Taylor Wimpey what to expect and haggling.....?

Taylor Wimpey what to expect and haggling.....?

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superlightr

12,842 posts

262 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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550Anniv said:
...Thanks for all your comments with this guys, greatly appreciated.
The house we are looking at is at the end of one of those little 'spur roads' off the road that runs
through the development. So the front is not over looked (it faces a green space) and as its the end plot
I have spacing for two cars outside my house, and two behind (so four in total).
The garden is a sensible size (ie not a postage stamp) but then again, I am not a gardener but do like a
outside space for entertaining, and the garden is west facing.
There is a four bed detached behind us, so a little over looked but then again, that comes with a new development.
I have also located the social housing, and it is not on my side of the development.

I am really torn as what to do. A new house appeals with is energy saving ect, and its in the right location. I guess
it may be worth getting a good company to do a snagging report before we move in..?
We look after quite a few new builds as rentals. about 30ish I would guess from all sort of builders- Minor issues are the snagging but annoying and time consuming the main issues that come back time and again is the parking also social housing issues and noise generally. Gardens turfed and but under is full of crap and has to be re-dug out and soil put back. Gardens flooding/poor drainage. Do you have any rightmove links/maps etc?

my main worry if living there would be the garden, parking issues and tight access roads. Snagging gets sorted the other are features of the location.

Edited by superlightr on Tuesday 26th September 14:56

papa3

1,407 posts

186 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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superlightr said:
Gardens turfed and but under is full of crap and has to be re-dug out and soil put back. Gardens flooding/poor drainage.
I forgot about the garden! As above this was an issue. Paid to have the garden turfed and it lasted well enough through the summer but on the first hint of heavy rain it was like a river. Had to dig it up, put down soil and add soak aways.

timbo999

1,287 posts

254 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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Don't forget that you'll have to buy all the things that New Builds don't come with, that older houses often do...

Floor coverings (although as others have said these can often be negotiated in)
Light fittings (including bulbs!)
Curtain rails
Towel rails
Loo roll holders
TV aerials
Gas fires (usually the surround is included, but the actual fire isn't)

These add to the cost/hassle when you move in; even if you don't like the items in an older house you can change them at your leisure.

Not to say don't go for it - I have a number of times and would again - just go in eyes open.



Edited by timbo999 on Tuesday 26th September 17:57

soupdragon1

3,966 posts

96 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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Chris Hinds said:
As others have said it will depend on the level of interest in the development. We reserved a plot with David Wilson Homes back in April this year and will move in at the end of October. It will be our second new build from DWH in the same village.

With our first we bought in 2010 and got 5% off and all our flooring included throughout. With the new house we have no incentives of any kind but have actually ended up doing a part-exchange after our buyer pulled out.

I will say we did research the development for months before deciding to buy - different house styles, where the affordable housing was going to be located, measuring drive widths on plans etc etc. In order to get the plot we wanted I was outside the sales centre at 4am on launch day waiting for them to open. Some will think that’s mad but once you’ve decided what you want and is right for you, why not go for it?

I’ve seen already posts about massively overlooked plots near social housing with a garden the size of a postage stamp. It’s true - you can find plots like that on all estates. We picked carefully and have a corner plot, it’s not huge but for the same amount of money as we are spending, the equivalent priced houses in the village are either
  1. Smaller house with a bigger garden
  2. Bigger house without a garden
  3. Same size house with a similar garden but needing work
You pays your money and takes your compromise... good luck whatever you decide to do.
Outside the sale centre at 4am isn't too crazy, you've gotta do what you gotta do.

When we bought our 1st house, they were being released on a Monday morning....6 houses released for 1st phase. I called past the site office on the Friday afternoon to see what I needed to do on Monday morning to get a house.

He says 'do you see those 2 cars there? That's the queue'

Hmmmnnnn.....so I guess I better just stay here then lol.

So I sat in the car from Friday afternoon to Monday morning. At least my friends and family are all in the same town so I got plenty of food/beer deliveries over the weekend smile

JulietRomeo

213 posts

146 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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timbo999 said:
Don't forget that you'll have to buy all the things that New Builds don't come with, that older houses often do...

Loo roll holders

These add to the cost/hassle when you move in;

Edited by timbo999 on Tuesday 26th September 17:57
Don't bother buying those self standing Metallic units which hold 3-4 rolls, none of your visitors will lightly pull at the roll and the damn things topple over as the cog is way too high even with rolls stored. Save yourself £80,(err 4 baths) and just buy the wall mounted simple horizontal holder ...screw it into a grout line as opposed to risking drilling with a special tile drill tip.

Don't let the mrs get wind as she will insist on the floor standers....I resent the outlay every time I see the buggers.

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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Bought a Bellway Coach House two years ago.

Snags have been:

Leaky pipe on Radiator, fixed before I moved in.
Some paint marks on brickwork in Carport/garage, again noticed by developers before I moved in.

Blocked drain outside.
A Central heating valve servo packed up, leaving heating on all the time.
A dripping shower after about a year (washer needed replacing).
The rainwater grates outside on the boundary were beginning to break due to the weight of cars driving over them.

That is all, so hardly the massive snag list you would expect from a new build. Compared to other properties in the price bracket, it has two good size double bedrooms, and the two carport/garages underneath, both belonging to me. New build Coach houses on the development, are now going for £260K+. That is £40k more than I paid, and they don't have the same bedroom layout, aren't detached, and don't have the same parking as mine. It proves that if you get a new build at the right time you won't lose out. On the flip side, I know someone who bought aTaylor Wimpey appartment, and that has had loads of snags.

kurt535

3,559 posts

116 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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have you checked how close the social houses 'to rent' are? plus don't buy opposite the planned parks/swings, etc

frisbee

4,957 posts

109 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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I bought a Taylor Wimpey house when it was a few years old. Its been fine.

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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On my development there was supposed to be Social Housing (it was marked out on the plans on the council planning portal), however I was told that because a large number of buyers had bought with Help to Buy, this met some criteria, which meant that they didn't have to honour the Social Housing element. As a result none of the houses on the previous phase or the phase I am on has any social housing at all.

550Anniv

Original Poster:

381 posts

221 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
.... I think we will go and have another visit over the weekend. I will not be having the back garden turfed/ landscaped as I don’t mind doing that myself, and it gives me the chance to remove all the builders rubble!
With regards extra’s we have not seen an options list yet ( although asked for twice) but if it’s sill money, I will get trades in to do them later ( or myself) as I refuse to be pay over the odds. I know that may bring more stress while getting settled, but at least I should get better quality goods at a sensible cost.

For anyone interested the development in called “The Shires” and its three miles from Worcester city centre heading towards Droitwich.
Thanks for all your help and assistance guys.

BigBen

11,610 posts

229 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
550Anniv said:
.... I think we will go and have another visit over the weekend. I will not be having the back garden turfed/ landscaped as I don’t mind doing that myself, and it gives me the chance to remove all the builders rubble!
With regards extra’s we have not seen an options list yet ( although asked for twice) but if it’s sill money, I will get trades in to do them later ( or myself) as I refuse to be pay over the odds. I know that may bring more stress while getting settled, but at least I should get better quality goods at a sensible cost.

For anyone interested the development in called “The Shires” and its three miles from Worcester city centre heading towards Droitwich.
Thanks for all your help and assistance guys.
You can haggle on the options, although generally for bigger stuff like hard flooring they weren't so bad but stuff like £90 to turn a single socket into a double was a pisstake so needed reducing.

M3333

2,258 posts

213 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
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We have just bought a 30 year old Barratt house after spending months looking at brand new and less than 10 year old homes. Some of the estates we viewed intially looked nice but when going back on evenings and weekends was very over crowded and unpleasant. Social housing was an issue too...

Its been a compromise but we are very happy.

House is on a lovely plot, drive extended for 5 cars easily, not over looked, plot size is more generous than anything today (they would have 2 houses on the same plot now). Street only has 8 houses all detached and ours is only the second one to ever sell as we bought from the original owners who downsized as their kids flew the nest.

We have a small amount of modernisation to do but feel we have got an awful lot for our money. These houses are a bit old fashioned so probably dont appeal to those wanting brand new but you get an awful lot more in much nicer surroundings.

This is in County Durham btw in a small market town, not sure how the same applies in the south.

Edited by M3333 on Wednesday 27th September 07:58

Dave_ST220

10,288 posts

204 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
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Purchased a TW (was GW back then) house back in 2009. Purchased off plan, the 1st of the second phase & got ~25% off £335k asking (the down turn had hit them hard).

House was fine, you can't say "TW houses are st" as each site uses different contractors and it's down to the site manager. Snag list was minimal with small cosmetic things which were all sorted within a week or 2. We had a good sized plot so again you can't say all new build have no gardens or parking (large 5 bed with detached double garage)

I'd say three things to you :-

Social Housing
Social Housing
Social Housing

Things were fine for a few years then they decided to change all the plans of later phases to have 40% social! It was basically a glorified council estate when we left. Thankfully we didn't lose money (in hindsight we should have sold & rented as we had sold for near TW's original asking price at one point!) but I would never ever go near a new build development again (unless there were guarantees of zero social housing on current & any future phases).

We now live in a 1970's house (which has poorer build quality than the TW new build!) which has been gutted/extended & couldn't be happier. The dream that turned into a nightmare is finally over.

I'm sorry if this comes across as "snobby" or anti (!) social housing but if you had been through what we had you would understand 100%.

Think long & hard OP.

Stupeo

1,343 posts

192 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
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We have a TW house that we bought 5.5 years ago. In terms of quality and snags etc, whether you have a list as long as your arm depends on your site manager.

We bought the last available house, the site manager was using the garage as his office and there was about a dozen things - mainly fixtures and fittings which was all resolved within a week of notifying them. Very impressed.

We are lucky we are on a small development - 100 houses with very little social.

The downside is the doubling ground rent every 10 years... frown

KTF

9,788 posts

149 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
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Stupeo said:
The downside is the doubling ground rent every 10 years... frown
Ah yes, thats another thing. Run far away if it isnt a freehold property.

HantsRat

2,368 posts

107 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
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Taylor Wimpey are one of the worst. Bellway have been great. Only a couple of snags, A nice sized garden and ample off road parking and freehold.

KTF

9,788 posts

149 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
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I notice now that with (I believe) a change in planning so a 3 bed house must have 2 car off road parking, developers are simply moving the garage back into the garden to enable a double length drive out front rather than the more traditional side by side option.

Example:

Dave_ST220

10,288 posts

204 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
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HantsRat said:
Taylor Wimpey are one of the worst. Bellway have been great. Only a couple of snags, A nice sized garden and ample off road parking and freehold.
Like I said, you can't simply say X are rubbish while Y are great. Individual sites are what matter.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.bellway.co.uk

joestifff

778 posts

105 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
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I'll answer your original question first regarding haggling. Depends on many factors, such as how they are selling, if it is one of the last etc. You can't be the first to put a deposit down and expect anything off or anything free. However, if there is only one left on site, they will want rid, they want to be off site and onto the next, so you can haggle like mad, also depends on your situation, cash in the bank, no mortgage, you'll get a good deal. Part ex a house, you'll pay full whack.

It is so site dependant. Just ask. Personally I would ask for money off rather than a free fridge.

As for the way the thread is going regarding people hating or loving new builds, here is my 2 cents:

So many pros and cons. Depends on your age, needs and wants, everyone is different.

We bought are TW house 3 years ago now. It has been great so far, couple of snag items, but that is to be expected with brand new.

I really struggle when people say "you're paying a premium for new" and "you'll lose money if you sell it straight away".

No st Sherlock! It's a brand new house, with a brand new kitchen, bathrooms, carpets etc. It is not a 25 year old house that has had all the snagging done and needs £25k for a new kitchen and couple of bathrooms.

But quality really depends on the site manager, nothing to do with the brand, all down to who they employ to throw those bricks up and plaster the walls.

As for social housing, you can't avoid it on a new build. We made sure ours was as far away as possible.

Fortunately, and again this is site specific, the social lot seem to be more normal and down to earth than a few other owners on the estate, who think they are gods and up their own backsides.

Really depends what you want from a house, for us, we wanted somewhere we could start a family, so wanted good location, no maintenance or building work. New builds ticked the boxes.

Obviously they lack character, gardens aren't huge, parking is tight.

But as I say to my mate who bhes about them, better my house than his Victorian semi with no foundations, no insulation, no parking, neighbour issues, but tonnes of character.

Remember kids, character costs money, and at my time in life (mid 30s) I couldn't give a st. I work, I play, I don't have time for DIY.

When I am older though, and have more equity to play with, something with character, needs a bit of work and a large garden will be ideal.

TallTony

375 posts

204 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
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I bought a TW house in 2011, overall it was a pleasant experience. We came in just hours after the previous sale had fallen through for the second time and got 8.5% discount plus stamp duty paid and carpets/flooring. I got the impression that I would have got the stamp duty and carpets anyway but they definitely sweated over the discount.

There was snagging to be completed, some of it was costly but I had no issue with them sorting it. To be fair I researched everything first and made it clear that I understood the warranty contract and their obligations etc. I was also really nice to them, something they commented upon as many others had been nasty and angry.

I see there is talk about social housing, there is a lot on the estate and actually that includes both my neighbours. I have experienced no problems, both sides are perfect neighbours but I know there have been issues elsewhere on the estate so appreciate I am lucky.

The only real problems have been parking. Our estate has 2 apartment blocks of which only something like 30% have allocated parking. TW were telling buyers with no allocated spaces that they could just park on the roads around the estate – thanks for that! It becomes chaos quickly and is compounded because garages on many new builds are small too so few people actually use them for cars.