Trusted Agent profile
★★★★★
1,732 reviews across 5 offices and 2 platforms
Cala Homes North Counties has five offices, in Waterbeach, Chelmsford, Great Bentley, Kelvedon and Hertford. Together they have 1,732 reviews on two platforms, rated 4.4 out of 5 overall.
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Cala Homes North Counties's five offices, most reviewed first. Each has its own page.
Newest first, from every platform, with the office each review is about. First names only.
1/5
TrustpilotAwful developer building badly deigned…
Awful developer building badly deigned black boxes which blight the local community.
Hi Tom,We're incredibly disappointed to read your review. Please can you email cala.group@cala.co.uk and we will look into your concerns right away.Kind regards,Cala
5/5
TrustpilotVery smooth process
The entire process from viewing the show home to finalising the property to getting the keys was very smooth and efficient. We were always informed about what was happening at the property the finishing time etc. The staff especially at Southwood Farnborough Mews Natasha and Maria were very helpful. Thank you Cala for our first beautiful home.
Hi Suman,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers.We will also pass your lovely comments to the team at Southwood Mews. Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
1/5
TrustpilotAfter a long 5 years Cala still hasn't…
After a long 5 years Cala still hasn't fulfilled any of the deficiencies at the Parklands site in Aberdeen.Bike and bin rooms not fit for purpose disabled parking spaces the kerbs are all loose.We were advised that after 2 years they would reseal all window that never happened resulting in multiple leaks tarmac on paths are very shoddy and uneven I could go on and on.Warning to anyone buying the new block opposite (which we were assured would never happen) you will be in for a long fight.
Dear Rita,We're incredibly disappointed to read your review. Please can you email cala.group@cala.co.uk and we will look into your concerns right away.Kind regards,Cala
5/5
TrustpilotAmazing team
Amazing team, really helps & guide through the process with great recommendations of solicitors & IFAs
Hi Fawad,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers.Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
5/5
TrustpilotIGM Meeting with Site Engineer - Beatrice Meadows
After completing the reservation, CALA has set up a IGM meeting with Site Engineer. Carol has given warm welcome to us and introduced site Engineer Barry. Both Carol and Barry has given lot of information about the site and our plot and explained the structure of the building stage by stage. They are quite open and honest. And they had given lot of recommendation and educated us about the whole process and they are pleased to consider our request as well. I hope rest of the transaction will go smoothly and get the handover on time!!! Thanks to both of them
Hi Kiashiq,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear about your experience at our Beatrice Meadows development. Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
5/5
TrustpilotGirls I have been dealing with (Maria &…
Girls I have been dealing with (Maria & Natasha!) are amazing ! Really helpful and always on the end of the line if I need them
Hi Lisa,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear about your experience with Maria and Natasha. Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
4/5
TrustpilotFriendly and helpful staff
Friendly and helpful staff, always available to answer any questions you may have and put your mind at rest.The information appointment was very informative and explained everything we needed to know and much more about the site and plot of our new home.
Hello,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers.Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
1/5
TrustpilotLet down to buyers, and community.
We are now 3 years in the new home in Haddington with Cala. A plethora of issues from faulty plumbing, carpeting issues, no topsoil, garden drainage issues, and absolutely no help available. We have given up on the last of our snagging as we can just get it done ourselves and not wait 3 more years for works to be done. On top of all of this we are still awaiting street signs as Cala has stated “there are still works ongoing”. We haven’t had any major trucks or works on our phase in over a year, and the neighbours are all very upset as a large group. We also have to constantly chase for the communal areas to be sorted as they are now overtaken with weeds/animal feces/rubbish. The few trees put around entire site are mostly dead so when folks drive up to the area it looks like a forgotten waste land. Head to the other side of town and the other Cala site is immaculate in comparison. We don’t need a large field of roses and lavender, but to have torn up the previous wild grown field and be left with nettles/rocks/trash is so disappointing. The local community is also suffering as a friend in another development is struggling to get answers for road works needed. The road is owned by Cala but neither Cala or the other builder will sort the issue. Such a complete let down and with consensus from the entire neighbourhood is we don’t think people will stay long term in this area.
Dear Kevin, Thank you for bringing this to our attention, we are incredibly sorry to read about these issues you have been having. Please be assured we have passed this onto our regional team and Contracts Manager to look into. Kind regards, Cala
5/5
GoogleRating only, no written review.
5/5
GoogleRating only, no written review.
5/5
TrustpilotVery professional experience
Very professional experience and helpful with all our questions. Would recommend to all.
Hi Mark,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers.Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
5/5
TrustpilotVery helpful courteous staff.
Rating only, no written review.
Hi Gina,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers.Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
5/5
TrustpilotAll the staff were very efficient and…
All the staff were very efficient and helpful in going through the pre buying list of choices that were available to me. Allowing me to see another build on another site also helped me to see what I’m buying and get an idea of size etc. Everyone couldn’t have been more helpful and kind. Thank you.
Hi Jacqueline,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers.Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
5/5
TrustpilotFirst class and friendly service
First class and friendly service. Excellent knowledge of the development by the sales team.
Hi Caroline,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers.Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
5/5
TrustpilotExcellent service, quality & knowledge
From the moment I enquired right through to reserving the staff & service has been excellent. I completed my Information meeting today which is an opportunity to run through plans, drawings & the detail prior to exchanging contracts. Hannah in particular was very knowledgeable & continues to be an excellent ambassador for the Cala Brand. Looking forward to legally completing later this year & moving in.
Hi Dario,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers and about your experience with Hannah.Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
5/5
TrustpilotGreat correspondence and very friendly…
Great correspondence and very friendly we feel well looked after
Hi Deborah,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers.Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
1/5
TrustpilotCALA Jordanhill - Don’t buy!!!
Cala is living on their past reputation of being a good builder. Bought a 5 Bedroom home from them, and it’s obvious no quality control whatsoever.Every pane of glass is scratched - 2 months in, still not fixed.Fitted Kitchen falling apartStaircases need to be re-installed.Stair rails have a manufacturers defect and wobble badly. No replacement.Drywall bulging, needs cutting outNo fireproofing where pipes installed, so no 1 hour fire barrier.Heating system has issues because all the thermostats can’t actually monitor temperature changes.House needs a complete repainting done because they thinned what they had to almost water.Speaking of water - if we’re lucky we get 6 litres a minute water flow. And no pressure. The whole development is suffering this issue, but they blame the water company.Turns out Cala installed a water system that requires 20 Litres a minute, in an area that can’t sustain 10Litres a minute.Sales / Construction staff will lie to your face. And to incoming new buyers. Our snag list of over 210 items, currently stands at 195 after 12 weeks.Don’t buy from Cala! That’s all I can say
Dear Nick, We're incredibly sorry and disappointed to read your review. Please be assured our team are aware and are working on this for you. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused. Kind regards, Cala
5/5
TrustpilotThe team was very helpful through the…
The team was very helpful through the stages of getting us to understand the property details.
Hi Vineet,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers.Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
1/5
TrustpilotSales teams' are fantastic...but then...
Sales teams' are fantastic, it's just a shame that every other department within this business let them down. Reality starts to hit when you try to report snags within your home, the site team who, as we understand, you are looked after for the first 10-12 weeks are slightly more accomodating than the customer service team, but you need to be willing to wait 3-4 months for any resolutions to be put in place. Trades turn up at random times with no appointments booked to complete works that you have to explain to them but the job gets done and when it is done tends to be of a reasonable standard. As mentioned above, this is a much better service than customer service. My main point if advice for anyone considering purchasing would be to try your utmost to get your list completed before they push you on to the next team. All the customer service team will tell you over and over again is "that's within tolerances". Which realistically, is not the outcome you would be hoping for if you've just spent £645,000 on a property. The other classic is that "we don't compensate, we make good" - this answer isn't applicable for certain snags that are due to poor insight/forward thinking from the technical teams or designers. It just very tiring, the approach is very robotic and unempathetic. Empathy is not just saying words that sound sympathic, it's following through with actions that acknowledge you're listening to someone. The company seem to be too wrapped up in profit and moving on to the next phase or opportunity than spending the time to ensure their reputation preceeds them when the next project arises.I would also encourage, as others have done before me, to wait until you have actually moved into your property and been through the process from start to finish before writing a glowing review of this company. As referenced above our sales ladies were fantastic, I guess the saying 'don't judge a book by its cover' works here in a backwards way.. CALA hide behind their sales teams but once you're in, be prepared for an uphill struggle
Dear Jane,We're incredibly disappointed to read your review. Please can you email cala.group@cala.co.uk and we will look into your concerns right away.Kind regards,Cala
2/5
TrustpilotTypical housebuilder trying to save money to the detriment of customers
Myself and my wife moved into our CALA home in Aspen Park, Buckinghamshire in December 2020. We have been in for coming up to 2 years now so I feel I am in a position to leave a fair review of the house.Full disclosure; we paid 750k for a 5 bed detached house on the estate. We have noted the following issues:Sound leakage:Like many new builds the interior walls and floors leak sound really badly. A couple of examples:When either myself or my wife is on the phone for work/whatever you can hear every word spoken clearly when you are either in the room next door or the room below. I would typically expect some muffled noise but this is more like they are in the same room. Televisions and other appliances are equally problematic. Another more unpleasant example; we have a downstairs loo next to the living room and you can hear everything that goes on in there when someone is using it. I raised this as a snag to CALA because I couldn't imagine this was by design, but no, apparently it is "within spec". This obviously all occurred after we were assured the house was filled with noise reducing plasterboard in the various sales calls we had.Currently, there is only me and my wife in the house but in 10 years' time when there are kids involved, I imagine investment in some sound proofing will be essential.Unusable loft:The loft is completely unusable because they didn’t use weight bearing joists. They are careful in the literature to call it a "work access space" so the intention from them is that you never use it to store anything. So if you are thinking of using loft space for storage, forget it, unless it's for a couple of pillows. We have our Christmas decorations in there and that’s it. Garden:Our garden died - completely died. House builders apparently have this practice where they just dump rubble and other rubbish in the garden and lay turf over the top. This obviously causes issues with drainage so the grass will just drown and die. Thankfully when we raised this as a snag we had a very nice CALA manager over who agreed it's probably something they should fix so we had some drains installed which seems to have fixed the issue. I note this here because you may not be so lucky - they are within their rights to assume the grass has died due to lack of care or any other reason that pops into their heads. Some of our neighbours have been told no when they raised the same issue.Other annoying issues: - Garage floor hasn’t been set or laid with resin so it constantly kicks up concrete dust (most likely silica) which may be harmful to health - I'll let you know in 10 years' time… - Driveway was put in without some plastic sheeting below so moss and grass is always growing up through the brickwork and will probably need to be replaced at some point. - TV aerial in the kitchen doesn’t work because they installed a RSJ right above it and forgot to lay the cable. We raised this with CALA who informed us we could have it rectified but it would involve rebuilding that half of the house. We decided against it.On the plus side, they were very good at sorting out the small snags when we first moved in and the 2 year snagging period is very good. And everything seems to work fine.So why the 2* review? Well, I would categorise my experience as not bad but not satisfactory either. I think the 2* is more an a reflection of the very poor UK house building regulations. All of the issues I have described above could have been fixed if there was a little more money spent on the build. Unfortunately the NHBC who say how houses should be built is owned by (yep, you guessed it) the housebuilders. So naturally they have cut costs in every single way you can imagine. In financial services, that would be called a conflict of interest but I guess if the only casualty is a downstairs loo you can't use, or a tiny dead garden, then no one really cares. It’s a shame because the house is very close to being very good but its these cost saving measures that really bring down the quality of the build and our overall satisfaction with the property. Unfortunately, this isn't really CALAs issue. They are operating in a market where they are allowed and incentivised to act like charlatans and until a regulatory body with teeth comes along, they will continue to do so.Anyway, this is my 2cents on CALA and I suppose house builders in the UK in general, I would say buy an old house, but having lived in one of those, I know they aren't perfect either. So… live in a tent?
Dear Samuel, We're incredibly disappointed to read your 2 star review. We are aware that our regional team has been working on this with you and we have shared your feedback with them.Kind regards, Cala
5/5
TrustpilotVery pleased so far
We have just reserved a Cala house at Balgray Gardens Newton Mearns so haven’t completed the process with Cala but so far have been very impressed with the service. Clear, honest, informative and always very responsive if we have any queries about anything.
Hi Emma,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers.Best wishes in your new home at Balgray Gardens!Kind regards,Cala
5/5
TrustpilotCala have a first class team at…
Cala have a first class team at jordanhill. Their knowledge of the site and level of support is exemplary
Hi Mags,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers.Best wishes in your new home at Jordanhill Park!Kind regards,Cala
5/5
TrustpilotGreat communication and information
Bee helped detail to us the process of securing our dream home with Cala, ensuring we were in the best possible position to reserve on the day the plot was launched. Despite a few technical issues we were lucky enough to secure the plot we wanted.Since then Bee has been extremely helpful and informative in letting us know what’s coming next and when.
Hi Mark,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers. Your feedback will be passed onto Bee. Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
5/5
TrustpilotVery helpful teamwork.
A really good team who helped me in each and every step to reserve my new home.
Hi Chandrakant,Thank you for leaving your review, it is lovely to hear from happy customers.Best wishes in your new home!Kind regards,Cala
A review that appears on several offices' pages is shown once. We leave out reviews that name another agent.
Waterbeach has the most, with 1,677 reviews rated 4.5 out of 5, followed by Chelmsford with 23.
The five Cala Homes North Counties offices, by town:
Tell us what you need and up to 3 trusted local agents will be in touch.
