Persimmon Homes

[farnell]

If anyone has or attempted to take legal action against this company please let us know how you got on and if you were able to go ahead with it,or if you have any tips / suggestions on how to get this company to rectify snagging faults etc

[Tony]

I am not sure about Persimmon Homes have a look at the Campaign sites in the Web link section.

I know of people that are in the process and have done it with other developers. However, they usually sign "gagging orders" as part of the deal and consequently they cannot talk to the press and have to take down their campaign sites. It is more difficult to take a site down than it is to just leave it

The following company comes highly recommended:
Vizards Wyeth
0207 400 9999
www.vizardswyeth.com


Cheers,

Tony

I have had 250+ snags minor and major, including undersized boiler and radiators, defected patio door, windows, front door, floors etc, still waiting for my new boiler and radiators. I bypassed customer care, the site manager and the sales rep, i sent emails with picture attachments, faxes, letters, phone calls and compiled a snag list with request of a timescale on completion all to the Construction Manager, the Construction Director and the Customer Care Manager. They replied quickly because they all got bombarded with the same data and had to do something. Put complaints in writing about the sitemanagers lack of interest and mention the welcome letter and persimmons company statements in the Green Masterfile that are clearly not being adheard to . Go round to your new neighbours and compare snags and you'll also find they have the same defects or vice versa, its down to the sub contractors too, they don't care how they do the jobs when the site manager isn't checking there work before they leave site. Ask persimmon who is accountable for all the snags/defects and how they plan to take action against the person responsible for approving poor workmanship. and signing the subcontractors timesheet when clearly the work was not done to a satisfactory standard. Keep at them and good luck.

[stormy]

[quote:5812b959ea="yozzer"]E A Tay

I did say snagging the week before completion is a waste of time [/quote:5812b959ea]

The problem is, how many new build developers will let you snag weeks and weeks in advance, I would hazard a guess and say NONE of the major ones?

Legally, you seem to have more rights buying a TV from Dixons than you do with a house.

I am buying a new house, even with all the woe is me and new houses are crap, etc etc. I know a few people who have had little problems with new build.

I hope I am as lucky, knowing me, probably not. So all I can do is prepare the best I can. I would be very surprised if Bovis let me trample around my new home weeks and weeks before we are due to complete.

Is it really as bad as some the doom mongers on here make out?

Mike

In Cook's diary he describes how the natives on one island were unable to see his ship - it was invisible to them because they could not conceive of such a thing.

I think the same is true of new build buyers they don't want to believe that their dream home could have defects, they can't conceive of it. They have bought a dream, a new lifestyle, from the developer and expect to live that dream.

[Tex]

For a new buyer to walk into a new home and be expected to snag is impossible! After the removal men have finished, the sale's or site manager will be at the door with the handover documents! the purchaser's are in a mixed state of exhaustion and excitment! They will sign anything!
It can take weeks to realise the kitchen drawer's dont slide in the runner's properly, window's leaking, water pressure up & down etc etc etc.
That's why developer's had the six month snag!
But they just dont perform this duty, and if they have it's rarely to a satisfactory standard!
The construction company's are run just like any other business.
Alway's cutting cost's and looking where to save on the next!
Sub-contractor's are cut to the bone on price's, material's are the cheapest ever,
A lot of the construction site's dont even employ finishing forman, let along labourer's!
The most scaryiest thing about these company's is that they are run by accountants whose only care is to keep the figures turning over to satisfy the shareholder's!

[farnell]

Hi
Many thanks to E A Tay for their valued input.

As for Yosser it would appear that he has never purchased a newly built home. If he had then he would be more sympathic to the situation and shouldn't have come out with such comments.

As for my situation. I placed a ?6,000 deposit on a persimmon showhome on 24th March 2002. The move in/completion date was supposed to be mid to late May 2002. (The 3 month wait was because 2 houses needed to be built next to my house) However the 3 month wait turned into nearly 9 months as Persimmon didn't start building the 2 houses until August 2002. During this 9 month wait Persimmon used my "Showhome" for storage and as a spare parts bin. When i placed the deposit i was assured the house would be as brand new on completion and as i was a first time buyer i believed them. What a huge mistake! When i tried to cancel the purchase in August due to the fact that i had given up hope of ever getting the house, i was told that not only would i loose my deposit but i would also end up paying loads of legal fees as well. On November 8th 2002 i finally got the keys and completed on the house. The house had well over a 150 snagging faults and i rejected the house twice previously. I was told that i had to complete or i would loose the house and my deposit and that they would take me to court!
Snagging is normal i was told and you can't reject the house because of it.Persimmon promised to sort out all the faults after i moved in. 28 Months later and i am still trying to get alot of these faults sorted out. I have encountered contractors who arrive but tell me that won't be doing the remedial work because they either didn't do the original work or that the house builder had promised them work and because they never got it,they won't do the remedial work.Apparently the contractors do remedial work for nothing as part of a deal to get future supply/fit work for the house builders on other sites. Anyway i have lost count at how many times Persimmon have lost my fault lists or how many days off i have given up(without compensation) in order to have repairs done. I have Legal cover with my Mortgage and i'm on my 3rd solicitor. They alll seem frightened of Persimmon and i have been told that they are just too big a company to beat.The legal costs would outweigh any compensation that would be nearly impossible to get and going to the nhbc would in their experience be a waste of time. Most of the faults on my house are down to poor finishing such as decoration/plastering/pointing etc etc.If the house was to crack down the middle or collapse then something could be done. What a joke! I'm not covered by any consumer law and a house builder can walk all over me and others like me and get away with it!

[Tex]

Sorry to hear that Farnell,
Unfortunatly, it's the same story all over!
If you knew then what you know now, what you still have gone ahead with the purchase?

[farnell]

Well if i could turn back the clock (if anyone knows how to please let me know) I would definately not have bought this house.I just wish that i had been able to get the deposit back as i would have bought an older house for less money.I could then see what i would eventually get before handing over any money. To this day i still can't beleive that housebuilders can get away with it. I don't intend to give in but it's got to the stage that i feel i just can't win.I bought a new home like someone would buy a new car. I assumed the house would be built by competent builders who cared about it's customers and who took pride in their work. Just like ford build their own cars i wrongly assumed housebuilders did the same. Little did i know that the houses are built by contractors whose work is rarely checked and many of whom employ temporary or unqualified staff! I didn't buy a dream. I bought a new house because i didn't want all the decorating/maintenance work associated with buying an older property.(just like someone who buys a new car instead of an older one!)

[yozzer]

Farnell,

My name is Tony Hughes hence Yosser - I live in Manchester and I have been in the building trade all my life, 45 years I started life a plumber and according to mum I came out of the womb holding a pair of stillsons, a wrench to you. I trained at Manchester Building College studying all the trades.

I have bought 3 new house in my life and had no problems I couldn?t fix, I have personally fitted out plumbing and heating in around 1500 house, some new house, some existing, my father-in-law dead now was perhaps one of the best plasterers I have ever known, is work was picture book stuff.

I am now a Chartered Building Services Engineer and work mainly on commerce and industrial equipment providing condition reports on heating and ventilation plant ? so I come with just a few building industry credentials.

To put you in the picture the general tradesman who works on housing compared to commerce is usually and not always third rate, he would not normally get a job outside the housing sector because of the low level quality of his work. There is also the problem with builders who mainly but not always use sub-contract labour, and not always but sometimes the subcontractor may also use subcontract labour [ CAN YOU SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING]. The rate of pay or cost per house for say plumbing will be cut to the bone and someone who has nothing better to do will do your plumbing system, most of it hidden from view.

Now, you can perhaps see that if this trait - like rings on a tree run through the construction of your house built for you [YOU CAN SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING].


I must apologise if I appear smart this because I am 61 and when the phone rings and a stranger answers from a far distant land and says I have won a holiday - I tell them to P - - O - - ., you will understand - I am no fool.

Your story is a sad one, but if I raise a few points I hope you won?t be offended and this site is supposed to be constructive.

Why expose yourself to ?6000.00 deposit wouldn't a grand do!
Why wait 9 months more than the promise date
Why did you not cancel?
I cannot see any court in the land making you complete with masses of snags
there is a contract that you signed before completion, builder contracted to
build you a house, not shed!!!
Why some many solicitors??? Please tell us!


It appears to me that both you and your solicitorssss lost control of the situation, once a builder knows he can mess you about and I could think of more aggressive text, he will mess out about. I would come down heavy on your first solicitor, he gave you bad advice. He will have PI go for it! he should have never let you complete.

The fact the company you are dealing with is massive makes not one fig of difference, Incidentally , how much money did you make in the 9 months you were waiting for the house to be built, or did the builder put the cost up each month.

I would do what another writer said somewhere on the site, ?If thine eyes offend thee, tear them out?, sell the shed and move on, and the next time do like everybody else does, make the same mistakes again, there is a lesson for all of use here.

There isn't even a funny side to all of this, this is yours and your childrens home, you are perhaps someone who as not a clue about the building industry like many and that?s what this first class website is all about, helping people, if I could have helped you back in 2002 I would FOC, you now know the builder you bought your house from is a bum, make sure everybody knows about it.

Incidentally, if you do move on and you sell the house to Mr & Mrs Jones just pray they don?t get someone smart to snag the house, Farnell if the snags are mainly cosmetic use this Bank Holiday Weekend to smarten them up and keep your Doris quiet.

I whole domestic housing market stinks as you have found out, but there are some good builders out there, it?s just finding him. If you have any problems that you want advice on except decorating, I hate it, just leave a message requesting my email and I will help you all I can.

Good Luck to both you and Tay - Captian Cook has said what I have in two lines!


Tony Hughes