Bellway additions negotiations - popular development

antonusklesk

I'm hoping for some words of encouragement/advice if possible on what to expect when we put down a reservation and come to discussing any potential additions to a new build we'll hopefully be reserving in the next month or so.

The house is on a Bellway development, 4 bed and costing £262,500, we're also using HTB equity loan. We've got our mortgage sorted, understand how much stamp duty will be etc, and while it is scary, we've got our heads around how much it's going to cost and are pretty happy.

What's worrying me though, and what I'm looking for some advice on if possible, is negotiation tactics with regard to reducing initial cost outlay.....I've been scared stiff by stories of £3.5k+ quotes for standard carpet by Bellway, but also encouraged by stories I've read here of people getting all sorts of extras and cost reductions thrown in by the builder.

My problem is that the site is extremely busy and sought-after. We've been on the list for the plot we're after for months, and there's no shortage of buyers wanting these houses. Does this mean that there's no chance at all of us managing to get anything, such as flooring, thrown in for free? I'm keen to avoid what looks like it could be £10k for essential extras.

Many thanks!

libf

I was under the impression that waiting list for plots which are not on the market are not allowed...

As for the extras... If it's popular and it's on HTB then I doubt you'll manage to get anything added. But if the cost is a problem then look at getting things done after completion rather than paying the developer to do it beforehand.

I had budgeted about £3k for carpets in the Barratt home that I've reserved, but when it came to the reservation forms I found that they'd included basic carpets and vinyls in the price without me asking. In the end I've picked out a total of £6.5k of extras, but tried to limit it to thinks that are far easier done during the build than after.

ReadingTim

Look at it from Bellway's perspective - why should they sell to you who wants lots of extras free, which will reduce their profit when they could sell to someone else in the queue who'll take it without demanding these extras?

And there's your answer.

antonusklesk

Thanks for the replies.

There is the possibility that basic carpet will be included, I've seen some things to this effect, and then others that have confirmed that in their case, that they have not been included. I'm assuming in this case that it's not.

ReadingTim - That was my thinking to be quite honest, but I thought I'd ask in case there were people who had been in a similar position who could share their experiences either way, whether that being Bellway not budging on anything, or if they were strangely charitable, rather than purely hypothesising on what is likely based on logic alone, which is all I seem to be doing at the moment.

clint_S

You will need to get these additions before you apply for HTB, and final agreement on your mortgage, else you could invalidate the agreement as these additions are not always allowed or added to the cost of the house as the 5% deposit is considered a good incentive on this scheme.


If your mortgage allows it then you can ask for bits to be included when you pay your reservation fee, if you've already paid this then you've missed the boat.


I'm going through the same process on a popular site with a popular build type and got flooring, turf, fencing, white goods, full tile and shower to main bathroom, and legal fees. Expect to hear no a lot so ask for something else, if you don't ask you wont get.

antonusklesk

Thanks Clint, so the consensus is to simply ask and see where we wind up. Good point about getting these in place before final mortgage agreement, I wasn't really aware that it could have an impact to that degree.

Thankfully the build we're getting isn't he most popular on the development so there may potentially be some wriggle-room on the extras.....and interesting that libf says that waiting lists are not allowed, as there are certainly waiting lists in place on this development, albeit ones ran from the logbook of the salespeople on-site. They basically have a system where when the plot becomes available they run through the list, giving people a chance to reserve based on the length of time that their interest has been registered.

libf

antonusklesk wrote: »

Thanks Clint, so the consensus is to simply ask and see where we wind up. Good point about getting these in place before final mortgage agreement, I wasn't really aware that it could have an impact to that degree.

Thankfully the build we're getting isn't he most popular on the development so there may potentially be some wriggle-room on the extras.....and interesting that libf says that waiting lists are not allowed, as there are certainly waiting lists in place on this development, albeit ones ran from the logbook of the salespeople on-site. They basically have a system where when the plot becomes available they run through the list, giving people a chance to reserve based on the length of time that their interest has been registered.

I expressed an interest last December, but when the plots I was interested in were released in May they weren't put on the website like they should have been and I only found out because I happened to be up at the site that weekend!

I seem to recall being told that waiting lists aren't allowed under the NHBC rules when I asked if it was possible to put my name down before the properties were released...

Noctu

If you have to pay for carpets don't let Bellway put them in as they tend to put in the cheap crud - go to a friendly local carpet place. They love these sorts of jobs as they're easy. We had our 4 bed detached new build fully carpeted with premium carpet and 11mm underlay for £2,400 back in December - and everyone comments on how gorgeous the carpet is. Next door got theirs thrown in by the builder and it already looks worn in the high traffic areas, 6 months later!

antonusklesk

Yeah I've begun getting a couple of tentative quote's / indicative figures ready for when the inevitable overpriced amount for them to do carpeting themselves is stated, hoping to get a combination of laminate, carpet and tiling for around 2-2.5k.

I'm hoping to get them to network the house up too with port points in key areas of the house, which again I'm expecting them to over-charge for......I wonder if I can get them to run empty pipes in the walls from under the stairs to all the areas I want to network? Then just network it up myself easily after moving in

MrsLF2014

We reserved a Taylor Wimpey house a few months ago, the property we wanted had a few interested parties but we were the most proceed-able. Given that there was other interest we managed to negotiate extras of £8k. We are paying them to tile our kitchen/bathrooms but the rest of the house we are arranging to be carpeted ourselves due to the prices. Like yourselves we used our extras to upgrade things that would be messy to do afterwards.

We have also had our house networked, its a 5 bedroom and we have had a network point put in all rooms for £1200. My husband would have been able to do it himself much cheaper but I couldn't bare the idea of having to put holes in the new walls!

A handy tip we were told was to get friendly with the site manager, we have been having regular visits over the build stage which has meant we have been able to ask the plumber/electrician to make some small changes directly at a much cheaper price!

antonusklesk

Thanks MrsLF, good to know that there was wriggle-room for you despite there being other interested parties, I'm sure they'd rather we spend a little with them and they get something out of it, even if they have to throw some things in for free, than we spend nothing at all on the extras.

Good to know another price for the networking too, I was expecting around £1k or so, so thanks for reaffirming that, I hadn't seen anything to that effect for the last couple of years online so glad it's not changed too much in that time.

We're trying to be as friendly as possible to the site manager,as you say. Mainly because they don't need to put any effort into selling these houses whatsoever and it seems to be whoever they like the most gets the first refusal on new plots. Not my cup of tea being schmoozy, I'm not very good at it, so my better half is looking after that tactic! we'll try and get a word with the sparky and plumber though as I'm sure there are options that will work in our mutual favours if we can eliminate the developer's cut from proceedings!