To buy a new build?

[M340]

Morning everyone!

Not sure if this is the right place. Been house hunting for a while and we were ideally looking for a 'dooer upper' as a project. We are Hampshire / surrey border and the houses down here are so expensive as everyone knows. We haven't yet found a home that has felt right.

I've read so many threads on here of how new builds have lots of snags and to stay away from them. I wasn't ever totally against them but I for some reason was avoiding them. I guess I never thought of buying one as an option.

I have found 2 houses on the same complex that I have fallen in love with. One slightly more than the other.
Can anyone who's recently bought a new build please let me know how you found it with snags etc? We get warranty with the house. I'm just worried about these 'covid new builds'.

Can post the show home on here if anyone wants to see. Any advice or tips welcome! TY!

NEW BUILD ON ESTATE
Stud walls, hear everything in other rooms.
MDF
Cheap internal doors
Everyone mows their lawn at different times so constant noise.
Noisy kids outside.
BBQ smoke and smells
Kids trampolines
Kids on bikes
Barking dogs
Nosey neighbours
Constant car washing on drives and neighbours on street.

Thank you everyone, some really helpful advice here.

The new build world is a completely new world to me so this is all super helpful. I probably sound really naive (I am to be honest) as I never went down the path of a new build. Lots to think about and I'll join the new build Facebook groups PPs have suggested.

We are first time buyers too so we really haven't done anything like this before. It's taken us a long time to save to be able to buy a house so we can't to do this right, armed with as much information as possible.

TY everyone!

Not necessarily, I'm on the Hampshire/Surrey boarder and can think of at least 8 new build estates, easily so likely to be double that! Sadly.

@M340 anither thing to look out for is storage or lack of. Many new builds look lovely in the showrooms, but there just NI storage & no space to put any in. Really check out the room sizes.

As someone who bought a new build in 2021, I would strongly recommend against it.

Whilst we didn't have any delays with completion, a lot of our neighbours are 10 months past their entry dates.

We paid for a snagger, who identified 334 issues. Some of these were significant, e.g. fire door that is non compliant. To date, only 39 defects have been resolved, most of these low level. The developer is now stone walling us and we cannot get anything resolved.

Because we have lots of windows, bifolds and French doors at the rear of the house, it is like an oven any time there is the slightest bit of sun.

New builds may look lovely but they are never built with real living in mind. It's all style over substance. The developers regardless of how well rated they are are all awful and NHBC is about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Please avoid new builds like the plague!

We brought a Taylor Wimpey house 18 months ago. No major issues, few minor snags. Something have taken longer to fix then others.
But we are very happy with house

@M340 Ours was structurally sound but a lot of the finish was poor quality. But you go round and do a snag list and they fix them before you move in usually. NHBC only entitled us to ‘reasonable standard of craftmanship’ but the house itself was fine. If you like it, get a ‘my house’ feel from it and the location is good, go for it.

Oh yes there is NO storage. We have 2 cupboards in our house, one in a bedroom and one under stairs one. Loft is not useable. What that actually means is you just can’t have a lot of stuff and clutter and we have gotten quite creative with kallax units etc. now we are looking to move again we don’t have a huge amount of stuff to pack simply because we didn’t have room for it in the first place

They also mucked up the mortar on loads of houses here, was a nightmare.

Our new build is now 9 years old - despite having quite a lot of glass it is remaining cool in the current heatwave thanks to reflective coating on the glass, good insulation and an effective ventilation system.

All new builds are not the same, and older buildings are not necessarily better - I’ve dealt professionally with a lot of older properties that had structural issues due to poor design / build / materials.

Surely these occur on most other streets too? Why are they strictly new build problems? 😂

Ps I bought a new build in 2020. Have had no issues with it. Our developer was Bellway. Don't think there have been many issues on our development either as we have a Facebook group. It is a rather small development though (about 50 houses)

We bought a new build in April 2020. Despite lock down the minor snags were sorted very quickly. However our house was built after a change in CEO. Those built earlier in the development had a lot of issues! Although they were all resolved.

As for poky rooms and gardens - that depends entirely on the house type and plot you get. You won't get a 150 foot garden to be fair so if a huge garden is what you desire new builds won't deliver. Self build might.

Do check drainage. It's so important. We have a large "balancing feature" which all the drains run to. One of the few housing areas not to flood in the last five years.

Whatever you do, if you do go ahead make sure you appoint your own solicitor, a lot of people who have major problems are those who have used the solicitor recommended by the developer. Your own solicitor will (hopefully) nail down all the contractual stuff about snagging.

Not all new builds can be awful, but you really need to do your homework properly.

@sakuramiyagi if your developer is ignoring you - make a subject access request - it will show what the developers do know and what they are communicating internally.

We had to do this to get dispute finalised , it took the developers months to produce due to length of the dispute and they had to give us a formal apology for the manner and language used when they discussed us in internal emails.

My DH had a Taylor Wimpey new build flat and it was ok but not as well finished as his sister's flat from a small developer. He didn't really have any snagging issues so that was ok. The electric gate to their parking area was the only nightmare, it had to be fixed every few months for the 6 years he was there.

His neighbours in the town houses next door had more issues and quite a long wait for them to be fixed. One couldn't get hot water in her bath, just tepid. She got sick of waiting and ended up calling a plumber who removed the bath panel and just had to turn a lever to let hot water through. Before he could do that, he had to ask for a bin bag to remove all of the half eaten meal deal sandwiches the builders had kindly left stuffed under the bath. It was grim.

Whatever you do, if you do go ahead make sure you appoint your own solicitor, a lot of people who have major problems are those who have used the solicitor recommended by the developer.

Oh and a big yes to this! DH used their recommended solicitor and it was painfully slow. He's also convinced she was pretending to be her own secretary when he called to chase. "Oh sorry, she's in meetings all day but I'll pass a message on" was the most he ever got.

Definitely this!

My line of work is a bit different as I work in public sector delivery of housing. So we don't do a huge amount of selling- but where we do- I always recommend that buyers ask for recommendations of good local solicitors.

Try and avoid "warehouse" type solicitors (usually stupidly cheap fees, but can be absolutely awful), and go with someone with sound local knowledge.

Been in our Redrow for 5-months now and really happy.
Yes there have been snags but they are great about getting them sorted.

Storage space, garden, room sizes, structure etc are all dependant on the type of house you are buying. No point comparing a 2-bed terraced starter home with a 4-bed executive property on the same estate.

Ours is a 4-bed with 3-double bedrooms and a single, no space issues with plenty of room for furniture plus built-in wardrobes in two of them.
Storage downstairs is ok with a hall cupboard (coats & shoes) and an understated cupboard (Dyson etc). Utility room is a boon (didn't have one before) meaning the kitchen / dining room is just that with no requirement for laundry. Family / TV room plus a separate lounge means we are not on top of each other.
Well insulated (appreciated in this heat), nice design ( high ceilings) and good build quality (even the internal dividing walls are block downstairs), any trades that have had to come back for snagging comment that Redrow are one of the better (large) developers (not perfect but better than most).
Garden is ok, not as long as the old house (200ft+) but it is large enough in our old age and we are designing it to meet our needs (a large mature garden is lovely but a lot of work).
Decent sized garage (larger than the old house) plus driveway for 2-3 cars, certainly better than some similar sized houses on other developments (and some plots on this development come to that!).

All developers & developments are different but don't tar them all with the same brush.

Our estate is very quiet, the rooms are good sizes, we have plenty of storage, it’s well insulated, good quality fixtures and fittings, apart from a couple of carpets. It’s Berkeley Homes. Other builders locally, who are cheaper are Bellway, Taylor Wimpey, Redrow, Linden, Cala, Barrett, David Wilson. Several of those I wouldn’t buy from, several I’d look at and a couple I definitely would.

A quick Google search gives this but obviously it’s to be taken with a pinch of salt.

highleighhoddesdon.co.uk/2021/03/10/multitude-of-complaints-regarding-taylor-wimpey-properties-on-trustpilot-and-facebook/

I’ve had 4 new builds and each one has been worse than before; the most recent resulting in over 300 significant issues and a legal case. We won.

@Eve We have this on our to-do list but have been specifically waiting to do it after I ramped up the pressure with daily emails. I wanted to make sure I gave them enough rope to hand themselves 🤣

@Dougieowner spot on!

we had ample storage and didn’t hear a peep from our neighbours next door.

they had two boys who played football indoors & had hard floor. I used to go around for a cuppa and think “how on earth don’t we hear this carnage on the other side of the party wall?”

And they always commented on how they never heard us on the stairs!

there’s good quality and bad quality in ALL era of house building.

I would never buy a new build, I have a few friends that have over the years, that haven’t bought another new build since.

Drawbacks for them were that you are paying a premium price, so it’s takes along time to rise in value. Fittings are cheap, although they look ok on initial inspection, so things like door handles, taps etc will need replacement fairly quickly. Properties are close together, small gardens etc. Room sizes, use of undersized furniture to create an illusion of space. Lots of snagging builders in and out can be a pain. Also depending on completion of the development you could be living on a building site for months on end.

Like pp’s have said, do consider the lack of privacy, imagine being a goldfish in a bowl. Constant noise - I have to wear earplugs to bed if I want my windows open at night. Lack of space, almost went demented in lockdown stuck in a poky lounge, but if you’re happy with all of that you’re good! 😁

Mine's a Redrow. It's really good and in a fantastic small development. It's so friendly. I'd never buy anything but a new build. I've had many over the years. The sound insulation is great and it costs so little to heat as so well insulated. It came with garden all done, carpets and lots more. Two year guarantee and ten years NHBC. I'd hate a house where I have to get rid of someone else's taste and dirt.