Opinions on new builds

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Not all new builds are the same. I'd advise against buying off plan - A friend did and was dissapointed with the room sizes. I bought mine empty and complete - so had a better idea of what I was getting.

Though it does look like the builders are moving away from identical rows of houses I'd advise against big estates of the same houses if you are tryin to sell, prices paid can vary widely and if you need to move one day it's best not to have competition from people who may have paid less for a similar house

I viewed old houses for ages - and for months wouldn't have even conisdered somewhere new - But I am really happy with my choice. My friend who bought in the large estate is less happy.

Like others I have seen reduced bills. I was over £100 a month for electricity/gas in my 2 bed characterful flat - while I am now £60 for 4 bedroom detached. So they are more efficient.

teddysmum

Our house was bought as a new build in the early seventies, but looking round with my son, last year, I thought modern ones look tiny.


Detached means a metre between, kitchens are minute and not well planned, as has been said several toilets and an ensuite come at the expense of one bedroom that will barely take just a single bed and rooms which , due to shape, are not easy to furnish or allow a change in furniture layout.Gardens are minute and often odd shapes.


One thing that stands out is the lack of parking, with drives just taking one car and possibly a few laybys. One estate near us has a garage (big enough for a car?) and a drive to take one car, but about six months after the houses were finished the council put double yellow lines past all properties on the outside of the estate, meaning any visitors would have a long walk, if they could actually find somewhere to park.


I would never buy off plan as even looking at footings can not give a real impression of size and position. What seems to be a group of houses with lots of space, can eventually end up as overcrowded narrow streets with high competition for what little parking is available.

p00hsticks

NobodysChild wrote: »

It is a matter of opinion, but I would never go for new build. I know quite a few people this past 5-6 years who have had SO many problems and issues with their new build.

A couple me and DH know have had nothing but problems all year since they moved into their new build in January! Ranging from both showers packing up and the housebuilders taking 2 weeks to fix them, to 2 of the 3 loos packing up and again taking 2 weeks for them to come, to the boiler packing up 3 times, (and two of the times they took a month to come out!) Then there have been various structural issues, and leaks and all sorts. And the others we have known report similar issues.

A couple of my friends also complain about hearing every noise from next door too, as the quality of the house is not great. I have been informed by people who have worked in housebuilding this past 10 to 15 years or so, that the quality of the houses now tend to be much poorer than they were mid 90s and earlier. They build as many houses as possible as cheaply and as quickly as possible, and in the smallest space possible! Very few homes now have big gardens, and they often have much smaller rooms than pre mid 90s homes.

I guess someone has to move into them, and I guess you will eventually get everything sorted; but if it were me, then no, I would not buy new build.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't bother, but you did ask.

You can come at this from a different angle though - I'm currently living in a mid-terrace Victorian property. It has no garden, no off-road parking, no shower, a single (downstairs) toilet and bathroom and no central heating. And we can hear the kids next door through the (single skin) walls.

So your friends two showers, three toilets and central heating boiler sounds pretty good to me, even if they've had to get the builders out to fix them (presumably free of charge under warranty ?)

Mgman1965

I can't comment about build quality, but, what I don't like is how new build estates are all higgaldy-pigaldy with tiny closes so that gardens (what there is of them) are all overlooked and the layout just seems to have no rhyme or reason and are like mazes. What's wrong with straight roads running parallel ?????

borkid

teddysmum wrote: »

Our house was bought as a new build in the early seventies, but looking round with my son, last year, I thought modern ones look tiny.


Detached means a metre between, kitchens are minute and not well planned, as has been said several toilets and an ensuite come at the expense of one bedroom that will barely take just a single bed and rooms which , due to shape, are not easy to furnish or allow a change in furniture layout.Gardens are minute and often odd shapes.


One thing that stands out is the lack of parking, with drives just taking one car and possibly a few laybys. One estate near us has a garage (big enough for a car?) and a drive to take one car, but about six months after the houses were finished the council put double yellow lines past all properties on the outside of the estate, meaning any visitors would have a long walk, if they could actually find somewhere to park.


I would never buy off plan as even looking at footings can not give a real impression of size and position. What seems to be a group of houses with lots of space, can eventually end up as overcrowded narrow streets with high competition for what little parking is available.

There's detached and detached! Either side are garages so no neighbouring gardens and the back is onto open fields owned by the local lands trust ie the village. The narrowest gap to the boundary is large enough to have a double paving slab path and room for a border where I plant potatoes. It's is my 'utility area ie washing/ compost bin/ rubbish bins. The smallest bedroom takes a double bed, wardrobe and dressing table. Kitchen/ breakfast room is 12' x 20' and we've had a dinner party for 8 in there and could have fitted another 2 if necesary. The lounge is 24' x 16' . All in all a lot larger than most other places we were looking at and surprisingly cheaper than a lot of older ' character' houses on the market at the time. The garden is smaller than we had before, the main part being 70' x30' and 2 other smaller sections, but we did move to downsize to a smaller garden. We have a double garage and space for 6 average sized cars on the drive. We are lucky in that we have the corner plot so a bit more space than most but the other detached hopuses all have double garages and parking for 4 cars in the drive.

I have seen some very small new build houses but they are not all small and as someone has already said some victorian houses are small. We bought off plan as well but measured and marked out the sizes in our old home so we knew what space we would have. I found the plot and foundations looked smaller than the house turned out to be.

Liverpool85

I grew up in an 80s build and have lived in old terraces (one owned), an old semi & now a 7 year old Redrow home (bought 2nd hand)

Our experience of new vs old is:

Pros
-Quiet estate off a busier area. Tidy & nicely landscaped.
-Lots of variety of houses, all privately owned.
-Community feel, with regular events
-Green park on the estate
-Houses have garages & driveways and plenty space for guests on the roads. (Our house has a driveway for 3 cars and detached garage)
-Our house has a very practical layout
*2 big & 2 little bedrooms (one ensuite) 29ft lounge/diner. Kitchen big enough for table for 4-6. Separate utility area. Downstairs toilet. Plenty storage areas. Double storey pretty bay windows & French doors to the garden.
-Appliances, kitchen & bathrooms all uptodate and of a decent standard.
-House stays warm, efficient heating.
-"turnkey", lower maintainance. No years upon years of dodgy diy. Easy to decorate
-2 year guarantee for new owners. & nhbc for structural 10years.
-many mess 'snags' or hidden 'surprises' than our old home.

CONS
-Smaller gardens than older semi/detached. Front garden very small.
-Service charge (will be payable in future) & lease charges £300pa 999yr
-Some snags (eg messy plastering,gutter not hung right)
-Settlement happens so cracking etc to redecorate.
-Less opportunity to extend, will need leaseholders permission.
-some restrictive covenants
-House prices tend to drop before rising again when sold 2nd hand
-Gas fireplace but no chimney.

For us, when looking in the 200-250 price bracket we found we could get an old semi with 2 reception rooms, small kitchen, no downstairs wc, big garden, parking for 1 car, 2 big rooms & 1 tiny room and need for a LOT of updating. Or 0.25-1 mile away we could get a 4 bed detatched with great parking, a smaller garden but a house that doesn't require lots of money and stress to update and which suits us better. The location is better in some ways, not as good in others.
At around the 250-300k cost you could get an extended 3/4 bed semi updated which are lovely and bring the modern conveniences to an older period home. We couldn't afford that, and much prefer our new cosy home and wonderful community.

I think both have pros and cons, it depends on how well the estate is built, whether your house has problems, how good the location is, and what your priorities are.

Lord_Baltimore

I've lived most of my life in older houses. I now live in a new build and the difference is huge. People have mentioned the energy bills: a high-ceilinged, stone built Victorian property will cost an arm and a leg to heat and it's always cold around your legs...

Old houses have old electrics, old plumbing, tongue and groove, sash windows, all sorts of unknown little features like dry rot, wet rot, woodworm and a dead body or two in a seedy, dark attic. Old houses smell like a student has left damp underwear somewhere on which mushrooms and cress are growing.

New builds are clean, airy and they provide modern, insulated living for modern people. Believe me, I thought I would hate a new build but it's the best thing I've done.

Get an old place and get deep pockets. Get a new place and get on with your life.

Merry Christmas to all MSE readers!

Mickygg

Just do a search on here. This comes up all the time.

ethank

I love my new build. I don't know why people slate them so much. It all comes down to personal taste. Everything here is to my taste!

marleyboy

New builds are way too small for me, especially the gardens. We bought an older property based on its size and garden space and avoided new builds based on that criteria.