New build next to affordable housing

kobio

Some advice please!

Yesterday, partner and I paid reservation fee for a new build 3 bed detached home in Berkshire. We've spent weeks researching, looking at various developments etc and eventually settled on this particular site.

The only remaining plot for the type of house we most preferred - in terms of floor space, value for money etc was one that adjoins a row of 4 terraced affordable housing properties. These are the only 4 AF plots out of nearly 200. The salesman assured us that the housing association responsible for these properties were planning to sell them as shared ownership, although did add a caveat that they could feasibly change their mind.

Anyway - long story short - it turns out, from locating the housing association website, that these properties are labelled as 'social rent' and were never going to be shared ownership.

We clearly should have researched this a little more carefully beforehand but now feel 'lied to' by the developer as these properties were clearly always going to social rent. We love the property, its location within the development (neighbouring plots excepted) and value for money in terms of floor space- in a very expensive part of the country to buy!

What are everyone's thoughts? Will our property value suffer in the long term?

Lespaul1960

All new builds depreciate initially,because they are not new anymore when you go to sell them. However in the longer term, history tells us that property prices only ever go up. This one may go up a little less than properties on the other side of the estate. Who knows.But if its a long term home why worry? Also remember all new developments over a certain size have to include social housing. Having said all that, I personally wouldn't buy a new build. Only my opinion mind!

Davesnave

kobio wrote: »

What are everyone's thoughts? Will our property value suffer in the long term?

Looking into my crystal ball, I see interesting times ahead, but it's a bit early in the day for popcorn, so I'll just make a pot of tea and some toast.

SuboJvR

Hi there. We went through a lot of paperwork with our developer before putting down our reservation fee - we haven't actually done this yet, but have completed the reservation process with them. This is because their next Help to Buy allocation will only been July so they won't take any of our money until that.

Anyway... as part of the reservation appointment, we went through all the various plans for the house extensively including several relating to the development itself. I just wanted to say it seems a bit strange that they bypassed this with you as it should've been obvious then. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing of course - I wouldn't want to be judgemental but it's only through the Help to Buy that my husband and I can buy despite having a good income. The one thing I noticed on our development is that the affordable housing has less parking, no garages, therefore I expect on those streets there will be more cars parked on the road/pavements as you see in some new developments.

Whilst it's impossible to know what will happen to the value of your house compared to the others, it possibly does give you a bit of a bargaining tool with the developer, if you feel that it may impact you once you're in (e.g. my worry would be around the parking/driving access from some of the sites we've been to), especially as they got the information wrong either intentionally or accidentally before taking your money.

EachPenny

I assume you are concerned about the prospect of living near houses for 'social rent' because you believe the people living there may not be the kind of people you want to live near?

Consider this:

When you buy a house you have no idea who your current and future neighbours will be. If all the houses around you are owner occupied and one of the houses comes into the ownership of one of that kind of people then you have a problem. The problem is difficult to resolve because they own the house and will feel they can do what they want. They are also likely to be there long-term and it is more likely you will be leaving before them so good luck selling your home while you have 'difficult' neighbours.

On the other hand, if the house nearby is available for 'social rent' the occupiers will not be the owners. The real owners will have considerable interest in making sure their tennants are good neighbours and treat the property with respect. If the 'social renters' decide they can do what they want and become a problem, they probably won't be living there much longer. You may experience short periods of time where there is a near-neighbour who is a pain to live near, but it is unlikely to last for very long before peace and quiet returns to the street.

On the assumption you equate 'social rent' with problem neighbours then given the choice of living near to antisocial people who are owners, and antisocial people who are renting, then I'd opt for the renters any day:)

Hutchch0920

:rotfl:
:rotfl:

ReadingTim

kobio wrote: »

We love the property, its location within the development (neighbouring plots excepted) and value for money in terms of floor space- in a very expensive part of the country to buy!

If you love the property and its location within the development then others will probably feel the same way when you come to sell it. However, it is possible that some of the apparent "value for money" it offers might be due to its location, as being next to the affordable housing element is percieved to be less desirable than further away from it. This will always remain, so this property may always offer more value for money (AKA sell at a lower price) than others on the estate. So yes, you may have to sell it for less, but then again, you bought it for less in the first place.

If you're actually worried about the "sort of people" your new neighbours will be, then type of tenure offers little guarantee. It's also possible that the developer sold plots off plan to buy to let investors in the same way as they do with apartment developments - one always has to take pot luck with the neighbours when it's a new development.

The only way you can avoid the issue is to buy a non new-build property on (in estate agent speak) 'an established' street where properties don't sell very often where you can get the measure of the neighbours before you buy. However, these sort of places aren't cheap.

Cakeguts

Whenever I see someone write that a house is "value for money" I always know that it has some sort of problem. No builder is going to sell a house for less than they can get for it so if a house appears to be cheaper there is going to be a reason for it. If it is one of the last plots to sell that is because no one has wanted to live there. Also there will be something about the plot that makes it cheaper. A builder is not going to sell prime plots for social housing provision. It is possible that the back garden is smaller or that it faces north and won't get much sun. What you are going to be buying is a house that is like a manufacturing second. New but with faults. These faults are what is making it cheaper. Because you are buying it cheaper you will also sell it cheaper. Probably quite a lot cheaper because the builder has had difficulty selling it when new. If you are expecting to live there for the next 30 years then it is a good house but if you are thinking that you might have to sell in the next 5 years then it probably isn't.