Miller Homes Build Quailty \ Customer Services

[FishThrower]

Hi all,

Miller Homes are in a middle of a development in St Neots, I am very interested in one of their detached houses.

Can someone tell me the overall quality and customer care of Miller Homes? I have been told that they are one of the better developers, but I would like another opinion.

I am looking at this forum and there isn't a lot of posts regarding Miller Homes which must be a plus side, the last post was Jan 2012 which is also promising, other boards on this forum (e.g. Persimmon) are swarmed with complaints!

I am aware that most of it is down to the 3rd party subcontractors, and each development site can vary a lot.

If I do make a offer on the property, I am planning on knocking on everyones door in the estate to get a idea if they have had any major problems.

thanks for reading

 

[NewHomeExpert]

First of all you are correct that Miller Homes do tend to build better quality new homes than the likes of Persimmon!
In fact Miller win more NHBC Quality Awards than any other large house builder based on the total number of homes they build each year.

That's the good news. Whilst they may give you a better house to start with I don't believe the customer care after sales is any better than any other house builder.

As with any new hoke you shoudl thorougky do your research. You have made a good start by reading posts on this forum.
You should, also check out my website [url]www.brand-newhomes.co.uk[/URL] for more information.

You should be asking people who have already bought on the development BEFORE you reserve not afterwards.
And if you do go ahead and buy a new home don't use any solicitor the builder suggests or recommends.
Get your new home professionally inspected by a snagging inspector BEFORE you legally complete.

One final word of warning, trust no one especially the house builder's sales advisors!

 

[AndyKay]

We moved into the Birkacre Park development in December 2013 - my experience of Miller Homes has been positive, whilst there was initially an issue with water finding it's way into our attached garage, they resolved it quickly and without fuss and have been extremely helpful at the regional office, site office and the builders on site, even going so far as to knock on the door when they noticed our exterior light was a little rusty to let us know they'd ordered us a new one and to offer other advice from time to time.
After hearing so many horror stories about newbuilds and builders over the years, it's been a pleasant surprise to be honest.
My only gripe is that the site wasn't wired up for fibre optic broadband (and still isn't) but after talking to the regional office earlier today they've offered to have a word with BT / Openreach to see if there's anything they can do.
So yeah - well built and helpful in my experience but I guess a lot of it will come down to the staff on the site you are looking at

 

[NewHomeExpert]

If only I had a £1 for every time I am asked "who build the best new homes?" I would be rich, rich I tell you!
I am not a huge fan of new homes in general, but if your really must buy one, Miller would be my suggestion.

They win the most number of NHBC Quality Awards as a proportion to the overall total number of new homes they build each year.
This means that more of their Site Managers really care and build quality new homes.
The CEO is Keith Miller so he should care that his name is not dragged through the mud too.
They are also a privately owned company and not a listed plc, so do not have to focus 100% on financial performance or share price targets at the expesne of quality as the likes of Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey Bovis etc do.

Companies that look after and appreciate their staff tend to have a happy workforce that are prepared to go the extra mile.
A rusty external light looks bad for prospective purchasers, let's hope the replacement is stainless steel though!

As for broadband, connection, this seems to be a theme on this and other forums at the moment. Some new home owners can get connected whilst others on the same development wait in vain for months. It would appear BT Open Reach are the cause and all your anger should be directed at them!
Don't just leave it for your builder to chase!

 

[AndyKay]

To be honest Miller have been my last attempt in trying to get some answer around the question of Fibre, I've been onto the lancashire broadband consortium Superfast Lancs, BT and Openreach themselves with no success - "not in any current rollout plans" is the constant refrain.
To their credit, the lady at the Miller regional office in Newton Le Willows promised to go and see what she could find out and duly rang me back within the hour to say that she had spoken to their head office and that they agreed that it was an issue and was being taken up with Openreach "at the highest level" - apparently Openreach have to make a quarterly report to the UK home building industry body with regards to what they are doing to resolve it.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

The statutory authorities: Water, Gas, Electricity and Telephone have been a problem for house builders and in particular, site managers for many years.

 

[justinitus]

BT Openreach are utterly useless so I feel your pain.

When we moved in, they cancelled their appointment as they said the cabling hadn't been laid to the house. When I emailed them a photo of me holding the coiled up cable outside our house they still refused to do anything as they said there was no cabinet installed yet. When I then emailed them photos of not only the cabinet but also their engineer wiring up my next door neighbours house they relented and sent someone round 2 weeks later to install our line.

They then told us we couldn't get Inifinity on our development - due the cabling being old. Then, when I pointed out it was all new, they said the exchange wasn't set up for fibre. Then, when I pointed out our previous house 200m away off the same exchange had fibre, they then said it was due to the local cabinet in the estate not being enabled for fibre.

Now I've discovered that 2 of the neighbours - off the same cabinet and who moved in around the same time as us - have infinity, they say the fibre board in the cabinet is full!!

 

[NewHomeReviews]

In my life, I have yet to meet anyone with anything good to say about BT Openreach.