Bellway Homes Advice

Maggio

Hi,

I currently have a house for sale and am looking to up size.

We have found a new build house we like with Bellway and was wondering if anyone else has used them (I have searched but want advice on my situation).

They have offered us an exchange on ours and we are awaiting their offer today as the valuations have already been done.

Has anyone else been in this position and does anyone have any advice?

Is their offer set in stone and can you usually negotiate for free upgrades on their houses? carpets etc?

We will need a 10% deposit for the house for the mortgage and then solicitor fees etc so it's going to be pretty expensive for us so any way to save some money would be great!

Thanks,

Martin

jumperjohn

I don't know how Bellway value properties but when we had a valuation from David Wilson they gave us the market value and this was obtained by looking at for sale and sold house prices within our area. They let us see the market reseach that they did and the offer given to us was what I thought it would be so I was quite happy. When they gave us the offer though I tried to sound glum, so they then offered us flooring throughout the house, which saved us a fortune. There were also no estate agent fees to pay.

On a side note:


My inlaws recently moved into their Bellway home, it cost around £750,000 and the snag list was quite large.

Refit and lower the fridge, it was so high you couldn’t reach the top shelf!

Make good kitchen cabinets – some were wonky and some panel gaps were huge

Re plaster various walls and ceilings

Re paint all interior doors

Re hang garage doors

Re fit lead roof due to rain dripping onto exterior light

Exterior door handles replaced due to damage

Dig a gully for a soak-away in the garden to stop rainwater collecting on the lawn

Remove the utility room door as when opened you couldn’t get into the cupboard behind the door

Some items also are ill considered for example, the shaver sockets in the bathrooms are in line and above the sink. Bellway then cut the mirrors and then cut a hole in the mirror to accommodate the shaver socket. A better idea would have been to move the shaver socket to the left or right of the mirror?

Quality issues.

The cheapest of carpet was laid and a different shade of grey is used on the landing to the bedroom carpets, it looks odd.

The quality throughout the house is a bit poor, attention to detail is missing and the completion date dragged.

kyana

a friend bought a bellway house earlier this year and they have had so many issues with the house and very little response from bellway.

Maggio

Thanks for both the responses so far! Im going to try and negotiate for flooring because as you say, it will save us a fortune.

I've read they may offer to help with the stamp duty aswell so fingers crossed I might get that.

MamaMoo_2

I live in a Bellway house. Shoddily made, no drainage in the garden so athat the first hint of rain it turns into a swamp, everything that was glossed (doors, skirting etc) was yellow within weeks and needed repainting, all the door handles were fitted on the wonk and several stopped working, if someone opens the kitchen door whilst someone is in the downstairs loo, you can't open the toilet door due to the position of the door handles, most of the handles in the kitchen were loose/hanging off, a lot of the kitchen cupboard doors were badly hung, bath wasn't sealed in properly causing a leak directly into the living room light, lots of cracks appeared in the plaster, electrics wired incorrectly (light fittings were not earthed, nor were several plug sockets, and the house was wired up badly to the fuse board), outside light issues (they were fitted just under where the gutter empties and weren't sealed, so subsequently with the first rain after we moved in the outside light blew up), and badly ventilated loft which turned it into the Amazon last winter (boiling hot, and so much condensation it pretty much rained up there).

So beware.

I've watched several houses go up around me as well, and the speed they go up is unreal. 2-4 weeks including internal wiring, fixtures and fittings) compared to my mother's new build which took several months.

Maggio

WOW thanks for that! how long have you lived there now?

Maggio

Just for anyone who is interested.

Our house was valued at £105,000 to £110,000. Bellway have offered me £95,000.

Just wanted to put it out there.

MamaMoo_2

Maggio wrote: »

WOW thanks for that! how long have you lived there now?

We've lived here for just over 2 years now.

ethank

Maggio wrote: »

Just for anyone who is interested.

Our house was valued at £105,000 to £110,000. Bellway have offered me £95,000.

Just wanted to put it out there.

Just because an Estate Agent says it should be marketed at £105k to £110k it does not mean you will get it. It could be worth 100k and with sale fees knocked off 98k - that probably what Bellway have worked out.

Will they negotiate?

Maggio

No negotiating but they have agreed to help us sell our house which seems to be going OK at the moment.

I understand about the value but 95k is way under what the house is worth. There are a few similar to ours round our estate (ours is one of the better ones) and they all sold for 105k so we could easily get that for it.

Anyways... I just wanted to put it out there should anyone else be venturing up this path with Bellway. Just to show what kind of offers they give. They have been very helpful other than that mind.

harrys_dad

The key issue is the "price to change", namely how much more you have to pay over and above the value of your house. They might give you a good price for yours, but then refuse to discount theirs or similarly reduce the incentives available. To my mind pricing is a separate issue to build quality, although clearly that will influence your view on whether you want to buy from Bellway at all.

Most newbuilds these days seem to me to have very small rooms with little storage, and yet are expensive for what they are. If you want to upsize have you looked at other houses on the market and compared them to the new build? Do not let the ease of part exchange blind you to value for money and other choices.