Do you Really Think You can Rely on a Sourcer for your HMO?
So many promise the world. Too many people get screwed by sourcing agents….We believe that making JV deals in which all parties have a vested interest in the profit. We are working this way with our new JV partners in Doncaster in which we are starting a 5 bed en suite to be rented to the countless number of Amazon workers in Doncaster. Amazon has opened massive distribution centers in Doncaster. Our colleagues have 70 plus rooms and experience. Doing JVs in which all parties benefit stand the greatest chance of success….Contrarily…read this post on Facebook…
Just finished this HMO in Crewe, Cheshire. 6 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms. We took the project on 60% of the way through after the builder became poorly and couldn’t continue the project. Our team came in and finished the job off. It was a bit of a nightmare as:
The water supply in is lead shared, with a take away on the end meaning we couldn’t get enough pressure for the unvented cylinder tank system. When doing a HMO always check the water pressure, you will probably need to upgrade to plastic to get the pressure. The waterboard should do this for free, but if you mention the word HMO they might charge you. The waterboard enforced a Christmas embargo meaning they wouldn’t touch the water until mid-January, this caused huge delays because it wasn’t sorted at the very beginning of the project.
The previous builder hadn’t informed building control of the works. The extension had the incorrect foundations meaning we had to underpin it, we had to do external cladding render blocked insulation because the cavity was incorrect. We had to redo the roof, and the extension was also built over the main drain which is a big no-no. If the drain ever needs access in the future the extension may have to be knocked down.
The steel holding the back of the house up where the builder had opened it up to create an open plan lounge/kitchen was a rusty second-hand steel, with no padstones or fire boarding.
We had numerous other problems but as you can imagine this list would go on forever. He essentially misquoted the job by about 40%, and added another 10% on to the build due to his mistakes. This build has taken around 2 years to complete. We found this builder was doing another project for someone we know, he quoted the job at around 80-100k for a commercial to resi conversion, but our QS went in and quoted the job at almost 50% more!
The lesson? Don’t always go for the cheapest quote, don’t rely on the builder to get the numbers right, they have a hidden agenda as they want the work! Guess what, this guy spent the 60k he quoted and done his 60% worth of work before he became poorly and downed tools. Managing projects from afar can be hard when the builder can quickly cover up mistakes before you’ve spotted them. Check your builder has notified building control, or do it yourself! This guy told the clients he had a mate at building control when we rang building control they said and I quote ‘that builder is a cowboy, we will be over ASAP, we want anything he’s done ripping out and doing again’.
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