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Original poster

are barratts ok?

11 replies

MrsVidic · 06/09/2010 18:39

We have seen a cracking house and will save a fortune with their cheap moving deals- is it too good to be true?

OP posts:
HerHonesty · 06/09/2010 19:34

yes.

TheUnmentioned · 06/09/2010 19:40

It depends. There will be a lot of snagging. If you arent on a 'live' site for a while after you move in it'll be a nightmare.

Ime their plumbing and bathroom equipment is rubbish and you have to pay extra for EVERYTHING (eg getting them to cut your worktop is something like £80 iirc)

historygirls · 06/09/2010 19:42

I lived in a barret house and it was fine. It was small but not smaller than an older house of similar price.

New builds often have parking ishoos these days and developer will build 100 houses in an area with bad public transport where most houses will have 2 cars but only 1.5 parking spaces. They are also done up to look bigger with teeny armchairs. I don't think they are worse than other newbuilds.

durga · 06/09/2010 19:43

The houses themselves tend to be very overpriced because they take advantage of the fact that people who struggle to come up with big deposits take advantage of their schemes.

mamatomany · 06/09/2010 21:10

I would say no, DH owned a Barratts before he met me and it was full of problems, 15 years ago and it's got worse in terms of quality and size of rooms. Plaster board walls, once they moved in they wouldn't fix problems. DH literally had to sit in their show office and refuse to move before they would finish the house.
Then we rented a barratts house, there was condensation between the double glazing in a 2 year old house which they were meant to be fixing, didn't happen in the 12 months we were there. The walls shock when the children ran through the house.

But my biggest complaint was how close together the houses were, you could hear next door fart and this was a detached.
I also seriously doubt you'll save money, there is usually a 30% premium on new builds, have you run the figures past an independent financial advisor ?

spiralqueen · 07/09/2010 13:51

Avoid like the plague. Really poor build quality, if you want to sell before the estate is finished you won't be allowed to put up EA boards in case prospective new buyers spot how many houses are up for resale, part exchange can be a nightmare - relative found new people in his old house ripping out kitchen before all the paperwork had been completed. Plus financially it is normally a really poor deal.

Don't go there.

Original poster
MrsVidic · 07/09/2010 18:29

Thanks for the replies- I'm really stuck as we definatley need a place that is a 'new build' or referb as my dp can't stand it when work is being done to the house and I'm a bit ocd about plastering and HATE artex!

Can anyone reccommend a good developer- also where we are there are no 'new builds' we are having to move 20 miles to the barratt if we go with that one.

Is it better to get second hand new build a few years old?

OP posts:
mamatomany · 07/09/2010 22:25

No I don't think it is better to get a 2nd hand one if anything it's worse because you pay a premium for all the lovely shiny fittings, you'll be paying for the same and they won't be shiny and new and I'm not sure the 10 year building guarantee can be sold with the house.
In your position I would either buy a house that has been developed but is an old house, bought cheap and done up, you'll pay a premium for that but at least it should be solid or buy somewhere that needs gutting and rent for 6 months whilst you get professionals in to do everything that needs doing.
Neither will be cheap but the quality will be 100 times better than Barratts

YouMightKnowMe · 07/09/2010 22:35

I would say that Barratts has a better reputation than some.

I would say Barrats are probably middle of the road/slightly better than average (but that is only from hearsay.

David Wilson are supposed to be good.

Persimmon got slated on Watchdog (or something similar) a few years ago

Original poster
MrsVidic · 08/09/2010 07:54

we have decided against the barratt move- on account of location- realised the schools here are a lot better than in the other area etc

Thanks for the imput

OP posts:
Adair · 08/09/2010 07:58

Do not use their solicitors. The people we were buying from were buying a Barratt's home and got conned into using their solictors - they were awful. Also Barratts were very nasty and threatening to the buyers, making the whole process pretty stressful...

Sure the actual houses are fine though!

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