For new build home owners....

[izzybee55]

If you knew back then what you knew now, would you buy a new build again? I definitely wouldn't. From the endless list of snags (we've been waiting 8 weeks now for them to come and lift the flooring to see the source of a leak) to the JCB reversing beepy noise at 7am every morning (bar sunday), because we still live on a building site. Needless to say the builders don't give a hoot once you're in and more often than not they throw these houses up.

I know I'm lucky to be a homeowner and older houses come with their fair share of issues too, but if I had my time again I definitely would not buy a new build. Thoughts!?

Moved from new build to older property, which had been renovated. We moved in on basis it was ready to move in, no work needed.Older property has been a money pit rectifying bodge jobs, which didn’t come up on survey.

If we were in a new build would have had guarantee - older property nothing.

I’m hoping to move soon and will either go for new build or something which is dated, I know needs work, any will factor into purchase price.

rented a 2 bed "new build" in an upmarket estate for a year in 2018...... never again

the build quality was absolutely horrific the whole thing was held together by what seemed like plasterboard , timber and chewing gum

the windows were cheap , the staircase was cheap the entire thing screamed CHEAP

the landlord paid an eye watering amount considering the size of the property and its intrinsic value

i suspect this was a result of the ridiculously over inflated British housing market ......(part of the reason we aren't buying at the moment)

David Wilson are part of Barratt. I wouldn’t buy from them. Our kitchen is a German one, the bathrooms are good quality, we have Amtico flooring, decent light fittings etc. The carpets aren’t all that, but I can live with that. We’ve replaced one of them.

The rooms are spacious, the garden is relatively large, we’re close to various towns, cities, the sea and the South Downs. Public transport is frequent and there are plenty of large and small supermarkets nearby. Several within walking distance.

I’d buy a new build again, but it would again be from very specific builders

No. Roofs leaked three times, electricity has now gone funny and cupboard doors are always falling out, backsplash smashed from heat

We have lived in ours for 13 years and never had any problems. It was also nice to be there at the beginning of a new community but I suppose that depends on the mix of people.

If you knew back then what you knew now, would you buy a new build again?

Yes. We have bought 3 new builds - 2 houses and one apartment - over the years. Not really had much snagging. Been in current house (I think it was David Wilson??) for about 15 years, done some additional work on it in last 4 years or so inc an extension, and still very much like it here.

But we like new builds. Ive never desired an older home 'with features.'

SIL has just moved to a new build. Shared drive with next door but the problem is, it’s nowhere near wide enough for two cars. If one car is on the drive then if the second one pulls up alongside it neither car can open their doors. Crazy.

I couldn’t cope with a shared drive way at all.

But Oak321 that is the way that particular house was designed, nothing to do with it being a new build, and presumably they had a choice whether to buy it or not.

I would try not to, but i would never say never. I've lived in one before and it was fairly soulless.

I love the fact someone called older houses "second hand". Always makes me chuckle. I'm trying to think what they would call my 400 year old listed building. I'm guessing charity shop find,,,🤣

Yes. I’ve never had a problem with mine. Love the low bills as well

I think the ridiculous parking is a common complaint with new builds actually.

No shared parking in the new build Development where I live but I know older houses, that didn't originally have parking at all, which have it. I am sure a lot of new builds do have problems connected to the actual building but parking problems aren't relevant and should be obvious before you buy.

I've had two new builds and yes, we've had some snagging issues but nothing major really and I would buy another. The key is choosing your plot wisely, I wouldn't have bought anything with a shared driveway.

Is snagging literally ‘this tile is squint, this paint is chipped?’ For every single thing in the house?

@almostfreeatlast we got that picky in the end as the builders frustrated us so much! To start with it was things like loose cupboard doors, missing knobs, loose sockets, But when we realised the floors were all unlevel downstairs and the builders became obstructive and unhelpful we started picking on paint issues and suchlike 🤨

We'll have lived in our new build for 9 years next week and have no regrets whatsoever.

Parking is a problem but that's due to the number of vehicles that people own, all houses on our street have good sized drives but it's still an issue. Take the family of five who live opposite for example. They can fit 6 cars on their drive but they have 6 cars and 3 work vans.

Parking is a problem but that's due to the number of vehicles that people own, all houses on our street have good sized drives but it's still an issue. Take the family of five who live opposite for example. They can fit 6 cars on their drive but they have 6 cars and 3 work vans. yes, it's a problem everywhere and that's before you consider the caravans - a couple of large ones in my road. One of them was parked across the pavement for a while. I took to walking across their front garden rather than walk in the road and they found somewhere else to keep it.