To ask which new build houses you would avoid

[bridgetreilly]

Looking for a house and there are several new build developments we’re interested in, but I’m finding it hard to get honest reviews. Are there builders with truly awful reputations that I shouldn’t even bother looking at?

And, conversely, has anyone got experience of a good quality new home that you love?

I've got a TW and apart from a few minor snags which were quickly sorted we have had no issues. Our estate is well designed and I don't hear a thing from my neighbours (mid terrace). Some of the complaints on the TW group are ridiculous (hinges discolouring the wall behind with grease dust). They are also exceptionally hostile to anyone with a positive buying story so you hardly ever hear the good bits or happy customers - because they're not welcome to share their experiences. Take that group with a massive pinch of salt

Personally, I would avoid a new build unless really necessary.
I used to work for a company that recorded all of the 'snagging lists' for a lot of house builders and organised contractors to repair the faults.
Some of the 'snags' were not minor and I always felt awful for the people who had spent a lot of money and ended up with major faults in their new homes.

We moved to our "new" house 26 years ago. I would have preferred an older house but the la outs were very poor, lots had downstairs bathrooms and every single one needed expensive work either then or soon. Our house was one of 6 built by a small firm, very high standard and very little snagging. We will be sad to go when we downsize in a few years time. In the South west there is a company called Newland who are well thought of , we have looked at 3 of their developments but not ready to move yet.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56376112

I wouldn't touch a brand new build. I'd wait until it's been up a few years. An estate near us has repeatedly got scaffolding up on several houses and it has been like that, rotating round each house, for years. No one can sell them. They are huge detached houses and they are being put on the market for £100k less than they should be.
Our "new" build was four years old when we bought it. It was built by Pennine who unfortunately went bust shortly after finishing. Shame, as they were actually half decent.

The biggest issue we had when looking was that new builds now often come with ground rent and despite assurances otherwise everyone I know whose bought a new build with this has had huge increases (even though no maintenance has been done). That took three developments near us out of contention for us immediately even though we really loved the houses on one particularly.

We’ve actually ended up in a nearly 20 year old ‘new build’ that has a few issues (internal walls are so thin they wobble if the wind blows a door shut) but it’s in pretty good shape otherwise. It’s a Hopkins - the other side of the road was Bovis and they had huge issues early on. If you’ve had other developments near where you’re looking, I’d at least arrange a few viewings to get an idea of how the properties have aged and how they compare to brand new.

The other option is to ask estate agents if any builders are working on smaller independent developments - we looked at some beautiful houses that just had a higher level of quality but weren’t in the right place for us!

Someone I know moved into a Taylor Wimpy only to find out after they moved that they can't put anything in their attic.
As in, TW know full well how shit their joists/workmanship is and have it written into the contract that you must not board out your loft for any sort of storage use cos it's not strong enough.
Bonkers really, when you think about it.

Avoid new-build leasehold

We bought a home with Miller and they've been pretty shit really but I think we have been lucky compared to some of our neighbours in regards to snags. Multiple families on the estate have moved out in the less than 2 years.

If you wanted quality, you wouldn't be looking at new builds, really.

I've lived in 4 new builds, none of them have had serious issues and any snags have been dealt with promptly and well.

The 'worst' one (which was actually still pretty good) was David Wilson. The best were a small company called Pye, and Crest Nicholson.

For me, the convenience, great insulation/soundproofing, ability to haggle to get a great reduction in price, the ability to select the particular plot you want etc all outweigh the few glitches that you might have early on.

My advice is not to move in right at the end of the site being built, it's better to move in early when there are still tradespeople milling about who can fix anything quickly.

Only buy freehold. New Leasehold houses are a massive money spinner for the developer and a money pit for the owner. Absolute worst of both worlds. Stick to freehold.

We have a Persimmon and not had any issues with it at all aside from a few minor snags which were dealt with within the first week or so.

Wouldn't go near a Taylor Wimpey again though, nothing but problems.

I work for a well known home builder and I wouldn't buy a new build (and I get a discount!).

New builds it all depends on the site manager. The house we sold last year was David Wilson (9 years old at that point) absolute nightmare to get anything sorted. We had showers leak within a week of moving in, DW did nothing we had plumbers outlining the problem and still wouldn't do anything. This time around we've gone Taylor wimpey. Only been in a year but so far they have been fantastic. All snags sorted within weeks of moving on, we had an appointment at 2 weeks where they came round our house, discussed snags with us took photos. At 4 weeks they came to check progress on the snags with us. Regular appointments after that. They were all sorted by our 20 week snagging appointment. It really is all down to the site manager. Speak residents if you can (we took our children to the local park and got speaking to other residents around to get their opinion and search fb for a residents group etc)

We live in a Redrow home and others on our estate are Miller - the Redrow are far far better in terms of build quality, features eg built in storage, and the snagging/customer service was good.

Wouldn't go near one. I really like that Rightmove has a filter to hide all new builds. When we did our last move that filter was constantly applied.

We've been in a Charles church new build for almost 5 years now. A few snags which were sorted within the first few weeks and no other problems.

ANY. I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole.

Our current home is a barrats and we've had from new (7 years). We've loved it. Few snags sorted easily. Good size though small footprint (townhouse). Would do again but can get more house for the same price for a slightly older house

I would avoid every new house builder.

I think a lot in area dependent and usually depends on the management for that area. I've had a Taylor Wimpey from new and had no issues, the house had an excllent layout, rooms all a good size, it was a terrace but walls thick enough not to hear neighbours. We lived there 5 years and apart from minor snagging in the first few weeks, we had no problems. We have a Redrow new build now, we are very happy with it. We couldn't find a non-new build house that offered the same layout we were after, without spending considerable amounts on building work. Again, we had a few issues and all were sorted. Our estate is 3-4 years old and I don't think anyone has had major issues (a few have now sold on again and all have sold super quickly).

A new barracks-block of a development I used to drive past had a sheet hanging over the twee balcony with 'DON'T BUY BOVIS' painted on it...

Strongvox, in the South West, are very good IME. We have one as an investment property and I think there was one minor snag. The build and finish were excellent.

I would avoid persimmon definitely. We looked around a persimmon site and even the show homes didn’t look great.

We’ve lived in a Bellway for 8 years and it’s been fine, no major problems at all, and only just starting to show signs of needing some patching on paintwork etc. Also got experience of Miller homes, again no issues and Taylor Wimpey, again no issues at all.