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Original poster

Has anyone bought a new build house and it not been an absolute disaster?

45 replies

ShirleyPhallus · 12/02/2019 18:11

I’ve only ever heard terrible things about them not being finished properly and the snagging not sorted

Any success stories?

OP posts:

Boom76 · 12/02/2019 19:58

Moved in 3 years ago. Brand new and never had a problem. It’s very energy efficient and our heating bills are nowhere near what they were despite me always having it on

retainertrainer · 12/02/2019 20:06

We’ve been in ours for 8 years, no problems at all. All the snags were corrected within the first few weeks and it’s been great since. It’s easy to heat, well sound proofed, no complaints from us.

TheCraicDealer · 12/02/2019 20:09

We're in our new build two years next month. The place has been finished to a very high spec and other workmen we've had in have commented on the fact that the developer didn't scrimp on fixtures- for example the boiler they installed was far from cheap and is a Which? Best Buy. The house is extremely well insulated which is a vast improvement on the 1950's brick semi I moved from. Because we were first phase the builders are still about and will happily come over to tell you where wires are behind stud walls or what brand and colour the patio slabs are. I couldn't fault them.

I only wish we had another bedroom, as then I wouldn't ever need to think about leaving!

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Property

GreenDinosaur · 12/02/2019 20:17

We bought an old house and it's a bloody nightmare. I bitterly regret it now (although it was all we could afford tbh) and am so envious of those with lovely clean, newbuild houses where everything works and isn't falling apart constantly at great expense.

Despite the various newbuild horror stories you hear, all the people I know irl are very happy in theirs.

Jimpix · 12/02/2019 20:31

We’ve been ours 6.5 years and it’s fab! Snagging issues were dealt with very quickly and a couple of bigger jobs were too. We still love living here.

Santaclarita · 12/02/2019 20:36

I don't own, but the newbuild house we rent is awesome. I do love all of the moaners on the estate though because they all complain about the company that built them (just because they make a lot of money, nothing about quality). I can't find a nice way to point out that they all helped fund the horrible rich company by buying their houses. Its not as if they are the only builder in the area. But they are the only decent one. The others make cheap houses, and they are crammed in like crazy, the estates are somehow claustrophobic. To me at least.

missanony · 12/02/2019 20:37

I think there will always be minor snagging but I know plenty more who’ve moved into a used home and had to buy a boiler or something equally costly and there is no cover for that.

BeachtheButler · 12/02/2019 21:15

MIL has one. Internal walls are a bit thin (DW's room was next to loo and flushing woke her up at nights) but that was the only issue (and no noise from neighbours at all).

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 12/02/2019 21:22

We’ve had three new builds and apart from snagging, which all of them have, it’s been fine. It depends on the builder you choose. Small local builders often build to a higher standard that the high volume ones, but some medium volume developers are fine.

I wouldn’t buy from any developer who didn’t provide carpets, flooring, white goods, spotlights and decent quality kitchen and bathrooms. Ours has the same spec as the show home, so what you view is what you get.

Ilove · 12/02/2019 21:27

Christ
15 years in

NEVER again

Barrat shit box. 500k on a badly finished, badly built crap effort

All bathrooms - tiles traight onto floorboards so movement meaning retailing x 5 bathrooms

No waterproof boarding meaning all showers leak. Repeatedly. Through ceilings

The hot water tank being 3 floors up. So when it leaked/blew. 300 lites of boiling water pouri through the house. It refills as it empties. Great

Crap poor quality kitchen. 3 new elements in the oven in 12m??? Apaetly I shouldn’t be using it to cook in...

Never, EVER AGAIN.

caffeinebuzz · 12/02/2019 21:38

Very happy with ours, three years in. The layout is well thought out, with plenty of storage and quality fittings. There were some snags but all dealt with quickly, including the things that only came up when we'd been living there a little while.

hummanahummana · 12/02/2019 21:42

Yep, my house will be 10 years old soon. Absolutely no issues. It's bloody perfect.

hummanahummana · 12/02/2019 21:42

Should add that I have had it almost 10 years.

Original poster

ShirleyPhallus · 13/02/2019 09:12

Thank you for all the replies! I am a lot more tempted than I thought I would be having been to a friend’s who lives in one

As a PP said, it does seem to be well laid out with good storage

Can anyone recommend good developers vs poor ones?

OP posts:

Blobby10 · 13/02/2019 10:17

It depends on the developer, the building site, the site manager, the way the wind blows! We had a house that was designed and partially erected by one building company which was then taken over by David Wilson Homes who finished the house off - ours and the one next door. The rest of the site were pure DWH. These two houses were a disaster with over 300 snagging issues in each. Ours had to have the entire ground floor ripped up after 6 weeks as the floors weren't level and found standing water under the floorboards from a leak where someone had put a nail through a pipe upstairs! We ended up getting solicitors involved, settled before it went to court and appointed a private builder to finish off the worst of the snags.

The site manager was a total tool in the end but, in his defence, he was under immense pressure to keep the project on track for the next phase of building and didn't have the time or resources to be continually fixing our houses. Silly man thought we would just go away if he ignored us.

MadisonAvenue · 13/02/2019 12:53

We bought our new build eight years ago and have had no problems. We bought from Miller Homes and they came out and sorted any snags for up to two years after purchase, not that there was anything major, it was just minor little things like a cracked light switch.

Fluffyears · 13/02/2019 13:00

We had a barrat flat and now a Persimmon house. Both have been totally fine. Minor snags all fixed quickly. Two years builders warranty in current home by Persimmon and an amazing site manager.

Fluffyears · 13/02/2019 13:03

If you do go for it find the site manager and be his best pal. We just went and grabbed him one day and said x,y and z need fixed, minor things, they were sorted the same day. The boiler leaked again grabbed site manager and within 20 minutes two workers were in the house sorting it out.

Portulaca · 13/02/2019 13:04

No real problems from new houses in the past, apart from minor snagging which the builders were fine about coming back to sort out.

We now live in a 300 year old property and its been one long round of repairs and ongoing expenses. We are selling up and want a newish low expense house next time.

Flicketyflack · 13/02/2019 13:23

I have lived in three new builds and any issues etc have been rectified.

The houses we have bought have been warm, large and easy to maintain.

Contrary to popular mythology (on Mumsnet) they are not crap

There appears to be a bit of snobbery about new builds in my experience

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