Bryant homes won't supply building plans - is this normal?

[F]

No, but I'd have a good idea as to whether or not the answer sounded 'reasonable'. They don't go to the expense of rendering odd houses without good reason...

[The Natural Philosopher]

It may be no more than a question of making houses 'look different'

[Doctor Drivel]

Yep. They don't guarantee the plot and house size. You could end up with a garden 3/4 the size on the promotional material, or a different size. Get a surveyor to visit and measure out the plot and house, preferably with site manager in attendance. They will say they don't recognise the measurements. Send a letter to them and they will not respond. By not responding they may have accepted the plot and house size by default.

[Andy Champ]

Our last house is half rendered.

In the rendered parts the construction is some kind of extra-thick insulation block with polystyrene (I think!) insulation in the middle, rather than a cavity wall.

Sometimes it *is* just done for effect.

Andy

[Dan Green]

Incidentally, the property in question is a 4 bedroom link-detached house in the Pavilions development, Southmead, Bristol. Admittedly it is in a dodgy area of town but the sale price is =A3237k. Surely this price is good value for money? A very similar house next door sold for =A3300k. How much would you pay for such a property?

Do you expect it to go into negative equity, if at all?

[Huge]

Oh, dear.

My parents bought a house from Bryant Homes, and as a result, I would never do business with them. I still remember walking around the Acrow props on the ground floor, some 40 years later.

[Huge]

My house is brick downstairs & rendered over thermalite up. Done entirely for cost reasons, AFAIK, since the bricks are hand-made...

(And bleeding impossible to match. And incredibly soft.)

[Doki]

Looking at things around here, it seems to me that people have been pushed out of desirable city suburbs into satellite towns and less desirable suburbs. I certainly won't be buying property for a year or two yet, as the prices in outlying towns have absolutely jumped, and there's no way the locals can afford the kind of money houses now cost. As soon as your commuters / exiles go back to the city then your house prices will follow. Of course much of the boom is also driven by lack of supply, and as that problems solved, there's bound to be some slowdown.

OTOH I'm talking about North of Nottingham, not Bristol, but my view with all things is quality is quality and it's always worth something. A good house in a good area will always be worth a decent amout of cash, but during a big boom people begin to tolerate less "boxes ticked" just to be able to afford a place.

Do you know what the house is built on by the way? I've been to developments that are still being built, with completed houses already sinking...

[Martin Bonner]

It seems a bit unfair to judge todays company on the behaviour of its predeccor 40 years ago. It's quite possible that there is /nobody/ working for Bryant Homes now who was working for them then.

The world is a very different place to the way it was in 1968.

[Huge]

Quite possibly. Why should I care?

[Roger Mills]

If companies like that have changed in the intervening 40 years, it would probably be unwise to assume that any changes will have been for the

*better*!

[Clot]

I recall the era and steered away fron Bryants due to the state of their sites when wishing to buy a new home in the W Midlands. Bryants today is, I believe, just a brand name for TaylorWimpey.

[Clot]

Interesting. Are you able to elaborate? Are these Brownfield Sites that were former colliery areas?

[ARWadworth]

There is no reason to suspect that colliery areas are likely to sink.

Adam

[Huge]

Why would anyone buy a brand that says "Shoddy workmanship"?

[Clot]

I mentioned brownfield sites. Much development has been on the former surface workings areas of pits. I wondered whether there was an issue related to this.

[<me9]

Generally the mine workings were not directly under the site, just roads out from the shafts. Otherwise the stability of the shafts would be compromised.

*If* the shafts are corrctly capped there shouldn't be an issue.

[Clot]

Agreed, I was thinking about possibly disturbed land i.e. the reprofiling of a colliery tip and building on part of that.

[ARWadworth]

I am not sure about a colliery tip. I have never seen one that has anything built on one. I have watched, over the last 2 years, Grimethorpe tip been taken down piece by piece to make way for industrial units. The mine shafts and old shafts will be fine to build houses on.

Adam