New builds: extra costs when buying?

Shankers

Hi all. We're looking at the pros and cons of buying a new build and we're wondering about extra (hidden?) costs on top of the asking price. We've heard of some people having to buy carpet, tiling, grass for their garden, towel rails etc. as they didn't negotiate these in the price. I'm aware in the past there were 'incentives' such as free legals, stamp duty paid for etc., but in this red hot sellers market these incentives are few and far between. So if the house is 'X' price on the market, how much extra (if any) on average would someone pay? For context, we're looking at 4 bed homes. If you're prepared to name developers, that'd be useful, but I'd understand if you didn't want to. 

Joyful

I only got a certain amount of tiling done. No carpet, grass or anything else.

Andthen07

We bought a 4 bed detached with Bellway in Berkshire.

10k reduction on price, wanted more but ended up at that figure.
In the price asked for and got flooring throughout, carpet and vinyl which is in the region of £20-£25 a square metre. Idea was to replace vinyl in high traffic areas with wood flooring quickly but it does look good in kitchen/diner , hall and study so not an urgent job anymore. Also shower plus full tiling added to main bathroom and turf at the rear as only front included. Garden is 70 foot by 40 so good saving there.

We chose tiling for all the bathrooms which they made an error and included same as show house which is good but we complained and got an extra appliance and mirrors to 3 bath rooms. 

tinytiddles

We bought a new build 18 months ago, house was already built so not many options available to us. We didn’t have the garden turfed because we felt it was a rip off quite frankly so we did it ourselves. Kitchen was as seen, same with the bathrooms however we got a fantastic part exchange package on our old house plus other costs paid up to 5% of the value of the house.

Having had a nose at the extras on our purchase portal, personally I think a lot of them are a rip off (like tiling, towel rails, upgraded door handles etc) but if we were buying “from scratch” we would definitely have paid to have some extra sockets put in (we have plenty but there are never enough are there!) and also spotlights in the kitchen. Otherwise I would have just taken the house as is and done bits after like we have with this one.

Probi

I think a lot of it depends on how well properties are selling etc. If the plot you are interested in has been around for a while or is nearly complete then there is more chance of negotiation, compared to if they are flying out.

We have flooring included with our purchase (cost price to us would have been around £10,000, obviously the builders costs would be a lot less) but no discount on the property itself due to it being a very popular development.

74jax

There definately shouldn't be an 'hidden' costs.
You should know before you sign exactly what is included and isn't. 

In the scenarios you mention, are you sure the people were told carpets / tiling etc was included, but then found out they weren't? If they signed saying these items were present then I'd have been fighting for them.

The solicitor will go through everything, keep copies of all sales meetings and choices. But if you are told you are getting something and have proof of that, make sure you get it. 

krusty101

We got nothing included. I wish we’d had a shower in the main bathroom but it was £900 and we’d have lost it if the house had fallen through. And turf - we have a dog and he spent months tramping mud into the house as we couldn’t get the garden done. But the flooring through the builder was £7.5k and we spent £4.5 doing it independently. 

andyf1980

Turf is a very bad idea because they just put it over the rubbish they leave. We were offered flooring but put our own in and it was much better quality. If it isn’t a messy/difficult job I would definitely leave it until after moving in. 

deannagone

I know its not ideal for a new build but I moved into a house with mud/weedy back garden and had a dog.  And a similar mare with mud being traipsed in.  I managed to get some concrete slabs on ebay, had to arrange collection.  Levelled the garden roughly initially, laid them and no more mud.  It cost me £120 but the garden isn't big.  The slabs did look a bit dingy but a quick scrub with bleach and buckets of water and they look pristine.  I'd have to do that anyway with dogs in the house.  At least they never go green lolol. Turf is quite cheap, find some in a local garden centre.  You'll find its a heck of a lot less expensive that getting the developer to do it and as already suggested, they'll just lay it over all the rubble they've piled into your garden (I did live in a new build years ago, nothing grew in it until I'd sorted the soil out).  

chanz4

andyf1980 said:

Turf is a very bad idea because they just put it over the rubbish they leave. We were offered flooring but put our own in and it was much better quality. If it isn’t a messy/difficult job I would definitely leave it until after moving in. 

fullly agree 3k we got charged, it was dead after 6 months due to the rubbish rubble under it.  We then had to do it again proper

katkatmachine

We bought a 2-bed end terrace house from Bellway. Everything is included except flooring (turf, undercupboard lights, extra sockets in the kitchen including USB, white goods including dishwasher, towel rails, etc). We got 5k off the price but we actually spent more on the flooring (7k) as we got LVT all thoughout the house even the stairs and landing (except kitchen, bathroom, and cloakroom, all tiled). 

We didn’t get much off the price as it’s a very popular developement.