Linden Homes upgrades

[Karen 1234]

My husband and I have recently reserved a Linden Home. We're considering upgrades in the kitchen and bathroom i.e. upgrade from single oven to double, possibly upgrading the worktop and hob. We'd also like the bathroom and ensuite flooring upgraded from vinyl to tiled. Has anyone visited a Linden Enhance studio and could give me a rough indication of upgrade costs? I know it's more expensive than employing tradesmen myself, I just don't know how much more.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

A shed load more money that's what.
And with Linden doing it you have no control over the quality too.
The fact they are a 4 star rated house builder and only averaged just 4 NHBC Quality Awards over the last six years says it all.

Why are you asking here? The extra price charged will depend solely on what you choose and Linden's commission-hungry sales advisor should QUOTE for it.
Perhaps at Linden, they just do it and come up with a figure at legal completion!

Don't forget as you are buying now at the WORST possible time at the top of the market, you could end up negative equity in around 18 months.

 

[Roo85]

Hi Karen. Here is the price list that we were given by Linden Enhance for upgrades. We felt that the prices weren't much different to what it would cost to get it done ourselves, but when you consider that Linden are saving the VAT (not quite sure how it works) they are making a healthy margin as you don't seem to see any discount.

One thing I would be mindful of is that you do have no control over the quality, and you don't necessarily get what you think you are going to get. We had this problem with some tiling and it is proving extremely difficult to get any kind of resolution. In short we wouldn't have paid for extra tiling had we known the poor standard the work would be completed to.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Linden saving the vat?
It works like this, you pay the vat to Linden, then thet give it to HMRC.

 

[Peterwicz]

What an unnecessarily obnoxious response NewHomeExpert.

If you refer to Linden's Enhance website you can clearly see that as Roo85 says they state that many items are sold VAT free.

 

[abbottswalk]

New Builds are Zero Rated for VAT, so extras put in during construction can also be zero rated.

Think I first found this out on a Grand Designs program where the owners built the 'extension' first before knocking through to the Old Water tower it was joined to and then the project became standard rated for VAT.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

What an unnecessarily obnoxious response NewHomeExpert.

If you refer to Linden's Enhance website you can clearly see that as Roo85 says they state that many items are sold VAT free.

Your first post and you chose to say this!

For your information, whether or not VAT is charged or not means nothing to Linden, they just collect the tax and pass it on to HMRC. The "point" being implied by Roo85 was that Linden are making more profit because of "saving the VAT"
Quite how my reply was "obnoxious" is beyond me, as I was only stating fact to someone who by their own admission was "not quite sure how it works"

Some items will be free of VAT as they are deemed part of the new house, for example more expensive wall tiling, extra sockets etc.
Others are considered as "fixtures and fittings" such as wardrobes and appliances VAT is due.
Abbotswood is correct about new homes being zero-rated and building work (and materials) to existing homes being subject to Vat.
If a builder builds a conservatory as an extra it should be zero-rated, if you build it after you move in you will pay VAT.

Linden's Enhance webpage states:
"As an added bonus, many of the products are exempt from VAT."

My reply is of more benefit to the forum than your first post Peterwitcz!

 

[Lora]

Hi there- even though you had this done some time ago would you be willing to share approx how much the final figure was? Are you generally pleased? Thanks .ps could not see your print outs.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Whatever you are referring to, this is unlikely to be applicable to your own personal requirements.
Linden will price the extras you require.
You then either accept or refuse them.
You can also ask for Linden's upgrade price list too.
My advice is, as always,
that "extras" are poor value for money and just one more thing for house builders to get wrong and badly complete.

 

[Andy-76]

Linden upgrades (Enhance)

I beleive you pay the upgrade cost over what Lindens have allowed in the original specification, for example your home comes with Karndean vinyl flooring but you would like ceramic tiles Lindens would discount the price they had allowed for the Karndean meaning you pay less for the ceramic tiles.
We ugraded the carpet to the heavier longer lasting alternative and it cost us £3-4 pounds a square metre (from memory), we had a large bespoke L-shape wardrobe system installed to our master bedroom including internal hanging/drawers etc which was cheaper than sourcing for ourselves and we are really happy with it.
If/when you visit enhance there is alot of choice and not enough time!
My advice would be to get over to Enhance as quickly as possible and you will hopefully have time to re-visit.