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

Even the most beautiful Georgian rectory or Edwardian villa was a new build once. Some modern new builds are horrors, for sure, but there are plenty (like mine) that are well-built and very very well insulated, didn't have a ten-page snagging list, and have storage EVERYWHERE. I'd love to live in a spacious Edwardian villa, but there aren't many around here and the ones that do exist are VERY expensive...so I live in a house I can afford.

Your mother and her sister haven't a clue.
Perhaps ask her to bd silent if she can't be supportive.
I too would be very wary of new builds.

Good luck, pay zero attention to such twittering.

Baseline, its none of their damn business.

New builds are mostly awful, tiny rooms, paper thin walls and small gardens. Buy an older house.

Unless you can buy a huge plot of land and build a new home to your own individualised specs, why would you want one? Overpriced, overlooked and thrown up as quickly as possible.

All the new builds we viewed had small rooms, tiny gardens, miniscule drives and incredibly narrow road, and they seem to be massively overpriced, and build quality seems to be hit or miss.

We ended up getting a 70s-built lovely detached 5-bedroom house with a decent sized garden, no weird maintenance fees, etc, for the same price as the 3 bed detached new builds.

This
I can’t understand why you are bothered tbh.

You should be mainly proud that in your mid twenties you are in a position to buy a house by yourself!! 😁

Old and new builds will have pros and cons. We prefered an old one cause we like old features and in the same price range (which was less than £450K) there are no new builds in good locations and the ones nearest often had no driveway for 2 or more cars or a big garden or more than 2 rooms.

Im sure with a bigger budget there are very nice new builds that tick all the boxes.

Our area is the same. Our house is detached, in a quiet area with no immediate neighbours. Just checked Rightmove and for £125,000 more than the value of our house, you can buy a terraced new build not too far from our house with one less bedroom on a fairly busy estate (with construction work currently going on most days as they build more).

Where we are the new builds are all leasehold, with leases of under 100 years. They are more expensive per month when you add in the rent, and you never own it.

I'd steer clear.

I would specifically EXCLUDE a new build from any home search. The build quality is often not great, and if the builders cut corners, the first owners are the ones doing all the tiring and expensive leg-work trying to get it fixed.
Also a lot of new build houses come as ridiculous leases, rather than a straight freehold, so you've potentially got all that nonsense to deal with.
I'd take a Victorian terrace that's been properly looked after over a new build every time.

When did new builds become something to aspire to? I can’t imagine why anyone would want a flimsy house with tiny rooms on a postage size plot if they could have a well built older house.

My best mate lives in a new build estate. Although it’s now 10 years old.

she lives opposite the park, which was great when her son was little but now it’s an absolute shit show. Kids morning noon and night, footballs hitting the car and windows, noise and goings on until 10/11pm during summer.

no x 100000000000

I've never known new builds to be seen as better than old houses. I only like period properties as do most people I know. Also, where do you live that new builds are more expensive? Older houses with character are more expensive than new builds usually.

New builds tend to be shit, and you lose money if you sell within five years because the brand-newness is gone. You are doing excellently and anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong.

Just adding that new builds aren't all that. Our first home was one and honestly we loved it, but there isn't much character to them. Tend to be built on estates quite close to one another too.
There is a new build development near us, very expensive for uniform houses, packed in beside each other, with no character whatsoever. They may be nice inside, but they don't look appealing at all. Even a smaller, terraced newbuild in our area costs a lot more than our bigger, old detached house, doesn't make sense to me.

I wouldn’t go for a new build. You’d be the one finding all the problems as the first owner. The odds of having serious problems with a new build seem to be increasing and it’s not just one bad company that you can avoid - all the major developers seem to be cutting corners. Build quality seems to have declined. New builds also have smaller rooms and are built on smaller plots. The fact that you’d be under warranty won’t make months of living with a leaking sewage pipe in your garden any more bearable. You have to go along with the company’s ‘fixes’ and timescale so everything gets dragged out.

If you buy an older house get a good survey, find out the last time things like the roof or the boiler were replaced and don’t panic that it needs some work. Just cost the work and make your bid reflect it.

New builds are great if you get a decent builder. Mine is a lovely 3 bed semi with a huge garden that’s not overlooked. Cheap to maintain and hardly any snags and we are coming to to two years.

nothing wrong with new builds there’s just a lot of snobs around

My most favourite house was a small 2 bedroomed terrace. I was so happy there.

I know people who've bought new builds and there's so much snagging and issues. Older houses have better bones and more room.

Besides which it's your money and you spent it as you see fit!

New builds have never been desirable to me.

My first house was a new build that went up 26% in the 4 years I owned it.

I wouldn't take offense or be upset, it just means they have no idea what they are talking about.

Congrats on having saved enough for a deposit - that’s not easy.
you go and choose what you want.
Your house, your money.
Nowt to do with anyone else.

Yes, because they're for people who make bad financial decisions!

I deliberately not buy a new build; a ‘second hand’ home has passed the test of time; many new build horrors with shoddy cost cutting efficiencies have put me off a new build for ever.