House Buying Guide | Home Buying Guide

Why buy a new home?

When you purchase a new property from Devonshire Homes you will find numerous benefits helping you to save financially.

• All of our homes are energy efficient and we are constantly striving to improve our rating. On average your new home will be more efficient than an older property; this not only saves you money in energy bills but is also better for the environment.
• Safety is paramount and as you are buying a new home you will benefit from standard inclusions not available on older properties such as ; double glazing; locking systems on the doors; smoke alarms and tested electrical and gas facilities.
• Low maintenance. We all lead busy lives and with a new home you will have limited maintenance to keep your property in excellent condition.
• Designed with you in mind. Every aspect of the design has been examined and where possible we have included items that you would not get in an older property (such as electrical, TV, aerial and BT sockets)
• NHBC warranty. Every home we build comes with a 10 NHBC warranty to give you peace of mind.
• Consumer Code for Home Builders. Devonshire Homes have adopted the Consumer Code which came into force on 01 Aril 2010. The code ensure purchasers are treated fairly and given reliable information www.consumercodeforhomebuilders.co.uk
  
• No chain. As you are buying a new home you won’t have to worry about anyone else in the chain, our home will be waiting for you.
• Your home. If your reserve the property early in the build process you can make your own choices and design your home to suit your taste and requirements.

Reservation

Once you have selected your home with our sales executive and satisfied yourself the home and development are for you a few simple steps need to be taken to reserve the property to you and start the reservation period.

• You will complete a reservation form with the sales executive and at this point pay a reservation fee.
• Once we have received the completed paperwork and the fee the property will be taken off the market for 28 days (this is the reservation period)
• The reservation fee then becomes part of the purchase price
• At the point of reservation you will be given an indication of the anticipated legal completion date, this is not a definite date and the actual completion date cannot be guaranteed due to external forces outside of our control (such as the weather), however our sales executive will keep you informed at every stage of the reservation.
• If you have not already done so before reserving your home you should immediately apply for a mortgage if required.
• At the point of reservation you will need to provide details of your Solicitor, if unsure we can provide you with details of local Solicitors we can recommend .(www.footanstey.com)
• You will be given a copy of your reservation form.
• Devonshire Homes adhere to the Consumer Code for Homes Builders and you will be given a copy of a booklet upon reservation outlining the code.
• We will immediately send a copy of the reservation form to both our Solicitor and your Solicitor.

Exchange of contracts

During the 28 day reservation period correspondence will have been exchanged by both sets of Solicitors and will culminate in two identical documents, one signed by Devonshire Homes and one by yourself.

• Your solicitor will contact you prior to Exchange of contracts and arrange a meeting in order that you can go through the contract with the and sign the necessary documents.
• Once contracts have exchanged the agreement is legally binding
• You will be asked by your Solicitor to pay a deposit (normally 10% of the purchase price), this will be paid to Devonshire Homes at the point of Exchange of contracts
• The deposit is non-refundable unless exceptional circumstances prevail.
• Between Exchange of Contracts and Legal Completion our Sales executive will keep you informed on a regular basis on the progress of your home.
  

Legal completion

Legal completion is when you take ownership of your new home.  Payment will have been made in full and passed to our Solicitor; your Solicitor will have received the Title Deeds to your property.  At this point you are responsible for your home and you should ensure your property is fully insured.

• Legal completion takes place after the property is build complete and the necessary paperwork has been issued by the NHBC stating your home conforms to NHBC standards.
• Following receipt of the completion of all works a formal notice will be served on your Solicitor and completion must take place within the notice period.
• Devonshire Homes notice period is 10 days.
• Prior to legal completion you will be invited to a demonstration of your new home.  It is important you attend as you will be shown how all of your appliances operate and key features will be pointed out.

Handover

This normally takes place on the day of completion, however if you wish to make alternative arrangements for another day this can be arranged.

• Following legal completion our Sales executives will contact you to confirm funds have been received and will make arrangements to hand over the keys
• On the day of completion our sales executive will read the meters and complete a key handover form, you will receive a copy of this document.
• You will be given a handover pack containing all guarantees, warranties and relevant NHBC booklets (www.nhbc.co.uk)

Cancellation policy

On reservation you will have paid a £1,000 reservation fee.

If you cancel the transaction before the end of the 28 reservation period we will refund the following amount to you:

• If you cancel the reservation before day 7 we will refund £500.00
• If you cancel the reservation between days 8 and 14 we will refund £400
• If you cancel the reservation between days 15 an 21 we will refund £250
• If you cancel the reservation between days 22 and 28 you will not receive any refund

Please note the cancellation policy is based on a £1,000 reservation fee.

Choices and selections

We appreciate you may want to personalise your new home and where possible we will work with you to achieve this, however this will be subject to the build stage.

Our experienced sales executive will assist you in this process.

• You will be able to select your own kitchen door, handle and wall tile choices * (Subject to build stage)
• You will be able to select  your own bathroom, en-suite and cloakroom wall tile choices* (subject to build stage)
• You will be able to personalise your home further with purchasers extras, however it should be noted these are strictly subject to the build stage (Yours sales executive will advise you further)

Customer care

At Devonshire Homes we take our responsibilities seriously and put customer care at the top of our agenda.

Whilst we seek to minimise any after care issues we realise sometimes you may require assistance from our experienced customer care team and should this situation arise after legal completion we have a few simple procedures for you to follow to ensure we deal with you effectively and efficiently.

Below is a brief outline for your guidance:

• Your property is covered by a 10- year NHBC warranty (www.nhbc.co.uk)
• Devonshire Homes cover your property 2-years (Please refer to the NHBC Booklet  ‘Guide to your new home’ as you have a responsibility to maintain your home, failure to this will invalidate your 2-year warranty from Devonshire Homes)
• Should you have an issue that is considered an emergency please contact head office immediately and report the problem.
• If the emergency is out of office hours please use our emergency contacts numbers to contact a qualified tradesman. On the first working day after your emergency please contact head office.
• If your problem is not an emergency please either send a letter outlining your issues addressed to The Customer Care Manager at head office. or contact the Customer Care Manager by e-mail on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please ensure you include your full address and contact telephone number on all correspondence.

Recommend a friend

Should you recommend a friend to purchase a Devonshire Home we will gratefully present you with a voucher for £1,000 towards your next Devonshire Homes property!

The following conditions apply:

* Devonshire Homes MUST be notified at the point of 'your friend's reservation.

* Payment is only made after legal completion

* Devonshire Homes acknowledge acceptance of the referral at the point of reservation on 'your friends' reservation form 

* A letter will be sent to you confirming the referral by Devonshire Homes within 7 days of the reservation.

* Claims will only be accepted if declared at the point of reservation and can not be back dated