Does anyone want to join me waiting for new build to be built and complete

Jon_B_2

Sounds like a standard Persimmon issue - you only have to google Persimmon to read the horror stories. Timber framed, shoddy buildings. Only a 3* HBF rating and they were on Watchdog.

Apologies this is a positive thread and I live in a new build, but have heard so many bad things about Persimmon.

Haylescom

I think none of us are under any illusions of previous reviews of various builders. Our house is Charles Church which is part of Persimmon but I also have friends in Persimmon homes who had no issues other than usual snagging.

Tygermoth

I agree with Haylescom - I have a number of friends who live in a variety of new builds with very few issues. Yes, housebuilder customer service can suck and they can change the goal posts on a whim but as stated by us all previously we were aware.

Doesn't mean i dont want to minimise my chances of an issue though

franklee

Tygermoth wrote: »

I agree with Haylescom - I have a number of friends who live in a variety of new builds with very few issues. Yes, housebuilder customer service can suck and they can change the goal posts on a whim but as stated by us all previously we were aware.

Doesn't mean i dont want to minimise my chances of an issue though

I think with these large house building companies it all depends on how each site is run which will depend of the staff managing that particular build.

I purchased a new build from a small local builder years ago and it was fine apart from minor snagging.

I've also rented a Persimmon new build and there's no way I would have considered purchasing it. The chimneys were built without proper support in a couple of streets and there was scaffolding up on and off for several years while it was sorted. The house was extremely cold especially the kitchen floor. When a nearby house had an extension built they discovered there was no insulation under the downstairs floor. No way of telling if that applies to other houses nearby but it would explain why ours was so cold. Plus the finish was pants.

I know this thread doesn't want negatives but I'm not negative about new builds, in fact I like them, if it's the right builder and a well managed site. However sometimes it can be positive to cut your losses and pull out. Far worse if you had discovered all these issues after exchange. I think you did really well in talking to people who have already moved in to get the low down. Good luck with your decision - I hope you end up making the right one for you.

hollypop

baxt3r wrote: »

Sorry, didn't realise you meant the doors and garage lol, read it quickly at work but yes they're being painted a green as well. Couldn't tell you what green though to be honest. I asked if I could change it but they wouldn't let me so i'll just repaint it when they've sold them all.


I'm not surprised your annoyed about the kitchen. Hasn't this made a difference in the total number of units? What are they doing with the space by the wall then? Struggling to picture it.


Have they said anything about letting you have a walk round anytime soon, I've not asked yet as still waiting to hear back today on exchange of contracts but planning to once this is done. No idea if they'll let us though.

We can't have a walk round from what I understand till its complete.

The kitchen will now be the same L shape layout as the warwick 3 bed home so there will now be no units under the window and just a big tall unit in the corner.
We are still awaiting a kitchen plan, as the one we drew on to put the sockets and lighting in was the original layout. This is now holding up our exchange as we've told the solicitor not to exchange until we have seen this plan.

I note you've mentioned about painting your door/garage after... I'm not sure if yours will be the same but when we went to sign a contract theres a list of things you're not allowed to do to the property.. and one of them is change the colour of the door/garage - it has to stay the colour they paint it.

Same with another clause saying you cant run a business from the property and have business visitors - this isn't good for me when I am a sole trader and have people visiting for appointments!

Another thing was we're not allowed to change the outside - i.e we cant render it (which we were hoping further down the line to do!)

So when you go see your solicitor have a good read through all the documents they send you!!

DGE199

hollypop wrote: »

We can't have a walk round from what I understand till its complete.

The kitchen will now be the same L shape layout as the warwick 3 bed home so there will now be no units under the window and just a big tall unit in the corner.
We are still awaiting a kitchen plan, as the one we drew on to put the sockets and lighting in was the original layout. This is now holding up our exchange as we've told the solicitor not to exchange until we have seen this plan.

I note you've mentioned about painting your door/garage after... I'm not sure if yours will be the same but when we went to sign a contract theres a list of things you're not allowed to do to the property.. and one of them is change the colour of the door/garage - it has to stay the colour they paint it.

Same with another clause saying you cant run a business from the property and have business visitors - this isn't good for me when I am a sole trader and have people visiting for appointments!

Another thing was we're not allowed to change the outside - i.e we cant render it (which we were hoping further down the line to do!)

So when you go see your solicitor have a good read through all the documents they send you!!

Interesting to hear that you've got a similar problem to me and my OH with our new build! They've changed our kitchen from a U-shape to an L-shape.

Only noticed when we went for our first visit 3 weeks ago. I queried it with them and they told us that the kitchen was shown like that on the large plans we signed. It certainly wasn't on the drawings we'd been given before that, so rather than telling us, they just put it in the plans and hoped we wouldn't notice!

We've got another visit this weekend to see the house again, and it will be hard for me to not say anything! As well as the fact that the L-shape is more unsightly (for me anyway) - we've lost a whole cupboard and a wall unit too! Not happy!

DGE199

Forgot to say, I'd like to join!!

We've exchanged on a new build which is scheduled for completion in the middle of March.

Moved out of rented flat early february and living with parents in between, so keen to get in (though we're not hoping for it to be early as we need the lack of mortgage/rent to help pay the stamp duty!)

On the whole we're very excited - it's our first house together and we're both very pleased that we'll finally be on the property ladder.

It's a 2 bed, end terrace. We've opted for an upgraded kitchen as the girlfriend fell in love with it. Other than that we went for a few spotlights to finish off the kitchen, and a mosaic in the en-suite that we both liked when we saw it in the Showhome.

We've got friends who've bought on an older phase of the development, so we've got some insider tips from them, and in general everything seems to have gone smoothly for them, so hoping it does for us too!

Best of luck to everyone with their purchases! Hopefully you'll all enjoy the process! We've enjoyed watching it go up, but are excited to finally move in!

Haylescom

Franklee you've made a great point. I've been to our site a number of times, they've been really accomodating and answered any questions in what I've felt to be an honest way. It's also a relatively small batch of houses they're building which gives me more confidence that it's less slap-dash. Only time will tell but my current house is doing its best to fall apart so my benchmark is low!
It's also worth bearing in mind people love to complain (I do!) And are not as prone to sharing positive experiences. Ranting is therapeutic!

Haylescom

Hollypop, I have the clause about businesses in my current ex-council house, as well as changing the front, putting up satellite dishes (!), changing door colours. Sound like pretty standard covenants.

lorelai34

Yea our missives said we couldn't paint outside of house or put up a satellite dish. We are getting Sky though as Virgin aren't in the area but we've checked and it's fine as long as we don't put dish on front of house. Although on our many visits we have noticed some houses have them at the front! The cynic in me noticed at Christmas all the houses had matching wreaths on the front door - I think Barrats did that to make it look all pretty lol.