W E Black Ltd - Chesham

Caroline Jones

A relative was trying to buy a W E Black house and what an utter shambles it was. Forced to use a set solicitor who actually retired the day they should've exchanged (another story). Pressure was on to exchange in the set time which was all happening but there was a problem with the land registry which delayed it 3 weeks. The day before everyone was ready to exchange they pulled out and put it back on the market. They have since exchanged just a week after W E Black pulled out and will move in with family until they find something else. Only got half the deposit back but he's remarketted it at less than before so I hope a lesson has been learnt! Won't be touching it with a barge pole.

Richard Stuttard

Very happy with my new house. WE Black are a level above any other builder I have ever used/dealt with before. From the initial viewing until the aftercare sales - everything was extremely easy and with nothing too much hassle for them. Another plus - there is always someone to talk to at the end of the phone/email. A massive ''Thank You'' to all the team once again. Would recommend to all.

Matt Buttery

My review mostly covers the snagging experience, quality of build and living in the house. But touches on the buying process.

I've lived in my new build W E Black home now for just over a year. The buying process was a little tricky, and made more stressful because I hadn't sold my previous property before I placed a deposit for my new home. We got there in the end. However, if you're in that space, I'd advise engaging a good local estate agent with a proven track record to ensure a robust selling process. Eric will provide you with firm advice if required!

The quality of the construction of my new house is excellent. And the layout of the whole estate so far (it's currently incomplete) is extremely good. My house had a large amount of snagging to deal with, but it was all done quickly and efficiently. And continues to be so even though I've been here a year. There's little left to be done.

I enjoy dealing with Sue Williams. She has agreed for work to be completed by the company even though it's outside the initial agreed snagging period. This, I think, is excellent customer service, and far exceeds that I've experienced with other companies.

I've had 3 independent tradesmen in recently to do routine work to gas, electric and water services. All, without me prompting, commented on the high quality of the fittings in the house. In fact, the electrician pointed out that the electrical work was excellent. They all felt that the standard of construction was far greater than most other new builds they had seen, which has given me a great deal of assurance.

Would I buy from W E Black again? Yes, definitely. But I'd want to ensure that I was in a good place with the sale of my current property first. Eric deals with and is assertive with potential buyers abruptly! My new home is extremely well built and the post-sale standard of customer care has been brilliant. But I'm not planning to move from here any time soon…!

Kim Bennett

We have enjoyed four wonderful years in our W E Black home and look forward to many more. The design is ideal for family living, the finish is excellent and the house is very energy efficient and quiet. The customer service has been first class and both Eric and Sue have been extremely helpful whenever we had questions; the whole experience has been a pleasure and I routinely recommend Blacks to my friends and colleagues.

Gordon Rodgers

We purchased our new WE Black flat in Princes Risborough in December 2020 and we are very pleased with it and the service we have received from the builders and their agents. We did have a snagging list which has been dealt with and most of the items were completed before we moved in. All the staff we have been in contact with have been friendly and professional.
We are delighted with the flat, its location and the nearby facilities.

Ella Swinhoe

Avoid - awful developer. My grandparents placed a deposit on a new home here, on the day of exchange their buyers pulled out which meant a delay - new buyers came on the scene and everyone moved quickly to keep the delay to a minimum. Today they are 2 weeks away from being ready to exchange and they’ve pulled the sale and keeping half of their deposit. The developers know that my grandparents would have completed quicker than any new buyer on the scene today, so this appears to be a greedy way to con them out of £1.5k and move on to the next buyers. They seemed happy to wait until another pound sign came along happy to pay a reservation fee on the same house. Highly recommend that you avoid this company at all costs and do not give them your money. Any company that could treat elderly people like this with no consideration, is one best avoided.

Don Graham

Worst experience ever! We have not only lost four months in the process but also half of our reservation fee. Their solicitor was incredibly slow sending over the required information making it very hard to ever achieve the 28 days exchange date, Sue Williams even admitted that they were being slow, but the worst part was that the development had land issues that were not clarified and even WE Black solicitor said "we feel that this may well be a land registry error", again something completely out of our hands. In the end, our solicitor advised us not to continue with the purchase (fortunately). The whole experience was stressful, time-consuming, frustrating and we don't wish anyone to do business with WE Black ever. Furthermore, the MD of WE Black, Eric Gadsden, treated us totally disrespectfully, shouting at me down the phone even though I was trying to help sort out what turned out to be their problem. You can tell how a company works if the MD dares to treat a customer in that way. We are now financially worse off due to the above (none of which were caused by our side), and as a result of delays not only from the solicitor but also the build itself we ended up in a very difficult situation a month before Christmas.

Be very careful when dealing with them, in summary:
- Terrible customer service
- Pressured to exchange even though there were clear paperwork issues
- Clear land registry and unexplained access rights issues
- Refused to repay half of our reservation fee even though the delay was their fault.
- Huge delays in the build
- An MD who is so arrogant that he doesn't care who you are and will treat you accordingly

Colin Bishopp

One might be forgiven for thinking that the earlier reviews, some glowing, others excoriating, with nothing in between related to two different companies. I bought my W E Black house about two years ago, and do not recognise anything in the adverse reviews which reflects my experience. Of course, the house is not perfect – no spec-built house ever is – but the design and finish are superior to those of other new houses I have bought, and the sound and heat insulation qualities are extremely good. I have encountered a few snagging problems but they have been put right promptly and with good grace. I like the house and have no regrets about having bought it. As far as I know none of my neighbours on the small estate has had a materially different experience from me. If I were to move I would happily consider another Blacks house, and I would urge friends and family to do the same.