Duchy homes?

[Cazleanne]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has bought or lived in a house built by Duchy Homes?
I'd love to hear an honest review and if the house has lived up to your expectations?
Did you get any discount or deals and how was the customer service received?
Tia

[HKSooey]

Hi, I was just wondering if you bought a duchy home, we have been looking at them too. They seem to be able to give discounts up to £30k as we asked for stamp duty paid etc

[princesconsuelabananahammock]

@HKSooey
We are still going through the process as our house hasn't sold yet.
We are actually having their EA up next week to look at px with them instead. We didn't think we could because of price difference but they use a different company so can top up a px price as well as offering their own discount.
All good so far and I've loved every house I've seen of theirs. The spec is great and i think their customer service has been brilliant so far.

[Shiney111]

We have a very long story to tell about this company. We only just found this post so apologies to those concerned for the lateness of this response. If you or others are still interested in finding out more about our experience please let us know and we will provide a lengthy and detailed response. Thank you!

[Mummysar123]

Hi @Shiney111I would like to hear your story please...

[Mummysar123]

@Shiney111

[princesconsuelabananahammock]

We bought with Duchy in the end and moved in middle of December. I only have good to say about them as from the day we moved in they have been nothing but exceptional.
The site is very small but our house has had absolutely no major snags at all and all the snags were dealt with immediately and with as little hassle to ourselves.
I'd recommend them 100 times over after having 2 new builds before this one (both different companies), and having nothing but shoddy work and excuses from both of them.

[Mummysar123]

Thanks @princesconsuelabananahammock that’s good to hear. Thank you for sharing 😁👍

[Shiney111]

Reply to Mummysar et al,

In view of the previous review here is a very short précis of our story. By no means the complete picture though just the main items.

This is our fourth new build so we knew what to expect or thought we did. Having read horror stories in the media about new builds today (our last 30 years ago). We expected some snags but not necessarily the 184 found at completion by ourselves and the professional snagging company we employed. In fairness some were minor and rectified over time. This number now stands around 250. At first they were attentive up until the all important NHBC survey then things changed...

For 17 months we had problems with the foul drains. Four blockages and three floods of raw sewage INSIDE the house we eventually had a system we could use. The first blockage took place the weekend after we legally completed on Friday afternoon. We have images of this but they are too nasty to post. Duchy Homes their sub contractors and the NHBC didn't want to know blaming wet wipes as the problem although this was never proven to us visually or forensically. We have never used these and are well aware of the problems they cause. We witnessed multiple sub contractors using them in our home during visits. Since 5 August last year Duchy Homes have refused to 'tolerate' (their solicitors word) contact from us. It was suggested that any further contact should be conducted through our solicitor. Clearly unacceptable on a cost basis alone. The week prior to receiving their solicitors letter they refused to answer emails and telephone calls. Only when we called from an unrecognised number was it immediately picked up and very sheepishly answered by customer service. The call was abruptly terminated by them. The last foul blockage left us with nowhere to go other than our home Insurer. A track and trace was carried out after drain clearance and the drains were found to be defective. A seal was displaced in the pipework and when excavated an incorrect joint was replaced. Our Insurer declined cover as the drains had been defectively installed so we went back to the NHBC who directed Duchy to respond and repair. Our experience with NHBC has not been good to date and we recommend looking at Trustpilot to get some idea of what others opinions are.

We noticed our plastic shower trays were scratched. Replacement was refused at MD level with cosmetic repair only. We were told that removal would entail cutting into our ceilings to facilitate repair. False.
Around eight visits later including two sleepless nights due to excessive fumes and it was conceded replacement was the way ahead for one of the trays.

We remain in dispute with Duchy Homes to this day. Being told they will not make the same mistakes at their next development is of no consequence or comfort whatsoever to us. We too live on a small development and all we will say is although we believe we are worst affected other owners are also having issues. We hope this account has been useful? It's by no means all of it as we could write a book on the last 18 months. Based on our experience we have no idea how Duchy Homes Ltd. can be described as a 'five star builder' or indeed 'Builders of luxury developments'. Our experience has proved otherwise. Having paid full price plus nearly £31K in non standard extras it's very tough to take not least when one of us is chronically ill and which has been totally disregarded by this company and its actions. Duchy Homes Ltd you failed us big time.

[user1468703826]

Had anyone used move assist with Duchy Homes, or so, how close to market valuation did they advise, and how quickly did you manage to sell? What was good, bad, about the process?

[Danielle9871]

@Shiney111 sorry to hear about your experience. Reading this thread as considering purchasing one ourselves. Keen to understand, if you wouldn't mind sharing, the types of extras they had available? With a £31k extras list that must have been extensive? Also keen to hear if you ever managed to negotiate discounts from either the listing or the extras?

[Shiney111]

Hi
Our problems continue with this company and they don’t want to know. A 21 home development which has been flawed from the start. Many neighbours have problems. We have ongoing issues following a thermal image survey. 25 months into occupation Duchy homes take forever to do anything even when directed to do so by NHBC ( also a waste of space). The extras we chose were extensive. We upgraded appliances from Bosch to Neff, tiles throughout were upgrades and carpeting. We also had them install extra paving etc. It soon mounts up. What we wanted was to have all work done so we could comfortably move in without further works. My wife suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and is very disabled. We made a big mistake dealing with this company. They are without doubt the worst people we have had the misfortune of dealing with. We still have ongoing issues with foul drains which we are now investigating extensively and independently. Fellow neighbours have issues too. We wish we had never heard of Duchy Homes let alone given them our life savings. As for incentives none given or offered.

[Cheshire1901]

Nice houses but hope you are not in a rush.

Delayed and then delayed and then delayed again. Poor site management. Poor communication from sales consultant. Constantly told stuff had been done and then could see clearly that it had not.

Started the process about a year ago and had to sell our house within 6 weeks. So ended up with loads of extra storage and rental costs.

Extras are pretty expensive but quality generally good.

[Cheshire1901]

We used move assist. They tried to make us go for a lower valuation than what was recommended by the estate agents.

Sold pretty quickly but not down to Duchy nor the estate agents - rather popular house in a popular area for first time buyers

[Gemini1967]

I am currently purchasing a home with Duchey and like you reserved 10months ago we have constant delays. They push you into exchanging contracts then building takes forever we don’t even have a roof yet and just like you we have lots of additional expense from having to rent and find alternative accommodation because our home was sold whilst Duchey won’t even commit to a finish date yet.
The houses are good quality but if you do reserve be prepared to wait at least a year. Very disappointing!!!