New builds/Persimmon Homes

[oldladyintheshoe]

We are considering buying a new build property for the first time.

Anyone who has bought a new build before able to share their experience - positive or negative and any tips or advice? Also interested to hear any previous experiences with Persimmon Homes

Personally I would avoid new builds from mass builders like Persimmon. If however, you are set on a particular site/plot I would hire a professional snagger to go through all of the faults you'll have - the builds won't like you for this, but a pro will be able to find a bunch of things straight away that you would likely miss.

i lived in a Persimmon townhouse for a while. the sound insulation between houses was non-existent - little more than a stud wall partition. i wanted to move out a week after we moved in as there was so much ‘everyday living’ noise from the neighbours.

we also got locked into a very dubious Property Management contract that consistently referred to us as leaseholders even though we we had freehold. the allocated parking space and a ten-foot path meant we were responsible for paying towards the upkeep of all ‘communal’ areas including cleaning costs for lobbies in flats etc. we refused to pay and it was a nightmare.

the build quality was generally good in terms of snagging. the downsides i’ve detailed sadly outweighed this. i personally would never live in a townhouse or on an estate again. that’s just my preference tho, your mileage may vary.

We've just moved out of a David Wilson home. Renting and first people in it. There were several snags, I don't think the quality of build was particularly good. Really hard to get snags fixed. And there was a charge for the communal areas which was actually quite a lot considering they did nothing. For eg, charge to maintain borders in the communal car park... There were no plants.
I don't find the living space that practical. We are now in a Vic terrace and the sq footage is the same but there is a lot more practical space here. Actually somewhere to put your shoes and coats.
Personally, having rented one, I would try not to buy one but I admit brand new home is nice.

My relative bought a Persimmon home, never again. They cheated on the quality of things all over. The snagging list was long & it took forever for Persimmon to sort stuff out. The interior walls were like cardboard, a real pain-in-the-ass for hanging curtain rails & pictures. They put up the shitiest garden fencing when featherboarding had been specified. & they also had a 10yr clause saying you couldn't make any alterations without their permission (ie conservatory), nor could you change the design or planting of the front garden.

Run away very quickly...never touch a persimmon

I would avoid Persimmon completely. There was a documentary highlighting the horrendous pitfalls of owning a Persimmon home. It wasn't good. They also refuse to let you have the house surveyed so you can identify the huge number of problems with the property before you buy. Buyers are then stuck with a devalued house that is not fit for purpose.
Do not buy!

Avoid Persimmon at all costs. I used to work for them and ended up quitting after a few months because it was horrifying how their business model was to lie about quality, reports and costings.

I wouldn't ever buy a Persimmon, I have only ever heard bad things.
Taylor Wimpy and Bovis are ok.
Some new build sites have facebook pages so you can ask other owners on the development you want to buy from how their experience has been.
That's what I did before I bought mine.
Expect snagging, all of mine got sorted.
I would buy a newbuild again.

Was coming on to say Persimmon do have a pretty poor reputation, but I see others have said the same.

It's like living in a damp cardboard box, sold to you by aggressive cheating builders, and you're £150k out of pocket.

We had a new house as our first house, not Persimmon (Jones Homes) - it was about 5 years old when we bought it. Build quality was very good and we never heard a peep from the family next door. I think different builders and different layouts make a huge difference - it's not fair to say "avoid all new builds".

I'm in a new build from a small developer and they've been really good. House is spacious, well designed and lots of "extras" as standard (fully tiled bathrooms, turfed lawns, even things like loft lighting and a door between the garage and the house I've seen on some upgrades lists for £££!) Not all new builds are created equal - and persimmon is one of the ones who is avoid based solely on their reputation

I thought Persimmon were all over the news a couple of years ago because he was the highest paid CEO in the UK, despite the number of complaints from residents who called the homes sub-standard. I'd avoid.

Avoid persimmon like the plague.

Leasehold cons, shoddy building work and zero aftersales support

I wouldn’t buy a persimmon house. That said, where I live, they are the only ‘affordable’ homes. At £200k for a small 3 bed, in not an especially desirable part of the central belt in Scotland. Cheaply kitted out.

I would not buy it personally. I've lived in 2 recently built homes and one brand new, now I live in an 80s home thank goodness.

I hate new builds. Tiny gardens, never adequate parking, never enough storage space vs ridiculous number of bathrooms, gardens made of rubble with plastic-backed grass that dies back and looks awful, internal walls that let all the sound through and you can never put up shelves or heavy mirrors as they are made of stuff like cardboard.

Buying new is a huge hassle. Managing snagging is like a full time job - our snagging list initially had over 200 entries some of them were quite major problems, and they will put you off and argue hoping you give up. Just stupid stuff - cracked bathroom floor tile they haggled over not to replace - "well, it's not such a noticeable crack" (it really was a huge black crack through a white tile, right in the middle of the floor). Just so exhausting. Our direct neighbour had somehow persuaded them to change to a non-standard window vs original plan, to let more light onto the stairs. They then entirely forgot to put the window in, then argued for MONTHS that it wasnt worth fixing even though he had paid for it and it was contractual.

Idiotic things happen. Friend bought a new build recently, he asked not to have carpet tiles in the downstairs loo (boak) they said, impossible, if he wants tiles they will.have to lay the carpet tiles, then pay someone to come and remove them and tile it. Doubled the cost and a complete waste. They also took 4 foot off the front garden without mentioning and tried to pass it off as a mistake on the plan.

Best tips I have are, don't buy new build unless you have a very strong character and enjoy arguing, or you will be hugely ripped off.

If you go on Facebook and type in Persimmon Homes you will see several groups full of angry customers. A friend was a member of one and Persimmon managed to take it over so new ones have been set up. Some of the stories and photographs are just appalling but the worst thing is the lack of response.

My friend bought her new build 2 1/2 years ago. The quality is awful and her snagging list was completed last week. One example was the day she moved in, the carpet and floor covering fitters arrived. Took one look at the concrete floors and refused to lay anything as they were not in a fit state. They had used a fast drying agent in the concrete but it had dried that quickly if was full of cracks and a dusty surface

I'm have lived in a number of new builds and usually here to defend them, however, I haven't lived in a persimmon and the one company I always hear of terrible things is persimmon. Remember though it's more important how good the site manager is than the developer as a whole, so rather than just research Persimmon you need to find out as much as you can about the specific site and how they respond to snags etc.

@SillyOldMummy you can't generalise every new build any more than you can an old house. My experience with new builds is in stark contrast to yours.

We live in a new build (my husband prefers to go for new builds...) and we are now in our 2nd

Persimmon was our first. Never again. Total cowboy builders.

@Africa2go Jones have a very good rep in the trade. As do Miller homes.

Persimmon scrape the lowest standard. Avoid like the plague.

I always hear bad things about Persimmon. We live in a new build by a small developer, no major issues small snags fixed straight away. Good sized rooms (I compared sizes to a local Taylor wimpey estate with the same house type we have and ours is bigger for less money). I love it, I've lived in an old house and I much prefer the new one. I'd have a look around where you want to live and see if any small developers are building.

Linden homes, built by apprentices and tons of snags and leaks. But the location was great and we could only afford to buy using the help to buy loan.

Surprised at this thread. Persimmon have a terrible reputation as the worst of the house builders, and are constantly in the media for their shoddy builds causing owners a lot of heartache

We've just sold a persimmon property. We did have lots of snags initially but we did get off lightly as we were on the first phase and they were keen to sell. That said we still came into our new home with peeling paint and a back garden littered with Costa cups and broken bottles.

As the development grew the quality was worse and our neighbours had nightmares with work.

The biggest issue is that they're in bed with property management agents like Greenbelt (in fact I think they're probably the same company). Our annual management fee was astronomical and they did absolutely nothing. It increases every year despite the fact more and more people moved onto the development (so more people to divide the fee by)