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

Mickygg

I had dreadful experiences with my last house, a new build. Endless snagging, parking issues causing arguments with neighbours, kids playing all the time outside on the road due to the small gardens, balls constantly hit against the house, concrete jungle, social housing causing big problems, small room sizes.
Plus side was that everything was new....... And that's about it.
I have now bought an older property, no parking problems, larger rooms, bigger garden, no social housing causing problems.
The downside is the DIY and things going wrong needing to be repaired in the house (boiler, roof, windows etc) however I will never go back to a new build unless it's a select few houses built by a local builder.
Larger new build developments and you'll see me running faster than mr gump!

Tenyearstogo

I can get three cars on my NB drive and I have a garage. Compared this to our Victorian terrace which was a nightmare for parking.

It's like the Victorian didn't consider two car families at all.

topbargainhunter

We bought a new build 4 Bed house 5 years ago. The rooms are huge, as it is on 3 floors, and the garden is just right if you don't like much work. In with the price came all the kitchen appliances and all the flooring throughout, oh and removal costs and solicitors fees. We have a garage with a parking space in front of it and we are within a large village, so we have amenities too.

I would say our house is fabulous (obviously I'm biased) we had 2 years to report any faults with the house, and anything reported in this time was fixed within a day or so. Plus the NHBC guarantee for 10 years. The builders were great in my opinion. We've been extremely happy with our choice and will probably stay here for life, or until we're too old to manage the stairs.

Dimey

olympicsmummy wrote: »

As title says, everyone I know has told me not to buy a new build as they say

1. It will not be worth as much as I pay for it.

2. There are usually a lot of problems with new builds (shoddy work when being built)

I've looked round 2 new builds and both looked very lovely. In fact I thought they were better value than some of the other houses I've seen. For example the new build I saw was bigger and generally much nicer inside than a house of the same value. (gardens were same size)

Is there anyone who is FOR new builds or if you are against then why?

What if the new build was sold to us for say much less than the asking price (eg. they ask for £300K but we offer £260 and its accepted? (maybe this is v.unrealistic though!!))

I bought a new build and had to claim on my house build insurance for subsidence. The NHBC wouldn't pay up because they don't if you have buildings insurance. Turns out the house builder skimped on footings depth to save money, the sub contract skimped again to save money and the buildings inspector passed it and bought a house on the same estate. It was a lot of stress and we couldn't sell for 6 years till it was settled. So maybe ask your surveyor to double check.

anotheruser

lessonlearned wrote: »

Plus anything built after 2007 will have to comply with EU regulations to meet the needs of wheelchair users.

That's not always a good thing.
I personally do not like the lower door handles (unsafe for kids?), however the wider doors are more than welcome.

To throw a controversial question out there, why should I have my house designed for someone who uses a wheelchair, but no wheelchair users will be using it?
That's like having braille on light switches and door handles for those who need help with their sight, but I don't see that happening.

bclark

I am beginning to like new builds even more now too as I have just been told that if we want to drop off all of our light fittings, curtain poles and other things a few days before we move in then they will fit them for us so that they are all there when we move in.

rochja

We have bought and sold around 20 houses for our own occupation during the course of our marriage and we have concluded that in general the advantages of new-builds outweigh the disadvantages. The fresh newness of everything and the ability to get someone else to put any faults right is a substantial benefit. We have a whole list of personal caveats that not everybody can stick to though: Buy detached; choose the plot carefully, never but on a development of more than 250 houses; acquire at least 1500 sq ft of living space; fully check out demographics, facilities, crime rates etc before committing to buy

lessonlearned

anotheruser wrote: »

That's not always a good thing.
I personally do not like the lower door handles (unsafe for kids?), however the wider doors are more than welcome.

To throw a controversial question out there, why should I have my house designed for someone who uses a wheelchair, but no wheelchair users will be using it?
That's like having braille on light switches and door handles for those who need help with their sight, but I don't see that happening.

Well - if you ever need to use a wheelchair - even if it's just for something temporary like a leg injury - then you will soon understand the wisdom of this ruling........;)

The thinking behind this new legislation is that by building wheelchair accessible buildings then it is a way of "future proofing" the housing stock to meet the needs of future demographics.

In other words because in the future there will be an increase in the number of people over 60 there will be an increased need for houses to have easy access, stairways wide enough to accommodate stair lifts etc. and to be easily adaptable to their changing needs. Obvious really.

Perfect sense. It is far cheaper and far less disruptive to include these measures in a new build than it is to adapt a property at a later date.

It is the same principle with insulation and "green building" measures such as solar panels, grey water harvesting etc.

Within the next few years these "greening" measures will come as standard to new builds.

leveller2911

rochja wrote: »

We have bought and sold around 20 houses for our own
occupation during the course of our marriage and we have concluded that in
general the advantages of new-builds outweigh the disadvantages. The fresh
newness of everything and the ability to get someone else to put any faults
right is a substantial benefit.

For which you paid a hefty premium for............

There are some good and bad developers but in the main the larger developers employ numpties who have no qualifications and are not capable of a achieving a goos standard of workmanship.

The build quality now is dire, marginally better than the post war years but the difference is back then many tradesmen had been killed/disabled in the war and there was a real lack of quality materials, hence they built poor quality houses but move on to 2013 and the builders have no excuse for building poor quality houses. Smaller developers tend to achieve a better standard of work.

People can do a 6 month carpentry/joinery/bricklaying,plumbing courses at college and they are regarded as "qualified"....

Its a complete joke.:(

rochja

Hefty premium? We own a new-build in Thrapston bought at the peak of the property boom and can get more for it now than we could then. We are buying a house in upmarket village in Northants to relocate from Scotland. It saves us the hassle of worrying about the differences in English and Scottish conveyancing. For the square footage we are paying no more than the going rate. In addition we are being provided with carpeting and tiling throughout and the builder is paying the £8K approx stamp duty. We are getting a good p/x valuation that allowing for the saved selling expenses is no worse than we could have fetched on the open market. That is a tip I forgot to mention - know the average cost per sq ft in the area you wish to buy in and negotiate accordingly. You only pay over the odds if you are a fool. With new and old houses it is always a case of let the buyer beware. As for build quality. Have you not got eyes? Do you not visit and check? Are you not aware that in building as everywhere else advances in technology are making the skill of the tradesman an irrelevance? The most skilled trade around now is thatching but that doesn't stop you needing a new thatch every 25 years. How often will you have to replace a tiled roof?