Are Persimmon really as bad as the web reviews???

tiernsee

We bought a new build Persimmon in 1999, we are still here, with the original kitchen, which yes does need a refit now but is still serviceable. We changed the bathroom but that was only because my husband decided to drop paint stripper into it.....
This is the only new build I have got and much less problems with it than the second hand homes I bought previously.
As people have said it will depend on the development and mine was the first time Persimmon had been in the area and they were directly competing with Wimpy and Prowting, we looked at all the offerings and the layouts etc worked much better for the Persimmon house, finishes were all the same (at least to my untrained eye) and 19 years later no regrets.
I appreciate that this was many years ago and times change, so all I could suggest is compare in your area to other new builds and if possible speak to people who have already moved into the development to see the problems they experienced and how they were handled.
Hope it all works out well for you

dexterlivi

We had a poor experience. We had found a lovely house in South Yorkshire and put down £500 initial holding fee/deposit. As we had nothing to sell and where ready to move pretty quickly,we were able to negotiate some good deals including 5% towards a good deposit that we already had, carpets and lino throughout, legal fees paid and as I recall it they had agreed to pay stamp duty. Anyway when surveyor went in he stated that the value of the house was 10K less than selling price. Informed Persimmon who were happy to reduce price by the 10K but then added that all the so called incentives agreed would no longer be provided. I tried to challenge this through the site rep and their regional sales manager but they dug their heels in. We did not proceed on this basis and lost £250 of the initial £500 as we pulled out. I guess I could have pushed for the other £250 back as Persimmon were changing the goal posts. To be honest we were happy to lose the £250 and walk away from the purchase than give them another 160K ish. I am sure some people have had a positive experience but ours was a negative one. Blessing in disguise as we went with another developer who treated us really well. As someone else has said it can also depend on your site manager. Ours was excellent and put right all snags very quickly. Our house is in a much nicer location so every cloud has a silver lining as they say. ope all goes well.

Denise492

I would appreciate any advice......a few months ago I agreed to buy a 5 year old freehold Persimmon house. I wanted a relatively new house that had passed all the usual snagging stages but with the security of being freehold. The. searches revealed that the deeds came with a leasehold type restrictive covenant on the property. I complained to the estate agents and said that this should have been disclosed before i had gone to the expense of having a surveyors homebuyers report, the cost of the searches and the solicitors fees - approx £700. Had I known of the covenant, I would never have gone to view the house in the first place.
The estate agents were adamant that they had no knowledge of this (despite selling similar properties on the same estate) and the vendors also initially said they didnt know about the covenant - despite me holding a copy of their signed covenant from 5 years prior. They would also have had to contact the management company prior to selling to pay them for "permission" to sell the house as laid down in the covenant. The result being I pulled out of the sale. It almost jeapardised the sale of my house and I have had to move into rented accommodation that I can ill afford while I go back to square one looking for a suitable property.
Should I take the agents and or the vendors to small claims court to recover my losses or be thankful for a narrow escape?

Davesnave

Denise492 wrote: »

I would appreciate any advice......a few months ago I agreed to buy a 5 year old freehold Persimmon house. I wanted a relatively new house that had passed all the usual snagging stages but with the security of being freehold. The. searches revealed that the deeds came with a leasehold type restrictive covenant on the property. I complained to the estate agents and said that this should have been disclosed before i had gone to the expense of having a surveyors homebuyers report, the cost of the searches and the solicitors fees - approx £700. Had I known of the covenant, I would never have gone to view the house in the first place.
The estate agents were adamant that they had no knowledge of this (despite selling similar properties on the same estate) and the vendors also initially said they didnt know about the covenant - despite me holding a copy of their signed covenant from 5 years prior. They would also have had to contact the management company prior to selling to pay them for "permission" to sell the house as laid down in the covenant. The result being I pulled out of the sale. It almost jeapardised the sale of my house and I have had to move into rented accommodation that I can ill afford while I go back to square one looking for a suitable property.
Should I take the agents and or the vendors to small claims court to recover my losses or be thankful for a narrow escape?

Duplicate post.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/73745841#Comment_73745841

Marvel1

People are most likely to leave bad reviews when something has gone wrong rather than a goo review when everything ran smoothly.

Marvel1

Derboy wrote: »

Here we go again. Every house in the country was a new build at one point...

Following on from Lilyp, when buying a non-build you get to see the area in terms of parking, with new estates you don't.

Not aimed at you, but something for OP to consider.

Sibz

We looked at a couple of Persimmon developments recently. While they were both relatively close to where we are - they were under different 'areas' and so the site staff were very different to deal with. It seemed as if Persimmon was run a bit like a franchise of sorts.

Someone I know that works in the building industry said they were notoriously bad for build quality. What eventually put me off was the layout of the ones we could afford - there was absolutely no storage in it.

I have no guarantees the one we've gone for (not persimmon) will necessarily be any better - but it does have FAR more things included. In one of the Persimmon developments I'm surprised the roof wasn't treated as an extra

coombsa

Hi all, we are looking into part exchanging to speed up our selling of our house. Our house is an ex council house. A friend said they tried to part ex a house with persimmon but they couldn't as there's was ex council and wouldn't touch it. We went through the paperwork in order to get a valuation etc so waiting to hear back. Wondering if anyone knows whether they wouldn't accept us as we are ex council? Thanks in advance. 

csgohan4

coombsa said:

Hi all, we are looking into part exchanging to speed up our selling of our house. Our house is an ex council house. A friend said they tried to part ex a house with persimmon but they couldn't as there's was ex council and wouldn't touch it. We went through the paperwork in order to get a valuation etc so waiting to hear back. Wondering if anyone knows whether they wouldn't accept us as we are ex council? Thanks in advance. 

Create your own thread so as to not hijack others

RelievedSheff

coombsa said:

Hi all, we are looking into part exchanging to speed up our selling of our house. Our house is an ex council house. A friend said they tried to part ex a house with persimmon but they couldn't as there's was ex council and wouldn't touch it. We went through the paperwork in order to get a valuation etc so waiting to hear back. Wondering if anyone knows whether they wouldn't accept us as we are ex council? Thanks in advance. 

I can't see why Persimmon would not accept an ex council house unless it is of non standard construction.

We part exchanged a 1930's ex council house against a David Wilson Homes new build last year and they were fine with it being ex council. It was a traditional bricks and mortar build though.