Snagging new built

Section62

MultiFuelBurner said:

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

Nothing to do with "the last word", I'm just interested in helping to make sure people using the forum get good advice, and not do things which could cause them harm where advice is not so good or unwise.

Clarification doesn't need to make posts "extremely long".  It can be as simple as just saying "If all else fails... [try this]".

MultiFuelBurner

Lol there you go again. The OP has even thanked both opinions😂

Willis75

jam6008 said:

I don't know if anyone's used this company before or not but their example report looks good? M

https://www.homesnag.co.uk/example-snag-report.html

I did. They were brilliant and very thorough. Found breaches of building regulations. They are RICS Regulated surveyors not just retired building site managerscetc. 

jam6008

Willis75 said:

jam6008 said:

I don't know if anyone's used this company before or not but their example report looks good? M

https://www.homesnag.co.uk/example-snag-report.html

I did. They were brilliant and very thorough. Found breaches of building regulations. They are RICS Regulated surveyors not just retired building site managerscetc. 

Great to know. I've already booked in the top survey they offer so let's see what happens. 

jam6008

Looks like house has had NHBC inspection done this week. I drove past it and noticed a guy walking between couple of houses surveying and the house was all covered in different colour tapes etc. 

jam6008

Met site team regarding issues with the house. They've fixed most of the issues I've raised about the house. The garden barrier board is in the drawings but they are going to make it look better by putting something infront of it. 
 
I've discussed the garden levels and was told that the levels are what was shown on the drawing and sales person should have discussed that with me. They are going to maybe raise level little bit in one corner to help with the slope but they can't level the whole garden for me which I wasn't really expecting them to do...... 

I'll see what the end product looks like but the experience has not been too bad so far? 

BobT36

Just make sure it isn't going to be a drainage problem. In one of the pics it looks V shaped.. 

jam6008

That's what I've been telling them that it would cause drainage issue and they have now agreed to raise the level in certain area to rectify this. Let's see how it looks once it's done... 

[Deleted User]

jam6008 said:

That's what I've been telling them that it would cause drainage issue and they have now agreed to raise the level in certain area to rectify this. Let's see how it looks once it's done... 

How would raising one part of the garden fix the drainage issue? Surely unless it's level then water is going to run somewhere and pool up.

If it runs into your neighbour's garden you might find they aren't best pleased about it.

Might be worth sticking a peg or something in at various places, just to check they haven't dumped rubbish under there.

jam6008

[Deleted User] said:

jam6008 said:

That's what I've been telling them that it would cause drainage issue and they have now agreed to raise the level in certain area to rectify this. Let's see how it looks once it's done... 

How would raising one part of the garden fix the drainage issue? Surely unless it's level then water is going to run somewhere and pool up.

If it runs into your neighbour's garden you might find they aren't best pleased about it.

Might be worth sticking a peg or something in at various places, just to check they haven't dumped rubbish under there.

Because its one part that's causing the issue. There is a slope down from back of the house and there's also another slope down from right hand side to left. But for some reason it has a V shape towards the rear left corner which is where I'm expecting all the water to pool up. If they get rid of this and sort out the levels so water doesn't pool then it should wash away hopefully...... 

They don't put any drainage in Gardens and most houses near mine have got Gardens with slope. A lot of them have got garden with slope down towards the house..... Surely in this case, slope away from the house is better?