Newhomeblogs.co.uk Comments

Charles Church: My Little House Horror by Worktops.co

Wed, 03 Jun 2015 08:04:07 +0000

I’ve only ever heard bad things about Persimmon group, seems to me like it’s a company to steer clear off at all costs!

Boris Makes Affordable London Homes Better Than Private Homes by Tom

Sun, 17 May 2015 00:02:05 +0000

“Although, this is a great initiative why does it not cover private homes and why only London?”

Boris Johnson is the Mayor of London, this might explain why his guide only covers London.

Charles Church: My Little House Horror by P OFF

Mon, 11 May 2015 17:08:13 +0000

Charles Church are making me want to seek asylum in Iraq at the moment.
Worst experience of my life as you are dealing with people who simple do not care a damn.

Redrow Homes Defect Woes by Bob

Tue, 05 May 2015 18:50:02 +0000

Is anyone else suffering with a lack of information about possible completion dates as a result of the new policy introduced by Redrow earlier this year? Basically they have instructed all staff not to talk about completion dates with buyers. A new team of ‘quality control’ staff have been introduced in an effort to reduce snagging to a minimum and it will be on the say so of this team when the house is released.i.e. giving you two weeks in which to complete! This is hardly fair on buyers especially those who have had to go into rented accomodation.

ITV Homes from Hell Needs You by james

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 09:25:27 +0000

Hi.

I have also recently purchased a house from keepmoat but wished I read this first. They are the most useless customer “care” people I know. I say care, if anyone can find the care they actually have you deserve a medal. They have no communication between departments so have no idea what jobs need doing or what’s been done. They expect you to take time off work sometimes on the same day they call. We have had problems and promises from them ovwe our first month and it doesn’t look like it’s stopping anytime soon. I will happily show anyone the shambles they are if needed.

ITV Homes from Hell Needs You by Dee

Sun, 08 Mar 2015 19:26:35 +0000

We had keepmoat here in our place as the councils employ them on contract to do various places within different areas., they are terrible, very crude no respect for a persons home and treat it like a playground. left the surrounded off our light in bathroom and has holes in ceiling. the kitchen has a wire hanging out. took over two hours to clean up their mess, trod paint into our carpet, didnt put no sheets down. the councils dont care who they employ to do the works. its the tenants that are left with the misery of their mistakes.

Redrow Homes Defect Woes by Jayne coulson

Sun, 15 Feb 2015 21:30:23 +0000

It seems that Redrow continue not to learn the lessons from all of the people who have written the above blogs. We moved into a property in September 2014, after over 80 visits redrow still haven’t fixed the issues. We have lodged complains with the ASA, trading standards and NHBC so far because they have mis-sold their properties on their literature. We have received emails from their managing director and chief executive which prove they have no respect for their customers and no desire to resolve the issues. We have again been let down tonight as having taken yet another day off work they have confirmed they and their supplier will not be coming. Redrow don’t care, they take your money and run. BUYER STILL BEWARE

Redrow Homes Defect Woes by Lyn

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 23:47:15 +0000

I have been considering buying a Redrow house – they look lovely in the brochure but all their reps say something different – from the price of the houses to the reservation procedure (3 months down the line I’m told my house has to be sold STC before they accept a reservation. Initially I was just advised to get a valuation. Also, from their list of upgrades, it would appear that no floor covering comes as standard! When I emailed them to clarify this – no reply (3rd email sent today.) I am seriously having a rethink as I could buy a perfectly good ‘pre-owned’ house of similar type for approx £30,000 less than Redrow’s £215,000+ for 2 bed mid terrace SW UK. I would be grateful for advice/comments.

Redrow Homes Defect Woes by Beata

Thu, 08 Jan 2015 23:15:08 +0000

We are considering a new home from Redrow new development in and these comments really got us worried. We were waiting for over 3 years for the development to start… I hope you guys just had a bad luck and hope most homes are to a good standard? I will do more research though.

Charles Church: My Little House Horror by Brian

Thu, 04 Dec 2014 21:24:39 +0000

I`m just about to exchange on a Charles Church house when yesterday stamp duty was cut. They had agreed to pay my stamp duty as part of my deal so I only had a small reduction in the asking price of the property . I phoned this morning to ask if I could re negotiate as I will be approx £5000 worse off in the deal. I was told that there was no negotiating for any one as everyone was asking the same question after yesterdays announcement!! This means that every property Charles Church has agreed to pay stamp duty on, and in so doing not giving much of a reduction in the asking price will be pocketing the saving of stamp duty! The reduction was suppose to help the buyer,in this case the developer is making a killing and not willing to pass anything on to the buyers.

NHBC Report by Jane Taylor

Thu, 25 Sep 2014 15:48:17 +0000

I was looking for advice as to whether I should accept NHBC Cash Settlement for damage to our roof and was very interested to hear from Andrew Whitworth about his Skoda Octavia. We have a similar aged car and have no intention of replacing our beloved Octavia, however, it has not passed the MOT and I am warned by the garage that it may be the injectors. With the situation of having to repair our roof £34k with an offer of only £7k from the NHBC we don’t need a huge bill for our car. Andrew do you have any more information that would help us to pursue costs if it is the injectors that have failed, as in your experience? Would appreciate any comments.

Councillor Response by anthony

Wed, 21 May 2014 22:49:52 +0000

Although i have not bought from Redroow homes i am having similar problems with fairview new homes, their building quality i have found to be negligible and they are obnoxious when it come to investigating any thing , any help ,greatly appreciated , am thinking of trying don’t get done get Dom and see if bbc interested , regards anthony 07718 488198

NHBC Report by Niamh

Fri, 14 Mar 2014 00:36:23 +0000

NHBC are beyond a joke.

I am a resident in a block of flats and also director of the block as we sought and won the Right to Manage. A few years ago the Fire Officer inspected our block and identified that it was unsafe as we were ‘missing’ an AOV (automatic opening ventilation) on one side of the building and issued us with an Enforcement Notice. Our original/useless managing agents didn’t have a clue what they were doing and so many months passed by with no progress. After the RTM was achieved and our new MA took over we started to make progress or so we thought. We ended up in court in January this year and lost, the magistrates court deemed that the AOV should have been there from point of build. We have since written to NHBC and they have refused to carry out the works despite the fact they signed off the plans back in 2006 and signed off the building upon completion. As we are deemed the ‘responsible person’ (I’m still trying to remember when I took part in planning and building this development) we are now faced with an approx £120k+ bill to get these works done by October 2014 otherwise the Fire Officer will issue a Prohibtion Order and shut us down. We have basically been living in an unsafe building and should a fire occur one side of the building is slightly screwed. Anyone any advice/help or similar story. We are aiming to take them to court and hopefully we shall be successful!!

Compensation denied and a nasty letter by Gail May

Fri, 21 Feb 2014 15:38:17 +0000

We brought our Redrow home at the end of september 2013 and everything was fine then two days before christmas eve we had a leak downstairs. (We have a 3 storey house 4 bedroom Hawthorne and bed 4 is on the ground floor but we just used as a playroom for our 3 small children) We had to clear out everthing that we had in there and the leak was all in our downstairs toilet as well. There was no buildres around as it was christmas shut down and had to wait until beginning of january 2014 till everyone was back. We have had little done one day each week still trying to find the cause and date today is 21/02/2014 still have leak they chopped out our ceiling. In middle floor our patio doors been taken out ad replaced so that is all exposed to draughts and is freezing there our downstairs we turned off heating as no ceilings we didnt want to waste what heating we was warming that room. We are so disappointed as our brand new home has leaks, mould and is very cold and no one is in a rush to sort it. I do not know who to speak to as Redrow will do all the repares i know but feel that some compensation should be paid for the inconveience cause especially just before christmas we had to put family off from coming to see their grandchildren and us over this period as no where to put them up. Help

Gas leak repaired! by Valerie Ann Turner

Wed, 18 Dec 2013 07:55:37 +0000

Hi Just seen this comment, and my experience with builders & the N.H.B.C has left me unable to trust anybody and disgusted at how these companies can get away with treating people so disgracefully. Their warranty’s mean absolutely nothing, The N.H.B.C are not independent and that should be made CLEAR TO ALL CLIENTS. my gas and electrical appliances were wrongly installed and against regulations and yet were all passed, not to mention all the other defects & boundary problems, I can’t see the Government stepping in to help as there the very ones who are wanting affordable homes to be built, but they should at least make sure there safe to live in, they built with the cheapest materials & unqualified craftsmen.

Inspection completed – a bit of a disappointment by Sebastian

Fri, 28 Jun 2013 17:45:02 +0000

Bloor Homes – we went through exactly same thing with all those small (a a few bigger) bits. Would you believe they’ve installed a wrong kitchen and the cupboard where they’ve been told several times to leave a space for a washing machine?

The paint finish was to a very low standard – after a year, we are now changing all the flooring and once this is done, we will start painting all the walls and ceilings – as both are really poorly done.

This morning, when we detached the skirting board from one of our walls in the bedroom, we’ve found out that these cowboys (because I don’t know how else to call them) put a nail through the water pipe – the water instantly started splashing all over the place. I’ve turned the water down, called their customer support 4 times – but as you might guess – no reply. I had to call a local plumber to solve the problem. And all this after only about a year and a couple of months living in the property – I’m glad we’ve started with the floors so early as who knows what would have happened if the pipe was left like this for a few years.

I’ve submitted a complain and am awaiting to hear from them – if I won’t I’m planning to seek legal advice and sue them should it become necessary to fix the damage.

168 snags, 2 days to go! by paul mowat

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:27:26 +0000

We have approx 150 snags captured for our 10 month list, some are fundemental, the front and utility doors do not fit the frames and causing substantial heat lost. Bloor have visited us 4 times and they still have not resolved the issue but have casued damaged to our doors, floors, driveway etc. however during the visit Bloor’s Contract Manager and Carpenter found additonal defects, e.g. a hole in our kitchen wall, holds either side of our doors all letting cold air and increasing our energy consumption.

Also Bloor are not following their own policy when dealing with the 10 month snag list and the contract manager will be out to inspect each one. Also you contact Customer Service and they pass you onto their Contract Manager.

We had Bloor conduct a thermo-imaging survey due to the issues above and apparently the results are inconclusive therfore Bloor wont share the result which means (1) the windows are leaking heat, (2) the survey was not carried out correctly due to our heating not being switched on and the imaging pictures not captured at night.

We have commissioned an independent thermo-imaging company, word of advice make sure they are independent and not selling a solution as this will not stand up during Litigation.

I will now be keeping you all informed of all the issues we have had to deal with over this past year. Look out for the next posting.

New Home Guide: Top snagging tips by keith stopford

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:37:04 +0000

I have bought a Bloor home and find the after care okay, but the amount of work needed doing is alot there were lots of brickwork that was not good, inside the plumbing was poor with several leaks the fuse box is failing and the internal door latches are as cheap as you could possibly afford, there are many things to do to bring your new house up to standard and I would recommend haggling very hard as the build quality is just enough sometime not enough,my email is keithstopford@gmail.com if you want a personal chat then please email me and I will give my honest view.

Looks like I’m not the only person who’s had problems with Crest by mike

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:41:55 +0000

Not sure if you site is still active. I have had a three year battle with crest over poor electrics , rotten fencing and now a broken door. They don’t want to know about anything. I am thinking of going to the small clAims court as I have had enough. Any thoughts welcomed.

It’s Finished (Well Nearly…) by valerie Turner

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 13:37:00 +0000

Hi,
My snagging day was the day before moving in and it was done with the site Manager, my sister was with me and we pointed out a lot of things not done properly he had the water hose on in the rear garden so couldn’t get to see much,but I did notice that the water was not draining away from the patio doors so I ask him why this was, he replied “oh that’s ok me darling it will drain away, it didn’t and the reason being there was no drainage put in.” AND HE SAID HE DIDN’T LIKE CALLING IT SNAGGING LIST ( IT WAS DEMO DAY)
After a few days of being in my new house i received the snagging list form that it should have filled in, guess what he put NIL. I am very unhappy with my new home a 5 year old could have done a much better job.

Looks like I’m not the only person who’s had problems with Crest by Huw Jenkins

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:58:22 +0000

I have just created a blog specifically about issues with Crest Nicholson. I am using it to gather names of everyone that has been affected by their poor workmanship and cusotmer services.

Updates by Katherine

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:30:03 +0000

Am looking at a Redrow development in Ipswich and am a bit scared now! Can you advise what the hidden charges are and what questions I should ask before signing on the dotted line or should I jsut look elsewhere??!

New Home Guide: Top snagging tips by The First-Time Home Buyer Guide: 100 Must-Read Blog Posts | Construction Management Degree

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 06:11:48 +0000

[…] […]

New Home Guide: Top snagging tips by Tony

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 11:57:29 +0000

Mr Snagger, Craig does not work for New Build Inspections he is a writer... <a href="http://craigalanwilliamson.com/" rel="nofollow">http://craigalanwilliamson.com/</a>

Moving In by toby10

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:49:49 +0000

After reading some of the stories on this blog I think I will avoid buying a newbuild altogether. at least with older houses you expect things not to be perfect

More snag photos by John Savage

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:35:03 +0000

Hi Nik,
I hope this is all in the distant past now and you are happy in your home. It seems others have had similar experiences more recently (See Shoddy Home Saga at http://www.crestnicholson.org) and it took a lot of effort and publicity to get Crest Nicholson to take remedial action!

John

Sale Completed by Loretta Peters

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:12:24 +0000

I have read your blog and the others with great interest. It has really made me think long and hard as to whether I want a new build. The problem is I have fe other options.

House Progress by zally & steve

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:19:54 +0000

We are victims of DWH who I have found to have appauling aftercare or in fact any care of the legacy they leave behind when they leave a site. An added complication to our plight with this company is the fact that the house was 2 years old when we purchased it from the first owner. I am not surprised they moved out so soon. The house is like an ice box – later found to have much insulation missing – windows in back to front, door frames that have gaping wholes around them and extractor fans that blow cold air in when the wind blows. Sadly no one cares. The 10 year Zurich Policy covers zilch and Trading Standards say they cannot help as we were not the first purchasers. Beware to all those who buy a second-hand new build is what I say. You are NOT PROTECTED.

Power of the press by The Shalom Family

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:31:21 +0000

Hope everyone does not mind us dropping in on this one. What kind of a company are Crest Nicholson? Well, er, they have been known to act quite immoral at times. Don’t believe it?

Please follow our houseboat eviction saga just a little and you can make up your own mind. ‘Tis a shame really, because some of their ‘executive’, ‘luxury’ Family houses, look like they might be just adequate to make a nice home.

Thanks and best wishes,

Crest Nicholson-Shafted Shalom Family

Power of the press by Sue

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:57:19 +0000

Hello Alex,

I am also supposed to be purchasing a Crest flat in Bristol. I have been unable to sell my current property and have notified Crest that I will be unable to complete. (Completion is supposed to be on Thursday 3rd July – tomorrow!!) I’ve been writing to them for the past few months with concerns about selling my property. Last week they agreed to recind the contract.

However, I received a phone call on 30th June saying they won’t recind the contract after all. I’m not sure what’s going to happen now, as there’s no way I can complete tomorrow! They asked if I would accept a part exchange, but still haven’t told me what they would offer me for my house.

As the same flat is now being advertised for £50k less than it was advertised at when I agreed to purchase (and less than I still have outstanding to pay!), I don’t want to complete now either. I know I will loose my deposit, but that’s less than the £50k I’d loose by moving there.

I am now really worried about what’s going to happen. Is anyone else in the same position as me?

Thanks,

Sue

Home Demonstration by Alex

Wed, 28 May 2008 00:19:12 +0000

Hello Lewis

I am in the process of buying a house from Crest Nicholson in Somerset. Considering the fall in the housing market, one would expect the Crest to reduce the house prices. This does not seem to be the case. In your experience, what is the ideal way to go about doing this.

As a previous customer, would you recommend Crest as a good company to buy the house from?

Thanks

Alex

Power of the press by Alex

Wed, 28 May 2008 00:16:40 +0000

Hello Nik

As a previous customer, would you recommend Crest as a good company to buy the house from?

Thanks

Alex

That’s odd by Alex

Wed, 28 May 2008 00:13:03 +0000

Hello Nik

The Fairview “premium” experience by Unfairview

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:05:43 +0000

I agree with Tony that this should take pride of place next to Fairview Homes on Google.

I don’t know where to start with Fairview. I am still dealing with them on a number of matters on my house and have had 17 months of torment with them so far. I will provide you with a month by month account of my experiences.
it started with the ‘sell’. This was a high pressure event with the sales team continually harassing us for the sale, threatening to let the house go to other interested parties unless the deal was completed to tight deadlines. My advice to buyers is to negotiate very hard on price and do not succumb to this pressure, which was, as we found out later, completely fictitious. They told us things about the property which turned out later to be untrue. Watch this space for the next thrilling installment. Things get worse….much worse.

It always takes a bit longer doesn’t it….. by Carl Duncker

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:21:00 +0000

Hopefully, now that Home Information Packs, or HIPs, are required for new build properties you will be able to see the title plan at a much earlier stage – hopefully shortening the solicitors time.

House Progress by Morag Hoolachan

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:00:07 +0000

I see your blog dates back to 2006 and I am so happy that you have had good service from David Wilson Homes. However we have had APPALLING service from them since we (FINALLY) moved in on November 19 2007. Since then we have had the house virtually rebuilt from the inside out while living in it, recovering from major surgery and our daughter studying for her finals at university. Perhaps we are talking about a different David Wilson Homes???

Moving In by spursbabe

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:17:23 +0000

We also have a george wimpey home well is supposed to be our home but have had workmen in over 70 days already and still lots more snagging to go. It is disgusting they are allowed to get away with such shoddy work. They come back to fix bodged work and bodge it even more NHBC delay and delay not getting very far with them they asked for the builder to submit reports which have never been done or chased up.
has anyone our there sued wimpey or got any other suggestions to get them to sort the problems properly.
many thanks

New Build Inspection! by Chris Sparrow

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:31:08 +0000

I used <a href="http://www.newbuildinspections.com" rel="nofollow">New Build Inspections</a>. What a change it made to the builder's attitidue!

Home Demonstration by Chris Sparrow

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:50:16 +0000

I bought a Redrow home and had many problems getting my small faults ammended. This was mostly my fault because I seem to have a problem understanding builders jargon. I then called in the professional snaggers who on my behalf quickly heped resolve my issues in a very professional and swift way. THANKS GUYS!

The story so far… by Nik Clayton’s Crest Nicholson Home | New Homes

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:59:29 +0000

[…] a new Crest Nicholson Homes property. He started blogging in April 2005 and here is an extract from his first blog post: “So we’ve been looking around for the past couple of weeks and think we’ve found a style of […]

If at first you don’t succeed… by Keeping abreast of things | Crest Nicholson

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:01:52 +0000

[…] described in an earlier entry, kicking off the process of taking Crest Nicholson to court has got them to move a little […]

Exchanged!! by Anonymous

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 10:34:26 +0000

There needs to be legislation in UK[ England, Wales ] to improve the way properties are bought or sold ;no commitment till contracts are exchanged is not right; I found a nice house in Nov. 2003 only to here in Feb 2004 thet the vendor does not wish to proceed with sale;
then in March 2006 i found a house where again the vendor was supposed to move into a house being built; the vendor could not get enough replies from the builder so i was told & he then took off the house from market in Dec.2005 i was buying, three years yet no house in sight

Exchanged!! by mike

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 14:09:31 +0000

I am moving onto Kennet Heath aswell hopefully, Redrow are now being very aggressive to exchange in the 28 days which with our chain might be difficult. In your experience are they they genuine abotu or bluffing a bit.

It always takes a bit longer doesn’t it….. by Tim

Sat, 21 Jan 2006 23:08:57 +0000

If you would take the time to read our story and maybe sign our petition we’d be really grateful.

We spent today picketing a George Wimpey Homes Sales Office just outside Southampton. The residents there have had to start up their own Association to fight George Wimpey as they all have so many problems! The Site isn’t even half sold!

Moving In by Tim

Sat, 21 Jan 2006 23:06:19 +0000

If you would take the time to read our story and maybe sign our petition we’d be really grateful.

We were and are very symathetic to them and any one else who has similar problems with this greedy developer! This company doesn’t know the meaning of Customer Care!!!

A policy of not allowing snagging??! HUH??!! by Janet

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 12:04:14 +0000

Was most interested in reading Sharyn’s comments regarding Laing builders not allowing “snagging.” Would love to know final outcome (did the “snagging” take place and was the flat OK?)

A confusing letter or just me being slow? by Sharyn

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 09:25:40 +0000

Hi Gary, well Laing builds to building regulations criteria which has a minimum on noise ‘pollution’.

They put in the required level of insulation which protects against noise transfer and apparently if they do that, then the NHBC inspector won’t need to test the noise level. If they don’t, then the inspector is supposed to test it using some vibrating machine. He’ll go to the next apartment and the one above/ below to check out if he can hear the machine. If he can, then he won’t pass the building for NHBC guarantee. I mean, this is really hearsay from Laing themselves and assumes NHBC really are that conscientious about it.

I would ask the developer of your building about it, what they are doing as to noise pollution. Maybe you could tell me if they say the same thing.

We’ve been gazumped by Nik Clayton

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 08:56:28 +0000

Depending on how much hassle you want to raise you might want to get your solicitor to look over the contract that you and the Esprit representative signed.

Once they’ve made an offer (the part exchange) and you’ve accepted it (by paying them the 1,000) there should (if I remember correctly) be a contract in place. They might be trying to weasel out of it by returning the money and hoping that you don’t kick up too much of a fuss.

BLOG CABIN FEVER by Rachael

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 14:47:15 +0000

Hi Nik! Thanks for the encouragement! But see my latest post today – we have been gazumped. We are really disappointed as we have been looking for the right house in the right place since February, and this was the first one that actually ticked all our boxes. Yes your blog has been very interesing and inspiring, it’s really helpful to know that someone else is going through similar things isn’t it. Good luck with your own purchase – it looks like you are nearing the finishing line now – well done! Rachael

BLOG CABIN FEVER by nik

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 01:20:25 +0000

Hi Rachael, welcome to the throng. Good luck with the move.

It sounds like your situation is similar to mine, so I hope the info I’ve been putting down in my blog proves useful. This is probably your most powerful time as the buyer. They want your money, and should be prepared to do more to get it.

That’s odd by John

Fri, 20 May 2005 23:11:39 +0000

Well Nik,

usualy the valuations that are carried out by an Estate Agent on behalf of a developer are not normaly disclosed to the homeowner. The reason that the Agent measured up is that he was hoping to win the instruction from the developer assuming the property was bought in and doing the measurements now would save time in the long run.

I have many years experience as an Agent and also have worked for several National Housebuilders happily I can say Persimmon were not one of them