Bovis Homes - Trustpilot reviews are aappalling... Any new homeowners would like to comment?

pepita

Hi,

I have seen a house that fits most of my tick box list of what I am looking for. :j But after looking at the reviews on trust pilot 1*, and all the comments, it looks like their buildings comes with loads of troubles in the long run... Most of the reviews are made from houses purchased 2 years ago, so quality and building might changed now.
Anyone is living/in the process of purchasing a house with Bovis in last 6months/1 year, and have any recommendations about the house builder will be great!
Just having some second thoughts after all the 1* readings!!!

thank you

ACG

I do not have shares in Bovis, it makes no odds to me if you buy one of their homes or not - just to show that I am unbiased here.... But most people go online to complain.

They probably have more unhappy customers than you can see on Truspilot but they probably also have (hopefully more) happy customers who have not felt the need to post a review online. Like with any reviews, people are more inclined to do it when they are unhappy.

eidand

Do your own research into new builds before any commitments. Even better, run and don't look back. It's all a huge scam.

RelievedSheff

All of the developers get bad reviews because people are only vocal when they are having problems, very few people write good reviews.

Bovis have just purchased Linden Homes and Galiford Try.

We bought a new build from David Wilson Homes last April and despite some very poor customer reviews we are very happy with our new home. The bills are unbelievably low.

Have a look around the houses and the estate for yourself and make your own mind up.

xthrash

We bought a new build a few years ago (not from Bovis) and apart from a few minor snagging issues, which you'd expect, we've been very happy with it. All new builds will have snags and it's important to identify them early, especially if their contractors are still on site. We noticed that in the first few months issues got sorted really quickly by sending out their own maintenance guys who were working on the site, after that they just send out contractors and it seems to be luck of the draw whether you get someone good or not.

So I wouldn't pay too much attention to review websites for new build developers.

seradane

ACG is right, reviews online are often disproportionately negative due to those who have a straightforward and problem-free experience rarely post about it.

But I find it's useful to go look at some other similar developers, especially ones you are more familiar with, maybe you know people who have bought from them, etc. And then compare the ratings. If they are all very similar then it's probably fine - just a case of those with problems being more vocal. If most of the other builders are 3+ stars and Bovis is 1.5 then maybe a cause for concern!

In my experience, low cost airlines are a great example for this. Absolutely awful reviews online. I was considering booking a flight with one I hadn't flown with before, and was almost put off by the reviews. But then I went and looked at a handful of other similar low-cost airlines I had flown with - without incident, been quite happy with - and they were equally poorly reviewed. So I was mollified - and sure enough the flight itself was just fine, no issues there.

That being said, I have anecdotally heard that new builds are often a bit of a headache initially as often defects need fixing and the like, but that's more generally an issue with developer new builds, not Bovis in particular.

RelievedSheff

You have to remember that mew houses are a hand built product put together by many different professions and tradesmen. There are going to be a few things that are not quite right and need fixing.

We have been in our new home for 9 months now and are still finding odd bits and bobs that need sorting out as the house is settling in. Thankfully nothing major has reared its ugly head as of yet.

SallyAnneBooth

eidand wrote: »

Do your own research into new builds before any commitments. Even better, run and don't look back. It's all a huge scam.

CrashyTIme is that you??

eidand

SallyAnneBooth wrote: »

CrashyTIme is that you??

nope, it's just someone who's done a lot of research, learnt a lot about unregulated management fees and un-adopted roads, terrible quality ( after viewing many new builds in different areas).

Tiny rooms, tiny and weird gardens. All I am saying is do your own research into fleecehold and the management fees specifically.

Oh and if you happen to live on an estate with it#s own green space, play area ... guess what ... you're responsible for repairs / maintaining it and it's still a public place that anyone can use whenever they want.

If after all that people still want to buy an overpriced new build, then sure, go right ahead, it's your money

Crashy_Time

eidand wrote: »

Do your own research into new builds before any commitments. Even better, run and don't look back. It's all a huge scam.

All a huge scam with HTB there to lure people in.

RelievedSheff

eidand wrote: »

nope, it's just someone who's done a lot of research, learnt a lot about unregulated management fees and un-adopted roads, terrible quality ( after viewing many new builds in different areas).

Tiny rooms, tiny and weird gardens. All I am saying is do your own research into fleecehold and the management fees specifically.

Oh and if you happen to live on an estate with it#s own green space, play area ... guess what ... you're responsible for repairs / maintaining it and it's still a public place that anyone can use whenever they want.

If after all that people still want to buy an overpriced new build, then sure, go right ahead, it's your money

Not all new builds have estate/management charges.

The very green estate we have bought on has zero estate/management charges. All of the green spaces and wooded areas, of which there are a lot, are managed and maintained by the local authority.

We love the layout of our new build home. The rooms are very good sizes for the size of the house and the house makes much better use of space than our previous 1930's ex local authority semi which wasted what little space it had terribly. The build quality of our new build is also far superior to that of the 1930's semi which was pretty poor by any standards.

We don't have as much land as we had with the previous house but that is fine by us as we don't want a huge garden, but what garden we do have is level, useable (which our previous plot was not) and completely walled off so is very secure and private with no properties over looking it.

You clearly don't like new builds and that is your choice but for others they are a great choice and despite what you would like to think not all new builds fit your very narrow impression of them.