New build homes in the UK are a bit depressing

[Glasgoow]

I want to move somewhere with better insulation than my 1930s house. Looked around a few new build places and they are just depressing.

They pretend to be all unique by craming different designed houses all on top of each other but its just a ploy to allow them to pack loads in.

The gardens are tiny and either back onto a road or are overlooked.

Looked at one this morning and for a 4 bedroom house they had crammed in 5 toilets, bathroom and two ensuites. I guess if it was a mansion that would be handy, but it wasn't and the bedrooms were tiny with little wardrobe space. It had its own gauarge but this was as part of a "coach house" where they build 4 garages and then a flat on top for someone else to live in. If I was coming back late at night I wouldn't want to use my garage as someone is living on top of it. Drive space for just one car and parking would probably be a nightmare when people come round. Its just cramming all they can in and presenting it with small beds and tables to make it loom bigger. The pictures were very deceiving, they must of sunk the camera into the wall to make it look as big as they did. The windows were all on the small side too.

Just a shame, I want a new home, but a quality one designed to be good to live in not to just maximise their profits.

Your pain is palpable. I'm sure we all feel ever so terribly sorry for you.

Why the biscuits?

New houses are generally awful. The master bedroom in the last new build I saw was 8ft by 7.5 foot.

Yup, they're crap. Badly designed and badly built. We looked at some and ended up paying £100k less for a 1930s house with decent insulation and a garden approx 10 times the size.

What's with the biscuits?

I absolutely luffs my new build home! You have to be aware it won't look like the show home and be on your 'A' game when it comes to snagging as he builders are mostly cowboys (even/especially the big companies) but you cannot beat them for value for money, space, and luffley 'newness'!

Because we're lucky we HAVE homes being built? We're lucky we have homes at all? Because OP doesn't HAVE to live in a new build? Because we're a small island and building space needs to be maximised so we don't decimate the natural landscape?

Have a , Jeffsan.

They are incredibly bad value for money, are the minimum allowed distance apart and have tiny proportions. But... If u want an immaculate freshly decorated house they are perfect. You just can't complain when your in negative equity.

I agree, why all the bathrooms and toilets? And the obsession with ensuite. I'd rather have the bedroom space. We live in a victorian 3 bed with one bathroom, I'd love a downstairs loo, but not another 3.

Now you're giving me a biscuit ?

And you're wrong about the 'small island' bollocks, only 6% of Britain is built on, there's tons of room.

I don't think we're remotely 'lucky' to have homes being built. Hardly any are built and we need a massive house building programme to expand the economy and provide family homes.

Being critical of our housing stock seems fairly normal discourse. The old terraces are appallingly insulated, people are fucking freezing. And new builds are often tiny and not suitable for family homes.

OP was spectacularly pissy to another poster who was a bit down and feeling poor.
I feel it's only polite for her (Her? It always pains me to think some women can be so fucking nasty to other women who just want a bit of support) to experience the same.

I love my new build. Yes it is absolutely tiny but that just means less cleaning
The rooms are small but we have two bathrooms and loads of storage space so it's easier to keep the rooms clutter free.

Plus the sound proofing it's amazing, we are middle terrace and I haven't heard anything from the neighbours for over 18 months

Unless you are buying one described as 'executive' then they seem to be as you describe. My particular bugbear is 3 storey 5 bed ones. They are built on the footprint of what would previously have been a 3 bed. So they have the living space of a smallish 3 bed. If you need 5 bedrooms, don't you normally need more living space?

I think that there was a small development of social and shared ownership houses near us with better proportions, but still tiny gardens.

I'd like to see minimum space standards applied to all new housing. Otherwise it is a race to the bottom.

Opinions on this one......?
www.barratthomes.co.uk/new-homes/york/H603701-The-Meadows,-York/plot-34/

I live in a new build flat. It's tiny with a load of problems and I'd love to move, but with all the crap going on around the world right now I'm grateful to have a roof over my head

Oh ffs stupid phone.

I absolutely love our newbuild.

The smallest of the four bedrooms is 10' x 10', we have three further big doubles, a music room and a study. Loads of cupboard space and our fuel bills are minimal as it's so well insulated and has solar panels.

They're not all bad.

The UK needs to move away from advertising houses based solely on the number of bedrooms and start advertising the floor area. I found that very disconcerting when I moved here.

I rent and would love to own a home, but i do hugely agree with you on the new build.
I lived in a new build, the build quality was shocking, they didn't do any of the snagging, the gardens were tiny and it seemed a constant battle living there. I could hear every conversation the neighbours had.
Give me a 1930's any day.

If you look at how they built the developments then, they built proper communities, shops, homes for families with family gardens and homes with potential. Schools, doctors, greens and parks were all part of the plans. It was all thought out for to build a happy community, not the most profit.
Nature could re-establish in the leafy gardens so it had less environmental impact.

My new build is fab. Four double bedrooms and the garden feels very generous. Really warm and cosy and cheap to keep it that way.
I like having an en suite and one for guests as well when they stay. It gives everyone their privacy.

Our bungalow (not a house with an extra floor) has 1,400 sq. ft in usable room space. When we were looking at new builds last year, the sales people that actually had a clue about what they were selling [1] were trying to impress us with houses with 1,100 sq. ft. It got to be heart-wrenching to see their little faces fall, as MrsLH and I commented we'd have to "lose a room".

However, should I ever decide to start collecting Matchbox cars, then a new-build garage would be a perfect fit seeing as there's no way you can get a real car in.

Given our bungalow sits in 5,000 sq. ft of land (we're in a suburban part of Brum), any move to a new-build would be a loss.

The only bright part of last years "let's look at new builds" 2014 tour of the Midlands, was hearing that "lifetime living" is a now a thing, and that housebuilders are building houses to allow people to live there when older, rather than move. Anything which helps the elderly can also accidentally be a boon to the less-able.

[1] real conversation:

Salesperson: "The Shelby is a 3 bedroom design"
Me: "What square footage is it, internally ?"
Salesperson: "Why would that matter ? It's 3 bedroom."

I agree that the quality of most new builds is pretty poor.

I'm always worried when people say only 6% of Britain is built on. It bothers me that much of the land I see being built on is good agricultural land which I don't want to see being made unproductive. We cannot grow enough food to feed our current population and we can't be certain that we will always be able to afford to buy our food from elsewhere.

I would love a 3 storey 5 bed. Adequate living space for me and DH when we retire and there is just the two of us, plenty of extra bedrooms when family visit.

This is why we bought a house built in 1920's.
Buying a new house with decent build and less maintenance does appeal to me, but most new builds are very poor quality with tiny bedrooms.