guinnesshomes.co.uk Reviews 11

Been trying to sell my shared ownership home with them since the beginning of the year. After the initial engagement, they've not been very helpful, they force you to use an online estate agent of their choice, which are difficult to work with and i've had an awful experience with. They basically just list the property and do nothing else so you organise and host all viewings yourself. They also took weeks to issue the memorandum of sale wasting everyone's time.

The most disappointing part is the communication is awful, especially as you do all the work yourself. There's no way to track what's going on on their side without calling or emailing.

I've never been able to get through to them on the phone. Today I've rang them three separate times today for example and sat on hold for 30 minutes each with no one picking up (at one point today it started to ring and then put me back on hold when no one answered). This happens every time I ring their resales and staircasing team.

If you email them you're looking at a 1-2 week response window if you do get a response. It's a pity as my house is nice, was well built and I've never had a problem with it, but all these issues with selling have really soured my experience with them.

New build houses were built on the estate, the large HGV lorries had to park on a side road whilst they waited, fine. However, this caused substantial subsidence to the road and they've basically washed their hands of it. They caused the damage and CBA to fix it. Been a good few years now. Looks like the council have given up chasing too

I have been trying to sell my mothers shared ownership flat for 13 months so far, their (Guinness) process is so littered with misinformation and incompetence it defies belief.

I need to sell the flat to fund her care home fees.

It took her as a cash buyer and a vacant possession flat 7 months to purchase – I can now see why. (real world as little as 3 weeks)

I paid £350 for their ‘standard management pack, which will be made available within 10 days’.
It arrived yesterday 48 days after payment, then only as a result of me spending 3 days chasing them and threatening to raise the query to the chair of Guinness.
This is just one of many delays caused by Guinness.

Does this delay qualify for the Guinness book of records?

Interestingly the email attached to the form contained this.

I can see that it might now be being dealt with as a Transfer of Equity rather than a sale, and if so Homeowner Legal Services, who you are in contact with, are best placed to assist.

So the head of ‘team resales’ doesn’t know whether his team or ‘team legal services’ is responsible for providing the form – worrying.
Though it’s probably the old deflection technique of two ‘teams’ blaming each other for delays.

I wonder how quickly they will respond when I take them to the small claims court to recover my some £ 300 loss caused by the delay. I’d say less than 2 hours.

My advice is don’t consider buying a Guinness shared ownership property, they might look cheap as you are only purchasing some 70% of the value, but the trauma nullifies any cost savings over ‘the real world’.

How does this ’benefit the community’ or help with the housing crisis – non whatsoever.

On the plus side the Birchcroft flats are reasonably well kept.

Yes I have called your ‘helpline’ to be told after an hour on hold “ someone will get back to you, though probably not this afternoon” that was October 16th, it’s now 5th November.

Do NOT buy!!! Moving in was the biggest mistake. Guinness homes have made living here feel like a nightmare. Since moving in January there has been nothing but problems, our block has had a severe flood, raw sewage left untreated on the ground floor, mould, severe fly and cockroach infestations, all neglected by Guinness. Members of staff have been abusive, unhelpful and untruthful. Do not buy!!!!

DO NOT BOTHER!5 months of complaining going back and forward, this company don't deserve even a star! The customer's response was shocking, with no aftercare and unprofessional behavior. They should not be fined for their bad behavior!

I have been living in my flat for 6 months now and I’ve never been so stressed in my life. DO NOT BUY from Guinness Homes. There are many defects and issues, all of which either are extremely slow to be addressed or aren’t addressed at all. This includes a fly infestation, entrance doors that is often left open due to the poor design of the latch mechanism, a 6 hour delay in action from Guinness Homes whilst a block of flats lost power due to extreme flooding - leaving the residents reliant on public emergency services instead, in complete darkness, with no where safe to sleep, and with water damaged properties, and multiple more instances of issues raised and not addressed in an appropriate manner. Makes being a renter for the rest of my life look appealing!

Guinness Gaslighting Trust Pilot and the public by asking me to contact them which I have on numerous times as included in the review of 5.5.25.

06/03/25 - How on earth have this company got 2.5 stars when 100% of the 3 reviews people have given left a scathing review and only 1 star?
07/03 00:40 - noticed my review was live and that guinness homes now have 4 1 star reviews, no positive reviews at all and have been given a 2.6 star rating by trustpilot!?

READ THIS CAREFULLY:

The buildings just look fancy, extremely low quality material. Talk to an expert before purchasing any flat from Leaside Lock. I have water leakage in my flat only after 4 months, be careful with your purchase.

*I will soon share what they have been doing to me since 10 months ago. All I can say is nothing has happened over the past 10 months and I still have the leak  issue in my flat. I will share with you some photos soon, you judge!

Update :Today is 24/08/3024 and the issue not sorted in my flat yet. This is what you get when you trust Guinness! Absolutely shit quality!

update: 07/09/2024: the issue in my flat is not fixed yet.
update: 14/10/2024: I gave two additional months to a new contractor, however the issue in my flat is not fixed yet after almost two years.
update: 04/11/2024: the issue in my flat is not fixed yet.
update: 02/12/2024: the issue in my flat is not fixed yet, NEVER EVER TRUST Guinness!

I will update soon with new progress.....

* I can give you a viewing of my flat, inbox me.

DO NOT BUY THESE FLATS!!!

Leaside Lock, Bromley-by-Bow, London.

It has been the worst decision of my life and I regret it everyday! The air vents do not work and it is like living in an oven. 7 months and still not fixed. It has become a living nightmare.
There are NO workspaces. None of them are open. Constant delays.
Areas that were meant for our block were given to another block.

AVOID AT ALL COST.

They remove my reviews from Google and Instagram, but please look for #DontBuyLeasideLock on Instagram to find me.

Our house was not snagged properly before it was handed over from Drew Smith, resulting in many snags that need repair. We were informed that we could not instruct our own snagger at the time of purchase. 9 Months after receiving our keys, Guinness' aftercare team has only shown incompetence to address our issues that we have been left with, many issues raised shortly after moving in.
Emails and phone calls ignored time after time, I have plenty of evidence to prove this.
We have had time off work wasted on contractor visits that repeat themselves as the works do not get instructed properly, anyone that does eventually turn up do not generally know what they have been sent for! We've had visits from contractors with no tools or van... Communication between their teams must be non-existent.
If you don't mind living with water entering your electric meter box, water along with slugs and worms entering underneath your front door frame, long dangerous nails left through fence work and mega creaky floors, perhaps a Guinness Home is the way to go...
I could go on, but hope if you are reading this it might give you some idea of what to expect once the keys to your home that you have worked hard for, are in your hands.