New builds property AIBU for considering one

[Housingcraze]

Pros and cons of buying a new build????
I'm single and 29 - living at parents - inherited money from father brother - don't know whether to buy new build house (will take all my cash) or buy a old house (will prob need renovating) or just buy 2 bed flat and have 20/30k to go travelling and for adventures with!!! - friend dead set against new builds but mum thinks new build be perfect can personalise and no stress as got a ten year guarantee - reading online bellway property's are getting proper bad reviews!

Yeah in terms of decor it's easy to turn the white box into something pretty, although you are not supposed to wallpaper for 2 years whilst the walls dry out - bit annoying

Can we name builders we would or would not recommend....? Mine were OK, house nice but site manager not great at getting snags fixed. Also quality of workmanship not brilliant in all rooms. I think we've had a change of site manager 3 times in as many years. Builders are Taylor Wimpey. In my opinion are mid range in terms of price and quality

I have lived in a new build terrace (built 2000) and the noise between properties and parking issues were a pain. Building regs now are more stringent on sound insulation and more recent housing developments 'should' provide better car parking ratios BUT make sure the spaces are lined and marked with your house number & look at where visitors will park (yours and your neighbours). Also think very carefully about storage, new build developers have fantastic marketing departments who are there to sell a product- look pragmatically at how you will realistically live in the house.

Always buy detached if you are able (to reduce the noise issue!) and also look at the layout of the development and level of overlooking into the garden.

Most new builds will have service charges (this does not make them leasehold) but be clear on what this covers, who manages the company and makes the decisions and how much it can be increased by every year. this charge may cover roads, open space, water features, playgrounds etc. So do look at the wider development.

When we moved we got an early 1990's detached property which had a water leak and therefore refurbished throughout so best of all worlds - new interior but older exterior!

It depends whether it has already been built or not.

I'd never, ever, ever advise buying off the plan, or buying a partially-built house. I did it and it was the bloody worst decision I ever made. I bought the house in November, was told it would be finished by Christmas, then told it'd be finished by January, then February (according to the developer), then June (according to the real estate), then Christmas again, then February again, and it was finally finished at the end of March, almost 18 months after the process began. And the house was already half-complete when I bought it!

I know someone else in the same situation at the moment. They haven't even registered with the council yet (a 2 month long process in itself), and have been living with his parents for around 8 months now.

There are upsides, but fucccccck there are downsides. I'd never do it again. The amount of money I pissed up the wall on solicitors and rent can never be recovered and it wasn't worth it. I sold the house on after 12 months of living in it.

I wouldn't buy a new build as I like to know who my neighbours are going to be.

We looked at one a few years ago. Drove around there a while ago and it was really scruffy. Shared green space in the middle was quite overgrown and just didn't look nice.

How about a new-ish house in an area that is already established?

We live in a new build barratt house and love it 18months on,

Few teething troubles but as long as you report it the work gets done.

I've actually been in barratt almost identical house to what you posted, it seems barratt and belway steal ideas from one another as our friends are looking at that same house as you and were quizzing us as it is almost identical I think a couple of the doors open a different way.

It's a lovely house, small for a family but lovely none the less. The house we went in had a open plan kitchen as they asked the builders to leave the door off and it looked nice.

The lounge is very nice size. The only issue I could see, and that's me trying to be practical and not picking is lack of storage with no understairs cupboard. The only storage is your airing cupboard.

But other than that it was really nice.

Ignore that, yours does have a understairs cupboard that must of been the difference then. So yes yours tops barratt a version plus you have storage upstairs!

Pros - everything brand swanky new and loved in for first time by you.
You
Can choose your carpets and tiles if you get in there early enough.
Low heating bills
Nhbc warranty for 10 years.

Cons
Nhbc warranty runs out after 10 years
Teething problems due to things not be done properly and finished in a hurry i.e. Leaks
Small garden
On larger developments living in suburbia

In your position an easy, lock up and leave new build sounds ideal. I've never owned one, and wouldn't buy one...but young free and single? It would be tempting!

I would buy an individual built new build but not an estate one, cant get over ceiling heights. If i found one with large plot, high ceiling i would consider but ive never seen one. Id rather buy a wreck and change everything then it looks like a new build and all to my taste.
In your situation, id buy a house or flat not necc new you can buy newish and save paying developers premium and give yourself some wriggle room for travelling.

Our first two houses were new builds - we wanted a guarantee of no major expenses like a new roof or something seriously pricey which you get with the 10 year NHBC guarantee.

It's crazy to dismiss all "new builds" out of hand as there is so much variety in houses being built.

New build or old house professionally done up to very modern standards ie nothing that has been badly tampered with by amateurs.

I work for a housing developer (sorry!) and if you go for a new build I would ask to see a stock plot (one that has not had any optional extras added. I.e not the show home) because that is what you are actually buying. Ask to look at another deVeloment with the same specification if that development hasn't been built yet. You'll often find that you need to spend a fair amount on carpets, flooring, shower over bath, turf, etc added before you move in and will need to pay for these in cash. ,

Ask for fully dimensioned plans and see if they are showing a double or a king sized bed. Check if they actually have a hot water tank in the cupboard in the master. This will take a lot of room up and a two bed could be run off a combi freeing up storage space.

Do they give you the option to have the jack and Jill door to the bathroom? If so I personally wouldn't have a door from the master, it really reduces where you can put furniture and it's hardly any distance to go to the landing to use your bathroom.

Theoretically sound travel from one property to the next should not be a problem as building regs standards should minimise that. The one place it's important to have a good sound resistance within the house is between the bathroom and master bedroom so maybe check the wall specification there.

Sorry for such a long post but hope it helps.

Pros and cons to all that you need to weigh up.

I live in a 100 year old house. High maintenance costs and heating but big and has period features.

New build flats can be quite noisy and small with costly service charges (especially a building with lifts and electric gates) but cheaper general bills, cheaper cost and it would give you travel money.

My only experience of new build houses is negative unfortunately. My friend has been living in her new build 2 years and so much is still wrong with it. However she might have just been unlucky. Go with your heart.

I would second people saying plumbing problems in a new house. We have had to replace the workings of every shower/loo because the internal fittings were very cheap and poorly installed (v posh fittings on the outside), leading to leaks/damaged ceilings. Essentially our bathrooms were 'all fur coat and no knickers'

My DDs boyfriend has had a new build ground-floor flat for a year and has just discovered that the shower waste has been leaking all that time. The under floor of the whole flat is saturated and mouldy. All the carpets/laminates and kitchen cabinets have to come out, the floor dug out, everything dried and treated for mould, some plaster board walls replaced etc etc. It is all insured but the hassle is endless.

I love my new build house so if you find one that is perfect for you I would go for it, but be prepared for things to go wrong. Sometimes they can be as much hassle as a fixer-upper.

And whether it is old or new get somewhere with at least two loos. I just spent the weekend in a beautiful loft style studio flat which quite reasonable only has one bathroom/loo and spent several uncomfortable moments desperately needing a poo whilst my companion had a leisurely shower.

I like new builds, but I would make really sure it wasn't overpriced. It's unlikely there will be two new-builds being marketed by two different developers in the same immediate area, so there is no easy way to assess what the price should be. The developer can write down hugely optimistic prices, and potential buyers who like a property will convince themselves the price is OK, if they stare at the number for long enough. You won't really know what a property is worth until their are resales.

We live in a very old house that needed renovations. I wouldn't change it for the world though.

We had a good look at newbuilds but they were all a bit "flat pack" for us with no character. Plus, we didn't like the fact that most of them are timber framed and don't offer much space. Our house is huge and cost us less than the new build did. Plus, there's lots of space and the house is well proportioned.

Things I love about our period house: solid walls throughout, lots of space, period features, lots of land, well built, it has a history, enormous attic.

It does cost more to heat than a new-build house would, but equally we don't actually lose any heat due to it being solid walls throughout, as well as good insulation.

We did have to rewire the house when we bought it, but it's sorted now for years to come. Plumbing has been excellent and the foundations are solid, with no damp either.

I've heard a lot of my friends who bought newbuilds had to replace the plumbing pretty quickly as the developers use the cheapest materials possible for internal hidden things, but posh stuff for the taps/sink etc.

Why do people keep peddling the 'new build flats are noisy' myth?

Genuine new builds have much higher sound proofing standards (changed in 2003 in think) And there really aren't the same issues as you can get in crappy period conversions or 60s built council terraces where you can hear next door having a wee, turning on lights, running water and plugging things into sockets!

And whether it is old or new get somewhere with at least two loos. I just spent the weekend in a beautiful loft style studio flat which quite reasonable only has one bathroom/loo and spent several uncomfortable moments desperately needing a poo whilst my companion had a leisurely shower.

For two adults, there really isn't any need to have a toilet each unless you have some kind of medical problem!

Having lived in 2 new builds, I wouldn't touch another with a bargepole. It wasn't the houses I had a problem with per se; both were perfect examples of a new build (unlike some) and a pleasure to live in.
Good GOD though, the amount of money we lost when it came to selling the buggers. They do not hold their value as well as more established properties (not helped by the builder's premium), and you have to be in them 10 years + to make your money back. Unfortunately this wasn't an option for us in either case.
It doesn't help that you never seem to find them in the best areas, they're always located outside of the main amenities (seldom in the thick of things), and are usually ten-a-penny on most new build developments i.e. loads of them the same. This also doesn't help when trying to sell.
Never again.

We love our new build - we've been in it just over 3 years and it's great. It's really easy to personalise the 'bland and soulless' out of it - all our neighbours have the exact same specs inside but we all comment how different they all look inside due to the way we've done them. For the first two years the developers sort out any issues - admittedly some developers are better than others but we had very few problems getting stuff done.

As a pp said noise/building regs changed a good while ago - we're in a terraced townhouse and you hear very little through the floors or the adjoining neighbours.

In terms of market value it's a sweeping generalisation to say they all lose value/take forever to regain market value - it depends on the developer, location etc just like everything else in the housing market. Ours have more than kept pace with the local price increases and have actually gone up more than equivalent sized older properties.

Do watch for the freehold/leasehold thing - ours are freehold but we do pay a small service charge annually as the road is private/non-adpoted and the gardens etc are maintained by a management company.

Another two disadvantages of new build are there is rarely any room to extend and the back garden is full of rubble, even if it has been superficially landscaped.

Absolutely right ^ New build grass never takes hold properly!

Fair point about the grass - ours is a bit crap. For us the relatively small garden was a huge plus point - we had a big (over 100ft) back garden and a large front garden as well at our old house and I hated every minute I had to spend looking after it. New build ones with enough room for a washing line, patio and BBQ so I can sit outside with a G&T suit me perfectly

Op I saw this article and thought of you:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2016/oct/29/new-builds-house-buyers-leasehold-property-trap?client=safari

Tread carefully