"It's a shame you can't get a new build"

We all bought Victorian terraces/converted semis when I was young. They are so well built. New builds do not have that reputation unfortunately

😂 utterly baffled at why you’re upset 😂

"I have a huge garden and it's certainly not soulless nor made of cardboard."

While you may have this, that is certainly uncommon in most new builds.

If I can be really nosey, can I ask just how huge a garden you're talking about?

To me, a "huge" garden is around 3/4 acre or half an acre at a minimum. I remember back in the 1980s-1990s that a decent sized plot for a detached new build house would typically be around a quarter of an acre, but sometimes they were really squeezing them in and only giving around half that much space, say 500 sq metres of garden.

But, if you look at most new builds these days the amount of land is so much smaller.

Here are some typical four bed detached new builds in the city where I live:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147832049#/?channel=RES_NEW

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149647076#/?channel=RES_NEW

They have nowhere near this much land.

and here is what you can get for the same money with an older house:

1707 house with exposed beams and half an acre of land:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146363957#/?channel=RES_BUY

Typical 1930s detached with 1/4 acre:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149124956#/?channel=RES_BUY

As someone who bought a newbuild, DONT buy a new build!

You couldn’t pay me to buy a new build.

Give me an older house with character every single time!

Your family should be building you up, not criticising you and bringing you down.

Congratulations on having saved up to buy a house - that's a great achievement.

I've worked in show homes and had to listen to people tearing their hair out about snagging. Give me a solid house anyday.

I bought a relatively new build and it's made of cardboard. My next property will be something old. They are thrown up, lack storage in my experience and the rooms are small. Not worth the price premium IMO.

Because their old landlord wanted to sell up and that's all they could afford? Because a relationship broke up and to stay in the same area as their children and support system that's what they could buy as no one else was selling?
I get that people like to come on these threads too be dismissive of those who live in new builds but can you really not think of any circumstances people might live in one?

These are relatives yet they throw jealousy spanners in your works!

You don't want a new build. They lose value after the first sale as there is a "new build premium" on the market value. And the quality these days is appalling. You see so many people talking about that, so many people with snags lists as long as their arms.

My DH used to work in a building adjacent trade and still has a lot of contacts there. A lot of his mates from that time are refusing to take those contracts because they aren't allowed to do good quality work. It has to be fast and cheap.

Our first house at 19 was a 1960’s terrace. I loved it and we extended it and did a loft conversion over the years and increased the value so much. Our house now is a 1930’s house. I love this too, lots of character, big garden , huge bedrooms, original features, cornice, skirting, light fittings. I’d never buy a new build. They usually come with a whole host of problems, gardens that flood being an issue I see constantly on SM. They’ve got no character and usually small rooms.

In response to OP :

Shame?!

🤔

I don’t like new builds and I’ve heard lots of stories of things going wrong. I love old houses. Way more character. Go for what YOU want within your budget and ignore what anyone else thinks.

I wouldn’t buy a new build unless you paid me or I was incredibly desperate. Build quality, crappy room and garden sizes, management companies, often rubbish parking. And the prices you then pay for the ‘benefit’ of it being a new build?! The one and only reason I can see for shirking houses older than 1990 is the risk of bad asbestos. Get whatever it is you want, you worked hard to save that money.

I bought a new build flat as my first home back in the early 90’s. Also looked at a terrace near to my family home which I liked - same price.
My late DM said at the time - I was brought in a terrace, I’m not having you going backwards, you are buying that over my dead body.
My parents helped with my deposit and I got the flat.
SO badly built I recently saw one for auction for 25k (15k less than I paid for it 30 years ago!) The terraced house is now worth 190k.
The lesson - go with your gut and your mother isn’t always flipping right!!!!
(Within a year of moving into my flat the ceiling was falling in, the electrics blew, the heating packed up and it was riddled with damp - I couldn’t get out of it quickly enough!) Have friends in new builds which are lovely, for balance!

You say you built it? If it’s a home you had built with builders you commissioned yourself, then that’s not the sort of home people refer to when they talk of ‘new builds’. New build disdain comes from the estates that are thrown up from the same developers, when they buy a plot of land and proceed to vomit out 400 near identical variations of the same cardboard house
Also, even typical new builds of the early 00s are far better than the new builds of the last 15 years. I bought a new build in 97, wasn’t as good as an older house, but nowhere near as awful as what they throw up today.
we viewed quite a lot when we moved 5 years ago, all awful-we eventually bought a house built in the early 80s

New builds aren’t necessarily superior - yes they will be bang on style for today, but can lack character.

there are advantages and disadvantages. My first two homes were new builds - I was very proud of them but now have enough money to have bought somewhere older with character. It has a much bigger garden and the sound proofing is much much better!!

to each their own.

bit tell your mum not everyone prefers new builds - you want something unique!

I've also heard this

OP you are better off with an older house. My current house built in 2000 we don't put much on the walls, curtain poles are constantly coming out the walls even with the raw plugs.

I bet you also get a better garden with an older house, well at least a garden and not a pocket handkerchief

Personally even if I had unlimited funds I wouldn't go new build!

If it felt right to you ignore anyone else's view. Don't let anyone rain on your parade ❤️

Probably not what OP is in the market for though ..,

Enough money will always get quality if wisely spent.,

If it was a new build with excellent insulation, solar panels, plenty of storage, green spaces all around , heat pump or similar future proofed heating system in an area that didn't require getting in a car to buy a pint of milk it might be worth it . I live in an area with loads of new build houses many of which have bad reputations for mould, damp, poor build quality etc and you have to build in the fact that they depreciate like new cars. My DS and his young family are house hunting and after initially being dazzled by new builds have stopped looking at them.

That’s really not comparable. It’s obviously not a typical new build estate house. It’s a one off high spec house built with no expense spared.

That’s what our builder/ handyman says. If ever we whinge about needing to fix something up he says “old buildings little problems; new builds, catastrophic problems.”

I'll never understand the widespread dislike of new builds on MN. It's not just the dislike, but the vitriolic disdain and the absolute pride in their disgust for anything less than 100 years old.
My new build was new in the early 2000s and has more than doubled in value since we built it. Maybe it doesn't have all the charm of an older property, but it's served us fairly well, and there are pros and cons to every home, regardless of age.

OP, I'd ask why people in your life are recommending a new build, then counter with your own view and finish by saying that you've made your decision and will appreciate if they can try to be happy for you.