Persimmon Homes

[farnell]

Thanks Tony (Yosser) for your reply.

I agree with alot of what you have said and now that i know your background i can understand your opinions.

You asked why i exposed myself to a ?6,000 deposit when a grand would do? Well the ?6,000 was the minimum deposit that they would except.Had i pulled out of the sale during the 9 month wait i would have lost the deposit. As i've said before i was a first time buyer and therefore every penny i had went on the house. Persimmon ran a scheme that if i used their recommended Solicitor they would contribute to the legal costs and every penny counted, The mortgage was even arranged through a company that they organised. This was obviously a very big mistake for which i regret. Yes had i arranged my own solicitor independently i think the situation would have been different. At the time of placing the deposit an older semi detached house would have cost me about ?8,000 less than my new house. However after living in a flat for over 20 years the prospect of scraping together an Extra ?8,000 for a "maintenance/decorating free" new detached house was something i had to do. So When i didn't get the house in May it was too late for me to do anything as the local house prices had shot up and i would not have been able to afford a house at all.(Don't forget i would also loose ?6,000 +fees if i pulled out!) When i finally got the house similar houses on the estate were up 4 sale at ?42,000 more than i had paid. So i would still be living in a rented flat had i not bought earlier in the year. As for dumping the house and selling to "Mr & Mrs Jones" then that would make me be as bad as Persimmon and i don't do that sort of thing. Of course you could argue that as the house was now second hand, the Jones's would know what they were getting and would probably have a full survey compared to my basic survey.

Anyway in terms of Solicitors. The first took ages to do anything and then informed me their was a conflict of interest as the company he worked for had previously represented the housebuilder. The second solicitor i sacked as he seemed to do nothing at all and appeared to be too busy, Finally the third solicitor will now have to be replaced as i'm fed up chasing him and appears to be like my second solicitor. Help! :~(

As for the snagging it's not just paint, Several walls and ceilings need plastering, The whole house needs pointing, All the upstairs carpets etc need to come up to put the floor boards down properly. The banister and stairs need work. There are 2 small holes in the roof. The wrong extractor fans were used and the vents blocked... Every room in the house needs paint or something.There is now only one room in the house which now doesn't need something doing to it. The downstairs toilet!

So where do i go from here? I have already had to splash out ?1200 on fences in the back garden as they were rotten and fitted poorly.Persimmon refused to give me anything towards the cost. Decorating the whole house would cost me a fortune, Why should i? Im so glad that i don't live in America where everyone has a gun...I'd be in prison now!

[yozzer]

Hi Farnell,

Thanks for the reply, at least now you know where it all went wrong, thinking about what you said about selling on you may find on the question sheet you have to fill in for the sale - there is a section about outstanding conflicts and you may not be able to sell until they are cleared up, check it out if you ever think selling.

At least you made ?42,000.00 on paper for you troubles but the house needs re-pointing I don't understand where's the sand and cement out of the joints has gone, can you take a photo of it and post it into the gallery.

I think the choice of solicitor was where you first fell and the text in you messages bear this out for all to take in, what ever the enticement is never ever ever do this!

You have got some guts to admit you made a mistake - I doubt if many others viewing this site would do the same.

Good luck, if you want any advice on the plumbing, heating, electrical etc email me- if you want my email ask contact us!

Tony

[yozzer]

Farnell,



You may be able to attack the builder in another way, if you tell him you are trying to sell your house (Privately Not A Sign Outside )and you cannot because prospective buyers have spotted all the defects on their walkabouts, this has devalued what you should get for your property and may preclude you from selling it at the time you want to and you are going sue him for the difference.

Tell him you are going to get in a private surveyor to assess the cost of rectification and bill him for this also. The cost of putting it all right is the difference.


By the way if you are doing a bit of pointing today, 3 to 1 sand and cement is the mix and make sure the ladder is tied at the bottom.

Good Luck.

Tony

You may want to have a chat with a good solicitor, but ask the solicitor what he is made of first, don't be soft on solicitors, most are far far worse than builders.

[farnell]

Hi Tony

I think i'm going back to the drawing board on this one! I will contact the legal insurance company and request a different litigation company and take it from there. A company has been mentioned to me and i may give them a try as long as the legal company give the go ahead. There is unfortunately no money in my pot at all to sue Persimmon or pay for any type of action but I am considering paying for someone to snag the house. Now 28 months later it is probably too late and i guess having it done wouldn't acheive anything unless major structual faults were found or something which is doubtful. However it is obvious to me that paying someone to snag a new home is a must and money definately well spent. I only wish i had thought of it at the time but i honestly had no idea about the trickery involved with snagging and had never heard of any companies specialising in the service. I actually only found out about this site and snagging companies on the "Tonight with trevor mcdonald" last week on ITV1

As for the pointing it hasn't been done correctly and at the moment i don't have any way of taking pictures for the site. Anyway i can stick pens etc in various areas and the overall finish is poor. Sealant etc is missing around window area's and it just hasn't been done to the correct standard. The brickwork in my opinion is terrible and with gaps all over the place as well it just isn't weather proof enough. Before i bought this house i hadn't got a clue about spotting defects and poor workmanship. So the only bit of good news is that i can now spot faults instantly and i appear to scan for them automatically in every house i go to.( as part of my job i delivery & install electrical appliances so i'm in and out of houses all week)

Anyway i will keep you posted on my uphill struggle but it is a very slow process. The housebuilder recently mislaid my fault sheets again and now wants me to tell them again what needs doing. All part of the "let's hope he finally gives in" approach to customer service.

Finally did i mention that my advice to anyone is NEVER BUY A SHOWHOME? If you do. No mater what's promised to you.You never know what state it will be in when you get it and how quickly they threw it up in order to sell off it. One of the two houses that i had to wait to be built before i could move in to my house is also a Farnell just like mine. Luckily for my neighbours they have had very few problems with their house and the overall finish is leagues above mine. I paid an extra ?5,000 for my house as it was the showhome and the extra was for Carpets/laminate flooring/Blinds/light fittings/Washer/dishwasher and alarm system which were already fitted. However my neighbours got higher specification plumbing/heating & fittings along with better quality windows with "K" glass and all newly decorated! So buying the "showhome meant i completely after them with "Splash n Dash" touched up decorating and windows which were fitted by a contractor who went out of business and are of lesser specification but of a similar georgian design. As I live on a busy main road the difference in the windows makes alot of difference to the incomming noise levels from the road and draughts etc. So choosing the wrong solicitors wasn't the only mistake i made.

Regards
Farnell

Yozzer, i am not stupid, i part exchanged my house against the new build, it also got rush built just before Christmas when all the tradesman were already thinking about the holiday period. I was only allowed into the house 2 days before completion date 23/12/05, in that time before completion i managed to compile a snag list of 5 poges long, which i submitted to my solicitor who inturn advised persimmon to sort all the snags out before we moved in on Jan 14th, the problem was that all the site personnel and maintenance teams had finished on 21st december and would return back to work on Jan 6th, that left Persimmon with 5 working days to complete all the snags, which they did not. I tried to cancel the job but my part exchange house was sold by Persimmon and we had to move in on Jan 14th and put up with Persimmon and the sub contractors coming into our home for the next 4 months. The boiler was only noticeable when we used the timer because Persimmon had the boiler on constant before we moved in which made the house feel warm and then when we set the timer it was taking much longer than normal to heat the house and thats when i called British gas in to assess this, i also got technical information of Worcester and they said the boiler was only suitable for a much smaller property. I got my upgraded boiler FOC and am still waiting for my correct sized KW rated radiators to be fitted on May 4th which is over 4 moths since we moved in ! As for the other neighbours experiencing drafts coldness etc i have already made them aware of what the problems could be, ie drafts in windows due to no silicone sealant under the window sill (Check your front down stairs window i bet the concrete or silicone is missing) i called the doors and window companies myself. The front door seal was incorrect and also no brushes in the letter box caused drafts. YOU only notice these defects when you are living in the property numpty.

Yes it is as bad as they say, i have noticed things on neighbours houses without them even noticing them after they have lived in them for over 4 months, some people are fussy and some are not. Its not a question of being fussy its getting good value for whatyou have worked hard for. Even the construction manager has admitted that the building industry is suffering due to the lack of qualified tradesman. If you or anyone want a full list of what to look for reply to me and i'll give you my email address.

PS. I wonder if any posters on here are from the Runcorn area in Cheshire ?

Cheers Farnell,

What a numpty Yosser is !

I've compiled a list of what to look for and when all my snags have finally been resolved (after 4 months) then i'm going around all the Persimmon sites in the Northwest and posting them thru peoples drafty letterboxes. Then Persimmon will become in-undated with requests and they then may start to realise that the brickys, plumbers, plasterers, roofers, sealers, kitchen fitters, patio door fitters, bathroom fitters, tilers, painters, decorators, gardeners are rushing to complete houses in time for month end, quartely or year end figures and don't give a f*** about the people who are going to move into them. I have told all the site guys, site manager and sales tart who are still on site that they are going to be famous and hopefully on tv.

Says it all really (Living in Manchester) bet you support Manure too ?
Why should i have fixed the minor snags in my new house ? i could easily have too !, but why should i when Persimmon give you a 2 year guarantee and then an 8 year gaurantee ? if you had been properly trained then you should have already known that fact about new build homes......

FYI Yosser Hughes was a scouser and not a Manc........!

Jeesus Farnell i thought i was badly done by Persimmon..

I dont think you are on your own about the windows, as my neighbours are experiencing outside noise levels inside the house too, they are also having drafty experiences. I manged to sort mine out as the sealant was missing and also the internal airvents let air thru even when they were closed, the airvents have since been sealed and then refitted. It was funny becuse i was sat on the lavvy and i thought the window was open becuse it was so noisy.
Persimmon should have no problem getting a sealer in to finish the job off, you could even ring the companies yourself as they are gauranteed anyway.
I must admit though that if i had a spare ten grand i would rip all the windows and doors out and replace them with say safestyle or coldseal windows and doors.
I have a front bay window with a artificle roof over it and when it rains the drips wake me up ! Its like someone tapping a drum. I'm persuing that at the moment and want Persimmon to fill it out with soemthing to stop the effing noise when it rains.
They are Cowboys aren't they, they just made ?474 million profit for 2004 and they scrimp and save over windows and doors......

Good luck and don't forget to spread the word as the Construction director certainly doesn't like that at all.

[Tony]

Hi EATay,

You are right they don't like publicity. Persimmon Homes sent a letter to me and the Web host asking me to take a link down to a Persimmon Homes from Hell website. I imagine I'll be getting another soon. Have you spoken to the various TV production companies that are covering this at the mo? I have lots of press contacts too who could help you out with publicity. Less hassle than leafleting every house in the North West :wink:

Tony