Dear all,

As above – I have what I consider a reasonable “deal” on a part ex etc. for my existing home and signed a “reservation” for a plot to buy off plan.

I have been doing my research and now feeling extremely nervous about the whole thing. Of course the builder (HARRON HOMES) wants to seal the deal.

Am I going to enjoy the next few months whilst it is being built – or bite my nails even further and be sick with worry…

i.e. living on the building site, will they finish the roads, will it really be a quality house, will they do the snagging, will Brexit mean I lose a lot of my capital…

On paper the house looks great and ticks all the boxes for our young family – I would be appreciative for some facts if anyone has actually bought and moved into a Harron home.

Simple question is: –

Would you buy a Harron Home off plan again and if not why not?

If you’ve got this far, thanks for reading and would be great to even find one person with some feedback!

Jim

https://www.yell.com/biz/harron-homes-ltd-leeds-3870748/

http://forum.brand-newhomes.co.uk/general-discussion/re-copies-of-plans/

http://www.spenboroughguardian.co.uk/news/family-s-nightmare-home-1-5108735

Hi,
Harron Homes buyer here, could write a book on what went wrong.
Wouldn’t buy from them again, but then I wouldn’t buy any new-build again.
Happy to email you some details if you like.
Chris

Theyr’e building near us (Boroughbridge) & looked on their site for a nosey, even though we don’t intend to move. The reports from previous buyers were horrendous! I’d steer clear.

Bought a new build once, lasted 7 months in it. Never again.

Hi Chris,

Would be great if you could send me some details. No one a good thing to say yet…

Quite interested why “never again”?

Generally interested

Spread the knowledge!

On the flipside our house is on an estate that got finished earlier this year and the house is ace. Ours is built by Redrow.

New builds are a nightmare, our whole boiler system hadn’t been installed to building regs. I only knew as I worked in new heating.. All the neighbours were the same. All new houses have snags though, it’s how bad they are and how well they are dealt with.

Think very carefully before buying a terrace or semi, we could hear everything through the kitchen wall. This was ultimately why we decided lo move after less than 3 years and renovate an older property using proper trades people

Quite interested why “never again”?

I’ll never remember all the issues, there were so many!.

Was over 3 months late, and we’d sold our flat so had to move into very expensive holiday accomodation on a week to week basis.

Was a local builder operating under an Irish developer, builder went bust before road, landscaping etc was finished, that’s 10 years ago now, and it’s still surrounded by unfinished wasteground.

House itself had so many issues, was a detached bungalow, sat up higher than the house next door, with no retaining wall between houses, maybe 4 feet higher and just a banking between, I was always concerned about how long that would take to start subsiding.

Drains collapsed.

Tiling around showers in both ensuite and bathroom started to drop, gyproc wasn’t studded properly, damp from shower had got in and it all started to fall to bits.

There was something not right with insulation in house either. 2006 was a bloody hot summer, I came home from work one evening, at 11pm, and it was 35 degrees in the house. There was no loft hatch to check, but I’m pretty sure the roof space wasn’t insulated, so heat coming straight down through.

Myself and another guy a few doors up I’m now friends with decided to bail out as housing market was looking shaky, spruced the place up, hid all the issues and just managed to sell before the shit hit the fan.

10 years ago now, and there’s a few been lying for sale for a couple of years, for less than what I paid for mine, poor buggers.

Sad thing is, the local builder was a decent guy, the wee Irish developer fella was a bloody crook, has since had numerous companies, all have gone tits up, he just keeps starting another up.

Oh, and maybe it was just where I was, but there definitely seemed to be some strange buggers who lived on the estate too, lots of really insular selfish bastards. Is that a new estate thing?.

I work on the edges of the construction industry and in my old job had to regularly visit, usually on a twice weekly basis, these new estates as they were being constructed. I’d not buy anything from the companies I worked with except from maybe Strata- they aren’t built with any particular care, or with high quality equipment, and corners are constantly being cut to meet budgets, time restrictions or just general pressure from the management.

If it were a small development done by a local builder whose name is on the line I’d consider it but not a new build from a big firm.

On the flip side, we bought a new build (Linden Homes) just over a year ago and have had very few issues with it.
It’s a 3 story mid-terrace townhouse. Never hear anything from next door apart from very occasionally when their teenagers and running upstairs.
We didn’t buy off plan, the house was very nearly finished when the original buyer fell though, so we got a very good part ex deal on ours (they paid £15K more to us than they sold it for in the end!).
The thing to watch our for is when you hand over from sales to general customer care (about 14 days after moving in I think). The sales team take care of the original snagging list and are very proactive in getting things done.
However, the customer care team (team meaning one person!) are very slow at getting stuff progressed. We’ve been waiting over 4 months now for a exterior plastic strip to be replaced that fell off.

Working in the GI industry I’d be as interested in what its built on as much as how its constructed…

You can get away with a multitude of underground nastiest with 600mm of clean top soil. Which is fine until you dig through it or start planting veggies…

Mainly negative then… Thanks so far. All looks so good on paper doesn’t it.

Jim,
Replied to email in your profile.
Chris

Thanks Chris, mail received. Currently backing out!