Snagging new built

stuart45

Someone put up a big sign on the main road into Bridgewater next to a development built on a flood plain a few years ago that read
'Free boat and divers suit with every house'.

Section62

MultiFuelBurner said:

If the developer is still selling houses on the site and you really want to push them to fix something..

Big sign on your property that says don't buy a house here.(or similar)

Strange how quickly the site manager and foreman will be round to fix any faults you have.

This is one of the reasons why new properties typically come with a covenant prohibiting the display of signs/adverts etc.

Gaining publicity in that way is also a double-edged sword - ultimately you own the property and advertising that the developer has essentially done a bad job won't help maintain its value, and may make it difficult to sell when the time comes.  If something like this goes 'viral' then there's no going back.  The family who purchased a house next to a busy dual carriageway not realising how noisy it was are still appearing in the national media, and a google search for the road name has their ongoing battle right at the top of the results.

There's also a good chance you'll upset your new neighbours if you highlight how bad the houses on the development are.

MultiFuelBurner

Section62 said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

If the developer is still selling houses on the site and you really want to push them to fix something..

Big sign on your property that says don't buy a house here.(or similar)

Strange how quickly the site manager and foreman will be round to fix any faults you have.

This is one of the reasons why new properties typically come with a covenant prohibiting the display of signs/adverts etc.

Gaining publicity in that way is also a double-edged sword - ultimately you own the property and advertising that the developer has essentially done a bad job won't help maintain its value, and may make it difficult to sell when the time comes.  If something like this goes 'viral' then there's no going back.  The family who purchased a house next to a busy dual carriageway not realising how noisy it was are still appearing in the national media, and a google search for the road name has their ongoing battle right at the top of the results.

There's also a good chance you'll upset your new neighbours if you highlight how bad the houses on the development are.

So from someone who has done this.

It works and they react quickly unless at the end of the selling.

Section62

MultiFuelBurner said:

Section62 said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

If the developer is still selling houses on the site and you really want to push them to fix something..

Big sign on your property that says don't buy a house here.(or similar)

Strange how quickly the site manager and foreman will be round to fix any faults you have.

This is one of the reasons why new properties typically come with a covenant prohibiting the display of signs/adverts etc.

Gaining publicity in that way is also a double-edged sword - ultimately you own the property and advertising that the developer has essentially done a bad job won't help maintain its value, and may make it difficult to sell when the time comes.  If something like this goes 'viral' then there's no going back.  The family who purchased a house next to a busy dual carriageway not realising how noisy it was are still appearing in the national media, and a google search for the road name has their ongoing battle right at the top of the results.

There's also a good chance you'll upset your new neighbours if you highlight how bad the houses on the development are.

So from someone who has done this.

It works and they react quickly unless at the end of the selling.

In your case perhaps, but that doesn't make it a good idea and will work in every case.

How the developer will react in any particular situation will depend on many factors including how much 'rectification' work will cost, as well as general attitudes of the people involved.

As someone who has worked in and around the industy I know several cases where someone putting up a sign about the quality of the development got a swift letter from the developer's solicitors, and the person in question lost any goodwill from the developer.

In the OP's case there doesn't appear to be anything objectively wrong with the way the garden has been done, unless they were promised a level garden.  However, in their own words "Theres nothing that says garden would be level".  Therefore advice to kick up a public fuss is not necessarily good advice, as the OP doesn't appear to have a leg to stand on if this went 'legal'.

MultiFuelBurner

Section62 said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

Section62 said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

If the developer is still selling houses on the site and you really want to push them to fix something..

Big sign on your property that says don't buy a house here.(or similar)

Strange how quickly the site manager and foreman will be round to fix any faults you have.

This is one of the reasons why new properties typically come with a covenant prohibiting the display of signs/adverts etc.

Gaining publicity in that way is also a double-edged sword - ultimately you own the property and advertising that the developer has essentially done a bad job won't help maintain its value, and may make it difficult to sell when the time comes.  If something like this goes 'viral' then there's no going back.  The family who purchased a house next to a busy dual carriageway not realising how noisy it was are still appearing in the national media, and a google search for the road name has their ongoing battle right at the top of the results.

There's also a good chance you'll upset your new neighbours if you highlight how bad the houses on the development are.

So from someone who has done this.

It works and they react quickly unless at the end of the selling.

In your case perhaps, but that doesn't make it a good idea and will work in every case.

How the developer will react in any particular situation will depend on many factors including how much 'rectification' work will cost, as well as general attitudes of the people involved.

As someone who has worked in and around the industy I know several cases where someone putting up a sign about the quality of the development got a swift letter from the developer's solicitors, and the person in question lost any goodwill from the developer.

In the OP's case there doesn't appear to be anything objectively wrong with the way the garden has been done, unless they were promised a level garden.  However, in their own words "Theres nothing that says garden would be level".  Therefore advice to kick up a public fuss is not necessarily good advice, as the OP doesn't appear to have a leg to stand on if this went 'legal'.

I respectfully disagree, this country is too laid back and making a fuss does get things sorted.

If the OP feels this strongly it is one action they could consider when others are exhausted and it can work. So no harm sharing this with the OP.

As with all things on the internet there will always be polar opposite views and someone has the complete opposite outcome to one suggested👍

jam6008

Thanks guys, 

I understand where both of you are coming back. 
I'm going to get snagging done as soon as I get the keys and then see how things go. I don't want to kick up the fuss already without seeing how developer responds to all other issues. If everything else does get fixed and sorted and it's just the garden level that's the issue then it's something maybe I'll have to live with or get sorted myself. Kind of my own fault for not having anything in writing that said about level garden. I'll still keep trying to get them to do something about it though. 

I was told that he's happy for me to meet the site manager before we move in and go through these few issues and point it out to him on site. Doesn't mean they will fully level the garden but they might do something about it? 

Section62

MultiFuelBurner said:

Section62 said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

Section62 said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

If the developer is still selling houses on the site and you really want to push them to fix something..

Big sign on your property that says don't buy a house here.(or similar)

Strange how quickly the site manager and foreman will be round to fix any faults you have.

This is one of the reasons why new properties typically come with a covenant prohibiting the display of signs/adverts etc.

Gaining publicity in that way is also a double-edged sword - ultimately you own the property and advertising that the developer has essentially done a bad job won't help maintain its value, and may make it difficult to sell when the time comes.  If something like this goes 'viral' then there's no going back.  The family who purchased a house next to a busy dual carriageway not realising how noisy it was are still appearing in the national media, and a google search for the road name has their ongoing battle right at the top of the results.

There's also a good chance you'll upset your new neighbours if you highlight how bad the houses on the development are.

So from someone who has done this.

It works and they react quickly unless at the end of the selling.

In your case perhaps, but that doesn't make it a good idea and will work in every case.

How the developer will react in any particular situation will depend on many factors including how much 'rectification' work will cost, as well as general attitudes of the people involved.

As someone who has worked in and around the industy I know several cases where someone putting up a sign about the quality of the development got a swift letter from the developer's solicitors, and the person in question lost any goodwill from the developer.

In the OP's case there doesn't appear to be anything objectively wrong with the way the garden has been done, unless they were promised a level garden.  However, in their own words "Theres nothing that says garden would be level".  Therefore advice to kick up a public fuss is not necessarily good advice, as the OP doesn't appear to have a leg to stand on if this went 'legal'.

I respectfully disagree, this country is too laid back and making a fuss does get things sorted.

If the OP feels this strongly it is one action they could consider when others are exhausted and it can work. So no harm sharing this with the OP.

As with all things on the internet there will always be polar opposite views and someone has the complete opposite outcome to one suggested👍

I wasn't suggesting a laid back approach, nor did I say the OP shouldn't make a fuss.  My point was about making a fuss publicly, because once you've done that there is potentially no way back.  Bullying the developer into doing what you want doesn't always work, and can come back and bite you hard.

Sticking up a sign and similar bravado approaches should be avoided where there are other ways of tackling the issue, at least in the first instance.

Now you've clarified you would do this only when other options have been exhausted it isn't so bad.  The other options - for example negotiating with the developer privately - should be the first course of action.  Something which could put you on the wrong end of legal action against you should be the absolute last resort.

Section62

jam6008 said:

I don't want to kick up the fuss already without seeing how developer responds to all other issues. If everything else does get fixed and sorted and it's just the garden level that's the issue then it's something maybe I'll have to live with or get sorted myself. Kind of my own fault for not having anything in writing that said about level garden. I'll still keep trying to get them to do something about it though. 

I was told that he's happy for me to meet the site manager before we move in and go through these few issues and point it out to him on site. Doesn't mean they will fully level the garden but they might do something about it? 

This is the right approach - talk to the developer about getting the things done that you have the legal right to get done, discuss with them nicely whether they will do something about the garden on a goodwill basis.

MultiFuelBurner

Section62 said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

Section62 said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

Section62 said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

If the developer is still selling houses on the site and you really want to push them to fix something..

Big sign on your property that says don't buy a house here.(or similar)

Strange how quickly the site manager and foreman will be round to fix any faults you have.

This is one of the reasons why new properties typically come with a covenant prohibiting the display of signs/adverts etc.

Gaining publicity in that way is also a double-edged sword - ultimately you own the property and advertising that the developer has essentially done a bad job won't help maintain its value, and may make it difficult to sell when the time comes.  If something like this goes 'viral' then there's no going back.  The family who purchased a house next to a busy dual carriageway not realising how noisy it was are still appearing in the national media, and a google search for the road name has their ongoing battle right at the top of the results.

There's also a good chance you'll upset your new neighbours if you highlight how bad the houses on the development are.

So from someone who has done this.

It works and they react quickly unless at the end of the selling.

In your case perhaps, but that doesn't make it a good idea and will work in every case.

How the developer will react in any particular situation will depend on many factors including how much 'rectification' work will cost, as well as general attitudes of the people involved.

As someone who has worked in and around the industy I know several cases where someone putting up a sign about the quality of the development got a swift letter from the developer's solicitors, and the person in question lost any goodwill from the developer.

In the OP's case there doesn't appear to be anything objectively wrong with the way the garden has been done, unless they were promised a level garden.  However, in their own words "Theres nothing that says garden would be level".  Therefore advice to kick up a public fuss is not necessarily good advice, as the OP doesn't appear to have a leg to stand on if this went 'legal'.

I respectfully disagree, this country is too laid back and making a fuss does get things sorted.

If the OP feels this strongly it is one action they could consider when others are exhausted and it can work. So no harm sharing this with the OP.

As with all things on the internet there will always be polar opposite views and someone has the complete opposite outcome to one suggested👍

I wasn't suggesting a laid back approach, nor did I say the OP shouldn't make a fuss.  My point was about making a fuss publicly, because once you've done that there is potentially no way back.  Bullying the developer into doing what you want doesn't always work, and can come back and bite you hard.

Sticking up a sign and similar bravado approaches should be avoided where there are other ways of tackling the issue, at least in the first instance.

Now you've clarified you would do this only when other options have been exhausted it isn't so bad.  The other options - for example negotiating with the developer privately - should be the first course of action.  Something which could put you on the wrong end of legal action against you should be the absolute last resort.

It wasn't so bad in the first place, no clarification required if we clarified every thing on here each post would be extremely long with all the caveats required.

Just something for the OP to consider

I do feel you need the last word but you do you and I'll do me👍 have a great weekend

MultiFuelBurner

jam6008 said:

Thanks guys, 

I understand where both of you are coming back. 
I'm going to get snagging done as soon as I get the keys and then see how things go. I don't want to kick up the fuss already without seeing how developer responds to all other issues. If everything else does get fixed and sorted and it's just the garden level that's the issue then it's something maybe I'll have to live with or get sorted myself. Kind of my own fault for not having anything in writing that said about level garden. I'll still keep trying to get them to do something about it though. 

I was told that he's happy for me to meet the site manager before we move in and go through these few issues and point it out to him on site. Doesn't mean they will fully level the garden but they might do something about it? 

Lots of tools in your tool kit now but most of all enjoy your new house👍