Are new builds really that bad?? Everyone is warning me off them

lessonlearned

I worked as a new build sales negotiator for many years.

Just like anything else there are pros and cons to new build.

I have a long tradition of buying "projects". However at one point in my life when faced with yet another relocation for my husband's work and being the proud mum of two babies under the age of 3 I put my foot down and said no more projects - the next one has to be a new build.

We loved it and it was our family home for over 24 years.

In my career I worked for approx 8 different developers.

My advice is - try to find out a bit about the site agent. The quality of the build is all down to the SA. The best will have won awards. Ask the negotiator. If the SA has won awards they will be happy to boast to you about it.

Generally the pluses are good designs, good insulation, low running costs. Plus anything built after 2007 will have to comply with EU regulations to meet the needs of wheelchair users.

The minus's tend to be small gardens and there are often issues with "cramming" ie high density building. This can lead to issues such as shared access and problems with parking.

I would point out that in all fairness to developers this is down to planning rules. It is not, as is so often thought, pure greed on the developer's part.

Similarly a lot of people feel that new builds all look a bit "samey" ie not much variation. Again this down to local planning, believe it or not, even down to the colour of a front door.......

I often had clients complain that their plot had been allocated a green door. A lot of people consider green doors unlucky. They would ask if they could have a different colour. I used to be able to offer them white as an alternative. I had to explain that local authority rules and regulations had stipulated what colours could be used and that we weren't allowed to make changes but that we could offer white .......

Another thing to consider when buying new build is to look out for amenities in the area - shops, schools, doctors surgeries etc.

If it is a very large scheme where there are several developers building and you are one of the first to move in you might have a long wait before the amenities which are supposed to support the development are built. There can be a delay of several years and you might feel be a bit isolated.

Hope this helps.

Desperado99

We bought ours when it was 2 years old and have stayed here 15 years. As we got the end terrace we have twice as much back garden as the others (and outside access to it, which the mid ones don't). Ours is a 2 bed but the same footprint as a 3 bed so our bedrooms are really decent sizes. The only issue really is the quality of the sound insulation between us and next door which isn't brilliant.

kingstreet

olympicsmummy wrote: »

I've looked round 2 new builds and both looked very lovely

The word you are looking for here is "showhome" and it's no surprise they are designed to look great. Three-quarter sized furniture to make the rooms look bigger, through to better quality fixtures and fitting than are available to the average punter.

Be aware of being "sold" to...!

Newbuild is a big part of my job, but I know the tricks.

phoebe1989seb

I'm definitely against them - IMHO they have no character, quirkiness or period *charm*, the rooms (and often the gardens) tend to be small and they rarely appear to look *solidly built*

noh

Every house was once a newbuild.

bclark

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

I'm definitely against them - IMHO they have no character, quirkiness or period *charm*, the rooms (and often the gardens) tend to be small and they rarely appear to look *solidly built*

Wow, talk about generalisations.

becominganobsessivesaver

Check the room sizes, layout, parking (including neighbours, if they only have a single driveway, where will their other car go?). I love my second hand newbuild (the site I bought on is still going 6.5 years later), but only because
a) it is detatched
and b) it exceeded all the criteria we had in terms of size, layout etc.

I think there is still a premium though. We paid £30k less than a brand new plot (before their incentives)

lessonlearned

Phoebe - whilst you and I share a love of "period charm" I think you are making a bit of a sweeping statement here.

Some new builds might seem "slight"- some are just as solid as an older property.

If you chose a "traditional" style new build it will be solid, it will be constructed of breeze block with a brick outer wall. All internal downstairs walls will be made of breeze block and they will be load bearing. Try knocking one out .........;)

There are of course some builders who will use stud partition walls downstairs. I agree these can feel less solid but they are in fact perfectly stable.

Very few large scale developers build timber frame houses. Most local authority planning depts are dead set against them.

A shame really because some of them are great.

It is one of my ambitions to build my own house and I would love a Hauff house (German timber framed which are built in factories, shipped over to the UK and assembled on site). Fab designs, brilliant quality. Basically posh pre-fabs.:rotfl:

As to quality and the old criticism of new houses being "Jerry Built". Well many of our well loved Victorian terraced properties would simply not pass current building standards and were indeed Jerry Built. They were just thrown up to house the masses who had migrated from the countryside into the towns and cities for work.

Tiled floors just placed on top of bare earth, shallow foundations, no cavity walls, leaking energy like a sieve??? Yes we love them for their charm but they are not without issues. They can be very high maintenance.

The average two up two down Victorian terraced will often have issues over shared access, problems with parking, high energy bills, small dark pokey rooms.

As for the quality of build of the average agricultural worker's cottage:eek::eek: And yes I have owned one in the past....Pretty but freezing in winter.

It's just down to personal preference really.

The reality is whether it's a new build or one that has stood centuries it all boils down to the quality and skill of the original builder.

My parents own an ancient cottage - around 400 years old. Pretty yes - but a Money Pit if ever there was one.

princeofpounds

It;s not like every newbuild is bad. But the mass produced newbuilds have a tendency, as people have said, to have small rooms, small gardens, and corners cut in construction. They might have fantastic insulation due to building regs, but then have plasterboard walls so thin you can hear someone talking in the attic from the basement.

mrsmchapman

I lived in a rented new build 12 years ago (I know builds have changed since then) but I have to say it put me off ever buying one, it had lousy walls, thin and able to hear neighbours, and mainly they looked like everyone else's and lacked any character. So they just ain't for me.