Barratts Homes.

[jazza 10]

We are looking into moving home, and we have seen a home on a new Barratt site. They currently have several new developments in and around South Yorkshire, so with that in mind can anybody let me know what their like as a company to deal with etc, Thanks

[Garthy 10]

I have a Barratts house, if you have any problems with it which you will good luck trying to get it sorted we had a leaking toilet took the a week to come and fix it

Customer service people based in Leeds are terrible never get back to you when they say you are forever chasing them

We had loads of issues with our house which you shouldn't expect to have with a new house

[steelerman 10]

my cousin just bought a barratt house,he now thinks it is the biggest mistake he ever made.

[Mac_Plas 10]

I will give you my opinion on new housing, my opinion not fact.

 

I have worked on new build properties for 10 years on and off, I don't believe they are built to the same standard of houses built up to the 90s maybe. I have worked on a lot of new and old properties.

 

A lot of Internal walls on newer housing is basically made of tin or timber stud walls if your lucky, and boarded with sound bloc or standard boards, sound insulation is used, but I believe solid brick walls offer more privacy sound wise and just feel more private.

 

I'm not sure what plumbing materials house builders tend to use now iv never looked, but I'd imagine it would be plastic as its cheaper and quicker to install, plumbers I have spoke to tell me this is not as reliable, this may not be the case, but i chatted with plumbers when I did work at home about speed fit plastic piping.

 

I think my mother lives in a barratt house in Scarborough, its timber frame, stud walling everywhere and worse of all its tape and joint as opposed to fully skimmed, so against the light you can see the outline of every board, it might not bother you but it annoys the life out of me, this might not be standard with every barrat site though, probably just what was spec on that particular site..

 

New housing, in my opinion, is thrown up for profit. Using cheap materials, quickest methods to save on labour cost and to maximise profits.

 

Snagging list on new housing sites go on forever, because most tradesmen are on price work, so they rush to earn a wage and an honest wage at that because prices/wages are low at the minute, if they took their time with certain jobs ie plastering they simply wouldn't make a living.

 

I have worked on a lot of domestic properties, and in my opinion, old council houses and houses built in the 50-60s tend to be more solid, they are wonky in places, and not level in others places, but they are solid built and still standing.

 

I think of it like this, properties now are built for the main reason of making a profit for some big house builder, were as before they were probably built with the first priority being producing more housing as the main reason along with making a profit.

 

Sorry to ramble on but I thought I'd pitch in, as said this is just my opinion and I might be wrong with a few bits but its the general feeling I get after working on new build housing sites for near 10 years.

Edited May 21, 2013 by Mac_Plas

[wibbles 10]

Dogmuck..avoid like the plague

Poor build, poor customer service, poor workmanship, poor everything.

[lunartravel 10]

Ive worked on new houses as an electrician and the general level of quality and service does stink

[jazza 10]

Ive tried reasearching new home builders on the internet and virtually everyone of them seems to be the same with their buyers either loving or hating their new home. Most reviews are negative regardless of building company but thats bound to be the case with unhappy customers.

[Mac_Plas 10]

Ive tried reasearching new home builders on the internet and virtually everyone of them seems to be the same with their buyers either loving or hating their new home. Most reviews are negative regardless of building company but thats bound to be the case with unhappy customers.

 

True, it depends on what you want, personally I wouldn't buy a new house because I have seen how they are built also done my bit in building them, they are built for massive profits and when no-one buys them they generally grind whole building sites to a halt, like they did in brinsworth about 4 years ago and have only started building again 12 months ago.

 

a lot of people who love them probably cant see past the shiny taps and new worktops.

 

if your not construction minded and you can get over the initial problems then you might not mind.

[Moosey 10]

I live in a new build (or it was new 6 years ago when it was built).

 

They're nice looking - far nicer than most lower priced older homes certainly - and they're a very clean canvas for you to move straight into, without having to make any changes or decorate. I like that about them. The appliances are all new, so won't break/are guaranteed, and any major structural problems are covered by the guarantee on new builds for ten years, so that's good.

 

On the down side, they are built quite quickly, and the quality reflects that. The walls are thin, quite clearly the tradesmen are working very quickly, and the effort is lacking in some respects, although as above, the faults are only minor. By way of example, I wanted to remove a banister from the wall as it's not needed, only to find Wimpey's builders had used 6 inch nails, rather than screws to hold it on, meaning that it took half the plaster off when it came off.

 

You're covered for major faults, so if you can cope with minor faults, it'll be fine. Bear in mind major faults on an old house, you're on your own. On a new build, you can get help under the new build insurance. It's a straight forward process as well.

 

I'd buy a new build again, certainly. The positives outweigh the negatives for me.