Barratt Homes - Swallow Fields - anyone bought?

Person_one

franklee wrote: »

How old does a house have to be before it's not tarred with that brush, would 20 years old still be considered to have "new build" shoddy workmanship?

How would today's build be viewed in 20 or 40 years time?

If anything I think 60's/70's architecture is the one that hasn't stood the test of time as far as kerb appeal goes. Bigger rooms though.

I think quality started to decline from the early seventies, and while the build quality seems to have improved in the last ten years or so the room/plot sizes and layouts of most new houses still aren't anywhere near as generous or sensible as houses built in the sixties and earlier.

csgohan4

alice_kate wrote: »

I appreciate this can happen - but not always the case. We've made £40,000 on our new build in 18 months.

We're going for another new build as we had a good experience and in the area we live we are getting a lot more house for money than second hand.

That wasn't I London by any chance? House bought for price?

Jon_B_2

This seems to come up every week.

You get what you pay for - not every new build is tiny.

Most new builds are tailored to the modern way of life, for example most come with a decent sized kitchen with either a dining room or a dining area. Try swinging a cat in a 1960's kitchen? Ain't gonna happen.

As for the faux communities - our street where we moved in last September have already set up a neighbourhood watch scheme and we are planning a street party for the Queens 90th celebrations. It's great as we all moved in at the same time - so were all interested in getting to know each other.

As for the "new build premium". Houses are reselling for around 10% more already.

alice_kate_2

csgohan4 wrote: »

That wasn't I London by any chance? House bought for price?

Bedfordshire - we bought at a relatively good time but not the "best" time - others who bought just before us will have made even more!

Bedfordshire is booming the last couple of years though due to London and Herts movers.

GwylimT

Guest101 wrote: »

Perhaps you can help me, and please don't take this the wrong way.


To me, new builds are little boxes, in faux communities, with very few local amenities. What's the appeal?

Our new build isn't small, the kitchen is larger than the entire ground floor of a 1950's semi we owned. It has three very generous double bedrooms and one large single, that in reality could house a double bed and drawers easily (they all have built in wardrobes). All of our internal walls are brick rather than being stud walls, two large gardens and off road parking for three cars.

We have lots of amenities, an on site gym, park, running track and two statis BBQ areas. We are around the corner from a very large nature park, shops and a library.

Surely every community is a faux community as people choose the home, they don't chose based on interviewing neighbours. We organise several large BBQs during the summer, sports competitions etc.

It was hard to compare cost on ours as older properties were a lot smaller and offered virtually no facilities or local amenities. We feel we paid a reasonable price for our home. A neighbour recently sold his property with is virtually the same layout etc as ours, but has two parking spaces and he made £32k more than the new build price he paid three years ago.

My brother has a barratt home in West Wales, I must says its build quality isn't the best. Internal walls are largely stud walls so sound travels a lot, his neighbours (semi-detached) can be heard sneezing the sound insulation is so poor. His dining room is too small for a table and chairs for four people, the layout is very odd. So to make a kitchen diner the entire ground floor would need reconfiguring.

Two of the bedrooms are a very good size, the third is around a metre wider than a single bed.

The hot water tank provides enough water for one shower or 1/3 of a bath. The shower cubicle has been fitted too low so water bouncing off your body goes over the top. The downstairs loo is almost always out of action due to a partially blocked drain.

All houses have a maximum of one parking space, as the estate is a very narrow bendy and still unfinished road (six years later), when people park on the road and even partially on the pavement its a pain to drive around. Due to this bins often aren't emptied as binmen simply cannot access a lot of the estate.

It is a very attractive looking house, but there are many downsides. He has owned his house for six years, he is still in negative equity and wants to sell, he will come out with around -£25k before fees etc.

LittleMax

GwylimT wrote: »

Two of the bedrooms are a very good size, the third is around a metre wider than a single bed.

Why do developers still design houses with a small 3rd bedroom? My sister is house hunting at the moment and a priority for her is having fairly equal sized bedrooms for her son and daughter - they are few and far between. I think she is scarred from having to endure one of the smallest box rooms ever in the 1930's semi we grew up in whilst I had a bedroom the same size as that of my parents!

Grenage

They make handy guestrooms or offices; sometimes it's beneficial having several smaller rooms.

GwylimT

LittleMax wrote: »

Why do developers still design houses with a small 3rd bedroom? My sister is house hunting at the moment and a priority for her is having fairly equal sized bedrooms for her son and daughter - they are few and far between. I think she is scarred from having to endure one of the smallest box rooms ever in the 1930's semi we grew up in whilst I had a bedroom the same size as that of my parents!

Same here! My room was so small the door had to be removed as the bed prevented it opening, my room was just over a foot wider than my bed, we had a special frame made as anything longer than the single mattress didn't fit, this is with the skirting boards removed as well!

LittleMax

Grenage wrote: »

They make handy guestrooms or offices; sometimes it's beneficial having several smaller rooms.

Offices yes - guestrooms no. If you can't fit a double bed in it's not even an ideal guest room.

Generally a 2 or 3 bed benefits from having all double rooms. The way in which children particularly teenagers use bedrooms is a big aspect of life that has changed in Britain since the 1930's but house design has not reflected it.

Grenage

It depends on the family size, but yes. I was very happy with two large doubles and a small third when I lived on my own, and when living with my partner.

I would not have wanted two larger bedrooms, or three smaller bedrooms.