Redrow

EliteHeat

You should ask tradesmen, who work in houses all the time, whether they would buy a new build or not.

Their answer would tell you volumes.

P.S. I wouldn't

skap7309

OP - A friend i worked with a few years ago bought a new build, couldnt show off enough that he was buying a brand new house.....a few months ago he said he was moving and when i asked if he was buying new he said (and i quote) ''never buying new build again.....''

Please think twice before buying new. They are like living in a cardboard box. Stud walls so thin and floors that feel like you are walking on polystryne.

alared

Mine was a new build which I bought from Persimmon 20 years ago.
We had a few "snags" as all new builds do,which were eventually corrected.
Even back in those days you had to chase them up constantly to get the work done.
And they were up to their old tricks even then,such as the site manager forgeing your signature stating all outstanding work completed and you were satisfied.
BUT at least back then the houses were fairly solid and you could hang a picture on a wall without it caving in.
These days they`re little more than cardboard and the cheapest material they can get away with using.
You still have the "snagging" problems and all the lying and cheating from the salespersons for these overpriced boxes.

POSSETTE

i think you really need to learn to haggle...i have had 3 new builds and ALL were haggled down in price and i paid less than comparable used houses..39k was first ,i got it for 36k.. second was 54k i got them to 52k plus all carpets, and this was 149k but only paid 138k..i do see some houses squashed together though with no drives etc and i do think that is wrong to build like that..i would always want drive for 2 cars at least and garden front/rear.haggle them down..i think i just heard on news today that Redrow have announced 91,000,000 loss this year..or was it 9,100,000?? they will be desperate to sell anything...your chance for bargain if the house is right..

Hatster

Just trying to give a bit more balance to the new-build / not new-build debate here. A friend of mine bought a new-build (Wimpey) down the road from me. He did have a list of snags that needed to be fixed, but they were good about fixing them reasonably promptly, and they were happy for him to have access before it was finished in order to put network cables all over the walls (this was about 3 years ago or so). He was very happy with the design and layout of the house, and he liked the decor. Before the other houses were build, he got a great view from his lounge, but he knew that was going to go. He says there's been a friendly atmosphere built up on the estate.
On the down side - the development still isn't finished, so he's lived down a partially made road with no street lights for 3 years. (I cycled down there one evening and got covered in mud, so wasn't too impressed. It must be very unpleasant at night for the people who have to walk down there to get to the bus stop.) There is still a lot of building going on, which is noisy and dirty, and he works from home. I find that a lot of the rooms are rather small - in particular the dining room. I also notice the lack of mature trees and how narrow the roads are when you turn into his development compared to our road. The other thing he comments about compared to our house is how hot it gets in summer (not this summer!) - our 19th century house was coolish, when his was baking hot.
Don't know if that will be any help, but I thought it might give you some new things to think about.

veedweeb

Cat695 wrote: »

So your saying new builds are not over priced and are well built LMFAO

90% of new build owners complained of problems

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/mar/28/movinghouse.property

If your paying a premium you should be getting quality NOT problems

This is my first post here... I run New Build Inspections http://www.newbuildinspections.com

We are the largest independent snagging company in the country, and my company has NEVER carried out an inspection and found zero defects in a new home.

I am biased, of course, but I would never consider buying a new build house without having a professional snagging inspection carried out.

I don't want to spam the boards, so I won't go into detail here... lets just say that some of the defects we have found have been staggering!

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Sorry for the thread hijack

Steve

dopester

adr0ck wrote: »

i spent the night with my missis at her place once when we were first seeing each other

one thing lead to another

and before you knew it her next door neighbour was in the garden shouting at us to keep the racket down

1930's house

My research indicates the 1930s saw a massive boom in house building, with many speculative builders... which led to many concerns about build quality, and was a big cause in bringing about the Building Societies' Act of 1939.

I'm not saying all houses in the 1930s were badly built.. but maybe the one you were in was.

The excesses of the building boom and the unease expressed in Parliament about the close relationship between the builders and the building societies led to the passing of the Building Societies' Act of 1939.

The main debate on the second reading of the Bill concentrated on the standards to which houses were being built and whether or not there should be some guarantee of quality given to the purchaser by the builder or the building society.

In the debate on the second reading of the Building Societies Bill, Miss Ellen Wilkinson a Labour MP said, quoting from an architect that 'The trouble is that many surveyors employed by building societies are not specialists in house construction;...as they are dependent as a class on the builder rather than the purchaser. Their tendency is to help the builder to sell his house and not to help the purchaser to get a good well-built house'.

Allen and Thompson's figures show that 90 per cent of those seeking work in the building industry were placed within one day, on a sample inquiry taken in June 1936 (11). This would confirm that the speculative builder was turning more to unskilled labour to build the houses on the new estates, many of them on a piece-work basis. Local authorities building with direct labour would have required workers trained to a higher standard than those required by the speculative builder and engaged clerks of works to supervise the jobs.

http://www.pre-war-housing.org.uk/default.htm