PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.

Barratt Homes New Build - Optional Extras & Advice

2

Comments

  • brownn said:
    Ask the sales advisor for a copy of the "BARRATT BASE SPECIFICATION OF FINISHES - ENGLAND, SCOTLAND & WALES" document and to which spec the plot you're interested in is being built to. It will list absolutely everything, the make/model/supplier of the taps, bath panel, kitchen cabinets, appliances, you name it.
    Thank you!! I will ask them! I'm going to email them today with a load of questions so definitely worth asking for this! 
  • isplumm said:
    2bFrank said:

    Things like outside tap, towel radiator, flooring (apart from vinyl in bathroom and kitchen), landscaping (you have to pay extra for turf) are all extras.

    Oven is the cheapest oven available, same with hobs. Unless the fridge is integrated, then you will just get a space to put a fridge, same with washing machine. The whole kitchen will be quite a cheap kitchen.

    You can get upgrades, but will be honest they are very overpriced for what you get. Anything structural, then maybe it will be worth it (tiling, tap outside etc). Anything like appliances, carpet etc, I wouldn't bother and just buy from ao or similar when you move in.
    We bought a Bloor new build a few years ago - very happy with it - once the snagging had been resolved.
    To the OP - remember that if you don't get carpets etc fitted by the developer, you most likely will have to wait till you actually own the property before you can measure up - so you'll end up having to have bare floors for a while.
    For us, the whole point of buying a new build, was that it was all done for me - I didn't want to move and then have to lay carpets, or change electrics. Otherwise I may as well have bought a 2nd hand house.
    Mark
    Thank you Mark. I will keep this in mind. We wanted everything to be done too. That's why we aren't afraid to pay a little extra to get the keys and unpack our boxes sort of thing! 
  • Carl2510
    Carl2510 Posts: 529 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    I am currenrly buying a new build, but Rowland Homes. I have opted to use them for carpets, what I did was look at the price they was giving for full house with vinyl included for kitchen/diner and all bathroom/en-suites and went round my local carpet people and compared they was coming out with roughly same estimate £100 here and there difference and for that I’d rather have it done for when I get in than wait and get it done after I’ve moved in. I used floor plans for estimate
  • robatwork said:
    I have no idea what your development is/will be like.

    I bought a Barratts house once.

    I never would again. Stressful and shoddy.

    If you do proceed, try to watch the build at least weekly, and make sure it's being built to plan.
    I think it is pot luck as to how good the site manager is on a development. 

    Both the Barratt and David Wilson site managers are on the ball where we are and it shows in the finish of the houses.

    We had possibly the smoothest house sale ever. We part exchanged our old house for a completed plot and from reservation to moving in was just 3.5 weeks. It could not have gone any better.
    Thank you for your comment. We want to keep all of our options home. I will watch the build as one of our good friends are working on our actual site for Barratts. My cousin is a solicitor for Barratts too. 
    We shall see what happens. But thank you for all advice, much appreciated!
  • robatwork said:
    I have no idea what your development is/will be like.

    I bought a Barratts house once.

    I never would again. Stressful and shoddy.

    If you do proceed, try to watch the build at least weekly, and make sure it's being built to plan.
    Thank you. I will be able to watch as a friend is working on the actual site and my cousin is one of the Barratts contracted solicitors.
  • RelievedSheff
    RelievedSheff Posts: 12,541 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Sixth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    cjleigh said:
    We bought a David Wilson Homes house last year who are part of the Barratt Group and Barratt Homes are also building on the same development.

    You won't get a choice of oven or hob. They will be standard to the house type that you are buying. But you will get a choice of kitchen cupboards and work surfaces and tiles etc. Our house has the standard white gloss kitchen which we really like. Our kitchen was prewired for under cupboard lighting but it was not fitted by the developers. We installed that ourselves.

    You will probably find that the bathrooms are specified with towel radiators. They all are here.

    You will probably be able to get the flooring thrown in as part of the deal. I don't think anyone has paid for standard flooring on our development. The standard here has been vinyl to the kitchen and bathrooms and carpet to all other rooms. You will be able to choose the finish of your flooring and the carpets if you reserve early enough.

    The outside tap has been standard on all plots here and the driveways here are all tarmac. Some developments have a mixture of block paved and tarmac driveways.

    The loft will be insulated but it will not be boarded out. It is recommended that nothing is stored in the loft.

    Just beware that some extras are really expensive from the developers. One example is 240v sockets with USB connections. The developers wanted £85 per socket to upgrade these. We did it ourselves for £13 a socket for the same front plates. Same with stuff like outside sockets. You can get them done by a local tradesmen much cheaper than the developers will charge you.


    Thank you so much for your comment. That gives me much more information that is required! 
    We haven't reserved the plot yet as it hasnt come up. Will try and go for free flooring. Don't want all fitted wardrobes, only the bedroom 1 (our room). 
    Thanks again! Hope you enjoy your home! 
    I would recommend that you get your own fitted wardrobes installed rather then getting Barratts to fit them. You will get far better quality items getting them yourselves. We have seen the Barratts ones and they are not brilliant if I am honest about it.
  • robatwork said:
    I have no idea what your development is/will be like.

    I bought a Barratts house once.

    I never would again. Stressful and shoddy.

    If you do proceed, try to watch the build at least weekly, and make sure it's being built to plan.
    I think it is pot luck as to how good the site manager is on a development. 

    Both the Barratt and David Wilson site managers are on the ball where we are and it shows in the finish of the houses.

    We had possibly the smoothest house sale ever. We part exchanged our old house for a completed plot and from reservation to moving in was just 3.5 weeks. It could not have gone any better.
    3.5 weeks - amazing, was that with your own independent solicitor, Or the in-house recommended builders? 
  • BigD74
    BigD74 Posts: 44 Forumite
    Second Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    We are in the process of buying a new Redrow home, also using HTB. Not sure what Barratt is like, but with Redrow we could view and select all options & extras on their “my Redrow” website. This was really useful as we could see pricing before reserving, and allowed us to do some comparisons on costs. We got included in the deal additional & upgraded kitchen equipment, as well as additional storage, but no flooring. We looked at the Redrow flooring costs, and compared this with indicative quotes from three other flooring places using the floor plans. These turned out to be 40% less than Redrow, for similar flooring. 

    We have ordered flooring for the wet rooms with Redrow (ceramics) and the rest we will have done.  And yes we’ll have to wait for flooring to be laid after we get the keys, but the savings are so worth it for us. And flooring is expensive! Plus some builders will allow contractors to come in and measure before the house is completed. 

  • RelievedSheff
    RelievedSheff Posts: 12,541 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Sixth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    robatwork said:
    I have no idea what your development is/will be like.

    I bought a Barratts house once.

    I never would again. Stressful and shoddy.

    If you do proceed, try to watch the build at least weekly, and make sure it's being built to plan.
    I think it is pot luck as to how good the site manager is on a development. 

    Both the Barratt and David Wilson site managers are on the ball where we are and it shows in the finish of the houses.

    We had possibly the smoothest house sale ever. We part exchanged our old house for a completed plot and from reservation to moving in was just 3.5 weeks. It could not have gone any better.
    3.5 weeks - amazing, was that with your own independent solicitor, Or the in-house recommended builders? 
    They gave us the choice of four local solicitors that they have worked with. As it happens one of them was local to us and on our preferred list to choose from anyway so we went with them. The turn around was fantastic, we could not have asked for them to do anything any differently. Both the developers and the solicitors were great.
  • Racky_Roo
    Racky_Roo Posts: 391 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    My friend bought with Barratt last November in Milton Keynes way and I went with her to help with negotiations as she was torn between a David Wilson house and a Barratt house - both same layout and size but the spec for DW is higher and therefore way more expensive. Anyway, I was amazed at how much each rep was able to offer in "gifted deposit" and upgrades to get the sale. Now obviously it depends on demand but from Barratt she got £20k as a gifted deposit, upgraded kitchen, fully tiled bathroom with shower over the bath, outside tap and plug, turf and all flooring.  So definitely worth seeing what you can get for free before starting to talk about upgrades
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 349.6K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.5K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 452.9K Spending & Discounts
  • 242.5K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 619.2K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.3K Life & Family
  • 255.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.