New Build Houses - Size and Density

Cornucopia

I bought my new-build house in 2007 and I can't say I would complain about either size or density. I guess it comes down to the developer.

Size: the main living room is L-shaped with the two longest dimensions being 22' and 26'. The bedrooms are all good sizes, with 1 being an awkward shape, but still a double, and the smallest one a single.

Density: the main compromise is that it is a 4-bed terrace, rather than detached or semi-d. But the street is much nicer than a typical old-style residential road, with 2 roads and a large, well-planted green space between our terrace and the terrace opposite. The road at the back of the house is more cramped - with a mews-style approach.

It's by no means perfect and there were build quality issues. But I think it was good VFM at the time.

Parking is an issue, but only because people are too lazy to use the spaces allocated to them.

Graham_Devon

wotsthat wrote: »

Same 'round my way. A whole estate has been built with insufficient parking - it's wonderful for creating neighbourly tension.

I thought it was because the builders wanted to squeeze in another couple of houses but they've assured me it's because they think it'll encourage people to use public transport.

Is this really what they are saying?

The car park system in the plot near me, where I was genuinely interested as it ticks all my boxes, has 1.5 spaces for every house. I don't know the reason for this, but each plot has an allocated space, and then there are half the number again as free spaces. The idea is this allows visitors (no parking is allowed on the access road, indeed, if you did park on it, you'd block access, it's not a wide road....it's got a pull in space should you have a car coming towards you for the two cars to get by).

Many will have 2 cars, so I genuinely don't know how the car parking will work, and probably never will considering I won't be living there. But 1.5 spaces seems a bit odd to cater for second cars AND visitors.

In all honesty, the 4 bed places are lovely. They have a driveway for 2 cars and the garage under someones flat. Not sure what happens for a 2 car family with visitors. Spacious, detached, decent gardens. I have to give it to the builders, they are genuinely nice homes. However, the price is about 100k more than the equivalent established home. Again though, theres not a single plot for sale, with all of them being reserved.

This is typical (though not in my area) of the 2 bed / 3 bed type homes I'm seeing built....no garage, no drive, but communal parking.

And the price? £174k for a 2 bed. For that, you don't even appear to get dining space. Suppose it would have to be in the living room. That site also appears to focus the coachhouses.

http://www.persimmonhomes.com/lowen-bre/2-bed-mid-terrace-house-190038#

Although not exactly the same, this is an example of the nice 4 bed I was talking about. This one has a study instead of a family room (but seperate dining room, which could be used as a family room), and the garage appears to be next to it, but not attached to the house itself, which suggests that my local one has simply put the garages in a different location.

http://www.persimmonhomes.com/cranbrook-galileo/4-bed-detached-house-185622

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Is this really what they are saying?

Yep - it's mentioned in the planning documents too.

The roads around the estate are deliberately narrow too to discourage parking. Some houses have allocated spaces (with a house number painted on it) whilst others have communal shared parking, and some have driveways. Not sure what the number of spaces is per household but it's under pressure from the start. I see the minutes of the residents association - it's a major source of friction - although most people attending these type of meetings seem to be upset about something.

There is an irony. When the estate was planned the bus routes were already mapped out so everyone buying knew if a bus would pass their house. Now the estate is finished the NIMBY's have mobilised to prevent the bus routes starting. Anyone that bought a house because of the convenience of the bus route now has to walk 15 minutes to the nearest bus stop.

Graham_Devon

wotsthat wrote: »

Yep - it's mentioned in the planning documents too.

The roads around the estate are deliberately narrow too to discourage parking. Some houses have allocated spaces (with a house number painted on it) whilst others have communal shared parking, and some have driveways. Not sure what the number of spaces is per household but it's under pressure from the start. I see the minutes of the residents association - it's a major source of friction - although most people attending these type of meetings seem to be upset about something.

There is an irony. When the estate was planned the bus routes were already mapped out so everyone buying knew if a bus would pass their house. Now the estate is finished the NIMBY's have mobilised to prevent the bus routes starting. Anyone that bought a house because of the convenience of the bus route now has to walk 15 minutes to the nearest bus stop.

Yep, sounds exactly as I described. At least were all seeing the same sort of thing. Are youre Persimmon homes too? Or is it a different builder? Just wondering if it's unique to Persimmon.

Also, any idea why NIMBY's would stop a bus route? What's to gain for them? The houses are built? It just serves to destroy a solution?

Does sound similar though to what I described regarding Phase 2 & 3 of the builing work. Everything has been stopped until 2019, leaving those who bought there with the understanding of what was going to be around them, high and dry.

There is definately no bus route on this estate, but there was going to be, plus a shopping area for local conviniences, library and school. I don't know why it's stopped, all I do know is it has stopped, and people are quite rightly annoyed by it as they feel they have been ripped off having bought into something which is likely never now going to be. There was HUGE opposition to this housing though. It's been 8 years coming. It's right on the edge of a town (hence the requirement for, and planning for facilities), so effects no one, bar those who WERE on the edge.

Mojisola

thescouselander wrote: »

Since we live in a relatively modern house (built around 2000) we are used to the diminutive size of modern housing but today was a real eye opener. We went to look at a 4 bedroom house but we couldn't see how two of the rooms were usable - there would have been a choice between a single bed or furniture but not both. Even the master bedroom was smaller than what we currently have!!!

Secondly I vas very alarmed at the high density of the plots. I thought the houses round here were built close together but the ones we looked at today appeared to be two or three times more densely spaced. This proved to be a problem later as when we decided to leave as the parking area at the show home got jammed as someone struggled to manoeuvre in the totally inadequate space.

Having looked briefly as a few other developments it seems the one we went to today was quite typical.

The other bit I can't understand is that the new homes are costing significantly more the older, bigger ones.

Round here, you can buy a new, tiny four-bed with very little garden and restricted parking for £250,000 but a 1970s four bed with three big doubles and an ample single one, a good garden and drive way parking for 2/3 cars is £180,000. And yet the new builds are selling.

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Yep, sounds exactly as I described. At least were all seeing the same sort of thing. Are youre Persimmon homes too? Or is it a different builder? Just wondering if it's unique to Persimmon.

It's quite a large development - there are 3 separate builders involved but not Persimmon. It's in Cornwall and I've seen a similar thing on a number of other sites.

I looked around a couple of places in the Midlands last year and it all seemed a lot more grown up. The parking excuse is clearly BS but maybe it's a South-West thing - higher land prices = higher densities and more risk from less forward thinking councils?

Parking has turned from somewhere to leave a car to a political plaything. A massive B&Q has recently been built near me - to park within 75m of the entrance you need to be disabled, a parent with child or on a cycle - I've never seen these spaces fully utilised.

Graham_Devon

wotsthat wrote: »

It's quite a large development - there are 3 separate builders involved but not Persimmon. It's in Cornwall and I've seen a similar thing on a number of other sites.

I looked around a couple of places in the Midlands last year and it all seemed a lot more grown up. The parking excuse is clearly BS but maybe it's a South-West thing - higher land prices = higher densities and more risk from less forward thinking councils?

Parking has turned from somewhere to leave a car to a political plaything. A massive B&Q has recently been built near me - to park within 75m of the entrance you need to be disabled, a parent with child or on a cycle - I've never seen these spaces fully utilised.

May well be a south west thing. I'm on record on here, discussing car parking in the high street, and talking of a scheme which allows 2 hours free parking for shoppers in a local town I work in.

It's been proven to work, and I was questioning on the thread why the council haven't opened it up to othher towns.

I have since found out that it's Tesco's that paid for the scheme, and it will run for 2 years. Tesco wanted a Mezzanine floor. To get permission, it appears Tesco had to "give back to the community" and over free parking spaces for people to shop elsewhere.

Sounds utterly corrupt on the part of the council to me. It's nothing to do with planning and all to do with what they can get. At least it answered the question as to why other towns haven't got it. It's nothing to do with the council helping the town, as sold, it's all to do with the fact other towns haven't yet had the council bribes over planning.

IveSeenTheLight

thescouselander wrote: »

Yeah, I know what you mean - I like the idea of a new build but if it's impossible to live in it whats the point?

The answer is to self build.
I'm planning to build this year a 5 bed, 265 sq m property.
You can get builders to take on the architecture, project management and completion of all stages, so essentially, just building to spec off plan.

kabayiri

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

The answer is to self build.
I'm planning to build this year a 5 bed, 265 sq m property.
You can get builders to take on the architecture, project management and completion of all stages, so essentially, just building to spec off plan.

Agreed.

I was out in Canada staying at a house the family had built on a lake front. Admittedly we owned the land already, but for circa $600K we had something we could never match here for similar money if you were buying ready built.

thescouselander

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

The answer is to self build.
I'm planning to build this year a 5 bed, 265 sq m property.
You can get builders to take on the architecture, project management and completion of all stages, so essentially, just building to spec off plan.

Sage advice I'm sure. May I ask if you have worked out the costs to do this - does it cost significantly more or less that buying a new build on a development?


On the parking issue, the houses we looked at yesterday did have a garage and a parking space each but there's two problems with that:

1) Although there were spaces there wasn't much room to maneuver in and out. It would only take on larger vehicle (a van or 4x4) and you'd have serious trouble getting in and out.

2) We have a similar setup where we currently live and we find people can rarely be bothered to park in their garage meaning they usually have to leave a car somewhere else. On the newer developments the roads are very narrow and there isn't the room for people to abandon their cars - that doesn't stop them though and everything gets blocked up.