New Build - Upgrades

thecourteener

Hi all and happy Friday

So we reserved a Bloor new build last week, moving in date is around the start of September. We've been given the options add-ons/upgrade booklet and have been looking it through it a lot this week. Just wanted some advise from those with experience about what we should do. The prices for things are absolutely scandalous;

£700 to have matching end panels and plinths in the kitchen OR £1500 for this as well as change the doors to nicer shaker doors.
£85 to change the hob splash back to glass from stainless

£890 to half tile the main bathroom
£560 to half tile the en-suite bathroom
£445 to half tile the downstairs toilet

I mean I know it would be nice to have the house looking superb the first day we move in but are we better off leaving these upgrades and getting them done after by external companies? My thought is we'd be able to get someone to tile all the bathrooms miles cheaper and we could replace the cupboard doors/plinths/end panels in the kitchen ourselves a lot cheaper than £1500.

What are peoples thoughts? 

amyr

The cost of the extras was one of the reasons we really regret buying a new build. All in, we spent nearly £7,500 on absolute basics. 

We held back on a few items - wall tiling was one. When we had a quote after moving in it came to a similar amount as our extra would have cost - we hadn't considered how complex it is to tile an area after it's completed (i.e. moving toilets to tile behind them, etc).

It might be worth having a chat with a friendly builder or other tradesperson to see what they would quote for some of those jobs.

comeandgo

If you get the upgrades done while the house is being built there will be no VAT added to the charge.  If you get it done after you have bought the property you loose the zero vat on new builds.