MSE guide: Buying a new-build home

MSE_Kit

Hello everyone,

We've just published a guide on buying a new-build home, including top tips and what to look out for. We'd be grateful for any constructive feedback, if you feel it's necessary. Feel free to post any feedback in the thread below.

Here's the guide: Buying a new-build home

If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.

Section62

1) It would be good to point out that new builds typically have a price premium to reflect the fact they are 'new'.  That value is effectively lost at the point of completion.  If you plan to live in the property long-term it is less of an issue - but if you need to sell fairly soon after completion, for example due to a relationship breakdown, it is likely you'll have a baked-in loss.  Potentially more so if the development is still under construction and buyers are still able to purchase a brand new property on the estate.

2) The encouragement to use the developer's panel conveyancer should be toned down.  There is no worthwhile advantage for a new build buyer to use the developer's favoured firm - all good conveyancers/solicitors should be familiar with the paperwork they need to do, and being over-familiar with the developer's paperwork due to working for with them all the time risks important things being missed.  The conveyancer/solicitor should be acting in the buyer's interests, and they can only do that if they are properly independent.  Developers incentivise the use of their preferred conveyancers/solicitors for good reason.

3) There is a brief mention of "plot dimensions" but it should be highlighted that the buyer needs to see a plan of the plot they are buying, how the property is sited on it, and check that the plan reflects both the house and boundary features that have actually been built.  Ideally that should include using a tape measure on-site to check the dimensions are correct.  One of the common complaints on the forum is people not buying the land they thought they were, and this can have consequences years down the line.  E.g. -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6412270/adverse-possession#latest

4) It would be worth highlighting that the buyer should pay special attention to checking for covenants, planning conditions and the removal of permitted development rights.  There's no point buying a property with plans to add a conservatory or convert the garage into another room if they are prohibited from doing so (/without consent) by restrictions the developer and/or the planning authority have imposed.  In particular, don't assume you'll be able to add a driveway to a property which doesn't have one, or put up/move a fence/wall/hedge in the front garden.  The conveyancer/solicitor should be pointing these out to the buyer (but the buyer is responsible for working out what they mean to them personally) and this is an example where a developer's preferred conveyancer/solicitor may not be as proactive as an independent one.  It is easy to dismiss them as "just standard clauses".

TripleH

5) Make sure you get the details for any party responsible for sorting new build snags plus all other points of contact. Also check you have paperwork for any new build insurance scheme relevant to your property.

6) Check there are no estate charges in your documentation even if you buy a freehold property.

7) Identify who to contact for utilities as with ours, we only got contacted by the initial supplier 3 months after we'd requested to change. Find out where your nearby tip is as you may have to wait before you actually get your bins from the council (took us 2 months but they were happy to charge us for the service).

user1977

TripleH said:

6) Check there are no estate charges in your documentation even if you buy a freehold property.

Or rather, check what any charges are. Not exactly realistic to expect there to be no charges - most developments these days will have common property somewhere, and nobody other than the residents will be paying for them.