Best new home builders

M

Merrykoala

Well-known member
Looking at a few options for a potential move next year and wondering what people's opinions/experiences are on different developers.

Looking at Taylor Wimpy, Persimmon and Miller homes.
 
I've never heard anything good about Persimmon. The bad reputation that new builds have mainly come from them I believe. They are much cheaper than other builders though and not well their houses are bad so you take your chances.
 
I used to work for a company that did customer satisfaction surveys on new home builds.
All homes have issues of some description, what is important is how the company fixes the problems. Some are much better than others, and some sites are much better than others.
Knock on the doors of some of the people who have moved in and ask their opinion.
 
Merrykoala said:
Looking at a few options for a potential move next year and wondering what people's opinions/experiences are on different developers.

Looking at Taylor Wimpy, Persimmon and Miller homes.
Click to expand...
Son & Partner have just bought a new build 3 bed semi from Miller Homes up at Hartview just off the A19 / A179. Says it was a decent experience, not many snags and anything needing attention got sorted next day not a bad word really, they even sorted out his sluggish solicitors - for obvious reasons. Although for the price it's flipping small, but I'm sitting in a 56 yo 4 bed (semi).
 
I bought a new Taylor wimpey home, only had minor snagging issues which took 6 months to get bottomed out. I know others who have had massive issues on other Taylor Wimpey sites.

A good Site manager can make a big difference.
 
All the big builders are prone to quality issues. Standardisation of design and repetition of process ought to make things consistent, but the constant focus on driving down build costs mean that corners are cut everywhere with the emphasis being on how much profit can be squeezed out of every site.
Some outsource snagging work resolution to independent repair teams, so as not to get distracted from productivity by resolving complaints and repairing snags.
Charles Church are reputed to be producing better quality builds and they charge more to reflect that.
None you mention are great. But the standard is generally low tbh.
 
Last edited:
I live in a Taylor Wimpey, my second, and have also lived in a Bryant (as was) and Barratt. While the Barratt was the best and came with a 5 year warranty, none have been amazing and none terrible.

I currently live on an estate with two medium sized house builders as well as Wimpey, but I believe who only have sites in the Midlands. Generally the feedback is higher quality materials but reflected in the higher price. You can see with Wimpey's that every possible cost saving has been taken.

One important thing to note is you should be able to get 5% in incentives if you are not p/x ing. Not usually a discount, but often deposit paid, free carpets or kitchen upgrades etc.
 
I have been in a Taylor Wimpey for 18 months now and it hasn’t been too bad as only minor issues really but they do take an age to get resolved. A lot of resolutions depend on whether your plot is finished while they are still erecting houses on site or not, ours was the last batch which meant the builders were gone about a month after we moved in which leads to delays in getting things done, if they’re still around it’s much easier.
 
The thing that puts me off new builds regardless of the standard of build is the property footprint. Now almost all new builds gardens and more importantly space between adjacent properties are tiny.
 
Mate of mine moved into a Miller new build and had loads of snagging issues. In fairness, they were quite responsive to them but took quite a while to sort out.
 
Avant Homes - top class in my experience.

You always will get snagging probs with new homes, it is the nature of the beast, it’s just how they respond to them that maters.
 
I am in a 4 yo Bellway. Few snags but were resolved fairly quickly. But we were one of the first in so builders still on site which helps.
 
Exactly as JRDP said. Its all about the site manager. That includes the initial build but more importantly getting any snags fixed once you move in as there will inevitably be something. I would say to try and form a god relationship with the Site Manager when you first move in.

Also, same builders have different specifications depending on the prices of the build. So one development could have much better build quality than another even though the same company completed the build.
 
Jonny_Rondos_Disco_pants said:
A good Site manager can make a big difference.
Click to expand...

Few and far between in my experience. They’re mostly older tradesmen, who have little training but lots of old school site experience.

Everything is so repetitive thats there isn’t a perceived need to pay for good site managers, when some old brickie with a loud voice and a fork lift licence will do.
 
The home builder satisfaction surveys do show high levels of satisfaction for nearly all developers, even the ones with a bad reputation like Persimmon. You will hear more bad about Persimmon than any other builder but they also build a lot more homes. Over 90% of Persimmon owners are happy with their house.

I will echo the good site manager theory. The major problem is you can't identify that they are good until afterwards but the site manager is responsible for pre-snagging to make sure everything is up to scratch before you move in and then resolving any snags afterwards. Houses with lots of snags when you move in is not a sign of a good site manager. If the development is new then there isn't much way of knowing but if it's part way through the development it might be worth asking some of the people that have already moved into the estate how many snags they found when they moved in and how were they dealt with. I've heard very good things from some people where everything will just be dealt with and really bad things from others where the default position was adversarial/denial of problems.

If I was going for a cheaper developer I would be more inclined to pay a professional snagging service. The Welsh bloke (riddikulus, absolutely shocking, apocalypse finish), for anyone that knows his videos shows what they do and you will recognise that certain developers appear in his videos more than others.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top