Rubbish!!!!!
Rubbish!!!!!! Don’t buy any house in this development!!Since 2022, we received the new house, there was no after-customer service or any reply. We paid for the additional works, but they didn’t do it. However, they did not help us and refused to refund. It has been two years I haven’t received any money until now
Lau Kay
Shambolic and unethical company with zero concern for how they are treating customers
Update to my previous review after a year.Still 3 showers that can't be fitted properly after so many incompetent trades visits it's incredible. Collapsing land to the side of the property goes unanswered. Roads are a disgrace and S38 years off. Still waiting for front step to be corrected after 18 months - they can't even organise a contractor to look at it. They underbuilt our parking by 50cm but apparently that's to plan and the complaints process an absolute joke, An absolute shambolic company with no customer service or care for the pain and misery that they are clearly putting everyone through from the reviews on here. When I look back at the brochure and the way our home was supposed to be buillt it really is just laughable. We've been robbed. Disgraceful and unethical from the whole BDV team. Maybe we should all start to club together on this as the strength will be in our numbers ?
Ben
Exceptional lying not living. Absolute cowboy developer.
I wish there was a negative option not just a 1 star. We are getting to the point where we really dislike our house. It’s affecting our mental health, it’s depressing to come home to see such shoddy workmanship in almost every area of the house. The brickwork around the front door has mortar gaps varying from 1-5cm in several different shades, and this is after 2 rounds of “remedial” work. The woodwork on the stairs and throughout the house is a mess. We have a curved angle in a corner of a stud wall rather than a crisp angle, but then it’s also plastered and finished like it was done with a butter knife. Flaking paint on radiator pipes. Patio doors that are so hard to open it needs a shove. Can’t push too hard though or it will swing open and hit the heat pump which means the door doesn’t even open much past 90 degrees to the house. The shower screen in the family bathroom still leaks onto the floor despite having it replaced. The en-suite shower was leaking for so long we check obsessively every time we use it because instead of investigating the cause, the leak was diverted with layer upon layer of silicone it ended up leaking through the ceiling, tracing the wiring into……the fuse box that was also wired incorrectly so it could have given us a nasty shock. We expect to see water leaking from the showers so we daren’t even lay any flooring in the bathrooms so at least we have a heads up before we end up with another fire risk. We shouldn’t have to be living like this with bare wood on the bathroom floors! The rear gate is attached to the shared back fence not to a post in the ground and the ironmongery is on the wrong side of the gate so we couldn’t attach any form of security measure to it even if we wanted to. The list goes on. They know about it all but no one listens. We’ve complained, we’ve escalated, we’ve begged and we’ve pleaded but 16 months later we are still in what we consider an unfinished house. When we’ve put all our savings into it and have no spare money to fix things ourselves in a house that was significantly delayed, that should have been our forever family home. It’s just not right. We are exhausted by the whole process of chasing snagging work, being ignored and belittled. I’ve even had some contractors tell me that they’ve heard from customer service reps that I’m causing a fuss and being a nightmare, as if its me asking for issues to be fixed properly that is the problem in this situation. So much so they’ve been apprehensive about coming to my home. I’ve never lost my temper with any staff member, kept my calm and been respectful. I’ve being in floods of tears on the phone to the MDs PA in a desperate bid for escalated support and even turned up at the front door of their head office to speak to someone above their head of customer services who had ignored us for months to try to get some action from higher up. That also didn’t work and we were forced to go no contact with Charlotte for my own mental health believing it to be her to blame when it’s seems it’s actually company policy to treat customers like this. Wish I had lost my s**t with them, wish that I had kicked off. I’d love nothing more than a therapeutic scream and shout on the phone but I don’t, it always falls on deaf ears anyway so it probably wouldn't make any difference how I conducted myself but I don’t. It’s a sham of a company and I don’t think my house will be worth anything in the state it’s in so it’s not like we have any choice but to live with it and attempt to fix the issues over time. It shouldn’t have to be like this. I know we’re not the only ones who have had issues the same as ours, I’ve spoken to several people on many of BDV sites and unfortunately it’s the way they conduct their business. They aren’t even ashamed of it. Please, if you read this when thinking about buying a house from BDV or Avant - however they present themselves, just don’t. Don’t do it. Choose a reputable developer with good customer services. If they lie to you from the start like we experienced from this company, follow your gut and think twice, we wish we had. Save yourselves!
P***ed off
Update to my review of December 2022
Update to my review of December 2022. West Tanfield development. If only I could say that we now have a surfaced roadway, but I have discovered that Avant/BDV haven't even signed the Section 38 highways agreement. We are now on our 4th solicitor's letter. As a result of taking legal steps, we did finally get some block paving done, but the roadways etc on the estate are beyond belief. So depressing. Some people on the estate have lived with this for almost 5 years; we have lived there for 2 years. This company are shocking and how certain people are still employed by them I really don't know. The customer service is non-existent and consists of meaningless platitudes. Our next step will be the press. Anyone like to join us? If you read this, BDV/Avant, you should seek to avoid bad publicity by fulfilling your obligations to your householders. 'Exceptional Living'?!! Joke.
GT
Cant believe this company has 2 stars…
Cant believe this company has 2 stars on here if I am honest??? Looks like the only 5-star review was an inside job. Sales team are nothing, but a bunch of liars and they will go above and beyond until they get your money, After which good luck hearing from them. We have had constant snags, and some have been rectified (don't get me wrong) but others still pending. And we cannot get a reply from anybody! The main thing for us now is the road. Granted we have been in our home for over 2 years whilst work was still commencing so - fair enough. But the last residents to move in on the street, have been in for over a year now and we are still without a complete road. I would avoid these guys at all costs. Now bought out by Avant homes I believe.
Matt Bird
BDV deserve 0 stars.
BDV deserve 0 stars.It is now nearly 4 years since the first resident moved in on the Kensington Forest development in Barnoldswick. We've been in 3 1/2 years. We are still waiting for our roads and pavements to be finished. It's an obstacle course driving up and down the estate avoiding the vast number of raised ironworks/manhole covers and broken kerbs. In addition there are about 20 car parking bays still unfinished. We have contacted our town council, local MP and District Council for the last 2 1/2 years to put pressure on BDV/Avant Homes to no avail. Recently we heard from our MP that the council are taking BDV to court in a few weeks as they have breached a Condition notice which was issued against them and who have not complied. I hope the Court wipe the floor with BDV who need naming and shaming for their appalling behaviour to all residents who paid hard earned cash to live in a new home. Avoid BDV/Avant Homes at all costs
Elizabeth
Paid £500 to reserve a property at…
Paid £500 to reserve a property at Denton Grange, Stocksbridge. Had to pull out 6 weeks later due to personal circumstances. The terms and conditions set out on the reservation form clearly states that I am owed a refund but after 4 attempts at getting my money back and getting empty promises, I have yet to receive anything. Also it was mentioned that the house would have a late spring 2023 completion date. Well it is now mid February 2023 and house no. 14 has yet to finish so their 'forecast' for a late spring 2023 completion for house no. 27 (plot 20 ; the last house on the site) seems wildly off the mark. In my view, there is more chance of seeing it complete by spring 2024, yet they push you for a 28 day exchange after reserving the plot which is absolutely ludicrous. Judging by the way they have dealt with my refund, I would not recommend BdV to anyone.£250 reservation fee refunded - review updated to 3 stars
Simon F
Berkeley de Veer under the guise of Avant Homes
I too would give a zero if I could! I've reached breaking point now, constantly being fobbed off and now ignored! I've noticed they've resorted to hiding any negative comments on Facebook too. If they didn't frustrate customers by their lack of care, they wouldn't be getting negative reviews. My experience with this company (who now trade as Avant Homes) mirrors most people's comments below. Happy to take your money but the after sales service is worse than dire! Workmanship (due to no quality control) leaves a lot to be desired too! I have yet to hear of any of their developments in Yorkshire being fully completed, roads and drainage systems are shocking. Certainly do your homework on this company before even thinking about buying an Avant home (or a BdV one if they're still trading).
Tracey
Cowboy builders, deserve watchdog review
Like others, if I could give 0 stars I would. We are approaching two years in our home and our snags have still not been completed. Shoddy plumbing has resulted in numerous leaks, and no way to identify our pipes, and our house is still not finished as per the design or as promised. Our roads are still not complete, with no end in sight. No one at Berkeley Deveer, now Avant homes, cares and they have fobbed us off consistently - I've got an email chain of over 100 emails dating back to 2021 for snags. Don't be bought in by the marketing.
Marcus
Do not buy shocking houses
Do not buy shocking houses. Terrible customer care only Charlotte who never responds. I Wrote to the MD of the company as my son has a home that continually disappoints he never came back to my son. Abusive company - young people buying a house that is sold as a dream are very let down. Please do not buy from here I hate to see people ripped off and the anxiety this home is still causing my son and his partner after 2 years is absolutely unforgiveable.
Adrian French
Do not buy from Berkeley Deveer
Do not buy from Berkeley Deveer, like most on here the after sales customer service is frankly none existent, the customer care number just rings off the e.mails do not get answered. In all honesty on our development in Barnoldswick I got off lightly however my roof like one of my neighbours has started leaking, some on this development have said the extractors from the bathrooms are not piped, mine are but we have had issues with our shower leaking through onto the stairs and we ended up paying ourselves to get this fixed, and like my neighbour it looks like we will have to pay for our roof to be fixed also, Also like other reviews our roads kerbs and pavements are not finished, despite the development being 'finished' (if you can call it that) over 2 years ago. We moved in 3 years ago just before covid.Save your money and buy from anyone but these.
Justin Howarth
0 stars
0 stars. We moved in 2 years ago to our house. The sales team were rude, gave us conflicting data and made it very clear they were on commission. 2 years later we have a flood in our house due to faulty plumbing from the plumbing contractor which they've taken full responsibility for. Skirting boards ripped up, carpets ripped up, mould in the house, just what you want before Christmas. Our whole downstairs was under 3 inches of water and the team are being very slow to respond to anything. AVOID.
Catherine Littlewood
Rubbish aftersales service
Rubbish aftersales service. 1.5 years - still lots of snags not fixed. Initially it was good but now, I would not recommend.
Dr. Samya Bhattacharya
Awful
I've had damp in the new build property for over 5 months. After numerous complaints and phone calls I was told to 'air the house out' bare in mind its been winter, I have a small child, and the mould is beyond 'airing out'. The kitchen unit they were due to replace has been sat in my front room for 3 months. This company are patronising and rude when you speak to them and 'charlotte' is beyond useless. They are making my life a living hell as the damp now smells strongly and I'm lucky to even get a response. My child has been coughing for 3 months but apparently this is of no concern to them as they have done NOTHING to arrange repairs other than tell me to wait.
S.A
AVOID this developer
I'll start with the fact that we love our house. We were one of the lucky ones that didn't have too many snags or issues however the (relatively minor) issues we did have took ages to get resolved and a year and half later we have given up on the last of the list. The biggest issue is the way the rest of the estate has been left and the appalling after sale service to update on progress (or lack thereof) for the communal areas being completed. We bought our house in June 2020 and the estate STILL isn't finished the supposed high standard BDV hold themselves too. The "lawned" area on the original plans is simply a layer of soil combined with rocks, stones, broken GLASS and remains of a building site. Not safe for dogs or children which was one of the ey selling points of this estate. It's really quite shameful and the lack of care from a business that is selling a home and a future to people is a downright disgrace. Please do your research on this developer before considering buying a house from them. Better yet, come visit Galloway Grove in Pudsey to see how they "finish" an estate... bring wellies!!
Greg Turner
Avoid
Appalling (non-existent) aftercare and poor quality build. No ownership taken by anyone at the organisation, from site level to the owners of the company, for any of the poor design and poor quality that they produce. Communication shocking beyond belief also.
Chris
Terrible!!!!
Since buying a property at the Pudsey estate it’s just been disappointing since the sale completed. After two years the estate looks a mess, incomplete, fencing left in the public woodlands, cement bags left around with seed bags and cones. It’s been a battle snd slow progress to get a response from Berkley deveer and they just don’t care about how they have left the estate. They have no pride in their business and how they think it’s acceptable to leave the development looking like this after two years is a beyond a joke. Think twice about buying as you will be let down and disappointed.
Aimee KT
Do not buy a berkley de veer home
Do not buy a berkley de veer home. The workmanship is bad. I have had problem after problem ie Kitchen floor/screeding had to come due to a leak .Back door not fit properly but Charlotte at de veer wont have it. Feel im a nuisance due to all issues i raise.Im spoken down to and feel theres no respect and never sorry. I could write a book. Take my advice leave the firm well alone!!!!Now after being in home 6 maths and loving my garden BDV have said they have made an error and my fence has to come down as the boundary wall is wrong . Land registry say I don't own my land in question. Loosing most of garden. BDV said sorry. I'm horrified. Like I say DO NOT BUY A BDV HOME. THEY ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY TO ANY PROBLEM
Mu
What an absolute nightmare,
What an absolute nightmare,60 days after completion still resolving issues garden still not finished, site manager not interested daily emails chasing customer service, no proper QAQC procedures never ever again.
Simon G
Very pleased with our new home
Very pleased with our new home. Service throughout has been good. Sales support terrific (thanks Beth!). Snagging to date has been first class. Our site manager has gone above and beyond expectations. Collaborative and supportive. Great experience, so far, thanks.
Paul Scholey