Fairhaven Homes

My house is now complete.
Except for few minor defects there is nothing I can say I am worried about.
The experience from beginning till the end was great and commendable.
There has been no single guests at our property who didn't appreciate the finishing of the house.
I am vey happy and lucky to have decided to choose Fairhaven Homes as builder.

Site supervisor - Ellis really did a great job and was very approachable and always replied to our emails and correspondences without fail. He is a great guy and deserves a BIG SHOUT OUT for his wonderful assistance throughout our journey. I wish Ellis good luck for his future and I really appreciate his patience to deal with his clients' queries . Keep up the good work!!

Administrator -Sacha you were so good and your support as a new starter in the company is outstanding .You are definitely doing a good job. Never stop this excellent approach towards your clients. We are very happy for all your support.

Good luck to the company and keep up the great work!!

We were completely lulled into a false sense of security when signing up to build with Fairhaven, the deal seemed great, the people were lovely...it did not take long for this to all come crashing down. I now understand why Ipads were thrust into our face at our colour appointment as this is probably the only time they can manage to get good reviews out of people.
We began building our 22.5sq home with Fairhaven in August of 2017, we were initially told we would be in the house by Christmas that year (being realistic I though this might be slightly delayed) however the house was not finished until November 2018. During this nightmare 14 months our site supervisor changed 6 times! During the build we contacted a private building inspector to assess the property at each stage. Upwards of 40 defects were found at most stages and these were not addressed until the final month of the build period. In addition to the incredible time delays I had the company ignoring me the whole time with many emails going unanswered. After finally settling the damages owed to me due to time delays still to this day have not been paid!!! I have been trying to contact the company since December and since then have been met with one very rude phone conversation but still no solution.
Our house still has multiple defects:
- Floors aren't level - this is particularly bad on back alfresco - after raining water will pool.
- Walls are not straight, several walls meet at an acute angle!
- Bulkhead is out by 10mm over a 1.5m length above the kitchen bench
- Flooring is not completed as per plans
- Electrical issues
- Cracking
- Tiles not cut straight

It got to a point where it was too stressful to keep dealing with the company over these issues so took the house in a sub par condition but would highly advise to anyone considering building with Fairhaven to reconsider.
The level of service and professionalism is basically non existent. One of their site supervisors even admitted to me that they did not expect to expand so quickly and therefore are not set up with good trades to complete jobs in the North West suburbs of Victoria hence the delays and problems.
There is no excuse for such poor workmanship and poor handover, we have had nothing but problems and still we unfortunately have to keep dealing with them.
I had many other friends and family building at a similar time with Carlisle, Boutique and Mimosa and nobody had even close to the trouble we experienced.

Do not put yourself under the stress of building with Fairhaven!!!

Diem Ho,our customer service @Fairhaven was a great help.She guides us throughout house and colour selection process patiently .Very knowledgeable and honest.We felt that we are on the right place up until this stage.Hopefully the building process would be as smooth as these initial steps without any disappointment.Thank you Diem.

I had my first home completed just over 12 months ago and my second build is in the contract stage. I’m also about to sign on for a third time and there is no other builder that can compare. After walking through every other builders display homes, I couldn’t find another plan that matched the Newport 275 and the price was still the best by far.

We are loving our experience with Fairhaven so far. Our consultant Rene Mallia, provided great help and guidance throughout the process of Colour Selection and all pre-site stuff. Communication is always easy and she's always very attentive. You could feel that she is going out of her way to help and make sure that we've got adequate information so we can make proper decisions. We find the price competitive and the upgrade options/pricing reasonable.

Our first home was built by a different builder and we definitely have a better experience with Fairhaven this time for our second house, from the Sales to pre-site stage. We felt we are better informed and we have the
confidence that our consultant is genuinely working for our best interest.

Our site start is in three weeks and we are looking forward to a smooth and stress-free Construction phase.

The first time we stepped into the Fairhaven Homes display in Clovertone we just new that was our dream home. We were warmly welcomed by Sanjana then, who is now at Highlands Display Centre. Sanjana was so patient in explaining and answering all our question. Sanjana offered some suggestions and ideas that we considered and took on board.She would most of the time sacrifice he time after hour to meet us to finalise some minor details.She has demonstrated some quality customer care that we hope is the custom at Fairhaven Homes. How ever we have raised our concerns with the negative reviews that we have read on line

What an utter nightmare our build was.
The initial consults and signing up were a breeze and led to a false sense of security with this company. Our first supervisor to the build never even called us to notify us that the build was commencing. We were only notified when the next supervisor handling the build called us to say they underpoured the slab at the front of house and overpoured it to the rear and would require and engineer to come and rectify their error. We should have seen this as a sign of things to come but still excited about our first home. I will now dot point a short version of what happened next.
- frame was constructed by the apprentice and majority of noggins were short and when this pointed out the supervisor told me this was normal.
- windows and frames were all over 20cms from frame and nails exposed and barely holding them. Apparently according to supervisor this is to assist with windy days
- food scrapes were thrown into the wall cavities by trades
- insulation blew over the site after installation and not replaced just had walls put up.
- majority of the windows had to be chaulked to fill gaps between and windows and brickwork. So much so in the end I told them no more with the chaulking gun (their solution to all gaps)
- crooked walls
- floor was uneven through entire house (my fault apparently for not putting a footpath next to house)
- ceiling separated from wall on numerous occasions
- walls moved
-wardrobe door and doors in house moved
- had to install agi pipe around house to prevent movement of house. This solution did nothing to help with the movement of the house. It was still cracking the day we moved out.
- handover state of house was a joke
- hot water system broke on numerous occasions
- supervisor did most of the build as he couldn't supervise his trades
- the after build manager told me it was my fault that the house was moving because I didn't build my footpath next to the house and i should have done that due to the soil type my house was on. When i asked how i was supposed to know this soil type he said it was in my contract. We then went through the contract and he noted that I wasn't lying it wasn't in there.

How is the house now? I have no idea. The stress of the build and the money it cost us lead to a relationship break down and sale of the house.

I have written this review now as fairhaven called me recently to ask me for feedback. When I called them back to offer that feedback they didn't seem to want it anymore when they realised what house it was.

No compensation was ever offered by them all I received was trades coming back to do poor patch up jobs.

Well what can I say about Fairhaven...nothing positive. I’ve had constant issues with my house since it’s completion 3yrs ago. My floors have already been replaced, walls replastered and painted. And two years on, everything needs to be fixed once again. My ceiling has pulled away from the walls (not once, but twice) and nobody seems to know what the problem is NOR are they willing to fix it. I have been waiting since July 2018 for this most current issue to be rectified.
I have made a formal complaint a year ago and nobody got back to me, I have contacted fairhaven many times via email and phone calls but still....nothing.
If you want a house built without issues years after construction then I suggest you do not build with Fairhaven.
As you can see in my photos, apart from the massive cracks in my ceiling, the paint job still hasn’t been completed from last time I had this issue rectified. And what’s funny is, my house has moved that much that my doors no longer close shut anymore...but yes, just like every other issue I’ve had, I’ve been told it’s ‘normal’.

The issues I raise in this review are not even a quarter of the problems I have since moving in. I probably have a hundred emails to prove, I’m happy to show you all of them as I have kept every single one.

Was really excited to be building our dream house for my family and expected the house to be done in 320 days (about 10 months). Sales and colour selection was quite breezy and pleasant.

However, right now, I'm absolutely devastated with the 3-month delay that is still ongoing with numerous rectification works still incomplete and UNSATISFACTORY. It's a bit unfortunate that I had to be absent during the build so I had an independent building inspector help me monitor the works. All this while, I received only brief reports on what has been done or what is to be done without much details from FAIRHAVEN. I had to find out more from my own inspector's progress reports and also flew in a few times just to check up on it.

I flew in for pre-handover expecting to see a complete liveable house with minor defects requiring only a quick fix but was terribly DISAPPOINTED to see that most of my ground floor windows had HOLES at the bottom - covered carelessly with pieces of uneven rubber, definitely NOT weatherproof imo. The sides of it were no different with some of the rubber twisted or not pulled out properly. Brick work was HORRENDOUS as well. Many smear marks and obvious and UGLY cement leak from the holes in the bricks which was visible at the. Aesthetics wise, workmanship was INCONSISTENT making any unevenness very noticeable. A huge gap towards the bottom of my front door meaning the door wasn't mounted correctly. Incomplete tiling in 1 of my toilets. Mirrors missing from my toilet cabinetry. Squeaky floors in 1 of my bedrooms. All I can say, the finishing is NOT up to scratch.

I'm assuming the site supervisor has many houses to oversee but nevertheless should have a clear understanding on what is what for which house and to have sufficient communication to build the house specifically according to plans. Our independent inspector even had recommendations noted down according to the legislation but were still not followed after several highlights. Furthermore, when we met the site supervisor for pre-handover, he had this nonchalant demeanor and indicated most "defects" were already fixed and that they are "like that". Absolutely horrifying. Would not recommend Fairhaven to anyone.

I had good and bad experiences with fair haven so far as first home buyer. Initial stage went really smooth but it was bit of shock in colour meting as the price quoted by sales consultant was not correct. I had to pay some extra at the end but it was relatively less compared to construction price. However there are few things you need keep in mind when you do the budget from your end,

1. You need to pay the power and water bills while they do constructions.
2. You need to pay and organise assets protection from council to start construction. It may vary from council to council. For Cardinia it was $1363 but somewhere around $1000 is refundable when there is no damaged to public properties around your lot after construction.

23rd of October 2018 I signed the contract but as per the Fairhaven Homes, the Earth work will only begin in end of January 2019 which is bit long to wait. In Fairhaven office my best point of contact are Kitsa and Karen. I must say about Kitsa, she is a lovely person to deal with and she do here 100% to keep things moving forward without delay and she commits if there is any delay on their side without giving you any unrealistic excuses. Here after I will keep updating stag by stage as it will help other people to make the right choice when selecting your builder.
Only thing I have to do now is wait till calendar ticks end of January and hope there will be no any delays in future.

Fairhaven has been great and value-wise, we are so happy with the finished product. We cannot fault the consistent communication and friendliness of the Fairhaven team. There were a few minor items that needed fixing following the first inspection (dirty windows etc.) but everything was taken care of promptly and professionally. The house is finished beautifully and we are so happy with it, we love showing it off to our friends.

Sanjana from highlands display homes was great very patient and helpful in all ways she made the process of choosing what we wanted so easy thank you so much for your help I would do it all again as fair haven homes have a great range of display homes to choose from we are so happy and can't wait to live in our new house

We first came to know about Fairhaven Homes when we visited their Albright display in Truganina. I was impressed with the build and their plan prices are competitive. I've heard their site costs are one of the best in the market but since we are still in initial deposit days, hopefully time will tell.

Our sales consultant, Diem Ho has been fantastic. She is experienced at what she does and has gone above and beyond in delivering us an exceptional experience. (Eg. When it was a public holiday, or late in the evenings, she would still respond to my enquiries without delay) Her level of transparency and honesty are also traits I value in a sales consultant and am grateful to have her working alongside us to build our first home. Definitely recommend.

Only time will tell what is going to happen at construction stage, but at this moment in time, I am hopeful that I have made the right decision.

We just had a great experience with Fairhaven Homes from the initial introduction when we discovered a display house which would fit our small block of land! When we inspected the display home, we were fortunate to meet Thinh Huynh, he would go above and beyond to ensure that we would be building the home of our dreams. He genuinely took an interest in our likes and dislikes throughout the process of deciding what we wanted to add in to our home making it easier for us to make decisions. He also gave us upfront pricing including fixed site cost and his honesty was appreciated more than anything.

After doing my own comparasate with other well known builders, we believe we found the best deal with Fairhaven Homes! Now the exciting times begin as we watch our house be built and we can't wait to move in and make a house our home. Overall, we would highly recommended Fairhaven Homes and Thinh Huynh as your consultant!

Being a third time build customer and working in commercial construction, we know what we were looking for.
We are EXTREMELY happy with Fairhaven homes: starting with the great service received by our Sales Consultant, value for money with site costs and upgraded pricing.
We started to talk with Fairhaven as this company allowed for number of changes which were not offered by other builders. Although we ended up choosing smaller home to fit our land, we had many pleasant surprises. After visiting the showroom and receiving the Fixed site costs from Fairhaven homes, we decided to go ahead with the build.
While most of builders give M slab standard, Fairhaven has much higher standard inclusions making site costs less of an issue. We also impressed with wide ranges of selections in the color room and upgrade pricing.
Our second home built with another builder having a high star rating on Product Review. Our mistake was we did not hire the independent inspector from the beginning. We just had the inspector at handover stage: the report of more than 50 faults were frustrating enough! But not as much as we extremely disappointed with site supervisor’s reactions when he received the report.
We are now looking at the 1 star reviews instead of the star rating across the builders when making the decision: Fairhaven has the least amount of issues compared to the others in the industry. Do your research – other builders are known to pay for favorable reviews so ask your consultant if this is the case.
Our land is not titled until the end of this year. We are looking forward for the home to be built. We will definitely hire an independent inspector to check through for from early stage.

Thanks to our New Homes Consultant Diem Ho who provided us with thorough information throughout the process and is an expert in the industry. Do yourself a favor and speak to her if you are considering building a new home as she is miles better than any consultant we have spoken to from other companies.

My experience with Fairhaven homes has been very smooth-sailing from the time I stepped into the Highlands Display. Mark Trlin was extremely helpful from the get-go! He was always happy to share information and educate us about certain aspects of the process we didn’t understand and was very accommodating as we changed our design and inclusions. I would highly recommend Mark as a consultant and would not hesitate to come back and see him for a future build.
Overall, I’m extremely happy with my experience with Fairhaven Homes and I can’t wait until I move into my new home

The worst decision of our lives to sign a contract with Fairhaven homes. It started off fairly well with the sales consultant, we ignored the second language barrier of the sales consultant & signed the contract as we were happy with the glenaire.

The big trouble started since the construction which started in Dec/17 and it’s been 13 months & the construction is still going on, with the 6th supervisor on board!!!! With every supervisor change, the house construction was delayed by a minimum of 3-4 weeks. The handover doesn’t happen & we update the new supervisor with the current status and issues to be fixed (as if it’s our job).
By the way they have this construction coordinator (a waste of job role for Fairhaven); as she was hardly useful. Had no real information or update for us which was really frustrating & we had to follow up with the supervisor ourselves.
We have arranged Private inspection for different stages & as a builder they wouldn’t take the fixing issues seriously & we had to chase them up.

With our experience, I highly recommend to stay away from this Builder.

We been dealing with Jacqui Arbuthnott at Fairhaven homes over the past year. We found her very attentive and helpful. We were constantly changing items and asking different questions. Jacqui was very easy to talk too and there were no problems that Jacqui couldn't solve for us.
We are very happy with her service along with other staff that we have dealt with at Fairhaven Homes so far.

We deposited to build with Fairhaven in August last year, that’s now 15 months and we are still not in house. They made heaps of mistakes, wrong cladding, tiles on wrong, the list is big. I have tried for 3-4 weeks to find out what is happening with our house. No replies from them or supervisor to emails. Very disappointing, I would not recommend them to anyone intending to build a new home. They treat you with total disdain.

They’ll make you pay extra to build out of their main zone and because you are their main trades won’t come they’ll send the crap. Our house took three different sets of painters and an extra three months on what we were led to believe. Our bricks dropped above our en-suite. Their maintenance department email returns undeliverable and the receptionist is rude. Stay away unless you want a stressful experience with rude people that are not proud of their product and service.