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?

We have a new build flat in London built by the Berkely Group, we bought it 5 years ago and it's been wonderful. We've never had a single issue. I do think the 'angle' of the development makes a difference - even though ours is shared ownership, it's one of only a few, in a development of multiple buildings that are definitely aimed at the upper end of the market, not just first time buyers etc. So I think that meant they went for higher build quality.

I think it really depends on the area manager so it's hard to tar them all with the same brush, however I would never touch one and no I'm not jealous as a posted suggested up thread...

I know someone who works for Bellway in North Yorkshire who says even though he would never buy one they are relatively good quality but when he worked on a Bellway site further south with a different area manager they were absolutely shocking.

A lot of the ones in my area are being built on flood planes and areas of moss which is the natural run off for the towns water so I am really concerned about drainage in years to come.

Funnily enough I was talking to my husband about new build homes the other day. He works in the building trade and he said he wouldn't touch Persimmon or Bellway with a barge pole. Although he doesn't rate new builds at all. He said they're massively overpriced and he'd prefer to buy a house that's around 10-20 years old because then it would have fully settled.

@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 would avoid all new builds personally, and I work in property. All are overpriced (in my experience) and many can be problematic. At the very least insist on freehold and dont use the developers recommended solicitor.

I moved into a new build 6 years ago and it's been constant issues. It's a Barratts. I will never buy a new build again, and even thought it came with 5 years fixtures and fittings guarantee it's not worth it.

I'm currently watching the black stains creeping over the rendering already on the estate currently being built on the other side of the village by Wimpey and Bovis.

They look awful and the estate isn't even finished yet

Live in a Charles Church home and only had a few minor issues, all of which were rectified quickly (this includes an issue as soon as we moved in and an issue almost 2 years to the day that we moved in).

Tbh OP i would not touch a new home anymore ever! Had 3 in total, yrs ago, my 1st, 2nd and 3rd homes. 2 , 2 bed flats in a new developments, then a new house. The last one of which a David Wilson home, but applies to all . Appalling shoddy build quality. Wooden framed structures with breeze block and brick outer skin. Dividing walls basically as thin as paper! Erected in record time and very packed together. Detached by only inches! Floors not level, walls not level, gas leaks, water leaks. Radiators falling off walls. Too hot in summer. Found sandwich packs, twix wrappers, coke bottles and crisp packs in the wall cavity, when opened up to extend the kitchen, builders had shoved daily their rubbish in there. Bath waste pipe fitted upside down, slow draining water . Only discovered when we had plumber in to find out what was going on, the bathroom floor had not enough recess , so rather than fix the floor, they bodged the waste. Ensuite shower leaked through tiles as pipework behind not tightened properly. Only noticed when tiles started to fall off and plumber discovered. Central heating system worked when it felt like it, discovered not recommended for the size of house i had. Needed bigger system. Garden soil was basically mashed up building rubble covered in turf. I have learnt so much about property but the hard way!

I have an older traditionally built house now and love it. Great walls to hang stuff, stays cool in summer. Feels solid and well built. Is detached in a true sense, not "on top" of neighbours. Renovated it from top to bottom and it has never given me a days hassle. Did everything over time and properly. Garden also established and lovely as previous owners planted much over 70 years. It was just a case of me jet washing patio, putting a garden seating set in and garden done.

I am downsizing in a few yrs to be mortgage free etc now only 1 DC at home but , will buy another smaller but older property like this . Older houses have a lovely history too and often when gardening i find old bits of pottery and coins. It is lovely to remember others who may have lived here hundreds of yrs ago.

The best thing about older homes are the cool proper walls in the summer. Keeps the house lovely and cool. You need a masonry drill to hang anything up but worth it. I also think older properties with original features have a better resale value if you are looking to move up the property ladder. New homes also depreciate in value immediately in the early yrs, a bit like brand new cars as soon as you drive off the forecourt.

We moved into a St Modwens house just over 2 years ago. We had quite a bit of snagging but it was all done without fuss. We were the end of phase one and very happy overall.

Now the project is on phase 2b, many of phase 2a have commented on the community page that they have numerous problems that are not being resolved. I think the combination of covid, the site manager moving to another project and other factors have led to many issues being ignored. I feel sorry for them as our experience so was so positive.

Basically, most, not all but most developers; pack as many new houses in as they can, on a small space land area and spend as little as possible building them , in order to maximise their financial return.

Do not be taken in by "sales show homes " as they are usually higher spec , if detached plotted with greater space between properties and larger gardens and not representative of what you will actually end up with. Especially if you buy off plan. The show homes are eventually sold off later at a higher price as they are ultimately higher spec'd, more space around them and there to entice.

"@MrsSprogett Not builders but I would find out about the land it's built on before I consider one. Near us they are building on everything, locals avoid them because they know the history"

Yes, this. Good point @mrs There are brown field sites and green field sites. Brown field
sites have had previous industrial usage. Anything from a former shoe shop to an oil depot/ production plant or worse.

Local to me they are building new homes on areas that routinely flood - knee deep in water every year.
And on higher up land that is resulting in areas closer to the town centre flooding that didnt previously as a result of the new builds.
Hence new builds of all varieties are a nope from me - especially as there are several empty houses within a five minute walk of my house!

I would most definitely recommend Redrow. My Redrow home is my third new build house and it’s the best by far.

I can imagine it varies by development but we are pleased with our Barratt home. Great size with a big garden (with decent turf too). All houses on our development have 2 parking spaces on their drive.
Our site manager has been quick to rectify the issues we've had.
Imo any house you buy will have issues, at least with a new build you don't need to pay to fix it!

Not jealous of new build house owners. My house is 120 years old and I wouldn't go much past 1930s. I have a friend in a 1970s box which looks ugly but has lovely square big rooms (unlike my narrower smaller rooms). So any solidly built older house would do. Mine is not grand but nowhere near the no storage space tiny rooms of all the new builds I've ever been to. I have cellars and a loft a big private garden with established trees and insude i have some original features. In my porch there is a mosaic which the houses here retained (4 semis). Why dont they build house with pretty attention to detail like that any more?

It's a shame that the government dont legislate to enforce good standards. Better than the shoddy state some are going to be in in 2 decades time. Not built to last.

Don't get me started on my poor work colleagues in their new build city centre flats with cladding issues. It's scandalous.

I work in the industry and would say that the majority of large housebuilders are plcs, with shareholders to keep happy.... so have a cut throat mentality when it comes to costs, profits, staff etc - which doesn’t result in a great quality build. Redrow are probably the best in my experience.
Privately owned generally better. I personally don’t like new builds and have never lived in one, but from those I’ve seen Bloor (non plc) are well built and nicely designed.
I have never worked for either of these btw, so no bias!

I lie, my friend is in a linden. Bigger rooms, still a bit overlooked in the garden but its not tiny. Sadly sound carries everywhere and the kitchen cupboards are already buckling. She doesn't like it.

We have a new build that’s a small local builder to our area. They have been pretty good at sorting any snagging and they build to a high quality.

I would definitely buy from them again, we have a large private driveway, decent sized back garden (not massive) and they allow changes to the house internally before you move in. We took out a bathroom and got credit of 2k to then use to upgrade the kitchen.

I’ve lived in my Redrow house for 7 years and bought it brand new. No complaints, would recommend 😃👍 I’ve always said if we ever moved I would only want another Redrow.

We've had a very smooth experience with Barratt, that said it's important to research the actual building site as it is entirely dependent on how competent the local site manager is, ours has won national awards for the last 2 years so has a lot riding on remaining top of his game.

Freehold, no maintenance charges, traditional built house, and a budget that could afford a good sized house on a good plot with ample parking (double garage plus a driveway for 4 cars) the estate has all large houses so thankfully ample parking for all, people actually use their driveways unusually! Also over looks countryside and isn't badly overlooked.

We brought a snagger in, he found 60 snags but he was clutching at straws tbh, 95% of them I wouldn't have noticed, report went to Barratt and they were dealt with within 2 weeks (thank goodness I was working from home so I could just let people come and go, this would have been hard work if I was in the office admittedly!) the snagger said himself if all new builds were built like that he'd be out of a job.

The one issue we've had is lack of drainage in the garden, they've done it with all the houses, very frustrating but they've put in drainage since with no fight so it's not been an issue but annoying as a common issue with new builds.

The other really stressful part was how quickly we had to exchange and the pressure around that, wouldn't want to go through that again.

But all in all I absolutely love our house, it's solid, no paper thin walls here, extremely energy efficient. I don't need character in a home, I work in the heritage sector, I get it at work! I'm sure lots of people have said avoid, but you can't generalise about new builds any more than you can old houses. Research the local site, if it's already well established see if there is a Facebook page of residents already living there, find out how they've gotten on.

We're in a Berkley home and loving it!

I’m in a persimmon , a few snagging issues , to be expected in any new build , all quickly dealt with , I am very happy with mine.

Were in a Taylor wimpey, on the whole it is absolutely fine! We did have some snagging when moved in but they were very quick to fix them or replace things we weren't happy with! We have had one or two issues in the 6 years but generally is expect some issues in any house as things aren't designed to last for ever!

@Ragiam

Were in a Taylor wimpey, on the whole it is absolutely fine! We did have some snagging when moved in but they were very quick to fix them or replace things we weren't happy with! We have had one or two issues in the 6 years but generally is expect some issues in any house as things aren't designed to last for ever!

I mentioned above how happy we are with our taylor wimpey too, they’ve been fantastic with minor issues that have cropped up but on the whole the quality has been excellent. So much sneering about new builds, often by people who haven’t actually experienced living in one.

I wonder what proportion if new builds are sold via a scheme like Help to Buy or Part Buy/Part -rent or where the builder takes your current house off you?

I think these schemes are propping up the new build market and often people using the schemes can only access the size or value if property because of the scheme....in itself this pushes up the price, so they actually pay more than genuine market value and often see 3-5 years with price dropping or certainly not rising.

Perhaps because many of these buyers have less choices, this has resulted in builders doing a poor job and feeling they can get away with it. People keep buyi g these properties, despite ongoing reports of problems, so it’s clearly true that they can get away with it,