We’re constantly being told about the housing crisis in the UK, which is partly due to a shortage of homes. However, more homes are being built in an effort to meet the demand, with housebuilders like David Wilson Homes, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey building thousands of new properties at sites across the UK each year.
When buying a new house there’s a lot to consider. For example, the area you want to live in, how big you want your new home to be and must-have amenities.
But if you buy a house from a home construction company like David Wilson Homes, you can have more of your requirements met. This is because they work with buyers at various stages of the building process to ensure that all the design features, fixtures, fittings and finishes suit your personal style.
If you’re in the market for a new home, you might find this article useful. In it, we’ll talk about David Wilson homes in more depth, advise on some of the things to buy for your new home and list some of the UK’s other top housebuilders.
Are David Wilson houses well-built?
David Wilson Homes has a reputation for building high-quality, well-designed houses, winning multiple awards for customer satisfaction, exterior design and dedicated site managers.
What’s more, it offers a two-year fixtures and fittings warranty and a 10-year structural warranty on the vast majority of houses it builds.
Keep reading to find out more about the company and what they do.
History of David Wilson Homes
David Wilson Homes was founded in the 1960s, when David Wilson started working at his father’s joinery workshop and gradually moved the business into housebuilding.
By the early 1970s, the company (named AH Wilson at the time) was building about 150 houses in the Leicestershire area each year.
In the 1980s, Wilson expanded the business further, with sales increasing from 300 to 1,600 and profits seeing an increase of £2 million to £40 million.
Despite the early 90s recession, Wilson’s company was thriving, and he began to expand to other areas of the country. By 1999, he had offices in the West Midlands, Hereford, Hertfordshire, Kent, Leeds, Cheshire and Glasgow.
Four years later and he was building more than 4,000 houses a year and had a reputation for being one of the most successful housebuilders in the UK.
In April 2007 — just before the next housing recession — the company was sold for £2.2 billion, to Barratt Developments.
What’s the difference between Barrett Homes and a David Wilson home?
As stated above, Barrett Homes bought David Wilson Homes, making the company part of the Barratt Developments PLC Group. This means that Barratt now builds homes under three different brands: Barratt Homes, Barratt London and David Wilson Homes.
A couple of years ago, property website WhatHouse? conducted a study at a development in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, which compared houses built by Barratt Homes and those built by David Wilson Homes. This is what they found:
Differences:
- Buyer initiatives — While it is possible to buy both types of home with just a five per cent deposit, you do this under the Help-to-Buy scheme with David Wilson Homes and the Deposit Unlock initiative with Barratt Homes.
- House types and designs — David Wilson Homes properties tend to be larger and more traditional, with sash and angular bay windows.
- Interior fittings — Features like handles, ironmongery, sanitaryware, skirting boards, and towel rails differ between the two brands. The interior doors of David Wilson Homes have four panels, while Barratt Homes opt for the classic five-panel style.
Similarities:
- Ample parking — No matter what type of house it is, each has enough private parking space to fit two vehicles.
- Ceiling height — Both brands have a ceiling height of 2.5 to 2.6 metres, with vaulted rooms at the top of some three-storey houses measuring 2.8 to three metres.
- Customer care — Because both brands come under the Barratt Developments umbrella, both come top for customer satisfaction and have a 10-year National House-Building Council (NHBC) guarantee and a two-year warranty. Full-time site managers are available on-site for buyers to talk to, residents are given a personal tour before they move in and they also receive manuals for their new homes.
- Hyper-optic broadband services — Both housebuilders fit cables that can accommodate hyper-optic broadband services of the buyer’s choice.
- Lawn and fencing — Both brands offer turfed gardens with tall wooden fences to provide privacy.
- Upgraded bedroom storage — Whether you buy a David Wilson Homes or Barratt Homes property, you have the option to add extra free-standing or fitted wardrobes, with a variety of doors, frames, handles and shelving to choose from.
What are the benefits of buying a David Wilson Homes property?
There are many benefits of buying a David Wilson house. Some of these include:
- Dedicated customer care teams to help buyers at every stage and advise on specialist new build mortgage advisors
- Help to Buy and Part Exchange options available
- High-quality housing with a 10-year structural warranty and two-year fixtures and fittings warranty on the vast majority of homes
- Multiple special offers on selected developments and plots, such as contributions to legal fees and stamp duty, and boosts for deposits
- Option to tailor your home to your requirements
- Optional upgrades as the house is being built
- Regional offices to cater for buyers and developments in local areas
- Sustainable building to reduce carbon emissions and help residents combat rising energy prices
David Wilson Homes prides itself on its excellent customer service, saying that 90 per cent of its customers would recommend the housebuilder to a friend.
This is supported by review websites Trustpilot, where customers gave David Wilson Homes 4.3 stars out of five and HomeViews, where customers gave the company a rating of four out of five, based on the answers to questions about what it’s like to live in a new home, its design, facilities, management, sales and letting process and its value.
What awards has David Wilson Homes won?
David Wilson Homes’ reputation for building high-quality, well-designed houses is recognised with multiple awards. In fact, it’s won more awards than any other housebuilder in the last 18 years. Some of these awards include:
| Award | Year | Rating |
| Home Builders Federation National New Homes Customer Satisfaction Survey | Every year from 2010 to 2021 | Five stars |
| WhatHouse? Best Development | 2013 | Bronze and silver |
| WhatHouse? Best Exterior Design | 2016 | Bronze |
| WhatHouse? Best Partnership Scheme | 2018 | Gold |
| WhatHouse? Best Public Realm | 2019 | Silver |
| NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Awards | 2021 | 98 awards |
| NHBC Best Site Managers | 2021 | Five regional awards |
How much do David Wilson houses cost?
As with any type of property, it’s hard to say how much David Wilson houses cost because there are so many variables.
The price of a house depends on several things, such as its size, condition and location. The David Wilson Homes range of new properties is vast, with leaseholds ranging from smaller flats that are ideal for a first-time buyer to spacious, high-spec penthouses and freehold houses (including detached, semi-detached, terraced and townhouses) that are big enough for all the family.
What’s included in a David Wilson home?
While all David Wilson homes come with modern living appliances, such as cookers and extractor fans — as well as fitted wardrobes — there are some essentials they recommend you buy before you move into your new home. These are:
Living room
- Armchair
- Coffee table
- Curtains or blinds
- Light-shades
- Table and/or floor lamps
- Two or three-seater sofa
Kitchen
- Blender
- Cleaning supplies
- Curtains or blinds
- Cutlery and utensils
- Dining table and chairs
- Dinner plates, serving plates and bowls
- Kettle
- Microwave
- Mugs and glasses
- Pots, pans and oven trays
- Rubbish bin and bin bags
- Toaster
- Vacuum cleaner
Bedroom
- Bed
- Bedside tables
- Chest of drawers
- Curtains and/or blinds
- Duvet and pillows
- Lamps
Bathroom
- Air freshener
- Bath mat
- Bath towels
- Cleaning supplies
- Hand towels
- Shower curtain
- Soap
- Toilet roll and holder
Outside
- Barbeque
- Garden table and chairs
- Garden tools
- Lawnmower
- Plants and pots
- Shed
Utility room
- Batteries
- Decorating paint
- Paint brushes
- First-aid kit
- Spare lightbulbs
- Tool box
- Tumble dryer
- Washing machine
Who are some of the other top UK housebuilders?
With 17,000 new builds a year, an annual turnover of around £3.4 billion, 6,655 employees and an average selling price of £311,000, Barratt Developments is arguably the biggest housebuilder in the UK.
In addition to David Wilson Homes and the other Barratt Group brands, some of the other top UK housebuilders are:
- Persimmon — Established in 1972 and headquartered in New York, Persimmon has an annual turnover of £3.3 billion and employs 5,156 people. It builds more than 13,500 houses per year, with the average Persimmon home selling for £251,000.
- Taylor Wimpey — This leading UK housebuilder has been in business since 1921 and, today has an annual turnover of around £2.7 billion and 5,948 employees. Taylor Wimpey homes sell for an average of £323,000 and the company builds more than 9,600 houses per year.
- Bellway — Since Bellway was established in 1946, it’s gone on to make an annual turnover of around £2.2 billion. Now, it builds more than 7,500 houses per year, which sell for an average of £333,000, and the company employs 3,119 employees.
- Vistry Group — Thanks to an annual turnover of around £2 billion, Vestry Group is another of the UK’s leading housebuilders. It employs 3,152 people, builds more than 8,900 houses per year and has an average sale price of £343,000.
- Berkeley Group — The average Berkeley Group house sells for double what most others do in this list, at £677,000. The company’s annual turnover is around £1.9 billion, it has 2,709 members of staff and it builds more than 2,700 houses each year.
- Redrow — With an annual turnover of around 1.3 billion, Redrow is another top UK housebuilder, employing 2,364 people and building 4,000 houses per year, which sell for an average of £387,000.
- Bloor Homes — Like David Wilson Homes, Bloor Homes is headquartered in Leicestershire. Founded in 1969, it now builds more than 3,500 houses a year, employs 1,270 people and has an annual turnover of around £1 billion. Bloor Homes sell for around £290,000, on average.
- Countryside Properties — Countryside Properties has an annual turnover of roughly £989 million, which it makes from building more than 4,000 houses per year. The company has 1,947 staff members and sells houses for an average of £364,000.
- L&Q — This top housebuilder may only have 625 employees, but that doesn’t stop it from making an annual turnover of £762 million. And while the company only sells around 2,500 houses each year, the average selling price of an L&Q home is higher than most others, at £469,000.
Summary
From the area you want to live in to must-have amenities, there’s a lot to consider when buying a new home. So much so, that it can be a struggle to find one that meets all your requirements. But if you buy from a housebuilder like David Wilson Homes, they will work with you at various stages of the building process to ensure that all the design features, fixtures, fittings and finishes suit your own personal style. All David Wilson homes come with everything you need for modern family life, such as built-in cookers, extractor fans and fitted wardrobes.
David Wilson Homes has a reputation for building high-quality, well-designed houses and the company has won multiple awards for customer satisfaction, exterior design and dedicated site managers. What’s more, it offers a two-year fixtures and fittings warranty and a 10-year structural warranty on the vast majority of houses it builds.
Following the sale of David Wilson Homes to Barratt Developments in April 2007, it’s now a part of the biggest housebuilding company in the UK. Some of the other top UK housebuilders are Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Bellway, Vistry Group and Berkeley Group.
