilst Taylor Woodrow and former Taylor Woodrow apartment designs used bricks/ breeze blocks. The insulation and sound proofing in former George Wimpey apartment designs were therefore not as good as the Taylor Woodrow ones. Ask your Sales Executive before Reservation what the walls in your chosen apartment are made from. In terraced homes, George Wimpey did not build breeze blocks right up through the loft, as it stopped at waist height in the loft; whereas Taylor Woodrow built all the way up to the roof timbers so the sound was better proofed and it was a safer house in case of a fire. Going forward, Taylor Wimpey will use the former Taylor Woodrow standards of insulation and sound proofing.

There have been a number of issues surrounding quality control at Taylor Wimpey. The problem is there are two sets of Site Managers – former Taylor Woodrow ones and former George Wimpey ones. Taylor Woodrow had higher quality control than George Wimpey so it depends which one you get. Therefore, the vast majority of quality control issues concern former George Wimpey homes and George Wimpey house designs. Going forward, the combined Taylor Wimpey will adopt the Taylor Woodrow policy of quality rather than quantity, and Taylor Wimpey is investing substantial sums of capital to improve the build quality of their homes. Purchasers get a tour of their newly built home before they legally complete, so if they are not satisfied with the quality and would like certain things changed, then that can be done before legal completion. After legal completion, the Purchaser then has a further two weeks to point out any further build quality flaws. All homes – Private or Affordable, are built to the same quality control and standards. Currently, 92% of Taylor Wimpey customers would recommend Taylor Wimpey to a friend.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Affordable homes are built to the same quality control and have similar house designs to Private homes. At least 25%-30% of housing estates, and up to 50% of housing estates, contain Affordable homes. However, if the Developer has two sites of the same size in the same Local Authority, theoretically one estate can be entirely Private homes and the other estate can be entirely Affordable homes. There are a number of different types of Affordable homes. Shared Ownership is where the purchaser initially buys a percentage of the home, with the intention of acquiring full ownership after one year and in the future. Rented homes are owned by either Housing Associations or the Local Authority, but the Tenant can still use the Right to Buy scheme to acquire their home in the future. Taylor Wimpey sells Affordable homes at a discount to Housing Associations and/or Local Authorities, so their margins are lower on these properties, which means they have to recover their profits from selling Private homes at even higher prices.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Taylor Wimpey’s Pricing Policy is on a “From” basis – for example, “From £200,000”. This is because, in this example, a £200,000 house is just a shell – concrete floors and white walls with just the pipes and mains. You have to choose Options, or the “Wish List”, so whilst you get a choice of carpets, Kitchens and Bathrooms, etc., it can easily add at least a further £10,000 to the purchase price.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Prices are only slightly negotiable and only in certain circumstances. For example, if you are buying Off Plan, in Cash, and/or buying multiple units (such as if you are an Investor). However, the only way to get a substantial discount is to work for Taylor Wimpey.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]And yes, before you ask, I do have connections at Taylor Wimpey.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]