Well I was there from 11am till 5PM today
Only two plots were left from the first phase for the particular build I'm interested in, one was side on and an odd layout the other was the detached build but attached to a town house so in effect a semi-detached. The plots varied in price by £10k depending on location, garden size etc.
The rep priced this semi in the middle of this price range for the detached which I wasn't too sure about as surely being only semi it should be one of the cheapest. She said she could stretch to 5% and I said I was looking for nearer to 10% reduction (she went red in the face whilst looking at me with an expression I can't describe but it was hilarious!) (despite this particular build selling very well) I went off to wander round again and came back to a £15,000 reduction with £7,800 of stamp duty paid and £1000 to my legal fees. The properties already come turfed and with some extra cheap tat such as a door bell and a sky plug and play system + digital aerial. I wasn't interested in white goods as I will be providing my own fridge & washing machine etc and theirs were way over priced anyway!
I gave it some thought and went for another wander around. Considered it's location on the development which will be well out of the way of building work once the small corner it is on is finished which would be around the time of the build completion, October.
I decided I was happy with this but will be on the phone to head office first thing tomorrow morning to try and milk a further reduction.
The build itself I loved and the quality of the finish I had no problems with. I'm aware the show home has lots of extras however the build quality should be no different.
The upgrade pricing is quite frankly insane. For example a spotlight in the ceiling is £50, each! To tile the kitchen + dinning area + utility, hall, downstairs WC floor + half tile walls, fully tile the bathroom walls and floor & fully tile the en-suite bathroom walls & floor comes to just shy of £5400! An external socket outside is £85. To have chrome switches & sockets is £1100. Chrome towel radiators for bathrooms are £300 a piece.
The only half reasonable upgrades were door handles £5 or £10 with locks and to upgrade bathroom taps from nasty cheap ones to nice ones for £80.
I've got to sit down and work out the floor & wall areas and the cost of materials + having them done after the build is completed to see if it's a considerable saving or not.
I've agreed and paid a £2000 reservation fee which is £1900 refundable in the next 7 days and £1500 refundable after that up to 4 weeks which will be when the contract is presented. This is to be followed by a 5% deposit and then nothing else to pay until the build is complete in October.
I'm going to ring head office tomorrow and speak to them about their initial pricing of the property and see what can be done. Whilst the net price might not be able to be dropped credit for upgrades might be an acceptable offer.
Just thought I would update this as I'm sure anybody looking for a new home in the future from any developer may well find this useful. I don't doubt that some users here will scoff at the offer I have accepted however considering the development is having no trouble selling I don't think I've done too badly so far.
£7000 worth of extra's before tiling and carpets 
