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Post subject: Any good/bad experiences with Henley?
Posted: Mar 09, 2007 3:02 pm
Junior Member
Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 22
My husband and I have decided to build the Wilshire from Henley homes. I was just wondering if anyone has had some experience building with Henley. I'm particularly worried about the site costs. They won't even give me a price range as to what to expect in site costs.
Post subject: Re: Any good/bad experiences with Henley?
Posted: Mar 10, 2007 8:42 am
Loyal Member
Joined: 22 Sep 2006 Posts: 92
conchi wrote:
My husband and I have decided to build the Wilshire from Henley homes. I was just wondering if anyone has had some experience building with Henley. I'm particularly worried about the site costs. They won't even give me a price range as to what to expect in site costs.
I'm beginning to feel rather concerned. We have our tender appointment next week with Henley, and after reading posts with a lot of negative experiences, I am now having second thoughts. Good news re this company just doesn't seem to be forthcoming as much as others.
I also would have thought that the workmanship on houses comes down to (apart from supervisor) the subcontractors hired. I'm sure that these subbies work for a number of builders.
Overall I'm not so worried about the time it will take for the project to complete, as much as the quality of the home. Going by 'word of mouth' on this site both seem to be questionable.
Is there anyone with a positive story?
BTW Henley is operable in both SA and Vic. They go by Plantation Homes in QLD.
I reckon you guys have no more to worry about than if you picked any other builder.
I was going crazy reading all reviews about builders and then came to the conclusion that its just as much a risk no matter who you build with. You get what you pay for.
Henley may lack quality for some people.....but then they also seem to be much cheaper than other builders.
I'd rather pay less to one than pay more to another if that other can't guarantee a top quality build.
[BTW Henley is operable in both SA and Vic. They go by Plantation Homes in QLD.[/quote]
The first comments about builders I heard was - Do not touch Henley.
After visiting home displays I rather agree. Gaps between the door, cheap shelving etc discouraged me from them.
My friends parents build with them and they had a lot of disasters after handover with knocking down the wall included.
Someone from my office builds with them and he is not impressed with their pricing. E.g they are giving you an allowance for the electric work. For everything extra you will pay with a margin to the builder. Also the prices are unfair, e.g they charge you 50$ for wiring and 30$ for installation of every light.
My house is full of downlights and I paid directy for extras to electrician and only 50$ per point.
Totally disagree with paying less. If this is the house for you, you want to have nice house with no surprises. Pick some smaller builder with good reputation. Ask exactly how much you will pay and I can tell you, you will make a good choice. I picked the quality builder that builds 100 houses a year and I am happy with what I get.
Thanks guys for all your replies. I'm planning to build around the Point Cook area in Melbourne. I'm hoping the site costs aren't more than $6k.
I've been told that going with a private builder is more risky than going with a large company like Henley. I think going with any builder will have some risks.
Thanks again!
Henley Homes
if this is the same one that left NSW a couple of years ago under a cloud, due to bad reputation....the major problem was that the show homes were of a better standard than the ones they were building.....it took 2 1/2 years for them to complete our house after all the faults were rectified.....
we submitted a report to the NSW Dept of Fair Trading (among many others) and Henley had an order from the highest state court (after having to submit a major $ deposit to the court ), to ensure all work was completed....
we dont know if Henley still build in NSW under another name...
..... they were the biggest private builders in NSW at that time, and they just grew too big , without controls over their Supervisors and subcontractors,
we say good luck....we wouldnt build with them again, in any state..
I dont know if Henley are still in NSW under another name....
but all we wanted was a house built to a standard (there are building regulations of Australia that were flaunted.....and still not fixed , but passed by the local council..
Our beef was that we had more protection if we bought a $49 Toaster than a $150,000 house....
and so it goes on.....who and where do you complain to about the bad workmanship, when your biggest purchase is being built....all we got was being threatened by the builders representatives, that they would sue us....
we are not builders , so how do you know that something is not being built to a standard ?
There is still a commitee organised by the NSW Government and opposition on a joint basis , looking at ** builders ,Licencing and Homebuilders Insurance and such.. this has been going on for 2 1/2 years...I know , we were involved in submissions....
and it has still not been finalised..
yes we are still angry....and thats after 6 years...
We are also just about to sign our tender documents with Henley next week. We are building the Ascot Mk3 Royalston facade, but l adore the Wiltshire also.
Henley have been terrible operators in the past and l do truely feel terrible for all those people, including you nswreview, for the heartache and trauma they have caused you.
We have debated extensively about using Henley to build our home but at the end of the day they were the only volume builder that had a house that suited our budget, the look we wanted and could accomodate our needs.
We spent 6 months custom building our house with a very small boutique who does only approximately 30 homes per year, only for it to completely backfire on us for reasons l wont go into now. But l definitely do not agree that going with a smaller builder will be without its own set of problems!
We live in an inner city suburb of melbourne and are demolishing a house and starting again. To top it off we live in a heritage listed area! Henley have been 100% accomodating and mediated between our council Heritage advisor, our budget and the look we want. For a volume builder l cannot complain about anything yet - the communication has been excellent and they have stuck to the timelines provided. They have been totally up front with all costs and whenever we have made changes or additions we have done so knowing how much we will be charged for it. A friend of our is currently building with Henley (they are at lock up stage) and she is a perfectionist and is very happy so far. We also have 2 houses in a neighbouring suburb that are both Henley homes which look about 6 months old so l am going to door knock and ask what they both think of the quality. l also have some peace of mind knowing that we are provided with independant building inspections for each stage.
l think there are pro's and con's with all volume builders and while l know there will be problems, we are just going to deal with them if and when they arise. Stewie & Conchi, l think you just have to go with your gut feeling and instinct with whether to use them.
You mentioned that with Henley you "are provided with independant building inspections for each stage". Who selects the independant building inspector?
To Leonda,
I have no axe to grind nor favour any particular builder....its just sticks in my craw that we were treated so badly here in NSW (with many others)
and the Local Council Inspectors were no better
at first we were on our own, until a John Ryan , from the Upper House NSW got involved, and Channel 9, and a lady from the Building Action Review Group......together with nearly 60 other complaintists, .....all leaned on Dept of Fair Trading , who were able to do something for us, albeit in some cases we witnessed , was too late...
The episode(about 2 1/2 years) took a toll on our marriage and my business, but we survived.....
Henley had 2 things going for them , they had the best house design for us at the time, and the cost was within our price range, and only slightly better than everybody else......
We wish you all the very best, and think that they wouldnt make that mistake again.We have friends in Brisbane who are about to build with Plantation (which is owned by Henley)
As far as we know , Henley never supplied independent inspections before, so thats a step in the right direction.
To Stewie, yes, I am pleased to say that our involvement, in many ways, some not mentioned here , helped the above organisations to get justice for the many people who not only got their house fixed (or demolished) but got their life back again, (some did'nt) ....theres no recompense for some of the the trouble this company caused....Now you can see why we are still angry...... but have to get on with life...
To Leonda,
I have no axe to grind nor favour any particular builder....its just sticks in my craw that we were treated so badly here in NSW (with many others)
and the Local Council Inspectors were no better
at first we were on our own, until a John Ryan , from the Upper House NSW got involved, and Channel 9, and a lady from the Building Action Review Group......together with nearly 60 other complaintists, .....all leaned on Dept of Fair Trading , who were able to do something for us, albeit in some cases we witnessed , was too late...
The episode(about 2 1/2 years) took a toll on our marriage and my business, but we survived.....
Henley had 2 things going for them , they had the best house design for us at the time, and the cost was within our price range, and only slightly better than everybody else......
We wish you all the very best, and think that they wouldnt make that mistake again.We have friends in Brisbane who are about to build with Plantation (which is owned by Henley)
As far as we know , Henley never supplied independent inspections before, so thats a step in the right direction.
To Stewie, yes, I am pleased to say that our involvement, in many ways, some not mentioned here , helped the above organisations to get justice for the many people who not only got their house fixed (or demolished) but got their life back again, (some did'nt) ....theres no recompense for some of the the trouble this company caused....Now you can see why we are still angry...... but have to get on with life...
Joined: 22 Nov 2006 Posts: 642 Location: Melbourne
I personally don't have any experience with Henley other than we almost built with them. 'Almost' being they key word because we were ready to take the next step with them until we found out that the house we picked was 1 meter too long for our block. Anyhoo, up to the point before we had to find another house, we found their customer service great. The people at the display homes were very welcoming and willing to answer any questions we had.
When we started speaking to our broker and we told him that we planned to build with Henley he was a bit hesitant in voicing his opinions. He eventually told us that three or so years ago he would've probably advised us against building with them as they weren't up to par. But that they really have pulled up their socks in the last couple of years. So, things could've possibly changed since the incident(s) occurred with the likes of nswreview.
A friend of a friend built with Henley here in Melbourne in the last 12-18months and they didn't have any major problems. My partner's co-worker built with them a couple of years ago and although he had some problems the only thing that sticks to my mind is that they put the wrong coloured tiles in his house.
Having said all that, Henley do have one of the lowest base prices for their homes that I've seen. But...the house we picked out of their range had a base price of 159k 9 months ago. Just before we changed house the base price was 167k. Now it starts at 173k! Go, figure, ey. And i've just looked on their website and their range has double.
D&B - It's not a truely independant building inspector as at the end of the day Henley pay their bills, but they are an external company and as nswreview said, l think it is a step in the right direction. The only reason l mentioned that point was because the smaller building company that we were previously going to use did not provide anything like this. Something is better than nothing l suppose!
nswreview - l wish you weren't treated so badly and you sound like a very strong person to be able to go through all of that and come out the other end with your marriage and sanity still in tact.
l just felt like all l read was negative things about Henley and l just wanted to give my perspective on our dealings with them. l just want to try to be open minded and take this whole new home building thing as it comes. It is an eye opener when you are new to it all!
Leonda,
Sorry didnt mean to pull apart your dream, it was our dream too, and apart from the problems(even the major ones the list is just too long) we still got the best designed house....
Its a pity, cos Im sure as their Marketing people were always ahead of the rest, they could have become the premier builder....
they were in the end, let down by lazy Supervisors and to this day I do not believe every trades were completed by fully licenced trades people...
any how enough of the negatives...have a lovely time....enjoy your new house, and if you ever want to contact me, with major items to watch for..(with any builder) please do not hesitate.
Our son is building in NSW (Sydney) with another fairly big builder...so far , fingers crossed, everything has gone like clockwork,and the work seems to be ok ... and until xmas was ahead of the schedule.....now its way behind, and the contact /admin is very ordinary......what is it with these people ??!!!!
They have a good product...here I go again...Im keeping out of this one......enough !! kind regards
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