New Builds Vs Old Builds

Bad_Accountant

bery_451 said:

Im talking about timber framed in new builds in UK, if a karate chop can break the wood used in these new builds then that be very concerning?

LOL karate masters can break bricks with their hands, maybe we shouldn't use bricks either?

RelievedSheff

Murphybear said:

We lived on an old farmhouse on the edge of Dartmoor for a while.  The walls were about 3 ft thick and it was warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  It was incredibly quiet as well.  The only problem was trying to get a mobile signal, you had to either stand next to a window or go outside.

I don’t think they build houses like that anymore.

i was brought up in a council house that was part of the post war development.  Our town was one of those bombed and they had a massive housing programme.  The house was solidly brick built with decent size rooms, including a separate dining room and we had a large garden round the side of the house as well as the back.  It was very quiet, we couldn’t hear our neighbours at all. We were one end of a block of 4.  

The houses built in later years were much smaller with tiny gardens.  

Our previous house was a 1930's ex local authority semi detached and it was terrible. The sound transmission between the properties was atrocious. Part of this was probably to blame on the absolutely shocking build quality. 

jmmo20

I moved into a new build in July. We love the house to bits. We have a long list of snags some of which have been dealt with, some which they have not. To be honest I think this is grossly ineptitude at project management, as the developers are very small and so are the builders subcontracted. 

All in all, I still love this house much more than any other house I've lived in. We lived in a 1930s terrace house which was horribly small and energy inefficient. We also lived in a new build house (10 years old but it was fairly new) and the heat insulation was appalling .. so there are good new builds and bad new builds. Adn there are good new builds poorly finished and bad new builds with luxury finishings that require extensive work right about the time the warranty or snagging period ends

Racky_Roo

I moved into a new build in Dec. Built by a smallish local company to a really high standard. In fact I had a snagging survey done but they hardly found anything and certainly nothing serious . You can't hear a thing from the neighbours (or the builders when they were working on finishing next door) and the price was the same, if not a bit cheaper than similar older properties. The basic spec included things which would be classed as upgrades elseware like fully tiled Porcelanosa bathrooms, vanity unit sinks, towel radiators, ground floor underfloor heating, spotlights throughout, USB plugs, fully turfed garden with plug and tap etc.

I don't think you can generalise on build/sound quality as I've lived in a 1890's cottage and could hear every word my neighbours said, modern flats which were also really soundproofed and a 70's house which was in the middle as well as an 80's house which was pretty terrible. One thing I did notice when measuring for shutters and wardrobes that this is the first time I have lived in a house with straight walls. Every other place had crooked walls

strawb_shortcake

We've got an ex council 1950's house, the garden is huge, the rooms not a bad size but hampered by recesses and chimney breasts and most are funny shaped.
We've been building some custom furniture recently and didn't realise just how unsquare the walls are, and stripey carpet are an absolute nightmare for OCD, glad it went in the childrens bedroom before attempting to put it on the stairs.
My Husband refuses point blank to move to a new build so we'll be sticking to older homes in future 

HanPop

We moved into our 2nd new build nearly a year ago and we love it. Any snags we had have been rectified straight away too. We are not overlooked front or back and everyone is shocked at how big the garden size is for a new build. Can also fit 3 cars on the drive. Also it was much cheaper than any other equivalent 5 bed older house around here (we paid £277,000, every other 5 bed started at £300,000). I think you have to do your research though as I know a lot of the other new builds in this area are very overpriced/overlooked etc.

bery_451

Okay I am getting a sense from the replies posted in this thread is buying a new build can be a gamble because there's replies saying its bad or good.

Otherwise the new owners that bought a good house and believe its not a gamble then what best advice you give to potential new build buyers to limit the bad risks as possible.

All new builds come with the snagging list? If so how you get them rectified and can you get them rectified before moving in or handing over your money for the property? Once the property developer receives the money from the bank then what incentive will they have to complete the snagging list?

HanPop

Their reputation is one thing at stake if they don’t rectify the problems with the house. I know new builds seem to have a bad reputation and some developers don’t seem to address any problems, but we bought with Bellway and I have to say they’ve been really good. For example last week the lock on our front door broke, we emailed them and within 4 hours someone was here fitting a new lock. Can’t complain about that type of service.

bery_451

HanPop said:

Their reputation is one thing at stake if they don’t rectify the problems with the house. I know new builds seem to have a bad reputation and some developers don’t seem to address any problems, but we bought with Bellway and I have to say they’ve been really good. For example last week the lock on our front door broke, we emailed them and within 4 hours someone was here fitting a new lock. Can’t complain about that type of service.

Surprised to read you got a good service from them as trustpilot reviews are stating the opposite:

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/bellwayhomes.co.uk

On the basis of reviews it seems you took a huge gamble with your money but it worked out for you at the end, glad to hear 

Don't mind me asking how much you paid for your new build?

MidnightWolf

I have to agree with HanPop. We bought our Bellway house 15 months ago (actually second Bellway house and we part exchanged the one we bought in 2001) and we’ve found their after sales service to be pretty good, despite the difficulties of the past year. We have had a pretty lengthy list of snagging issues (including all the interior door handles replaced, front lawn relaid, around 70 nail pops fixed, failed extractor fans replaced, 8 windows panes replaced due to scratches, creaky stair fixed), but in the main they have been dealt with promptly and without fuss. I actually emailed them another list of issues on Sunday afternoon and yesterday (Monday) morning had a reply saying they’d raised relevant jobs with the electricians and plumbers and in the afternoon I had a call from their inspections manager to arrange a visit next week to look over the other issues I’ve raised. Even when I’ve felt embarrassed about raising a minor issue, Bellway have been good about getting it fixed.