Help to Buy - Can the developer give me a discount on the purchase price?

kerri312

Evening all,
I am after some advice.
I am a first time buyer using the help to buy scheme. 
I already had an Agreement in Principle with Halifax for £133,295 (based on a previous property - 3 bed semi - I was looking at priced at £184,950) a deposit of £14,665 and an Equity Loan of £36,900 (I save enough each month to pay this off in advance of the 5 year interest free period). 
I visited a different house at the weekend with a different developer. The house is a 3 bedroom detached with Persimmon (yes, I know there are horror stories, but every builder has them) priced at £199,950. 
The site appears to be struggling, other sites are all pretty much reserved. This one has 24 properties available and have been advertised since September. It's location is more rural to the other developments I have been looking at. 
My plan is to ask for a reduction in the asking price. When I was viewing the property, there was another couple there who were measuring up. They had reserved another plot and told me that they had received a £7k discount and an upgraded discount. I therefore am hopefully I can ask for a £10k discount? This seems fair if they have had discount and I am sure others have too. I would rather the discount than the upgrades. 
I have went back to my Financial Advisor to ask if I can get an increase on my mortgage amount (I specifically only asked for £133k as that's all i needed based on the previous property). 
I have 2 options (for a purchase price of £190k): 

Mortgage £133,295
Equity Loan £38,00 
Deposit £18,705

OR

Mortgage £136,000
Equity Loan £38,400
Deposit £17,600 (freeing up some more of my savings for the expense that comes with moving, legal fees, survey, etc)
My question is, is there anything preventing the developers discounting the house price like they already have for other with me purchasing with HTB?

Any experience of this happening, especially with Persimmon and recently would be much appreciated.

I AM REALLY EXCITED AT THE THOUGHT OF BEING A HOME OWNER  
Any tips on how to approach asking for a discount would be much appreciated. Over email, phone or face to face? Say I will reserve today if?


Many thanks x

Thrugelmir

Developer can set selling prices and incentives as they wish. Personally I would negotiate face to face. Local sales office may need to refer higher up the chain. 

kerri312

Thanks for your reply!  
What do you think is a reasonable starting offer? If i am hoping to pay £190k should I offer lower  (very cheeky) or just go in with £190k and say it's all i can afford?Should I mention that someone told me they got £7k off and upgraded Kitchen?

[Deleted User]

.... The house is a 3 bedroom detached with Persimmon (yes, I know there are horror stories, but every builder has them) priced at £199,950. 
The site appears to be struggling....

I wonder why the wonderful builder known as Persimmon, who has many many terrible reviews is struggling ? Hmmm

Thrugelmir

One can only ask. I wouldn't suggest any figures. See where they start, if at all. 

Chumy

Start @ 176K. I wouldn't go over 185K. If they are struggling to sell, they will start offering other incentives for you to increase your offer. The negotiations are not done in one day. So dont expect a yes from day 1. Be prepared to walk away.
Don't mention the other buyers!

Jeams073

Proper market research is required. 

Jeams073

Do not submit any documents without knowing

StephanieW

We purchased a new build 2 years ago and saw various sites with different builders.

Effectively each plot will have a definite figure that they can use to 'negotiate'. Every one of them disclosed the information to us relatively easily. 
We wanted more in terms of product than discount, however they basically all said 'We can lose X amount on this plot, made up of whatever you want' 

Some cheaper builders were only willing to negotiate around £5/6k, some others were more like £15k (based on house prices of approx £250-300k though) 

You can only ask and see what they offer. 

kerri312

Thanks to all for your advice I will start the conversation and see where it takes me

Not_for_real

I’ve seen some advertise they will pay the stamp duty if bought this month 

I don’t know which developers are ideal but persimmon Taylor wimpley and Gallaghers I believe are some of the worse I’ve dealt. (Talking from
another perspective)