Well, my mum warned me about Barrat houses...

Basic complaints she had were that in Barratt show homes, they would have doors removed, supposedly to make it easier to wander around and view.

But the reality being it was to stop visitors seeing how Barrat homes doors kept banging into each other and the light fittings...

We didn't aim to live in a Barratts house, but ended up in one anyway that was already 4 years old.

There are already quite a few problems with it.

Funnily enough, I've met a couple of people who've worked for Barratts. All they've all said they'd never buy a Barratts house.

Problems with Barratts houses

Okay, the house if 4 years old. Surely there couldn't be much wrong with it?

Here's a couple of issues:

1. Bad design issues

i. Doors bang together

The kitchen and dining room door happen to be next to each other. Anyone with a little common sense would have them opening in opposite directions - there's plenty enough space for them to do this.

But not Barratt homes - for some insane reason they decided that the doors should open against each other...

ii) Poor planning

The Barratts home we moved into - a Grantown - has a utility room. It has a sink and side unit under which a washer/dryer combo can go.

But...Barratts set up the plug sockets above the unit. So the unit needs drilling through first to actually be able to plug anything in. Unnecessary hassle for the homeowner.

iii) More bad design

The Grantown design doesn't have anywhere near enough radiator space used upstairs to heat it effectively. This leaves bedrooms upstairs feeling quite cool even when the downstairs is warm.


2. Poor building work

There's a bathroom with a storage cupboard built into the sink unit. And a bloody strong draft coming up through it. It hasn't been properly sealed.

Additionally, there's a hold in the roof where the eaves meet. It's simply a space that hasn't been filled in. So a nice draft straight into the loft.

Got to also love the outside tap - it isn't even fixed above the drain, so the water just runs into the ground beside it.

Silly issues that show not enough attention to ensuring quality building work.


3. Poor Quality of fittings

It has to be said, the quality of the fittings used is pretty poor. It's hard not to think "cheap and nasty".

We have an electric over which, even when fan assisted, still takes 40 mins to cook 20 minute oven chips.

The heating system also looks cheap and nasty. It's a set from Ponnington's, and is fiddly and user-unfriendly to set up using manual switches rather than modern digital inputs.


Other Barratt house problems:

1. We haven't had it confirmed yet, but it looks as if the hot water system only switches on if the central heating is on. No central heating, no hot water. Even though there are supposed to be different hot water and central heating switches, to have them set up for different times, the hot water simply doesn't come on unless the central heating is on as well.

2. The quality of the double-glazing is very poor - this house is only 4 years old, but the windows are already very drafty. Where windows open the insulation to keep out drafts just doesn't fill the gap, leaving plenty enough room to let strong winds blast your rooms with cold air. We've seen this in most of the rooms so far.



It sounds like a big gripe, but it has to be said, on a more positive side, the Grantown design we moved into is lovely and spacious, and I'm surprised it's not more commonly used by Barrats.

However, at present, having just moved in just before winter in the north of Scotland, the house is cold and drafty at present so we need to get these issues fixed.


Barratt Homes Woodland Rise Development

Anyway, when we went looking for a house in Scotland we didn't have Barratts high on the list, even though they have a development in Woodland Rise near Inverness.

Don't get me wrong - the views from the Woodland Rise development are lovely, and its set right against pine plantations, so on the surface it could be a lovely area to live.

However, it's actually set against modern village of Smithton, which it has to be said is a pretty soulless-looking 1970's development.

While Barrat's salespeople did try and sell Woodland Rise over nearer developments at Milton of Leys, on the point that Smithton and Culloden have local services already, the fact remains that Smithton really isn't a pleasant-looking place to live if you have any sense of taste.

Barrat Homes styles

Barratts do have a nice looking range of different house styles available - but it has to be said, they are all mostly pretty small. If you compare room sizes with other developers in the same price range, you'll find the Barratts houses tend to have very much smaller room sizes.

Surprising, they do actually have a decent sized-sized style in the Grantown, which is what we moved into.

If it wasn't for a range of silly little problems with the poor design and poor quality building, this would actually be a really nice home.

It's a one and a half storey build, with a very traditional cottage look, and it's really effective.

It's four-bedroomed, but the fourth bedroom is on the ground floor with an en-suite. Really, that's not a problem for us because the fourth bedroom was always going to be an office area, and it certainly accomodates that nicely.

Lounge and bedroom sizes are very nice and spacious as well.

The only think really lacking is an upstairs en-suite - but that's only in comparison to similar designs from other developers - but aside from that, no real complaints about the property in regard to the layout.

It really should be a nice house, but as above, silly issues with poor build quality and poor quality features, means these will need correcting.

Anyway, part review, part rant on Barrat homes.