New Builds - Any Pitfalls?

Adamc

Hi all

I am looking to buy my first house and while I like new builds, I can't make out whether they offer good value for money? Generally speaking, they appear to offer less square footage for the money than older homes, and appear less solidly built. That said, they appear more economical and many look nice.

I am currently renting a new 3 storey townhouse and parking on the estate is a nightmare. I can hear the neighbours doing ?DIY or arguing about the toilet seat being up etc.

While somewhat a personal preference, I just wondered what experience or advice others could offer me?

Carrot007

New build = money pit.

Consider all the optional extras you want. Double sockets. Decent kitchen etc. These will be an additional cash purchase above your deposit.

Don't know why people bother with the low end new builds. And as far as I am concerned detached should mean 4 metres at least between properties not some ridiculous 2 foot gap.

And bring back proper building methods.

Crashy_Time

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/homeowners-could-face-three-interest-rate-rises-this-year-as-wages-grow-a3748306.html

buggy_boy

Crashy_Time wrote: »

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/homeowners-could-face-three-interest-rate-rises-this-year-as-wages-grow-a3748306.html

Yeah they could but likely to be two at most, and 0.25% each so hardly anything to be too worried about, mortgage companies make sure the applicants can afford interest rates at around 5-6%

Crashy_Time

buggy_boy wrote: »

Yeah they could but likely to be two at most, and 0.25% each so hardly anything to be too worried about, mortgage companies make sure the applicants can afford interest rates at around 5-6%

That will be why sales are plummeting I suppose?

buggy_boy

To actually get the thread back on track rather than Crashy time's obsession about being desperate for prices to crash.

A new build usually comes with a premium, one of my properties I bought when it was 3yrs old, have to say the quality of this is quite poor, saying that ive also renovated 1950s/60s houses and they can be sub standard with beams not being the correct size so ceilings sagging.

One thing I would say is if you look at an old property thats poorly built its either been fixed or you are more likely to see the issue, often new builds with issues wont show until a decade or so later, I recently had an issue with pipe work in the house I bought when 3yrs old (now its 13yrs old), the sink waste had to go a long way, on a long section behind a wall (top of three story town house) they had not supported it so over time it had sagged causing issue of blocking the pipes, builder cut a hole behind radiator to get to it and supported pipes.

New houses though do come with a 10yr guarantee, depends what you want really but personally would not recommend new as the extra cost not worth it and like you say the estates often have parking issues and the plot is smaller...

buggy_boy

Crashy_Time wrote: »

That will be why sales are plummeting I suppose?

Sales are very low and have been since after the 2008 financial crash.. They had picked up but with Brexit round the corner its not a big surprise sales have gone down, plus its winter, sales are always lower in winter. What are you calling plummeting and where are you getting your stats from?

hammy1988

I purchased a detached new build last year.

My pros:

- Detached even though someone above said about detached houses being closer to others it is true, we have a 3-4ft gap to next door. However we still do not hear any sound from neighbours as you would being a semi (tv noise etc) and with us coming from semis before, this is a luxury for us and we love it to have no neighbour noise.

- The gimmicks: 10 year guarantee, 2 year fixtures and fittings, brand new boiler/ central heating systems with different controls throughout the house/ at least 8 plug sockets per room! Fibre line superfast broadband (all new builds come with as standard now) windows that open and can be washed from inside (those turn in types) Nice turfed flat gardens and patios. Everything new and white and shiny, something as little as having straight door frames is nice for us now. This is all I can think of right now for this part lol.

- Builders on site - We chose no extras as Linden Homes wanted loads for this sort of thing, however, since being in the house we have collared the builders and had more patio laid cash in hand dead cheap, so you can get these extras afterwards! Always handy as they will always do work on the side for you.

- Snags sorted. We have had a few minor snags and all have been sorted pronto. Customer service when contacted have been good.

Cons (my opinion)

- Builders on site, as well as being a bonus it is also a detriment, lots of noise, dust, beady eyes, shouting, loud radios... but slowly moving away as the estate builds.

- price - I do think you pay a premium for these houses BUT they are all new, and we have found our bills have halved since moving, we still are using a summer quilt on our bed all throughout winter as the house is insulated so well. Premium price to buy...smaller bills so we have found it economical for sure.

- All walls are pretty much dot and dab (hollow type) makes hanging anything hard but ALSO noise! I would not advise buying a semi or a flat, the noise comes through the walls so easy, so if you are going new build, buy detached! My semi neighbours have mentioned to eachother how they can hear eachothers noise!

- Space - definitely smaller than older houses, some would hate this. If you are coming from a large 3 bed semi, and are buying a new build 3 bed semi, you would definitely see a reduction in size. Our spare 3rd bedroom is very small, almost a box room. But, we have no kids and are only two of us so suits us just fine.

- sales reps - will be your best friend when purchasing a house from them, once they have your money though, they'll lose all interest and not want to know. It always helps to get to know the site manager as he is the one who gets things moving or fixed. We have found that when we have gone directly to him, things have got done.


Off the top of my head that's my opinion on the matter. Always helps to do lots of research, and don't rush into buying.

Davesnave

buggy_boy wrote: »

New houses though do come with a 10yr guarantee..

You may be giving the wrong impression here. The NHBC guarantee (and similar) is for major structural parts only, not issues like your dodgy pipes. Basically the guarantee says your house shouldn't fall down.....and I should think not too!

Builders will have their own procedures for minor issues as described above, but not all new build purchasers are pleased with responses to snagging.

htaylor16

6 months into a new build I still love my house. We were first on site, detached corner plot overlooking common grazing land to the front, our garden backs onto our (quite far away) neighbours. So we’re not over looked at unlike some of the more expensive bigger houses on the estate. Bedrooms are small, we can’t get a wardrobe in our bedroom so have turn the 4th bedroom into a dressing room. However I mov d from a sprawling 3 bed bungalow where I was always cold to a house so well insulated that I had to buy s ceiling fan for the bedroom. So far I have zero regrets buying new

troffasky

hammy1988 wrote: »

Fibre line superfast broadband (all new builds come with as standard now)

...

Always helps to do lots of research,

A little research on here will show you that new builds most certainly do not come with fibre broadband as standard, and you will even find some threads where a new build residents can't get phone lines installed for months because the builder didn't register the development with Openreach.