To wonder why new builds are so overpriced?

[chickenlittle2020]

Been browsing properties as wife and I are hoping to get on the property ladder within the next few months. We've looked at new builds using help to buy and the government equity loan. They just seem so overpriced! For example, this property - no proper garden, not much space, little character on for £629K. Its so overpriced for similar older houses on the market.

www.barratthomes.co.uk/new-homes/united-kingdom/h749401-new-mill-quarter/plot-447/

Anyone shed some light on this madness???

Depends where you are buying, rather than what you are buying.

I've lived in properties in just about every historical period since the 17th Century. I hear lots on mumsnet running down new builds - but I love mine. None of the lack of parking issues, noise issues or shoddy workmanship I hear about on here. We've got a tiny development, big houses with big gardens and plenty of private parking. Running costs are tiny compared to my older properties. So choose well and you'll be happy. But if you are tied to a London location things will de different.

New builds here are maybe 160k, give or take, but given you can buy a three bed house and garden in the same area for 70k,they're still over priced in my opinion, especially when you consider how many of them are poorly built.

It always suprises me how many first time buyers in my area won't look at anything but a new build though, and end up living at home for longer so they can afford one, when there's perfectly decent houses for less. Obviously it's different in very expensive areas, but houses here are still very affordable, but yet the lure of the new build endures.

I think some people find something being "new" the biggest part of the appeal. For example I've always been a sod for a charity shop bargain, but I know people who would be horrified at the idea of something being second hand, being new is a massive thing for them. I suppose the same extends to houses, it will either bother you or it won't

Lol. Thimble Crescent. That should ring some alarm bells if nothing else!

I made £40 on my last new build and this one is valued at £20k more than I paid for it 4 years ago. My neighbour should fit £20k more than she bought it for. Depreciation is not really a thing with houses.

I agree with pp it depends where you are,
I live in a new build and it hasnt depreciated in value a couple of people on my site have sold their home both for more than what was paid within the past couple of years, one for more than 30,000 than it was bought for last year.
Definitely not depreciating here.
I also got mine for a really good price.

I think new builds are overpriced because so many people are taken in by them! Appeals to me too - brand new, totally clean, all looks lovely, no work needing done. The reality is, so many of them are awful and shoddy. The stuff I've read in the news (e.g. pipes not built properly so sewage draining into gardens etc) makes me realise that it's a big gamble. Problems are not rare - they are incredibly common! Where I am from, so many very expensive new builds have gone up on land that locals know is essentially marshland. The only reason the land was never built upon before was because it wasn't considered good enough in the past. Put a shiny new home on it and people who don't know the area snap them up, totally unaware...

DS and his partner just bought a new build. We went to look at show houses with them and agents told us it’s often down to the price of the land.

Overpriced due to help to buy when we were looking brand new £25000 -35000 more than 6 month old one on market that first buyer was selling
As no help to buy on all properties just new builds so pushes the price up

Good lord that is insane!! I live in a 4 bed detached Barratt house with a garage and front and back garden for less than £300k! London prices are truly scary!!

Some of the new estates round here didn’t even have fibre broadband put in.

because people are willing to pay and the companies will charge what they can get away with, potentially making billions in profit

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47368308

I think people get what I call en suite blindness. They are so taken with the en suites and blingy-ness of the show home that they don't see the lack of space and how practical they are for real life.

I live in a crappy midlands town 1 hr away from London by train. A bog standard 4 bed detached new build here will set you back £430k+. There are no high paying local jobs to support it so you mortgage yourself to the hilt Just to buy a standard house. It’s pushed ALL the prices up in the town. Fucking commuters

My mums had new builds and I always wanted one. Then I am reminded of the problems that come with new build properties and wonder if they will still be standing in 80 years time.

I've just bought a new build, didn't particularly want a new build but they were a cheaper than any other properties, we paid 390 for a huge 5 bed with big rooms 2 living rooms double garage large garden etc. The developers gave us a 10k incentive, we bought one that was nearly ready so it had the upgraded kitchen and bathrooms picked so we didn't have to pay extra for them. We haggled and got them to throw in all the carpets and tiles and turf the garden for free.

Been in a month now, there's been a couple of issues but nothing big so far.

@MasksGlovesSoapScrubs

My mums had new builds and I always wanted one. Then I am reminded of the problems that come with new build properties and wonder if they will still be standing in 80 years time.

Give over. You reckon all these buyers spend 35 years paying off a mortgage and then stop doing any maintenance, to the point where they all fall over in 2100 in a gust of wind?

Thimble Crescent, unfortunate name for a new build, with the reputation for small rooms etc. I live in a new build so I am allowed to say these things.

I suppose the developers will charge what people will pay. That property would not go for that amount in my area, it’d be much less.

We just bought a new build - our old house was 150 years old roughly so we're used to period. To begin with I was adamant I didn't want a new build. Thought they'd be small, bland, overpriced, bla bla bla

In the area we're buying very little came up that was as big as our new house. At the end it came down to the one we bought, and a period bungalow. In theory the bungalow was cheaper (offers over 455k vs 515k fixed) but the offers over bidding process means it will have gone for a similar amount. It was a little bigger (maybe 10%) inside but had a massive garden. So on the face of it the new build looked like a bad deal. But the older house needed a LOT doing to it. Stuff that didn't jump out in photos - it wasn't a wreck, but when you looked closely the windows needed done, the nice in photos bathroom was clearly a diy job, the needs a coat of paint kitchen was actually a replacement needed, every wall was a bumpy mess and needed stripped and plastered, oil fired ancient boiler...and on and on. It would have cost a lot of money to get it to good condition but wouldn't have necessarily added that much - as it would then have been way more expensive than the new builds over the road.

We bought the completed new build, moved in 7 weeks later. So far we've had snags, but nothing serious and it's all getting fixed (albeit a little slowly thanks to covid). We've spent money on decoration and furniture, but certainly the decorating was a fraction of what it would have been in the other house as the walls were smooth and white so minimal prep. We don't need to touch kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, windows...

So I think it depends on the area. In our case the new build isn't actually working out more expensive.

I'm also expecting lower ongoing costs than our period house. Old sash and case windows that cost 2k+ per window to replace, for example

That house is way overpriced for the area (I had been looking to buy nearby). Unfortunately pretty much all London new builds tiny with microgardens and you are extremely lucky to get a carparking space. I won't even look at them when house hunting.

The price of that house is ridiculous. Eye watering even for what it is!

We lived in a new build on a massive new build estate for 6 years. The house itself was okay, nice big rooms etc. But the walls were quite literally paper thin!! They were just stud walls, you could practically hear someone breathing in the room next to you. The parking on the estate was absolutely dire and the roads so narrow, coupled with the fact people parked along each side of them too, just meant it was a nightmare to drive round. There was no space in between houses, they were crammed in, little privacy. Small gardens.

I wouldn’t buy on a new build estate again. They all get to big too! What starts out as only 30 houses on a small development, within 5 years becomes 200 houses as they just keep buying up adjoining land and building. That’s what happened previously, it was originally only meant to be a fairly small estate....ended up being 2000 houses!!! Practically a town!

So many people are willing to pay through the nose for them though. I could understand a bit if it’s first time buyers who maybe need the help to buy scheme to enable them to buy so they don’t have a choice. But when I see people, especially families with young children willingly parting with so much money for poky housing, hardly any parking and tiny gardens, I think, why not buy a non new build and let your children have more space?! Give them a proper, big garden to play/ run around in rather than an overlooked postage stamp. Give yourself a proper driveway with room for a few cars so you can have guests without them having to park 1/2 mile down the road and walk up, or fight for a space near the house etc.

I live in a 10 year old house and absolutely love it having lived in beautiful but drafty period houses and flats all my life. Our estate is really carefully designed in the sense that there are lots of different houses rather than rows and rows of identical ones. Gardens here are small but there are several play areas, walks and access to countryside all safely accessible within minutes on foot, and you get to know your neighbours very quickly.

I do think that developers are getting a bit bold with house prices - I wouldn't have paid what that Carshalton house is going for; one of the big advantages of a new build should be more space for less money.

FWIW I wouldn't buy off plan, either. I'd want something that had been lived in for a few years so that any issues had time to pop up and be noticed in a survey.

They are very over priced here (city in Yorkshire) for example I’m in a 3 bed terrace (smallest room would fit small double and furniture), decent back garden I bought for 113,000, hasn’t needed any major work, all I’ve done is decorating and new flooring in the kitchen! I did get a good deal as, the prices on the street vary around 115-135k, nice area, quiet street, good schools near by. I looked at a new build close by it looked nice, the garden was small with fake grass, the bedrooms were odd shapes and there was no storage anywhere for basics like your mop/ironing board etc! And the prices are insane, right now there’s a 1 bed flat on for 130k, why get that when you can have a full house for less!

Three words "help to buy" a ridiculous scheme that both labour and Tories support that raise house prices particularly amongst new builds.

My parents downsized about 15 years ago from a beautiful old Arts and Crafts house in South Wales to a new build in Reading. Always seemed like the opposite move to the one most people would make, but it made sense to them - they were tired of constant maintenance bills and stresses, so the 10 year guarantee on a new build was attractive to them. The house is nicer than a lot of new builds but the estate is very badly designed (not nearly enough parking so there's loads of very dodgy on-road parking) so houses there haven't appreciated in value very much. They don't plan on moving again though so that doesn't matter much to them.

I’m building a house and the estate agent told me that the high prices of new builds are driven by the help to buy. He said the reason is that it’s essentially not real money as such so the young people don’t really care if it’s over priced as they just work out their monthly payments. He said that’s how people work these days. Instead of looking at how much something costs over all and whether it’s a good deal, they just live month by month. I’d say I agree with that if the young people at my work are anything to go by. If they want a new car etc. They are clueless about working out overall payments etc. They literally just look at monthly outgoings. No amount of showing them the figures are how to get a better deal will go into their heads. Weirdly, even the monthly figures they can’t really afford, but they plunder on regardless.