Just after I moved into my new build with Persimmon, I wrote a persimmons homes review – this post about our good and bad experience as Persimmon get a lot of bad press and I know many of you are asking yourself ‘Should I buy a Persimmon home’.
This is just an honest Persimmon Homes review of our experience with the things that have gone wrong. Some of these could be argued as general wear and tear, but I’ll leave that decision to you. You could also argue that when spending over £300k on a brand new house, you would expect a better quality job done. Buying a house is a big deal and most people work hard saving enough to afford a mortgage, stamp duty and all the other fees so it can be very upsetting when you run into problems.
I’ve never bought a new build from any other company, so Persimmon Homes is my only experience. From what I can tell, the problems I’ve had are very common against all new builds. It’s just that Persimmon Homes is the biggest so gets more complaints than a smaller company.
Here are the problems we have had with our Persimmon Home in the past 18 months:
Persimmon Build Quality
Persimmon Homes is one of the largest housebuilders in the United Kingdom. As with any large company, opinions and experiences with their build quality can vary. Some homeowners may have had positive experiences with the build quality of Persimmon Homes properties, while others may have had negative experiences.
It’s important to note that build quality can depend on several factors, including the specific development, the individual construction team, and the quality control processes in place. It’s always a good idea to research and gather information about a particular development or speak with homeowners who have purchased from Persimmon Homes to get a better understanding of their experiences (most have Facebook community pages – join them and ask!)
Persimmon Homes has faced criticism and scrutiny in the past regarding their build quality and customer service. In 2018, they were fined by the UK government for poor-quality homes and inadequate customer service. This led to increased attention on their construction practices and a commitment from the company to improve standards.
To make an informed decision, it’s advisable to thoroughly research any builder you’re considering, including reading reviews, visiting their developments, and, if possible, speaking with current homeowners. It’s also a good idea to commission an independent survey or inspection of the property before purchasing to identify any potential issues.
Remember, every homebuilder can have variations in build quality, and it’s important to consider multiple factors when making a decision about purchasing a property.
Here’s my experience.
Doors
In my first post, I did speak about how we had a lot of issues with doors. Either not being flush or being wonky. These issues were fixed at the time.
Since then, my partner has replaced all the screws in the hinges as the doors kept tilting slightly as the screws were really small. He replaced them with longer screws and now they are much better. We believe the wood in the door frames is of poor quality, which was why it was coming away and needed longer screws, but this isn’t a professional opinion, just how it looked to us when replacing them. A combination of small screws in cheap wood.
The front and back door also both stick. The metal plate around the door handle and lock on the back door wobbles.
Bath sealant
The bath sealant started having gaps in it, my partner had to redo it all stop water from getting into it.
Cracks in the walls.
We have had a few small cracks in some of the walls, this is normal as the house settles.
The stairs.
The bannister started coming away from the wall and the skirting board was also coming away near the top steps. The paint is also cracking all down the skirting board.
We asked the site manager to fix it and he has since sent workers around to sort the bannister and skirting board. They hadn’t done the bannister properly, the joist hadn’t been put into the wall so it wasn’t staying in place. The joiner had to re-do it and he also screwed the skirting board back in.
Then the plaster came to skim the wall. We are now waiting for a painter to come and paint it. Edit to update: It’s now October 2021 now and nobody ever came to skim and paint the wall!
Radiator in the bedroom.
This isn’t really a fault but just something that is annoying, the radiator in the bedroom is tiny, it’s the same size as the one in the bathrooms, but the radiator in the living room is about 3 times as long, meaning the living room is roasting but the bedroom is hard to warm up.
This has been an issue when it’s been really cold outside, and I’ve wanted to keep the bedroom at 20c at night for my newborn baby. We don’t usually use the heating at night.
The walls.
Lumps in the plaster
The walls have small lumps that haven’t been sanded down smooth, so when we eventually got around to painting, we had to go around and sand all these bits down first.
The part you couldn’t paint over
I’m not even sure what to call this, but in the bedroom, there was a strip of plaster that the paint wouldn’t take to. As if they had gone over it with something other than paint and it took a few extra coats to get the paint to stick to it.
Frog tape pulling paint off
We used gorilla tape when painting around door frames and the ceiling and it pulled the paint off when we removed the Frog tape.
Plaster crumbling when hanging things
The walls are just crap, often when trying to hang something, the plaster would crumble and then the hole would get too big to put the plug in the wall, and we would have to make a new hole.
The Kitchen.
The kickboards fell down under the kitchen cabinets. They were just leant on, not fixed in at all.
Under the cabinets were disgusting. It would have taken 2 minutes to sweep the floor before installing the kitchen, instead, they just left it. There was dust, wire offcuts, screws, plug covers and loads of debris.
The dustpan and brush show what was under just the oven. It was like this under every cupboard. This just screams lack of detail and laziness. This is a job that could have been easily done and checked. I honestly have no idea what the Persimmon Homes management check before signing each house off, but their standards are low.
The garden.
Uneven fence.
We put decking in the garden and when we did this, we raised how uneven the fence was! It’s totally off compared to the decking and its a bit of a mess. Pretty sure the boundaries to the house aren’t this shape!
As you can see in the photo, the fence is not in line with the decking.
Grass poor quality
We got our grass done for free as part of an incentive, and it’s pretty rubbish. It’s like they’ve just thrown grass rolls over soil that’s full of rubble. It’s uneven, it doesn’t drain so pools of water collect when it’s raining, you can feel bumps and lumps when walking on it in bare feet and when we dug down to put the decking in, we pulled out lots of rock, nails, tile and other bits of rubble. There’s a decent amount of space in the yard for storage. If the grass were evened up a bit, you could probably fit a little 10ft trampoline in there to keep the kids entertained.
Lack of drainage
As I said above, there’s a lack of draining in the grass so water pools. There is an area of the garden in particular that becomes swamp link during spring and if we have a lot of summer rain. July/August 2023 has been wet so far, and this has turned into a swamp.
The site manager
As always the site manager has been helpful and fixed any of the issues we have reported, even at this stage. He also gave us two skips and some gravel to put on the foundation for our shed.
Persimmon changing house plans
The biggest issue we have. Persimmon has applied for planning permission to change the houses that are due to be built behind us. Originally, there was meant to be bungalows behind us but now they have applied to amend it to two-story houses, so our garden and house will be overlooked. The sales rep told us that our house was £5000 more expensive than the same house elsewhere because the garden was not overlooked.
The sales rep also let us down again, a different one, as when we found out we went to see her. She said she would get the office to call us to discuss as we are unhappy about paying the extra money. £5000 turns into a lot when you think of all the interest. But as we don’t have anything in writing about this, it was just what the sales rep told us, they are probably not going to do anything unless we really fight hard for it.
We haven’t heard yet if the planning permission has been granted, a lot of people have written in to complain about it.
I am thinking of painting our front door. I don’t think you’re supposed to paint your Persimmons Home front door until they hand it over as they like them all to be white, but lots of people on our estate have painted their front door, so I might just go for it!
If you want to add some extra style and vibrancy to your house decor, consider investing in neon signs. Neon signs are an increasingly popular way to add a modern and eye-catching aesthetic to any living space. Not only do these signs look great, but they also have some added benefits that help create a unique ambiance in a room that traditional lighting solutions cannot replicate.
So that’s our updated experience with Persimmon Homes. We are lucky that there are no major issues with our home, but it’s disappointing that a lot seems to be down to shoddy work by the contractors on the site.
If you want to read more recent Persimmons Reviews, then check out the Persimmon Homes Trustpilot.
How to make a complaint to Persimmons Homes
If you want to make a complaint to Persimmons Homes, try this email: land@persimionhomes.co.uk
Somebody commented and said it goes to all departments – I’ve not tried it myself but I know how frustrating it can be when you are not getting anywhere. Give it a go and let me know if you get anywhere with it!
If are you considering buying a new home from Persimmons, then read my blog post – should I buy a new build home?
New Build Homes FAQ
Can You Paint A New Build?
It’s recommended to wait a year before painting to allow the house to settle. This may cause cracks in the walls and ceilings. If you have painted, then you will need to repaint once the cracks have been filled in.
Persimmon Homes What Comes As Standard?
A brand new fitted kitchen, bathroom suite, and in some cases, an en suite come as standard. You have to pay extra for carpets and flooring. You can also pay extra for upgrades to the kitchen and bathrooms for better-quality fittings.
Related:
Buying a house is a great investment but oh so expensive. I know in UK its even more insane!
Candice x
theblogsocial.com
If I was moving into a new build I would expect things to be near perfect and not have the problems you’ve had but I have heard horror stories about new builds. I am glad you’ve been able to get just about everything fixed but I would be really annoyed about the other houses being built overlooking your garden x
Persimmon have had permission to throw up, sorry, build, a ridiculous amount of houses close to us. No suitable infrastructure, destruction to wildlife but our council has happily given planning permission. Despite housing locally being empty.
None of them have solar panels/batteries, heat pumps or grey water tanks – things I would expect from a new build today. Why aren’t councils insisting on these measures? Too many kick-backs maybe?
They’re a huge company that are in the business of making a profit obviously, but they clearly don’t give a fig about the environment. Nor do they care about the conditions their buyers live in. Gardens too small, not enough off-road parking, houses simply too close together.
Before you buy any new build I’d urge people to look at recently built estates after 5pm. Winding roads with cars parked on pavements is off-putting alone. Talk to some owners. Most with have valid complaints.
Definitely looks like some shady work done by the contractors but it is still Persimmon’s responsibility as they were the ones supposed to monitor their contractors. It is nice that at least the site manager was helpful and responded to your calls even after some time but then again you called him for good reason. Very disappointing about the sale representative telling you that you are paying 5 ooo pounds more because the house and garden wasn’t overlooked only for them to go back on their word and sell the land to a building instead of bungalows. Sorry to hear about your bad experiences, but you definitely made the right decision by buying your own home. Some people are put off from buying their home, because the mortgage process can be scary, but any renting option is always just money down the drain, something to avoid if possible. For example, our mortgage is very high, but I still think living in your own home is worth it and pays off in the long run even I obviously have to economize to meet monthly payments.
We didn’t have any issues with our new house so far, but my husband supervised all the workers and contractors himself. He was with them the entire time, every day of the week. That wouldn’t have been possible if he wasn’t retired or knowledgeable enough to supervise them, so for most people that isn’t really an opinion. For example, I was there with them as often as work permitted me but I’m not really knowledge enough to spot all the mistakes. If it wasn’t for him, there would probably be some issues with our home. A lot of people I know have complained to me that as soon as you leave the contractors or workers alone, they mess thing up or do a sloppy job. But then again only someone who is retired can afford the time to be there with them all the time and even then you have to know something about construction.
Oh my goodness I would have been furious with these issues if they had been on our house! We had an independent inspector come round and verify everything on our house before we moved in – he put lots of markers everywhere but it was little things like paint needing a touch up mostly. We did have an issue with one of the light switches not working but when they came to fix that they made a hole in the wall, which I was a little annoyed about although it was necessary, until the painter came round for his final checks and fixed it up for us, score! haha!
We were lucky we could drop by and check often how things were going – we didn’t always make an appointment but they were happy to see us, and due to the climate a couple years ago we actually got our house built quicker than expected as there wasn’t a lot of building going on, which was nice!
it’s good that they fixed these problems for you but it’s so frustrating they were there in the first place – I hope you don’t get the neighbours overlooking you like you hadn’t planned for too!
Wow! I’m shocked. We bought an “old” house (a few decades old, not enough to be Victorian, but neither new) and, of course, it had some issues. Nobody lived in the house for an year too, which added to the problems. But, we paid less, considering how much work we put in, and I have to say some of the issues were similar to yours. I think it’s appalling to have this kind of issues so soon after the house was built.
Buying a house is a major investment and with a new build, you would expect the quality to be better. It’s such an inconvenience to have to deal with such issues. That is the one thing I really don’t enjoy about being a homeowner.
A few points
Persimmon are known to cut corners.
The rep wanted their commission that’s why they told you that.
Quality is poor as it’s pile high make profit.
Why gorilla tape on the wall?!
It’s called gorilla tape for a reason, I’m not surprised it took the paint off, it’s designed to grip!
Run once you have money.
Sorry you’ve experienced this but it’s more prevalent than you think.
It was Frog tape, my mistake!
Tardy to the party as always, but would be keen to know how you guys are doing now (Nov. ’22).
We’ve recently bought a Persimmon new build (June ’22), and generally we’ve not had any real problems (snag list was 17 items, and if I remember 10 of those were issues with paint / plaster work so nothing really), the other 7 were really minor (read: me being pernickety).
From lots of Googling and reading reviews about lots of builders, your problems, like mine, seem to be very typical and no matter who builds your house these things happen (bearing in mind that the builders aren’t Persimmon, they are contractors so it’s generally the same guys that build everyone’s house, of course materials quality does play a role).
The biggest issue I have with your story is of course the changing of plans (again, sadly not something too unusual, they are chasing the ££’s after all 🙁 )
Our site team have been brilliant, and I must admit if I ever need anything I text the site manager and he normally has someone out the same day to resolve it.
We have met other people on our estate who have some issues (again most minor), but their approach with the site team is to be quite abrupt and rude and then they wonder why people don’t respond to it.
Not sure if sweets, drinks (wine, beer & soft drinks) etc. for the site team and builders on handover day, and often offering cold drinks during the roasting summer we had this year helped ‘grease the wheels’ (I know it shouldn’t, but we figured that, not only was it a nice thing to do, but the people we may need help from would remember it (gotta ‘play the game’!)).
We were so tempted to buy through Persimmon because I just loved the fresh, brand new look of them. However, we had heard so many horror stories and like you said, they’re expensive. I’m so sorry you’ve had all these problems within 18 months 🙁 At least you have a decent site manager, I have heard from a few people local to me that theirs are so slack and problems take forever to get sorted. Fingers crossed that planning permission doesn’t go ahead behind your house, god I would be just as mad as you! x
Megan Elizabeth
What A Let Down – I Mean A Real Bummer – For That Kind Of Hard Earned Money, You All Got The Shaft – Obviously I Can Not Prove This, But The Deck/Fence Is The Indicator That The House Wasn’t Built Square For The Start – Highly Recommend You Have These Issued Resolved Soon And Sell – From The Replies Above, Problems Will Continue To Arise – I Mean What Is Next, PLUMBING?? Stay Strong
Cheers
One of my close friends bought through Persimmon a couple of years ago & she said they’ve been rubbish! Makes me sad because you’re trusting someone with such a big thing. House buying isn’t an easy decision to make. I’ve got everything crossed that planning permission doesn’t go ahead.
Claire.X
http://www.clairemac.co.uk
Yeah it really is frustrating. We have been quite lucky as our issues have been fixed quickly!
I was actually told not buy with persimmon when I looked at houses from people I know..I’d be absolutely fuming if I spent all that money on a home and had even half of these issues. So sorry you’ve experienced this!
We’ve been lucky that the issues that we have reported have been fixed. It’s just shoddy work.
Unfortunately with all house builders your generally have the same experiance in some way as the large groups like persimmon who own multiple housing brands put profit and building them as quick as possible ahead of quality.
We’re friends with both a ex persimmon and ex taylor wipey site managers now retired that admitted they used to go home crying sometimes because they the cared about their teams onsite and contractors alot who head office would put under immense time pressure and deadlines to complete jobs which would normally take twice as long in the short 6 week build period and if they were late they would get financial penalties off the contract and sometimes be prevented from bidding for the work on the next build phase and replaced by other lower bidders who could cut corners.
not a nice environment to work in always buy from local independent house builders luckily here in Somerset we’ve got alot of those that do quality over quantity.
For complaints try land@persimionhomes.co.uk
Goes to all departments..
Thanks! I’e updated my post with this information – hopefully can help someone.
We are visiting a Persimmon development at Germany Beck this week considering buying in this development in Fulford, York. Can anyone advise us what questions to ask when we are there? Many thanks