Persimmon new build - avoid?

NervyBuyer

Lots of horror stories about Persimmon in the past, but I can't find much recent. I've also seen comments that those in the south are generally worse than those in the Midlands - this is in the Midlands. A friend bought a new build from them about 7 years ago (also Midlands but about 80 miles away) and had some annoying snagging issues to which they were painfully slow to respond, but nothing major (like the non-fitting windows, mould etc in the horror stories).

The one I'm looking at is in the latest phase of a development where the original houses were built 3 years ago, so that does give a potential opportunity to find out how others have fared, although I don't actually know anyone who lives there. It's finished and ready to move into. It appears to be the last of its type to be unoccupied and was reduced about 3 weeks ago.

Switched my search to new builds (a completely alien area to me) as I'd like something with no chain (I'm cash with no dependent sale), less maintenance and lower heating costs than the older properties I'm familiar with.

born_again

How about knocking on a few doors, or talking to people outside their house & asking. Any that have had issues will be more than happy to share their stories.

Mark_d

I've bought a new build flat previously and although there we no problems as such, I wouldn't buy a new build again.  From what I've seen, new build properties tend to be lower quality in terms of the materials used.  And the price falls significantly during the first few years of ownership.

GixerKate

If the original houses on the development are now 3 years old I would say that would give you a good idea whether the estate is ok or not, I would suggest knocking on a few doors and asking people.

Although not Persimmon my house was a new build 4 years ago and we are still very happy here, my experience of new builds means I would definitely buy another one, I know many who feel similar but that doesn't grab the headlines does it?

My experience is that the build quality can vary from house to house on an estate and again from estate to estate.  If the house you are interested in is already built then have a good look at it and look very closely at the small print.  Are the roads and drainage going to be adopted?  Whats the maintenance fee, how is the estate managed?  Is it via a management company or run by home owners?

RelievedSheff

You will only ever read the horror stories, no one who is happy with their new home will ever write about it.

Persimmon build thousands of new homes every year. They can not all be bad.

For what it is worth we bought a new build 5.5 years ago (David Wilson Homes) and we are still very happy with it. There were a few snags at the beginning to sort out but nothing of any detriment to the property, it was mostly finishing touches that were not up to scratch. We would definitely consider new build again if we were ever to move, although there are no plans to move from this house.

If you like the house check the paperwork carefully and find out what estate charges or management charges you will be liable for. We fell lucky and don't have any but that is unusual for a new build estate now.

Chemistry777

First house I ever bought was a new build persimmon.   Large list of snagging (which they did resolve), but generally I thought the build was poor.  Creaking floorboards, very noisy well in room below.  creaking stairs that did not feel very solid.  Finish of woodwood and window sills to walls and windows.

All this should be very "visible" to you upon inspection, and after some major criticism I think recently they have got far better.

NervyBuyer

Thanks all, I will definitely do some investigating. Pretty sure the roads and drainage have already been adopted, and this house is just off an existing (long established) residential road.

I'm very put off by the idea of estate management charges though, and it doesn't seem to be easy to find out about these early in the buying process (hopefully a neighbour might help).

LHW99

very noisy well in room below

??...................

Bigphil1474

The guy who did some building work on our old house , also did some brickying for Persimmon. We mentioned we were thinking of buying a new house, and he suggested that might be a mistake, particularly from Persimmon. Apparently Persimmon make their own bricks. There is a New Build Homes group on Facebook if you want to get into that - mix of horror stories and people who are happy, advice etc. After researching it, we ended up buying an older house. 

Pretty much every new house seems to have snags, the problem seems to be when the developers don't deal with them, or at worse when the snags are actually structural issues meaning the house needs rebuilding.  As someone said above, people who are happy don't tend to go online and talk about it, but there does seem to be a random quality issue with new houses depending how good the contractors happen to be, and how good the site manager is. As suggested above, maybe speak to the existing residents.

RelievedSheff

NervyBuyer said:

Thanks all, I will definitely do some investigating. Pretty sure the roads and drainage have already been adopted, and this house is just off an existing (long established) residential road.

I'm very put off by the idea of estate management charges though, and it doesn't seem to be easy to find out about these early in the buying process (hopefully a neighbour might help).

The sales assistants will be able to tell you about any estate management charges.

stuart45

Bigphil1474 said:

The guy who did some building work on our old house , also did some brickying for Persimmon. We mentioned we were thinking of buying a new house, and he suggested that might be a mistake, particularly from Persimmon. Apparently Persimmon make their own bricks.

The factory they opened makes concrete bricks, which look similar to clay bricks, but are a bit harder to lay, suffer from shrinkage cracking and are said to have a shorter life span than clay bricks.