Spoiled for choice of new build developments

Flick85

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to buy a house for my forever home (or at least next 10 years...) in the next 6 - 12 months in a lovely small Yorkshire town that currently has an enormous amount of new development going on. I am looking at non-new build houses as well as these new developments, of course. But so far, all of the properties I’ve been interested in seem are selling quickly with asking prices that are higher than the new build equivalent for a property the same size and in similar location (often built by same developers too). So, it seems to me that, at the moment at least, because of the level of development happening in the area, the new builds are priced more competitively than other property.

I’ve been to talk to sales people at 4 of the 7 current developments to get a sense of their timelines and what is available now and what will be available a few months down the line. But, I’m intrigued to hear opinions of the following developers:

• Bellway
• Mulgrave
• Persimmon
• Charles Church (obv fancy brand of Persimmon)
• Harron Homes
• Linden (Vistry group)
• Bovis (Vistry group)

Another developer has also just had planning permission granted in the area but that is being appealed as council previously rejected because of fears the area is being overdeveloped… ya think? ;-)

Unless prices go up dramatically, I’m in a fortunate position that I should be able to afford a house with what I’m looking for from all the developers listed above, though Mulgrave doesn’t seem to have anything suitable and are coming to the end of their development I think, unless they have another phase in the pipeline.

My preferred house style is probably one of the Linden homes, but I keep hearing bad things about Linden - probably more so than some of the others (excluding Persimmon) which is giving me pause for thought. My other preferred style of house is with Bellway, but they are making properties available 9 months in advance (rather than 6) and I think I’ll have difficulty selling my flat to a buyer that patient! 

Although I know the ideal position for purchasing a new build is to be chain free, that's not something I'm able to make work as selling my flat now and moving into rented isn't an option because I have 2 cats that will make it very hard to find rental property. I have no family in the area that I could stay with as I relocated up north a decade ago and my family have moved to the south coast! And none of my local friends have properties that are big enough to accommodate me and the cats (I've also lived alone for 3 years now, and so I don't think I'd be a good housemate even if it's temporary!)

The other developers are all offering part exchange or smooth move schemes, which Bellway have said they aren't willing to do because they will sell their properties quickly without needing to. The cheapest houses by far are the Persimmon, but the development felt a little claustrophobic with houses very close to one another. My current flat is on the 3rd floor and not overlooked at all, so that was off putting to me. Also, it's Persimmon. Whereas the Charles Church development has properties that are a lot more spaced out, but I don’t love the layout for the ones that are likely to be in my budget and they felt quite expensive to me. The Harron Homes development seemed like they are trying to position themselves as a luxury option, with higher prices than the competitors for smaller houses. But, they are very keen on part exchange and the houses are prob my 3rd choice in terms of style. Bovis haven't completed their show home yet, so I haven't gone to talk to them but I think they're pretty similar to Linden anyway (not surprising really). 

Location-wise - the Linden homes development is marginally better than the others as it’s a 10 minute walk into town. But, they are within a 20 minute walk to the town centre, and a 25 minute drive to my work, so location-wise it’s a pretty close run thing too.

So, does anyone have any views or thoughts? Unless it’s *don’t buy a new build* because I know the arguments for and against…

What would you do in my position given that pretty much all these developers (except Mulgrave and Persimmon probably) are going to have something suitable available at the right time for me? If you had to pick from similar houses across all these developments, what would be your priority?

I'm a terribly indecisive person, so choosing a forever home is somewhat daunting especially when there's so much choice!

You can probably tell that I'm leaning towards the Linden properties, but I'm nervous by the quantity of bad reviews they get! 

Thanks in advance for any input, and sorry for the essay!

bramptonbrew

I think a lot of the reviews depend on where in the country you're buying - developments will use local teams of tradespeople more than likely, so built quality can vary based on that. So I'd take non-Yorkshire reviews (like mine haha) with a pinch of salt. 

We are moving into a Linden property next week - our house style is the Kempthorne. Our development has three different builders on it so we had a choice of a few! I know people on the development in Linden homes and they are happy with build quality etc. We are buying in Cambridgeshire (moving from Hertfordshire). 

I would recommend if you're on instagram, see if you can find any accounts for houses built on the developments you're interested in - the new build accounts I follow often post the issues they're having with developers alongside the beautiful pics of their gardens and kitchens!

GixerKate

I moved into my new build 9 months ago after selling my house, in all honesty if I was going to do it again I would look at the places that do part exchange so that its less stressful and can save on estate agent fees.

Flick85

@bramptonbrew thanks. The Kempthorne is one that I'm considering myself :-) I hope your move goes smoothly! It is hard not to be put off when there are so many negative reviews on a national level, but you're right, it's prob better to look at it locally. I haven't found anyone complaining locally, so perhaps the absence of comments (when some houses in the development are 6 years old now) is a positive. The sales rep mentioned that the site manager had won awards for this development in past couple of years, but not sure how much weight to put into that. 

@GixerKate yeh, I'm leaning towards part exchange if possible even though value might be lower and fewer incentives offered on the basis of the hassle factor. But saving the estate agent fees is another factor, for sure. Thanks!

Reddington85

I wouldn't touch Persimmon with a bargepole. They will cram as many houses as possible, the fit is incredibly basic and the 'finishing touches' are what other developers offer as standard. We've had more than a few issues with ours.

You'll find unhappy Customers with most developers, something will go wrong but I find with Persimmon it happens more and they are much much slower to react

thriftytracey

Bovis built 100 new houses in the village I live in.  Many of them had serious faults. One house had to be demolished and rebuilt (after it had been sold and the occupants living there) as it was in a dangerous condition.  The entrance to the estate has bad flooding - they said this would fixed - guess what - still flooding.

A friend of mine bought the showhome in another development in Worcestershire.  He was still having repairs done five years after he moved in.  He has now moved away as he was so fed up and stressed by the experience.  He was continually having to chase them up and there were many times when the tradesmen never turned up after he had taken time off work.

Flick85

@Reddington85 yup, that's definitely the message I'm getting about them. My current flat is a Persimmon actually (I bought it when 7 years old) and some of the things that have failed or have had to be repaired regularly are very irritating! 

AdrianC

felicityBD15 said:

I’m looking to buy a house ... in the next 6 - 12 months in a lovely small Yorkshire town that currently has an enormous amount of new development going on.
...

Another developer has also just had planning permission granted in the area but that is being appealed as council previously rejected because of fears the area is being overdeveloped… ya think? ;-)

How large is the population of this town?
How many new homes are being built?

Sounds to me like the town itself is going to change dramatically in the next year or two. If you like the place for what it is now, will you want to live in the post-development town...?

Flick85

Hi @AdrianC,

It's a very good point and something I have briefly considered but ought to think about more. 

The town has had a lot of development over the past 10 years to the point it's at now, and reports from the council seem to suggest everyone agrees that with the end of these currently approved developments that's probably enough. That's no guarantees of course, but I suspect developer attention will be directed towards other areas of Yorkshire instead. As someone who's lived in a City for the past 18 years, and a large market town for the 20 years beforehand, I'm not too concerned about it getting bigger and more worried it's too remote for me tbh. It's currently small market town, but even with these developments, will probably only reach medium market town size and stay smaller than my home town, so for me I'm not too concerned. I also have no children or plans to have children, so am not worried about school quality and catchment areas etc. 

Perhaps it's naive but I'm hoping it will retain its Yorkshire market town charm, and perhaps get some of the advantages of a larger population too - such as I'm hoping it may lead to better public transport to the city I work in, which is currently non-existent. But, I can manage if that never materialises.

bramptonbrew

felicityBD15 said:

@bramptonbrew thanks. The Kempthorne is one that I'm considering myself :-) I hope your move goes smoothly! It is hard not to be put off when there are so many negative reviews on a national level, but you're right, it's prob better to look at it locally. I haven't found anyone complaining locally, so perhaps the absence of comments (when some houses in the development are 6 years old now) is a positive. The sales rep mentioned that the site manager had won awards for this development in past couple of years, but not sure how much weight to put into that. 

@GixerKate yeh, I'm leaning towards part exchange if possible even though value might be lower and fewer incentives offered on the basis of the hassle factor. But saving the estate agent fees is another factor, for sure. Thanks!

If you want to have a look on Instagram at a few Kempthornes, I follow all the ones I know about so here's a list: kempthorne_adventure (me); thekempthorne; cotswolds_linden_kempthorne; our.winterbourne.home; home_sweet_grove; newhomeforthehamptons; kempthornediaries - it might give you a bit of idea of the different ways people have decorated etc  

Flick85

@bramptonbrew Thanks so much, that's so helpful :-) I'm flitting between the Kempthorne and Lutyens - I really don't need 5 bedrooms (I don't even need 4 tbh, but I reeeeeeally want a utility room and it's hard to find 3 bed houses with utility rooms...) and the master suite in the Lutyens is stunning in the attic (that's my local showhome).

It might not be in budget though, so being able to see more pics of the Kempthorne is super helpful as I can't see that style in person. 

Thanks again!