New Build - What's the build quality really like?

motherofstudents

Of course in theory new builds should be very much better in terms of insulation and build quality, in practise this is usually not the case. There is normally a long snagging list and as has been said the NHBC is pretty worthless. Our house (bungalow) was built in 1940 and while doing some work on it we found an old jacket in the cavity wall so I guess builders were not so good even then My ambition would be to have a new build like the ones on Grand Designs, unfortunately there's only one thing stopping me...or several thousand........:(

Kyrae

Recently bought a Barratt home and couldn't be happier, exactly what we were expecting it to be, if not better! That said... before buying the Barratt house we rented a new build flat by a local builder and the quality was awful, there were flaws all over the place and the tiling etc was terrible in places. So some new builds are great, some are bad, all depends on who builds it and if they do a good job or not.

I'd recommend visiting the site and having a look at the houses that are already built, the show home, etc. That'll give you an idea of the quality you can expect. Also, no harm in talking to a couple of people who have already moved in and getting their feedback on whether they're happy with their home or not. Of course, do this alone and not with the site manager present, otherwise you're unlikely to get an honest answer!!

gabyjane

DKLS wrote: »

As somone for whom the garden is as important as the house I would never consider a new build, as I am yet to see one that is on a decent sized plot.

Depends what you want your garden for at the end of the day! When we were offered our S/O house there were a few different types being built on the development and we had first pick..some had gardens and some had garages..some had both! for weeks we decided which would be better if we had to choose and decided on the garden but really wanted a garage..imagine our excitement when they met us to show us round and there were both!..we got to the garage and they opened it and wow it's massive..good start then we looked round and went into the garden..it had a JCB in it so we never knew what it looked like but knew it would be a good size..we never saw it when we put our deposit down and it wasn't until we moved in we saw it all done..it is split level as we are on a slight hill but it for us a very good size..it has a patio too and we have in the last few weeks had the bottom all decked as a tad wonky and we figured the top was sufficient grass.

I would say if you like a house and it is in the right area see it for yourself before assuming new houses have rubbish gardens. I agree some are and our poor neighbour didnt get a very good deal as his is wonky as anything and he is currently digging the whole thing up but we were lucky i guess.

gabyjane

mikey_D wrote: »

I brought a new build off plan from David Wilson Homes in 2006 and have had no problems with it, I don't think its necessarily the name behind the homes but the site foreman and the team he has working on site that defines the quality. We looked at some other DWH that were being built nearby and the quality finish on them was appalling and they were selling for 70K more than ours, however other than a few small fininsh problems we have had no issues, then again I know people who have had to move out of there homes for a few months while they were rebuilt. One thing to pick up on aswell, someone posted that builders who can't sell homes offload them to the local HA's this isn't the case, as most do not meet the standards they require, as they are alot higher than normal residential developments.

I was interetsed to see that bit! Ours is S/O and is bigger in spec than the ones that sold for £30k more than ours privately..the quality from what i have seen of a couple is not as good as ours either.

gabyjane

Sulphur_Man wrote: »

Dear All,
Thanks for the varied and usefull responses. Since I started the thread, we've looked at both 3-bed and 4-bed configurations on this estate, and, as yet, I havent noticed anything worrying.

FYI - The development is on previous MOD land, and is clustered around a Grade 1 listed building.

What the literature doesn't make entirely clear is that there is a quota of 'affordable housing'.

The asking prices are comparitively cheap for the surrounding area, which makes me wonder about the build quality.....

FYI - the development is Farnborough Central in Hampshire, RedRow

It could be a development like where i live. There are a mixture of similar style houses all mixed in..some are wooden fronted flats, some are town houses like ours and some are just what i call normal looking houses..all the same decor etc BUT some are S/O like ours..some are council and some are privately rented out or purchased through the estate agents like i guess you would?
Tbh with you i wasn't aware of who was who for months when we moved in and only through chatting and knowing some of our neighbours do we now know it is a development of mixed housing. Unless you get some rough familys move into the council bit then you should be ok!!

space_rider

I live in 3 year old house which I bought when it was around 15 months old. Lots of things not right but Barratts came back and put it right. All bedrooms are big doubles and master has ensuite and dressing room. Only small rooms are bathroom and kitchen but kitchen has plenty of units, you can also fit a 2 person table in it. Garden is a decent size too. Looked at some houses on the estate and the rooms weren`t as big and some gardens were just about big enough to fit all the wheelie bins! Heats really quickly and keeps the heat in. Can hear next door if they are in bathroom same time as me which is quite amusing, but I don`t hear their TV or any other noises. I only bought this because of the size of the bedrooms and got it quite reasonable. Wouldn`t have bought the inflated price just for it being brand new.