Are people tending to buy new builds over old?

GwylimT

Our last three have been new builds, you don't get many older properties that are wheelchair friendly.

All have been sold for a profit, so we haven't found that the slightly higher price has led to negative equity.

Its also nice living somewhere with zero vans parked up, no unsightly things stuck to the side of houses and zero parking by non-residents due to having a fob gate.

ellie27

We have bought 3 new builds now and all have lost value when it came to selling. My friends have all lost value on their new builds. However we did buy just before market crashes!

It is unlikely I would ever buy new build again, such a premium. I see it like buying a new car, the day you move in you lose thousands!

We bought our first new build as we had just arrived back from working in Dublin, were going to rent then saw the awful rental properties and there was a new build ready to walk into. We arrived from Dublin and bought and moved into a new build within about 4 weeks!

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Salesmen of new builds talk rubbish about "brand new houses" and how you wouldn't want a "second hand house". People who fall for this parrot it to others, and people who aren't very bright start thinking there's some truth in this nonsense. It's a comparatively recent phenomenon.

Tell the Queen how your tiny cardboard box is better than Balmoral or Buckingham Palace because it's not "second hand" and see how far you get.

Thrugelmir

Niv wrote: »

I didn't consider new builds at all when I was looking. Seems a lot are leasehold so that's them off the table for a start, now consider how much smaller they are for the same size old house / plot there was no contest.

Our property is leasehold and was built in 1934.

kamdeux

We put a deposit on a new build house but I had concerns over the price and in our case lack of options to personalise as the bathroom, kitchen etc etc had already been fitted.

We had concerns about the development / house we were looking at as there is currently no fibre internet to the development, we needed parking for 3 cars but that was not an option and the the price they were asking seemed high with no room for negotiation.

A big reason we had thought new build was what we wanted is that we have a young child and need space plus the HTB EL London made it look possible to get into it quickly and cheaply but doing the maths we couldn't see us being able to repay the equity loan quickly and thusly having to pay the interest on that after 5 years plus the mortgage so decided to look at older houses which is what we are trying to buy now.

The warranty side of a new build appeals but for the developments we looked at the price of the houses to what we were getting didn't work for us.

SailorSam

I''ve never looked at new builds, older houses seem to offer more features, i think younger buyers who want something 'bright & sparkly' with nothing to do, may prefer new houses.
That said i have thought about downsizing 'cos this is much to big for me, and i wonder if a small little new complex is the way to go.

gingerdad

i wouldn't go near a new build to many horror stories from friends and they all seem to try and fit too many rooms.

we have a 1930's semi that's bigger than all the 4 beds on a "executive" development near us....

VM1305

My own preference is older houses (Edwardian, Victorian, Georgian) because I love the character and features such as the higher ceilings, pretty fireplaces, wooden floorboards etc. but from my experience they also lead to higher maintenance bills and colder winters!!

Davesnave

They don't do the sort of property that we want as a new build, so we bought a tatty old one and refurbed it top to bottom instead.

Hard, but do-able, and there's more control of the features and finish.

Wouldn't do it again, though! :rotfl:

lee111s

I LOVE older houses that are larger but from a practical point of view, I prefer new builds.

Lower bills, lower maintenance, easier to do a lot of stuff DIY and most of all, around our area, almost every house pre 80's is a semi. If you want detached, it's considerably more than the same type of house in the same street that is a semi. Lots and lots of new builds are detached, and that's one of the main reasons we bought new.