Here we go then, done all I can, lets see

[JAKing]

Sorry not been on the forum for a while, been a little busy both work and this bloody house build.

Anyway, done all I can to push Persimmon homes into actually breaking the habit of a life time and building me a good one, time to see if it paid off.

I will be getting my "new home demonstration" at 12:00 noon day after tomorrow, that's (Thursday12 Jun 2014 for the sake of much later readers) the snagging inspector, who has been welcomed by the site foreman - 'odd that huh' - Squeaky wheel. is also coming the same day.

Completion and new keys to me on Fri 13th June - frii 13th great day to move to a persimmon home though to save them messing me about I have a legal licence to retain the keys to my current home (which i part ex'ed) until 17:00 on Sunday 15th Jun (thats one squeaky wheel that, it needs some oil badly)

so we will see, I will be in touch and will let you all know of course how the snagger gets on, will put up a copy of his report (less the address details and personal stuff of course) when I have it.

So the 10 billion dollar question - can a persimmon home actually work out quite well if you try to push it? will finally be answered, also a list of what i did, and what i would do differently shall follow.

here we go.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Another persimmon half year figures house.
At least the Snagging inspector is being "allowed" in before you legally complete.
And you have an opportunity (if you are not 100% happy with your new home) to leave Persimmon a few "problems" in your old part-ex house too if you get my drift!
Good luck with it.
Don't let the Site Manager pressure the snagging inspector. He is best taking his time and doing the snagging on his own.

 

[JAKing]

Another persimmon half year figures house.

Not so sure, the house was always planned to be finished Mid May, so finishing Mid Jun actually puts it a month late, with that in mind its hard to argue they rushed it through.

At least the Snagging inspector is being "allowed" in before you legally complete.

cant think why he is being "allowed", squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeeeeeeeeeeek

And you have an opportunity (if you are not 100% happy with your new home) to leave Persimmon a few "problems" in your old part-ex house too if you get my drift!

not much to gain by doing that really, I wanted £70K for this house, it was not selling persimmon offered me 65K part ex, so i took it, no estate agent fees after all. The house has been on the market with them for approx 2 months now, I also happen to know the guy who bought it, well i didnt before, but Having shown him around and making a point of telling him any defect with it at all to aid his offer I know that he is buying from persimmon for £51 K. I know this because said buyer came around to thank me for helping him get it (he is going through a messy divorce and wants a 3 bed semi so he can have his kids (boy and girl) over on weekends. Leaving "problems" would only harm him really, and the fact persimmon lost £14k on it gives me a nice warm feeling inside. (though it shows how much profit they are making on the new one since they can afford to lose it)

Good luck with it.
Don't let the Site Manager pressure the snagging inspector. He is best taking his time and doing the snagging on his own.

Thanks for the good luck wishes, and yes I will ensure the snagger is not bothered by either the site manager or myself, just leave him to it, he has all the time he needs, I will ensure it.

 

[JAKing]

Also one to add, the houses on my road, or drive as its now called. Well I will be the last to move in. Anyway, believe it or not persimmon wanted £30 to put a number on the door, That is an "extra" or a finishing touch as they call it. So I done like everyone else on my "drive" and went to amazon, where they do really nice ones for a tenner. it does not go on the door it goes on the brickwork beside, but honestly its much better. Anyway persimmon said thats ok, but it must say "24 seaview drive" on it, well, I had it done and it says "XXIV seaview drive, just for badness

 

[NewHomeExpert]

If the original date was end May it would be in the figures.
End June is the cut-off and the latest date to be included in the half-year figures (Interim statement)

Estate agent's fees on a £70k house at 1% would have been just £700 (£840 with the vat)
Persimmon lost £14,000 on the part ex thats great. Well done! I am surprised this doesn't happen more often.
As its sold, its too late to leave a little something!
Persimmon make an operating profit of around 25% at the moment maybe even more.
Most profit is in the land!

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Also one to add, the houses on my road, or drive as its now called. Well I will be the last to move in. Anyway, believe it or not persimmon wanted £30 to put a number on the door, That is an "extra" or a finishing touch as they call it. So I done like everyone else on my "drive" and went to amazon, where they do really nice ones for a tenner. it does not go on the door it goes on the brickwork beside, but honestly its much better. Anyway persimmon said thats ok, but it must say "24 seaview drive" on it, well, I had it done and it says "XXIV seaview drive, just for badness

Putting a postal number on a home is never included.
This is because everyone would want a better quality number than what the house builders would have provided.
then there is where to position it too. Everyone is different.

£30 is a joke though, you can buy a sold brass one for around £10 and it is only two screws!

Not sure why you need to also have the road name included.
Roman numerals is asking for trouble given the state of "yoof edukashun" in the UK.
You will have enough trouble getting your post for a few months anyway without making it harder!

So we now have your name and address!
Perhaps include a date of birth and mother's maiden name next time please?

 

[JAKing]

Cant get used to Jun being the end of the first half of the year. Whilst the company I work for are a private sector company, the main customer are the NDA a public sector body. They tend to insist we start the year in April, so end of Sept is our half year point. I guess its just easier for us to match our "year" with that of the major customer.

 

[JAKing]

You have a partial name and address, you dont have it in full, there are 3 sea view drives I know of in my home town alone. So UK wide there must be hundreds of them, a bit like living in a pub called "the kings arms"

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Just a guess!
Sea View Drive, Workington, Cumbria, CA14 5DF.

 

[JAKing]

Close but no cigar, no Jam Eaters here (a Jam Eater is someone who lives in workington)

 

[JAKing]

Well,

Snagger been, not too many problems really. There was a scratch on patio door window and handle, so site manager booked new glass to go in, and a new handle. there is a bow in one of the bed room walls, the centre of the wall is further into the room than the corners, though the snagger says its not structural, so i can live with it for what it will take to fix it. every lino could use stretching out a bit, once the heat is on and we have been in a couple of weeks the firm that layed them all are coming back to fix that other than that there were a few minor decorative problems but nothing serious - mainly thin paint, paint runs, scuffs to paint etc, the painters went back in before we had left, so most of them will be sorted now. Other wise apparently its one of the better persimmon homes he has inspected.

I did notice there is a gap for a dishwasher, a power point for it, a waste connection point for it under the sink, but no fill tap for it. I asked about this, only to find out "oh its an extra" - plumber is going to fit me one next tuesday. another point was the master bedroom door needs a little taken off the bottom, its rubbing the carpet at the moment, and a trim is missing from the patio window bottom, the joiner will sort these on Monday.

Once I have the snagging report i will post it up, but in all I must say, they have not done a bad job. The snagger told me however everything is dependent on there being a good site manager, and as look would have it, ours seems to be a good one.

 

[abbottswalk]

Sounds hopeful, glad for you. Reassuring to know there's no major/structural issues and mostly decorative bits. You'll probably find more things yourself and the odd thing that breaks or suffers early life failure, just be sure to make the most of the 2 year warranty period and report everything.

Who did you use for the snagging?

Good luck with the rest of the move

 

[JAKing]

Who did you use for the snagging - brickkickers.co.uk

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Well,

Snagger been.....There was a scratch on patio door window and handle, so site manager booked new glass to go in, and a new handle.
There is a bow in one of the bed room walls, the centre of the wall is further into the room than the corners, though the snagger says its not structural, so i can live with it for what it will take to fix it. Every lino could use stretching out a bit, once the heat is on and we have been in a couple of weeks the firm that laid them all are coming back to fix that other than that there were a few minor decorative problems but nothing serious - mainly thin paint, paint runs, scuffs to paint etc, the painters went back in before we had left, so most of them will be sorted now. Other wise apparently its one of the better Persimmon homes he has inspected.

I did notice there is a gap for a dishwasher, a power point for it, a waste connection point for it under the sink, but no fill tap for it. I asked about this, only to find out "oh its an extra" - plumber is going to fit me one next Tuesday. Another point was the master bedroom door needs a little taken off the bottom, its rubbing the carpet at the moment, and a trim is missing from the patio window bottom, the joiner will sort these on Monday.

Once I have the snagging report I will post it up, but in all I must say, they have not done a bad job. The snagger told me however everything is dependent on there being a good site manager, and as look would have it, ours seems to be a good one.

Good site managers don't need to work for Persimmon Homes at the moment. there is plenty of work around in the current Help to Buy boom.
Those that are and stay with Persimmon would/should be first in line for promotion to Contracts management!

A good site manager would not leave a visible "bow" in a wall.
I am presuming it is a timber frame house as new home internal stud partitions are now usually metal stud as they don't bow!
No doubt everyone will claim "it is within tolerence" Click the link to see what that means for buyers!
It can be fixed. What they will need to do is remove the plasterboard, add new dry straight timbers alongside the bowed ones and plane off the protruding bow and re fit new plasterboard, joint and decorate. It's not going to happen is it?
The snagger cannot say for certain it is not structural unless it is an internal non-loadbearing wall.
I would also add that the bow has been caused by wet poor quality timber (which may or may not have a sterling board fixed to it) that has got wet and has now dried.
The drying may not have finished and the bow could get worse over time. You should not "have to live with it" it is not right!

"Lino (Vinyl) stretching out a bit once the heat is on" Really? Who said this to you? Its been really hot lately and you wont have heating on until probably October although you should still check it works and there are no leaks asap!

You cannot describe a "Dishwasher space" of plumbing and power has not been provided to connect up a dishwasher!
The reason for this is that it may be near on impossible to get the connections where the "space" is, therefore connections must be provided if described as a "dishwasher space" You should not be paying extra for this. Be careful the money is not being shared by the sales, site manager and plumber!

 

[NewHomeExpert]

just be sure to make the most of the 2 year warranty period and report everything.

I couldn't agree more! Not that Persimmon have a great track record of customer care!
Don't forget to join Unhappy New Home Owners Facebook group - many unhappy [****ed-off] Persimmon buyers there!

 

[JAKing]

Sorry for late reply, been a while for bt to sort out phone line and hence internet connection.

No, not a timber frame house, the wall in question is only a partition wall seperating the second and the third bedrooms. The external walls are all ok. think it will boil down to a warped timber though, not being kept dry. I also have a warped gate post on the fence, (did not notice it until i attempted to hang a gate) anyway that is being removed and replaced on monday, once there is a breaker on site to remove the old one. Then they will hang the gate for me.

Other problems so far - only one really was that the bath leaked on day 2. I was convinced it was from the waste line, but it got worse when we used the on suite shower, it was actually a leak from the hot bath tap (thus as the boiler heated the water for the en suite shower the bath tap had the extra pressure) need less to say they sorted that out pretty quickly. all other problems have been rectified, though i dont like the after care system at all, its not too bad at the moment (while the site manager is here) as i report to both the persimmon "care" number and the site manager, so at least something tends to be done. Will be a bit of a pain once the site manager leaves though, the sales office really dont want to know you after they have the money (but i knew that was coming at least, so i got to know where the site manager is and also took his office and mobile number)

All in all its not a bad house really, sure its not perfect, but its a far cry from a lot of the horror stories you tend to hear online.

One thing though, I am glad i did not pay to have the back garden turfed. Anyone that did got a really poor job and they are already starting to look awful, so at least i can plod on in my own time and do a propper job of it. was simply down to the "topsoil" they used, which judging from my garden is 40% clay and 50% stones and 10% other (like steel spikes, old rope, surplus building materials etc)

all in all though the house itself is not bad.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

You had to hang the gate?
The timber used for fence posts has gone down rapidly over recent years.
I replaced a couple of rotten fence posts (that "only" lasted 15 years) and some of the new ones have already twisted a bit.

Be warned any house builder's 'aftercare' such as it is goes down rapidly after the site manager has left the site.
It is very easy for the customer "don't care" manager to call the site manager and notify him of an issue and pest him until it goes away.
quite a different matter when the customer "don't care" manager has to do the managing bit themselves!

Regarding your back garden, it can be a good idea to leave it until September and then lay turf or seed.
There will be more rain and in the meantime any weeds and rubbish in your "topsoil" will become evident and can be removed before grass is laid.

Persimmon have reached the dizzy heights of "not bad" this time! - despite a hot mains water plumbing leak. I am sure some Persimmon buyers who have yet yet to see their finished house will take this as the reassurance they are seeking here!

 

[JAKing]

Hang the gate yes, but also buy it as well. A fence was included, but a gate is an "extra" Persimmon would have put one up for me had I paid a fortune for it, but i didnt. I had a decent gate made at a local joiner firm, which is of far higher quality than the one the neighbour bought from perssimon and mine was less than half the price, even after i had bought decent quality fittings (hinges, latch, bolt)

I would have had to hang it myself, obviously, which i did not really mind, except with a twisted post i could not. To make it even worse the twisted post is the post i want the gate to hang from, rather than the side i want it to latch to. As I say, site manager is having them break the post out of its concrete base, put another in, set it, then as a "sorry for all this" type thing, he will have the joiner onsite hang my gate a couple of days later (once new post is set)

with the back garden, im a long way from turfing yet i think. The weeds were evident enough, generally about 12 - 15 inches high, I strimmed them on day 2 and during the recent dry spell they had a good "watering" consisting of round up. This is how i found really what i had underneath. I have so far removed most of Hadrians wall from the garden, though that was just on the surface. I have bought myself a second hand rotavator for a song, so now the process is, remove stone, turn and churn, remove stone, rake roughly level, remove stone, lather rince reapeat. Once I am somewhere near with stone extraction i will order in some actual Topsoil, and mix that in with my current erm "persimmon topsoil", get it somewhere near, then as you say lay some decent quality turf at the right time of year. So this year I will have a "wartime britain" garden for a while, but its the 100th anniversary of the first world war this year, so its quite fitting. (during wartime, people turned over their lawns and things in order to grow potatoes and veg and things due to rationing and shortage of supply)

Whilst it is a lot of work, I don't have kids and I quite enjoy doing things like this. Especially tinkering and playing with older machines and little engines. Though come next year (when i have finished playing in my new found "Kiddies sand pit equivalent") I should have a decent quality lawn, on a pretty decent base.

Honestly though, if you could see some of the "finished" gardens here, you would understand why I am relieved i have a lot of work to do. At least I know its being done to a decent standard. Most "finished" lawns here are covered in brown patches (which i think is where they laid cheap turf directly on top of rocks and things). Also I would expect in a couple of years those gardens to be as level as the alps, thus in need of a serious repair job, which will end up as more work than i am putting in by doing it properly in the first place.

This type of thing has to be my biggest bug bear with Persimmon, that is charging astronomical prices for fitting the lowest quality components. I do understand that they need to make a profit, and I am all for firms making a fair profit, but there is a world of difference between making a profit and taking the p**s

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Actually Persimmon's profit has not increased as much as its rivals after Help to Buy, probably because it is not as well run!
That said it made £330million building 11,528 new homes last year, an average of £28,626 per home.
This was an operating profit of 16%.

"Hardrians wall" ha ha I love your sense of humour.

 

[JAKing]

I am no Expert on new homes by any means, but i can take a stab at why i can imagine persimmon profit is lower than some:

I dont think they make a great deal on the house itself, with the cost of land and all, and then planning etc, i can see that, they will of course make some, but nothing astronomical. Instead they turn to the "finishing touches" range for the large mark up. Now this could work if only they used decent quality components, and took a little time to fit properly, it really could work. Thing is they dont, and there i imagine is the problem. People soon get word that the "finishing touches" are done using rock bottom components, at an astronomical price.

If they did use decent components, done a quality job of it too, then even at those prices they would sell many more units. I would imagine (though personally i would not have bought more under these circumstances) if they kept the same idea of rock bottom equipment and just reduced the mark up they would make more profit overall simply on increased sales. Just a thought, but still.

Lets just take one example, an outside tap.

now i have fitted my own, it took me about an hour (am no plumber, my background is electrical, but i was doing it at my leisure, not like at work) decent stuff to fit it cost me £35 from screwfix. great off i went and now have a good quality outside tap.

persimmon want £150 to fit a crap quality outside tap that would take a time served plumber approx 10 mins to fit, so even those who cant even be bothered to fit a tap themselves can just buy the bits, and ask a local plumber to fit it for £50 and they are still quids in:
£85 gets you a decent outside tap.
£150 gets you a crap one

its a bit of a no brainer isn't it. there is how i can imagine persimmon profits are not as good as they could be. see if £90 got you a decent tap, then more people would just say "sod it i will have one, as its good quality stuff, and there is no way persimmon would pay a plumber the £50 for fitting it.