Last week Redrow revealed a sixth consecutive year of bumper profits.
It sold 6,443 homes, posted a 7% rise in pre-tax profits to £406m and announced that sales were up 10% to £2.1bn.
But 40% of those profits come from the taxpayer subsidy of Help To Buy, and The Times was unhappy with build quality and leasehold issues as well.
Redrow residents rebel as shoddy workmanship ruins home dreams
Almost two years after moving in, Pratik Patel is still finding problems with his home.
The Times focussed on Lyon Square, a two-year-old block of Redrow flats in Harrow on the Hill, northwest London.
Nik Patel, spent £367,500 on a one-bedroom apartment, but he has had leaks in the car park, broken gates, hot water outages and wrangles with the management company appointed by Redrow. “I wish I’d never gone to the sales office that Sunday,” he said.
More than 2,000 builders use the Help To Buy scheme, where the government offers buyers who have a 5% deposit an interest-free equity loan of up to 20% of the purchase price — or 40% in London.
Some 221,405 homes have been sold under the scheme since its launch in April 2013, with the government “investing” £12.5bn. More than 80% have gone to first-time buyers.
Take-up is accelerating. The government extended £3.5bn of Help-to-Buy loans in the year to
March, helping fund the purchase of 52,303 properties. While it has helped to increase housing stock, with 222,000 homes built last year, critics say it has inflated builders’ profits and share prices, as well as house prices.
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‘Fright night’ for Taylor Wimpey as profits fall 24% over leasehold scandal, says Times
Help To Buy cheat Persimmon racks up £1bn profits – and spread the plague of leasehold houses around the country
Leaseholders demand end to Redrow selling leasehold houses
Ban revenue-generating leasehold houses, says Justin Madders MP. Redrow responds
John McDonnell is a leaseholder, reveals Daily Mail in hatchet job article
Building Control only have 4 mandatory visits to a building development to check each dwelling of the following:.-
Excavation
DPC
Roof
Completion
The quality of the build is down to what was a Clerk of Works paid for by the builder, so they mark their own homework. If noted poor quality Materials this can be where the Building Control Officer can refuse to allow the materials or refuse to provide a Completion Certificate.
The original Building Control Officers in the 1970s 1980s were all ex-tradesmen, then the professionals were brought in such as Chartered Institute of Building and RICS who were academics, not tradesmen and slowly the experience of the Bricklayer/Carpenter/Plumber had been lost.
Then, of course, the Government introduced the Approved Inspector who again allowed the builders to choose which Inspector they would use to approve the plans and then visit to determine the quality, say no more.
Construction Apprentices in my day were min 5 years of training. The government of the day through Steering Committees and YTS changed the rules to Modular Trades where a Carpenter would have to complete 34 modules, similar to Bricklayers they did away with the accepted Apprenticeship and were informed at the time it was a certain way to deskill the trades, but they did not listen.
The role of Direct Tradesmen with each Building Company was replaced with sub-contractors and cowboys were allowed to replace the skilled trades and this is the result.
Spot on Chas and something my son commented on only last night regarding the building trade. He served his apprenticeship of 5 years in the 80’s with a very strict and subsequently very good builder. My sons comment was that many of the bricklayers today would not last half a day with his boss of then!! As you say those who ‘think they know best’ are now reaping what they have sown!!