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Buying a 1 year old new build
murrays2
Posts: 133 Forumite
Hey all,
FTB and need some advice please. I viewed a 1 year old new build last week. Large horizontal crack in one of the bedrooms. Looks like a settlement crack. Fully aware it happens in new builds.
An elderly lady bought it last year, but decided not to move into it. She is looking 117.5k for it. I have offered 104k and they have came down to 110k. Property has been listed for a few months and it is empty so in quite a strong position negotiation wise.
A tad suspicious someone is that desperate to get rid of the place however. Basically the estate agent said that house had quite a few settlement cracks and the builders came back and fixed them.
I spoke to a neighbour and their house is identical and she bought hers for 105k. She said her house also has the cracks but its nothing major, and they have a bargain. Apparenrly the house I am looking at was worse in terms of the number of cracks but it happens in new builds, but it looks to have completely put the older woman off. She advised that the lady who was supposed to live there took it to the extreme and decided not to move in due to cracks appearing.
Would you be put off by this? And would you be put off by someone looking rid of a house and dropping their price?
House is lovely inside and I think it can be done at 106k. Just worried I am jumping in too soon and something major is wrong with the place, with 1) nobody being interested in it, 2) selling within one year of being built.
What else should I look out for? I am going to do it 75% mortgage and 25% co ownership with the intent on purchasing the rest in 2 years.
I suppose when you look at it means 2 surveys, surely if there is something wrong with it it will be flagged with the co ownership survey or the banks survey? Any other advice?
Neighbour says there were a few small snags with hers but the builders fixed it pronto and they also fixed the one I am looking at, and she was happy enough with her purchase. In her opinion the lady who was supposed to live there overreacted.
FTB and need some advice please. I viewed a 1 year old new build last week. Large horizontal crack in one of the bedrooms. Looks like a settlement crack. Fully aware it happens in new builds.
An elderly lady bought it last year, but decided not to move into it. She is looking 117.5k for it. I have offered 104k and they have came down to 110k. Property has been listed for a few months and it is empty so in quite a strong position negotiation wise.
A tad suspicious someone is that desperate to get rid of the place however. Basically the estate agent said that house had quite a few settlement cracks and the builders came back and fixed them.
I spoke to a neighbour and their house is identical and she bought hers for 105k. She said her house also has the cracks but its nothing major, and they have a bargain. Apparenrly the house I am looking at was worse in terms of the number of cracks but it happens in new builds, but it looks to have completely put the older woman off. She advised that the lady who was supposed to live there took it to the extreme and decided not to move in due to cracks appearing.
Would you be put off by this? And would you be put off by someone looking rid of a house and dropping their price?
House is lovely inside and I think it can be done at 106k. Just worried I am jumping in too soon and something major is wrong with the place, with 1) nobody being interested in it, 2) selling within one year of being built.
What else should I look out for? I am going to do it 75% mortgage and 25% co ownership with the intent on purchasing the rest in 2 years.
I suppose when you look at it means 2 surveys, surely if there is something wrong with it it will be flagged with the co ownership survey or the banks survey? Any other advice?
Neighbour says there were a few small snags with hers but the builders fixed it pronto and they also fixed the one I am looking at, and she was happy enough with her purchase. In her opinion the lady who was supposed to live there overreacted.
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Comments
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Depending on when the house was made water tight can have an impact on settlement (so I understand!) I think houses built & made water tight in drier weather are 'better' at settling. Could this have an impact here between. The one that's for sale and a neighbour's? Just a thought?
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Cracking can be shrinkage as the property dries out rather than settlement. A lot of moisture has to dry out in a new build.
The new build that we bought last year is not doing too badly with shrinkage or settling down. We moved in in April so the house had all summer to dry out naturally before the heating was turned on. This can be the cause of a lot of cracking when the heating is turned up and the drying process is forced to happen too quickly. Obviously cant be helped if you move in during the winter months.0 -
Dispatches on channel 4 have a programme called “New build scandal” it’s specific to one company so it really is at the extreme end of things but you might find it interesting and see things you may want to look out for. You’ll find it on All 4 catch up.Good luck! xx1
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What happens if the builders go bust and more cracks appear? Is there a valid warranty in place?
If so then I would go for it.0 -
Make sure it's got the remainder of the 10-year warranty on it, and get a survey done. It should be fine though. Our new-build has fine cracks appearing around the tops of walls (inside, not out!), running down where walls meet, etc. It's plaster shrinkage as everything dries out and totally normal. If there's cracks on the outside of the house that's a different matter.
Be aware that most warranties specify the builder only has to repair cracks if they're wider than £1 coin. So if they're only thin cracks, you'll have to fill and paint it yourself.
I think it's recommended that you don't bother repairing them for 6 months to a year, because they'll keep reappearing till the house is fully dried out. We live in a very wet part of the country so the fabric of our house was soaked for most of the build. We'll probably leave ours a good year before we do anything about the cracks.0 -
Not a problem for me as long as I had a survey done and the price I paid I was comfortable with.
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I live in a 2 year old new build. As you say settlement cracks are normal - I have them in nearly every room, although only small hairline ones. I would say get a survey done. Also ask which company/underwriters the 10 year warranty is with and google them.0
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I wouldn't touch it if they are selling so soon.0
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Settlement cracks are normal. The severity depends on how wet the house has got during construction and whether the home owner has ventilated and heated the house as per the recommendations to avoid shrinkage. But, shrinkage should only really appear where there are two different materials meeting, such as door architrave to the wall, stair string to the wall etc, you might get the odd crack under a window cil, but without seeing a photo, I would be a little more cautious about a horizontal crack in the plaster.
As the new owner you are entitled to take over the warranty and the builder should attend to customer care for 2 years. (so you would have one remaining) as someone else has said they do not attend shrinkage unless it is severe. I would get an independent survey done or take someone to view the house with you who has some construction knowledge and can tell you whether the cracks should be of concern.0 -
These days the vast majority of New Builds are dry lined so most internal cracking will just be seen occurring in plasterboard and not necessarily be indicative of any specific structural problem, more likely shrinkage. However external cracking and sloping of walls /floors could suggest that there is a problem but that should be covered by a 10 year warranty by NHBC etc.0
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