To think new builds are a bit ridiculous?

[Thehonestbadger]

In terms of wait times?

Turns out it around 12 months from reservation to move in around here and you can’t reserve until you’ve already sold your home which means your buyer wants you out.

They don’t put completion date estimates on rightmove and as soon as you call to ask they’re just determined to get you in the office, then act really surprised when you point out you can’t really hand over all your money and sit homeless waiting 12 months for it to be ready

• they suggest going into rented


• I pull out my phone and show them the zero results within a 5 mile radius of our town


• They say something will surely come up


• I point out that even if it does we’ll not get it, we have two rowdy toddlers and a cat which will almost certainly be banned (Pets generally are around here) no landlord chooses us over all the competition for rentals atm.


• They act like you’re being intentionally difficult and have wasted their time.

I’ve been doing this same dance over and over, honestly think it would be so much easier if they just put expected completion dates on rightmove. All we want to do is move house I never dreamed it would be so hard.

can only assume I’m either missing something or they’re primarily selling to first time buyers.

Really depends on developer and house. We bought a new build at the end of a development, penultimate house to sell, it was the show home, it had been up for 2 years when we moved in and we did part x with the developer on our house. Like you we’re in an area where demand for property greatly exceeds supply, literally we have only seen 2 4 beds on the market in the 3 years we’ve been here. We really like our house though, have had very few issues, we did accept a very low offer on our old house and paid market rate for this one, they did pay stamp duty for us though and obviously no estate agent fees.

Another, lovely development in our village sold through with only 2 of 30 houses being advertised! I think most people were in rental before moving. Rentals also rarely get advertised around here, agents have a list of people interested when something comes up.

Good luck, it’s very frustrating and dealing with developers is definitely a challenge.

Me and my partner went to visit some customers of his in there 600k new build... we stood in the garden and i counted at least 20 windows of other houses all over looking them...in comparison i live in a Victorian terrace...no one can see into my garden.

I only buy new builds, I can't be doing with poorly insulated, old fashioned, crumbly old houses!
We didn't have any issues selling our old (new build) home as we part exchanged. The developer offered us the market value and it was all part of the agreement that we wouldn't move out until our new house was ready. They even allowed us 3 days to move, so we got our keys on the Friday and gave them the old keys on the Sunday.
The new builds have snags, but they come and put them right!

@HouseHelp23 I've just measured a couple of rooms in my house.
My bedroom 29 X 27 ft wall to wall.
Smallest bedroom is 19 X 16ft wall to wall.
( There are four bedrooms )
Lounge is 44 X 36 ft wall to wall.
I have no idea what the square footage of the entire place is.
It's very large though.

@GoPogo Well I find that very hard to believe. Unless your house is worth millions, in which case, as I said earlier, you're not comparing like for like. I just had a look on Rightmove and this is an example of a large 4 bed 1920s house in a cheaper area of the country. It's almost £1m and you're still not getting near the dimensions you claim to have.

@HouseHelp23 it's a four bedroom detached bungalow. The couple who I bought it from many years later had it built.
Yes, it's worth a substantial amount now, not that it's relevant as I've no intention of selling.
I never mentioned anything about it being a house.
Believe, disbelieve, who cares?

They can be a bit overlooked, we live in quite an old house similar to a NT type property with several acres so not a problem for us

Because we are side by side....unless i stand on a chair and look over my neighbours fence i cant see into their garden....i also have a summer house at the bottom of my garden which blocks the house behind me. I could sit naked in mine and no one could see me.

@GoPogo it's relevant cos a million pound house is going to have more space than a 500k house, regardless of whether it's a 1930s house or a new build!

@myusernamewastakenbyme Surely if your next door neighbour looked out their back window they could see right into your garden?

As already explained the summer house at the bottom of my garden blocks the house behind me looking into mine.

@myusernamewastakenbyme And, as I already asked, what about your next door neighbour, i.e. the house(s) attached to you at the side? If you're in a terrace you must have at least one house attached.

I am mid terrace so have a house each side of me...but as our gardens are side by side and we all have high fences unless stood on chairs or ladders we cant see into each others gardens...not sure why that is difficult to comprehend.

New builds are too small anyway. Ten per cent over-priced, badly built, tiny gardens, not enough parking and cheek by jowl with the neighbours

What a ridiculous generalisation. Ours is pretty huge and every room has a purpose (unlike some of the older properties I had where the rooms were not fit for modern living, and the garage too small for a modern car). Our home was fair priced and has increased in value more than any other house we have owned. Our 2 neighbours have just sold their house in hours at a huge profit (only moving due to bereavement and divorce). People are keen to have homes with low running costs - and with the multiple energy saving devices as standard, it's the cheapest house we've ever lived in despite it being the biggest.

All new builds are not the same anymore than old builds are. Remember, all homes were new builds once.

But if you looked out of your back window, on the first floor presumably you could see into your neighbours gardens, you would be looking down into them

Nope....if i look out of my upstairs bathroom window i can only see the roof of my summer house.

This doesnt make any sense at all, how long is your garden, is it a yard, only about 20 foot long?

How wide is your garden?

Can you get the developer to handle your sale? That's what my friend ended up doing. She got the developer to find a buyer for her flat while she. Ought a bigger one from them. They sorted all the dates etc and they then all moved on the same day.

We did part exchange on our new build so the developer had to sell our house, not us. We chose a plot that was half built. We were in within 6 months. It's a nice home, good sized driveway, large garage, big reception rooms.

I wouldn't have bought a new build that wasn't right for us.

Also watched ours being built so happy with construction.

The finish was a bit pants in places but that was sorted with snagging.

Actually laughing at @myusernamewastakenbyme trying to weasel out of having nobody looking in the their garden.

I totally agree with you the process is a joke. When you go into buying a new build I think you have to fully expect to either rent of move in with family - which really is so impractical for many. We managed to move straight into ours as it was already built with added extras as the people who had reserved it had to drop out due covid and loosing income (which is awful - I know)

I disagree with the comments that new builds are tiny and crap. I never thought I would want a new build but this one is fab it's spacious with plenty of storage large garden and in great area where properties aren't all squashed together. It is really energy efficient and the aftercare has been really positive too. Also people often buy new builds because they are first time buyers and builders offer incentives, not everyone can be picky.

I walk past these new build developments in our area and you can see how small the floorplan is. Quite happy with my spacious 1950s number. Or ex-council houses are very well proportioned with a garden to match. New.build gardens always on garden rescue shows, poor compacted rubble.

I have a new build and it is fantastic, great sized rooms, a really good sized garden, cool in the summer, warm in the winter. Plenty of storage space. There has been the odd little 'snag' but comparing that the level of work we would have had to have done in an older house, it has been nothing. It has also steadily gone up in value over the years we've lived here. We also part ex'd our old house so had almost zero stress during the buying process. I love my new build.

Not all new builds are bad, just like not all older houses are good.

The way that some people dismiss them entirely bemuses me. If you choose your builder carefully, pick a house you like and that works for you and your needs, you can do really well.