Meeting with the house builder tomorrow to possibly reserve

LucasH

Hi all,

I have a meeting with the house builder tomorrow at midday and wondered if there is anything that i should ask, that people maybe didn't ask when buying a new build, but wish they had?

We are also first time buyers.

Thanks

L

Robin9

Refuse any offer to arrange mortgage or do the legal work.

LucasH

For the builder to arrange the mortgage or legal work?

Thats fine, we have them both covered.

Hannah2

Ask if there is a maintenance agreement attached to the property for communal areas/play areas/road & drain cover and what it entails. Check if the council will be adopting any communal areas and also the roads. If they mention a company such as Greenbelt or Chamonix be very very very sure of what you are signing up to and research around unhappy users of such maintenance companies.

We pulled out of a new build after reserving once we realised all the possible issues and pitfalls - if the house is freehold an agreement with these companies turns it into the equivalent of a leasehold property.

No cap on future annual fee increases
No cap on ad-hoc charges to deal with fly tipping or repair maintenance
No come back if the work is not done to a decent standard - the company will more than likely own the land
You must pay them before you can sell
Your future purchasers have to pay them to transfer the documents into their name
No accountability for how much they charge or when
Inconsistencies in what area on deeds/plans that they charge for and what charges/bills they issue without proof of outlay/work completed.
No control or say in who, or when they sell the land on in the future and then you would have to deal with a new owner/maintenance company.

It was too much of a gamble/unknown for us and we chose to pull out, something we are very pleased that we did.

Be careful of the sales people and how they will play these issues down. Do your own research.

Good luck!

LucasH

Hannah2 wrote: »

Ask if there is a maintenance agreement attached to the property for communal areas/play areas/road & drain cover and what it entails. Check if the council will be adopting any communal areas and also the roads. If they mention a company such as Greenbelt or Chamonix be very very very sure of what you are signing up to and research around unhappy users of such maintenance companies.

We pulled out of a new build after reserving once we realised all the possible issues and pitfalls - if the house is freehold an agreement with these companies turns it into the equivalent of a leasehold property.

No cap on future annual fee increases
No cap on ad-hoc charges to deal with fly tipping or repair maintenance
No come back if the work is not done to a decent standard - the company will more than likely own the land
You must pay them before you can sell
Your future purchasers have to pay them to transfer the documents into their name
No accountability for how much they charge or when
Inconsistencies in what area on deeds/plans that they charge for and what charges/bills they issue without proof of outlay/work completed.
No control or say in who, or when they sell the land on in the future and then you would have to deal with a new owner/maintenance company.

It was too much of a gamble/unknown for us and we chose to pull out, something we are very pleased that we did.

Be careful of the sales people and how they will play these issues down. Do your own research.

Good luck!

Thank you for the information

LucasH

Thank you for the help, we bit the bullet and reserved today, asked all the right questions and reserved. Fingers crossed for the application now

Hannah2

Is there a maintenance company involved?

I have had 3 previous new build houses (none with the current trend for maintenance companies) and been happy with them, so not totally anti-new builds! Once you are in, just make sure you complete the snagging report asap, be ultra picky, and keep on top of them to make sure they put things right to the standard that you are happy with it.

In my experience they will usually be happy to help to put things right up until the customer satisfaction survey, in order to get a good report, but once that has been submitted the ability to get them to resolve issues can diminish! the quality of the work/resolutions also depends on how good the site manager is.

All the best and I hope it works out well for you.

LucasH

Hannah2 wrote: »

Is there a maintenance company involved?

I have had 3 previous new build houses (none with the current trend for maintenance companies) and been happy with them, so not totally anti-new builds! Once you are in, just make sure you complete the snagging report asap, be ultra picky, and keep on top of them to make sure they put things right to the standard that you are happy with it.

In my experience they will usually be happy to help to put things right up until the customer satisfaction survey, in order to get a good report, but once that has been submitted the ability to get them to resolve issues can diminish! the quality of the work/resolutions also depends on how good the site manager is.

All the best and I hope it works out well for you.

Thanks Hannah,

Yeah they have a maintenance company doing the factors. Theyre £50 per year, spread over quarterly payments.
I cant remember the name of the company, but when the other half mentioned it to her sister, thats who they have at their new build (different site) and haven't had any issues (been in for around 4 years).

Thank you for the info Hannah

andyf1980

Worth mentioning not to get any extras from the developer. They are a total rip off. We did floors in our whole house for what they wanted just for the downstairs.

Be prepared for delays. We live on an estate with 3 developers and everyone seems to be delayed. It was quite stressful for us as the mortgage offer expired after exchange and before completion. All was good in the end but stressful at the time.