STONEBRIDGE Reviews 

We first reserved our home in May 2021. After being put under huge pressure to sell our home in order to proceed and not lose our reservation we managed it on the last possible day. We were so relieved…or so we thought.

Our completion date kept getting put back due to site delays from June 2022, to July 2022, then August, September and then we thought we would complete in November 2022 finally after being fobbed off with all sorts of excuses as to why the build was delayed. We were told the property was watertight and then arrived for our first fix inspection in October 2022 only to see daylight where the kitchen roof should have been.

We were finally about to complete and the solicitor had drawn down our funds only to not be given a completion certificate. Knowing that the time was ticking to complete within 4 weeks before we had to get a new mortgage arranged at a much higher rate was incredibly stressful but we did finally manage it a week later after the cracked window had been replaced. We entered our new home finally to find that the kitchen had not been tiled and the wrong worktop had been fitted - a mistake at the sales stage.

Then the fun of snagging began. The on-site snagging team were friendly and resolved most of the issues quickly, going above and beyond in some cases. The issues arose when items that were not immediately apparent from the initial snagging list needed resolving.

The first major issue was the hot and cold feeds being piped incorrectly to one of the showers. This was resolved by removing some of the kitchen ceiling to gain access and swap the pipework over.

None of the sealant in the showers was done correctly and the main bathroom an en-suite 2 both leaked into the kitchen below, the second leak required a fair amount of complaining to the Stonebridge Customer Care team to get them to come and resolve it.

The boiler was constantly running during the first summer there as the frost proof feature had not been set to the correct temperature, causing excessive gas usage and heating bills.

The roof over the kitchen was not fitted correctly, sagging in the middle.

The study and hallway were freezing during the winter due to inadequate insulation. This took a lot of complaining and 2 visits to finally resolve after being fobbed off by Customer Care after the first attempt at fixing the issue did not resolve it - the remedial works included filling the tops of the cavities and the roof with insulation, sealing the doors and windows properly and adjusting the front door. There should not have been any debate over this when the thermal images clearly showed that there was an issue when I reviewed them with the inspector from Stonebridge Homes.

The 3rd bathroom finally started leaking after the first 2 had been re-sealed but because it has happened outside of the warranty period Stonebridge Homes are refusing to do anything about it. We had a plumber come and inspect who told us that the shower tray needed taking out and re-sealing properly due to poor installation, at a cost of circa £2k. He’d already had to do the same job on another house on our estate with exactly the same problem. We are now looking at all 3 bathrooms needing these remedial works at a total cost of £6k.

The fascia board at the rear of the house failed during the thaw after winter snow. We had several roofers come to quote for the works and they all stated that the fascia boards had been incorrectly installed by the builders. I raised this with Stonebridge Homes Customer Care and was fobbed off again.

Finally, the guttering installation at the front of the house is totally inadequate in anything more than a light shower with a waterfall occurring above the front door but we haven’t got around to dealing with that yet.

The issues we have are clearly latent defects that you cannot see during snagging but Stonebridge Homes simply do not want to know. Avoid if you value a stress-free life.

I almost don’t know where to start with this company. We have a nice house, but only because of the hard work we put in to ensure it. Stonebridge did their best to wriggle out of every possible issue, repeatedly closing off snags that were far from sorted. Choosing to buy a new Stonebridge home means committing to 2 or 3 years of stress as you sort out the problems they have created. It would be less work and hassle to buy a house needing renovation. I get it, you’re reading this and thinking this is a one off, or maybe this reviewer is a bit picky. This is typical for Stonebridge, and we are not the exception. I actually think we did better than some.

I’m a resilient person but it’s no lie to say this was probably one of the most stressful periods of my life. We had to battle for months and years to get a full resolution to the hundreds of snags, some of which were very significant issues. Stonebridge are now doing their best to relinquish any responsibility for the shocking state of the communal areas on site. This is three years after us moving in. If you are looking at a Stonebridge house, please honestly come and visit their site off Derry Hill in Menston. You will see what resembles a wasteland. Then drive to the Bellway site off Bingley Road or any other new build estate; there, you will see what any reasonable person would hope for and expect. Think about whether you would accept this, think about the hundreds of emails, phones calls and meetings the residents have had with Stonebridge to try and get things resolved…and this is the sum total of all of that effort. Nothing. The development seemingly went over budget, they don’t care about the residents as we’ve paid them years ago and they are trying to leave us high and dry.

Steve Errington – MD at Stonebridge – The friends and family that you say you enjoy spending time with on LinkedIn. Let me tell you this – If they could see the upset and hurt that you and your company have done to the Menston residents, they would be ashamed to have any association with you. Maybe if you do read this Steve, you could do an all-time first and do the right thing – Sort out the communal grounds to a reasonable level (you know with grass, not dead twigs for trees and preferably no metal/paving slabs sticking out of the ground), we can then take the land over and move on with our lives. You would think that given a house is the most expensive and important thing any normal person will purchase, that you would have some pride and integrity for the way your company operates and treats your customers. I know that’s what I’d do and I know many others who would do the same. Your company purely cares about taking money, not the distress you are causing to so many people. Shame on you.

Completed and passed my course in Sept. Have been chasing for months (its March now) and still no certificate.

Buying a Stonebridge house was the worst decision we ever made. The finish is appalling, the Site Managers evasive and Customer Care don’t care one bit. We had over 200 snags, the worst one being a leak in the kitchen which started two hours after we were handed the keys. An attempt has been made on 4 separate occasions to repair it, but here we are 12 months on and it’s leaking again. It appears to be a fundamental flaw in the design/build as other houses of the same style have the same problem. Surely a basic expectation of purchasing any house is that it should be watertight? Our experience with this Company has been dreadful and we would advise anyone who haven’t already committed to steer well clear and give their money to another builder.