Cala Homes North Counties Waterbeach reviews

★★★★★ 5/5

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Snagging after surveys on a new built home

Julie, Richard, Eric, and Pete were all highly attentive in addressing the concerns raised by the surveys. Their diligence and dedication have significantly improved our confidence in Cala Homes. Eric, in particular, demonstrated exceptional commitment in getting the work done, and I cannot recommend him highly enough.

Mr · 30 September 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

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Thanks

The customer service was excellent! Emma was so professional and pleasant to deal with. Going out of her way to make sure everything was handled properly and to my satisfaction. Cannot thank her enough. Paul carried out the repair work so proficiently and professionally. Fantastic standard of work! Very thorough. Extremely helpful and friendly. So grateful to both Emma and Paul.A credit to Cala.

Eamonn · 31 October 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

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On Saturday 30 March we visited your…

On Saturday 30 March we visited your site in Edinburgh, Samantha Donoghue was who we met , Samantha was a pleasure to work with she was extremely knowledgeable and answered all questions we had. My daughter said she had a great flat hunting experience and this was down to Samantha, she is an asset to your team

Frances · 31 March 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

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Very poor experience with Cala Homes so…

Very poor experience with Cala Homes so far. Despite this being a stock plot, with ample opportunity to identify and rectify issues before completion, we moved into a property with an extensive list of snags and poor finishes.

Luke · 22 May 2026

★★★★★ 1/5

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Sales 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

Jane · 14 May 2022

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

Typical 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?

Samuel · 13 May 2022

★★★★★ 5/5

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Painting

Alan did great work doing our final snagging sorting out our minor issues with some plastering and painting. Would recommend fully

Aaron · 16 September 2026

★★★★★ 5/5

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Alan (Painter) is very experienced and…

Alan (Painter) is very experienced and professional. He understood what is required him and completed the work on time and beyond expectation.

Romanus · 9 September 2026

★★★★★ 1/5

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Complaint

I love my new home and the area we live in BUT the after care service provided by CALA is shocking!

Steve · 15 September 2026

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Cala homes at Benson

The staff at Cala homes in Benson have been extremely helpful and supportive. They have always been ready and able to answer all our inquiries and question. We have felt supported throughout the whole process to date with clear explanations of the whys and when of things. Annie and Luke are both great to deal with with a special thanks to Annie who has been our main go to person.

Margaret_Tyler · 11 May 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

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Paul provided excellent service

Paul provided excellent service, he was very professional, efficient and friendly. A great representative for the Company.

Customer · 9 October 2026

★★★★★ 1/5

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Words are easy, action not so much - Balerno

It is very easy to tell someone how passionate you are about customer service, it is much more difficult to stand behind those words with action.Cala do not offer customer service in the sense that most reasonable consumers would expect. There is absolutely nothing proactive about the post sales service. The expectation is on the customer to continually chase for updates (which you absolutely must do because, nothing gets done if you don't). I am wholeheartedly convinced they hope you run out of steam and and give up, which I have done on a number of occasions. There is no alternative explanation (other than ignorance) for the contempt with which they treat their customers. This review is not about the specifics of my experience (255 days to have internal; door replaced (still not done) or 379 days to have your floor replaced, FOR THE SECOND TIME! (thankfully now complete)), more a general reflection it. Cala would like to think they are a premium house builder. No they are not, they no different to any other mass house builder. A relentless focus on new business at the detriment of those who have already parted with their money. I would challenge a regional director come and take a stroll around the development I live on (Ravelrig Heights, Balerno) and ask themselves an honest question. Does the state of this development really reflect the quality we would claim the Cala brand stands for?

Deane · 7 April 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

New home owner for 2.5 years that can publish a book from emails from/to CALA

This is about CALA Midlands. We really liked floor layouts, the location, and most importantly CALA's reputation that that's why we went for CALA homes.I would suggest that be careful about the CALA development sites in the south, I think that they are better in the North but not in this area. I would be in this mind, until someone from CALA homes explains about all these bad experiences that we have faced. We got the keys in December 2019 but we haven't rush them to finish quickly, we were like whenever the semi-detached house is ready. In general, it is very unpleasant experience that we got the excuse of Covid19 for months and now what we are getting is that this your property now for surprises, and there are still things to fix at the property by CALA homes. I will try to explain next what has been happened.First week, we got water leak in en-suite bathroom, we said that it is coming from toilet outlet and they didn't believe us that it took 3 weeks to convince them and they started the repair they did but it didn't solved. 1 week later, they started again and it has been solved by changing the toilet completely,because the outlet wasn't round but Covid19 started and the work hasn't finished. We have waited for them to contact but nothing happened for a long time. Everytime, we go the sales office, they told us that site manager will come, no one ever came. I don't know how many site manager have gone through this site, I don't know really, I know at least 3 different site managers. Every site manager, everything started again, the sales office always was kind but no action has been done. I don't know how many time I went the sales/site office, I don't know, how many emails to CALA again I don't know. By the way, this is not the only issue that we have got, we had more than 100 items at first. I don't mention about usual, nail pop-ups. For instance, misaligned french doors, creaking stairs from 1st day, damaged door frames, doors that doesn't close properly, gaps in the ceilings, not smooth ceilings, not perpendicular walls, missing joints between bricks, faulty gutter, faulty carpets, sharp screw on the wall, no sealant on the frame of garage door, unfinished wall...So, all we had done with CALA did not work that, we contacted NHBC about all these issues. After this, finally they sent a proper reply that they would like to visit property. To make this happen, we have waited 1.5 years where we got 6 months warranty left. After this visit, we have waited 2-3 months to start to works.These works done by a company has been contracted by CALA. To do snags that they initially thought it would take 2 days to finish all, but as I remember it took 8 full days to finish some of the list that every time different member came up from that company that we had to start from scratch, because the employees of this company were not able to talk to each other. There were 2 workers that they did solve most of things that I was happy with the work, they were also surprised with the quality of building.Now, there are still items about, carpets, doors, outside window sills, about Amtico layers and we have realized by chance that ground floor toilet also has same issue at en-suite bathroom toilet that, it has faulty outlet from toilet, but they don't consider to support this, this something that I can do wrong, the toilet itself has a fault from manufacturer. It was to much easier to spot from en-suite that lower floor ceiling got marks on the ceiling but for ground floor it was not easy to sport. Anyway, I had been waiting for finishing all works to write this experience, but it became so obvious that it will take another 1-2 years more to finish all issues at the property. I am very disappointed and very upset about after-sales experience, and the worst part is that I need to chase them all the time, I can publish a book from all of the emails to/from CALA Homes.I won't choose CALA in the midlands again and I don't recommend anyone CALA midlands. They didn't consider any good willing to compensate this experience too, but I hope that CALA homes would make this right, I can give 4 stars because of probable support to correct all these poor workmanship and property design/materials.

Emre · 2 April 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

DISHONEST COWBOY SALES TEAM Craibestone

Specifically : CALA Homes in “ABERDEEN” “Craibestone estate”COWBOYS!!!!The “sales team” here are not to be trusted…Before placing my reservation deposit I explained that I would need 6-8 weeks to exchange and I was verbally assured that was acceptable. At the start of week 6 they had “sold” my reserved house to someone else….Not only do they engage in cheap “cowboy” sales tactics but they are patronising and rude. For instance when I was trying to explain to the sales rep that my mortgage offer was being delayed because of adverse data incorrectly applied to my credit file by my utilities supplier just for being taken over by British Gas, she rudely interrupted and said she wasn’t interested in the financials.They made the purchase needlessly stressful and created a sense of doubt and uncertainty from early on, like when they sent me photos of the house and said “who ever ends up buying it would be very lucky…”when I’d already committed to the purchase and was working steadfast towards exchange & completion. There was a distinct lack of honest communication from the sales department who kept pressing me to secure a mortgage offer when they’d already agreed the property to someone else behind my back. Other points to mention would be the huge difference between the show home and the actual house which is far more bland unless you want to spend an added fortune and they still won’t agree to do the work if it doesn’t suit them. For instance I asked to have down lights fitted as per the show home and they said it would cost an extra £4500 which I accepted, and then they turned around and said they would not do it because it would mean taking out the existing lights and it couldn’t be done.Now that I have managed to get British Gas to remove the “mistake” from my credit file, it has been restored to Excellent.I have the deposit money in place and I’m in a position to proceed on another similar house in their development. I have emailed the sales department to offer the full asking price and I’m being totally ignored.The way I have been treated by Cala homes “Aberdeen Craibestone” is deplorable.They are unfairly discriminating against me and I am seriously considering reporting the matter to trading standards.

Nicholas · 1 April 2022

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Paul a name of customer services

That is called customer servicesWhat we have received from Paul. Such a gentleman I ever come across in services industry. We were given very briefed details of property, availability, development and its features etc. Would highly recommend him if one is looking to buy a property.

Manzoor · 25 September 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Meg and the team are so fantastic

Meg and the team are so fantastic . They made everything smooth and easy for us. We are so delighted to work with her and the team . Kudus to Cala team. I will recommend them over and over .Thanks .

Gabriel · 9 December 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

We had an issue with one of our doors…

We had an issue with one of our doors in our new flat. The Cala customer service booked us an appointment with Connor who came to fix the door as a skilled joiner. Connor was very professional throughout the work and careful with the door itself and floor. We are happy with his work and i strongly recommend him.

Ioannis · 27 January 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Couldn’t be better…..

Experience of buying at Incolmgreen has been flawless. The sales office are extremely knowledgeable about every aspect of our new home and could not be more helpful. They have guided us perfectly through the whole process step by step, making everything as easy as it could be. Very reassuring in an age where a genuinely personal touch is rarely considered critical.

Hunt · 12 December 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

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Andrew Galloway

Andrew Galloway, visited our home in Dervaig Wynd, Newton Mearns, to readjust a number of internal doors that had moved to due to shrinkage, Andrew was prompt, polite and extremely proficient. Not only did he (quickly) fix the doors that needed adjusting, he went around all our internal doors and subsequently fixed a number of minor issues. In short, we were delighted with Andrew’s work - he is an asset to Cala.

David · 20 December 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

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We are very happy with the internal…

We are very happy with the internal painting work done by Paul and George. They were professional, reliable, courteous and took great care to protect our floors and furniture. Thank you for the great work.

Amandeep · 3 June 2026

★★★★★ 5/5

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We recently moved into our Cala home…

We recently moved into our Cala home and everything has been wonderful. The Team were supportive from the start of the process till closing and after we were transferred to customer service team Marius and the team have been nothing short of wonderful, answering questions we have in a timely manner

Oluwakemi · 24 June 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

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Paul the joiner was fantastic and he’s…

Paul the joiner was fantastic and he’s very quick in resolving the issue at our place.

Renting · 7 October 2026

★★★★★ 5/5

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All work done to a high standard and…

All work done to a high standard and happy with the way he did everything and cleared up

Linda · 22 September 2026

★★★★★ 5/5

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Wardrobe sorted.

Martin Hales came to sort out my wardrobes. They were not closing and kept sliding open. He has done a great job and now they stay closed. Thanks very much Martin. Such a polite helpful man.

Kathy · 21 May 2026