Buying a new house in the Bellway project

[Oceanblue95]

Hi All,

I'm considering purchasing a new three-bedroom home from Bellway priced at £480K. Given the UK current market conditions, I'm wondering if they would be open for accepting an offer that's 5% below the listed price. Has anyone here had recent experience buying a new build from Bellway? Additionally, how do Bellway's new homes compare to those from competitors like Taylor Wimpey and Redrow in terms of quality and value?

Your responses are highly appreciated!!Thanks..

I've not lived in a Bellway but I've been round a few showhomes and they seem nice enough. My cousin lives in one and is happy with it.

Whether they will negotiate will depend on how long the house has been available. If it was just released last week, they're unlikely to budge. They don't really care about market conditions, new builds are like their own little bubble.

You may have more luck trying to negotiate free carpets/appliances etc rather than money off.

Having had several new build homes and briefly rented a Bellway whilst waiting for ours to be completed, there are one or two builders I would choose. Bellway isn’t one of them.

You will need a snagging company if you buy new build. Build standards are shocking across the board as the sub contractors are priced down so aggressively, and it's all young lads without much experience. Decent builders are off doing kitchen extensions for well to do Mumsnetters. And NHBC certificates are sales tools rather than an insurance policy that you can actually rely on. NHBC run a team of lawyers in Milton Keynes to manage away any claims... true, if somewhat depressing.

The show homes are often the exception not the rule.

Google reviews for the new home builders you are considering OP. Good luck with your move. Professional snagging is definitely worth it with whatever home you choose.

This might help. Watch some of his snagging short videos as well.

We lived in a bellway new build for 5 years. The snagging was shocking and we had issues for years. Extremely happy to be out of it and will never do it again!

@ErickIss
Desperate to make a sale?

We live in a Bellway house. They aren’t a great build. We had a crack on the front that had to be fixed. A neighbour’s toilet was emptying under the house as it wasn’t connected to the sewage pipe. Another neighbour has a large damp patch under their main bedroom window.

The worst thing, however, is being tied into a maintenance contract with Meadfleet. The contract is connected to your deeds and you can’t get out of it. You couldn’t buy without this contract. Meadfleet can charge whatever fee they want to. We were told that Bellway like their estates to always look nice but all Meadfleet do, is cut the grass on the green space at the top. If any trees need attention we have to pay more. This fee is as well as council tax. It’s a con you can’t do anything about. Meadfleet and Bellway are connected in some way, they share some of the same directors.

Yep, and using a post written by ChatGPT to do so!

ETA: This was in response to @Contraryjane 's post.

Look at Redrow or Morris Homes

@Oceanblue95

I think Bellway are better than for example Persimmon that have a huge customer service bad name. However, a friend bought a Bellway and frankly the quality wasn't brilliant. The biggest issue was the concrete floors were all badly cracked due to them using too much fast drying compound in the mix. The company laying the flooring couldn't do it and said that either Bellway needed to sort them out or they had to pay for liners or something similar. On moving in day they also found big chips on the kitchen units, a couple of cracked windows etc. also be away if you have roof lights that they are not Velux but a generic equivalent (the sales team described them as Velux) and meant that it was harder to get blinds for them.

Sadly unless a custom build, all new houses are built with cutting costs in mind. Oh and watch out for communal charges especially if the council do not adopt the green areas etc

Discounts...there was another thread recently on this. They rarely give discounts as other buyers can see on the land registry site. However, they will currently often consider stamp duty contributions and other discounts on additionals

I’m sure I recall a massive issue a few years ago with the freeholds being sold on and the prices rising extortionately. I don’t have the full details but do your research .

Awful. Still trying to get them to sort out an issue with boundaries three years on. We employed a professional snagger initially as signs pre completion eg fences in wrong place. Glad we did because report flagged up many things that we may not have spotted. Things that were obvious to us were all carpets had to be replaced within a month as they had been cut too short, window panes had to be replaced as more than half of them had significant scratches down them, carpets were dangerous particularly on the stairs, mould in wardrobes, mould in kids bedrooms and lounge, no insulation in loft. Garden like a bog. They have fixed most issues eventually but we bought for an easy life as a family member was seriously ill, it's been more work and stress than renovation projects we have had! Three years on still trying to sort out garden issue. Would never buy from them again for the fact that can get away with what they like - being a 'large developer'. We've had more comms with them than most due to so many issues, would deem them as arrogant at best and sneaky at worst. Would love to sit down with the board and discuss our experience, of course there will always be a few snags but our experience is a lot more than that - of course to them we are just numbers...if we were land owners on the other hand... if you are going to buy, check and check again boundaries and council planning documents. Factor in independent surveyor for boundaries and professional snagger. Get all answers in writing. Don't be rushed, and know your rights. You won't get much clarification about the estate maintenance fees and companies, it is very cloak and dagger - you'll be told all new estates are run like this. They mostly are - however all of us are signing up for something that by the time you have signed will probably have changed hands already to a different estate company. Our neighbour went to sell and she had to pay a get out fee and the buyer had to also pay this fee, this is before it's even been taken over by the management company. Interestingly when it comes to finding out about house builders - it would be wonderful to have a Trip Advisor equivalent - you can find very little on the internet other than FB groups vocalising opinions on any of the big house builders. The FB groups are an interesting read. That's what big legal departments do for you. Profits from shoddy work and ringfenced by legal. For me the cladding scandals said it all, the ticking time bomb of estate maintenance companies will be the PPI scandal of the future... meanwhile bankrupted council planning departments let it all go on... but that's just our experience...

@TiffanyBucksFizzRainbowBright i think your experience is very common and your assessment extremely accurate. Also some Facebook groups were set up and were very Impactive. They seem to either get bought out or legal depts threaten them.

the owner of a Bellway house near me had the same sort of issues as you. His was sited on the entrance to the estate and he paid for banners to be draped around the front of his house with stuff like “Don’t buy a Bellway…” etc and listing the reasons why not. Apparently worked well in getting a response.