Allison Homes - The Oaks Reviews 

Had a few issues, had a few fixes -

In January 2023 I reviewed Allison Homes and gave them a 5-star rating. We were at the beginning of our journey with them as a new house builder in Norfolk.

I still stand by my initial review of 5 stars for the sales process and the design of the development and properties. Simon Couch in the sales office has been fantastic through out the whole process and is an asset to the company.

I would also at this point like to thank Steve Fox who has been handling our snagging list, he is persistent, always answers his phone and has been working relentlessly to rectify all off our issues.

Both Simon and Steve deserve a 5-star rating and this review does not reflect on them in any way what so ever.

Today we had a meeting booked to meet two members of the management team on site at 11am, on arrival at the site sales office we were told that both people were in a meeting until 12 noon. It probably would not have been that bad if we had been sent an email to let us know, but clearly the after-sales customer service is of the lowest priority, and some might even say rude.

I currently own several properties and this has been the most painful experience to date. We purchased a pair of semi-detached houses and to be fair, one of them has been okay, however the other must have been worked on by amateurs. The properties were not ready for completion on the 31st March, albeit Allison Homes insisted that completion had to be on that date and could not move into April. Five weeks later we have one job left (That we know of).

There is clearly no Quality Assurance procedure in place, if there is, then they are not very good at it. That said, I do feel that the development team was pushed to meet the completion date by their corporate counterparts. If this was not the case, then the contractors who worked on one of the properties just done a bad job.

The only thing I can really do is list the issues we have encountered to date:

1. Both properties had an unterminated electrical cable under the kitchen cupboards that should not have been there in the first place and had a switch on the wall for it. So, there we are turning the switch on and off trying to work out what its function was and it was making this unterminated electrical cable live.

2. The two-way lighting switches in one property were wired up incorrectly. When both switches were off the light was ON.

3. In both properties the switch for bathroom fan was wired up incorrectly. When in the ON possible the fan was OFF. When in the OFF position the fan was ON.

4. In both properties the fixed window panes were not secured at the bottom, the window fitters had to refit four panes in each house (Eight in total) as you could push the bottoms outward and get a nice draft in. We know all eight were re-done as the contractor left all their debris on the window sills and floor (Along with the odd screw).

5. Kitchen mitres on the cornices and pelmets in one of the plots were cut very poorly, possibly an old saw blade, but these are currently on order from Symphony kitchens to be replaced.

6. Dishwasher leaked on installation, so had to remove the kick boards and dry up the water (This is when we found the unterminated electrical cable in one property, and then had to check the other property, and found the same issue).

7. One of the properties was very poorly finished, we ended up bringing in our own decorators and they are currently looking at four weeks for two people (£10,000+) to make good. Joint tape showing through on the ceilings and walls, filler that had been painted over and not sanded down, filler that had just been left and not painted over. Please note that I have personally known these decorators and used them for eight years, and they are not milking it!

8. On completion day we were told that the ground workers were going to lay the brick-weave on the main road outside the houses over the weekend. Turns out it was a two-week job, so we only had access to one of our properties (Probably my fault for mentioning there was no rush as we had a couple of weeks in hand before people were moving in).

I had another page of issues, but unfortunately ran out of words, so time to summarise.

Would I buy another home from Allison Homes? Probably not, there are an abundance of developers out there, we have used many of the other and although we have had snagging issues with them all Allison Homes are the worst so far. I did however find it interesting that Taylor Wimpey now allows a professional snagger to snag their properties two weeks prior to completion, maybe this is some that other developers should adopt.

I think the most disappointing thing is that there is no after sales support from sales or customer care at Allison Homes. The only after sales support we are getting is from the development team on site, it is just a shame that their contractors ideally need to be micro managed.

At the beginning of 2022 a new to the area house builder called Allison homes announced they will be building a few hundred homes in Postwick called the Oaks, knowing the area we approached Allison homes sales team and was introduced to Simon who lead us step by step through the process of what we needed to do to be able to be one of the first to buy a home at the Oaks,
Simon recommended to us to have a look at one of there show homes at whittlesea which we did and were very impressed with the build and quality of finish..
Now as i said knowing the area and other house builders close by I knew that this site (Postwick) is a no brainer to live at being close to a supermarket and other amenities especially in the times we are at present to name with fuel costs also having the best access to one of the main roads in Norfolk (A47)
So knowing this and the good fortune to be dealing with Allison homes including their inhouse Financial Solutions company Evolve we'd be mad to miss this opportunity, so
From the very first time we met with Simon (a real great guy) we have been treated with the upmost of respect and he have always welcomed us anytime we popped in unannounced, any questions we have had he has been quick to answer and deal with even now after buying one of their homes at the Oaks Simon has been constant with sorting out any problems that we have had. Thank you Simon you are an asset to Allison homes. I would also like to add that Brent and Steve the site managers have made us feel most welcome also Paddy whos now joined have been more than helpful to sort out any niggles, another asset to Allison homes. Thank you..
also to Evolve (inhouse finance company)who kept us informed and helped us through the buying process..
So here we are now starting a new chapter together loving our new house, thank you Allison homes..
Jay, Nicola and Toby.

Me and my partner have recently moved in to our property on the Oaks and I have to say we were amazed. The only big snag we had was the shower but this was replaced after finding out the issue, other than that we had very minor snags which were dealt with in the first month. Simon has been amazing and supported us through our whole sale and even now 2 months on. If we have any issues we just contact Simon and he has been there to help straight away, he’s very friendly and approachable. I have to also say, Chris Brent and Sean have also been great popping in to introduce themselves and helping us sort out any issues. The only other issue we have had is a piece of fencing fell on my car and caused damage but again, responsibility was taken and it is being sorted. All the builders/ managers have been so friendly and welcoming.

Simon has looked after us since the beginning since meeting him in April 2022, we have had some issues with local authority and planning permission changes during reserving our home, Simon constantly checked in on us while waiting for it to be resolved, we moved in 2 months ago and Simon still pops by or texts to check we’re ok, loveliest man and always happy to help. Simon went above and beyond to help us. Buying a house is very stressful but Simon took so much of that stress away and answered all our questions, even once’s that were not relevant to his role, thank you so much Simon, love Elisha and Ollie.

I have NEVER been made to feel like how the executive at the Norwich estate (The Oaks) made me feel. I drove an HOUR to see if i could view a 3 bedroom show home next to the marketing suite. I arrived in slighly scruffy wear as i had just come directly from a work appointment. As soon as i entered i saw a gentleman behind a desk looking at his phone. As i entered the office he gave me a good look up and down and a very condecending "May i help you?" I explained that I am about to work in the site directly opposite the estate and am looking at moving to the area but wish to first take a very quick look at a 3 bedroom show house to see the quality of the build. Again, looking me up and down he asked in a very cocky manner "Before that - What is your budget?" Why do i need to tell you my budget to look at a show home. He REFUSED to let me take a brief look inside without disclosing what i am prepared to spend. I mentioned i was also looking at other houses on the estate which are yet to have a show home and he stated that for THAT reason i am not allowed to view - in his words... "one of MY houses as the quality is much different." When i stated that i wanted to check the build quality and surely they were all the same i was answered with"Well externally yes but interior materials and layout are far superior to those you are also comparing with. If you wish to view MY properties you MUST book an appointment and this will have to be in ATLEAST a weeks time!" He wasn't exactly busy. He was looking at his phone when i walked in and not a single soul was on site. My wife and I went to the Lovall site in Acle who were more than happy to simply unlock the front door and allow us 10 minutes to view. My experience with this executive (who i have to assume is MR Allison as he kept reffering them to HIS houses) comes down to laziness, unprofessionalism and judgemental. If this is the standard that Allison homes set then i will stay well clear!

Finally moved into our first home and it is excellent! Can’t fault the quality or service from Allison Homes, in particularly Simon Couch who was always very personal and helpful.

Simon in the sales office at the Oaks, Postwick is what made the experience so enjoyable. He was welcoming, friendly yet professional and answered all my questions to my satisfaction. I felt so comfortable in the sales office on my first visit, then equally comfortable on my next visit when his colleague, Louise was assisting. In my opinion Simon is an asset to Allison Homes sales team.