To not understand the appeal of new build homes?

[GreenEyeGopher]

I was looking at the proliferation of new build estates yesterday and wondering who buys homes there.

I don't think I've ever lived in a house that's much less than 100 years old.and would find it hard to imagine living in a new build. Or actually, I could imagine living in a new build home but not on a new estate - somehow they don't feel quite like 'real places' to me, everywhere I've lived has had a long time to get established!

So I'm just curious - if you live in a new build, or would like to - what is the appeal?

I've never heard anything positive said about new builds

They are well known for being built as fast as possible and being bodged to get the job done quick

Older properties come with gardens, trees and this softens how they look. They didn't when they were built.

New builds don't have this mostly. Yet.

I grew up in a 1920s garden city semi. Lovely except it was cold and draughty, 'characterful' plumbing, generation's of dodgy 'improvements', old pre-building regs wiring, cold water tank in the loft rather than fresh water coming from the main.

As a student I lived in a single skin 1900s terrace. It was not warm

Now I live in a 17 year old house bought as a new build. Any early problems were dealt with by the developer. We have extended and made some internal changes as our needs have changed.

I would only now live in an older house if it was thoroughly modernised. Original features are only the decorative fashion of the time when they were put in. They don't have an inherent quality just because they are old.

There aren't many sectors - fashion maybe - where second hand is considered better.

provided that the new build is built well, I like the idea that everything is new and untouched by others. No mould, built in dirt, egg and you can make your own mark on it. Just my thoughts.

One thing I've noticed about mass produced new builds is that they're filled with minimal furniture. Decorated to the hilt and distracting so you don't realise that there's basically a small double and a wardrobe plus bedside tables in a "master bedroom." It also is outrageous that there is zero infrastructure so you're paying to live on an estate. Nearby, there are new builds without a single school, shop or chemist.

Yes same here - rows and rows of terraces with minimal foundations, excessively steep stairs and very small rooms, and lots of 1930s semis with single skin porches that always end up with interior mould in the hall.

We have some beautiful new homes, built to the highest environmental standards.

My friend's newer house is also so much better than my older property for wheelchair/zimmer/general access requirements.

UK: new build, spend 10 years fixing builder mistakes
US: new build, everything is new, fully functional so no headaches to deal with

It's interesting that a thread like this has attracted all those building experts who can say with certainty that all new builds are terribly built and won't last half a decade. Who knew there were so many of them on MN.

With the exception of converted churches, thatched country cottages with inglenooks, and former sixteenth century coaching inns, how many older homes nowadays actually have character or many original features anyway? We’ve been considering moving at some point fairly soon and idly browsing Rightmove and regardless of the age of the properties, new build, post-war or Victorian, there are virtually no differences to the interiors. You could stand inside and be anywhere. Virtually everyone favours the modern uniform of flooring of the hardwood parquet kind, either stark white or F&B emulsioned walls, plantation shutters, crittal shower enclosures with metro tiles and marble, and faux-mid century furniture. There’s no “character” to any of it. A few of the houses clearly owned by older residents and not updated in the last few years have escaped most of the above; but they aren’t quaint bastions of nineteenth century period charm and character, they have dusky pink carpets or pine floorboards, gas fires and UPVC windows.

I suppose if you like to spend a lot of time outside your house staring at it, the age of the building might matter. Personally, I do not do this very much.

@wildfirewonder - my point exactly! People often judge these places but literally it's NEW. I do think that they will, like any new development, get those softening elements with time.

My home was newly built when I bought it 20+ years ago. We have a good sized garden, no one overlooking us and have adapted the house as our needs have changed. We have two primary schools next door, a GP surgery, dentist, local shops and a pub within walking distance.

Well, you'd be mistaken. Forget all the people who live in new(ish) builds and what they say about them, because the owners of the charmingly unique victorian semis say that they are all built of cardboard, ready to fall down and have no facilities.

I loved my "new" build (15 years old when I bought it) for the first month. Then slowly I realised all the problems. Everything that broke - which was frequently- would cost a lot of money to repair. I can't talk about the problems I had because it would be really outing but in a nutshell the problems ended up costing me £50k to sort out over 5 years. The service charge was also extortionate. I moved because of it in the end. Been in 90 year house a couple of months now. I hated it initially but not a single problem yet except for the stuff I knew about. I'm feeling optimistic.

Yes I guess I could just have easily framed the question the other way round!

It is kind of weird that in almost all other purchases "new" is seen as preferrable to "old" or "second hand" - but there's a sizable chunk of the population who prefer old when it comes to homes.

We come from the generation of perpetual renting and the impossibility of saving for a deposit. We got on the property ladder very late. This has meant our options have been limited and unlike a lot of our peers (think help from family or a bit older than us) we only managed to buy a small flat in an old tenement building in 2018 despite living together for nearly 15 years. We loved it but started bursting out of it almost immediately. We needed to move to a bigger place but didn’t have the cash to really do it. We ended up part-exchanging for a biggish new build just before covid. Do I love it? No. Is it what I wanted? No. But it’s our house and we have a garden and room for our cats and crap. One day I might get my dream old house that has a leaky roof but sometimes it just feels we missed the property ladder boat when we were too young (and poor) to invest. I hope that clears up some preconceptions about a nouveau riche, white walled grey carpeted box. Although we do still have a lot of white walls…

I've lived in my new build for 2 years and love it. Never had any issues with the house, it's always lovely and warm, no chain when buying it, comes with double driveway so no parking issues, everyone in the cul de sac looks after their house/garden, low maintenance, house was a blank canvas so could decorate as pleased, easy to clean/tidy.

I always thought I wanted a older house, I had to quickly buy this due to a relationship breakdown. I would never go back now :)

Tbh old houses are often money pits. Particularly Victorian terraces with their dump, crumbling walls! They can also be a right pig to heat

My parents are buying one because they can have the upgrades they a
Want, and it won't need anything doing.

Size - larger than most of the older properties around here
Overall better layout - good sized bedrooms, good downstairs, quite big rooms, big windows/doors.
No immediate work needed bar decorating
Being able to get issues fixed on the builder's dime for a few years (every older place we've lived in has had hidden issues)
Nice sized gardens
Quiet dead end on a nice, quite open and spacious new street
Lots of families for kids to make friends with
Brand new school
Off road parking
On a good bus route
Cheap to run - very well insulated

We moved from a charming period property and were looking for another originally but this ticked far more boxes

I’m buying a new build because I’m recently divorced. I have £200 000 and don’t want a mortgage as my job is temporary. I’d like to buy a house outright. For £200 000 I could buy a new build with a new kitchen, bathroom, paved driveway etc or I could buy a house for £160 000 which seems to be the cheapest where everything needs doing, I’m talking avocado bathrooms and beige dated kitchens here. £40 000 doesn’t stretch far. I don’t do DIY either so I’d have to pay for ten work to be done. Therefore a new build is the best option.

I just find it so depressing how small the gardens are in all the new builds around here, tiny little postage stamp gardens, utterly miserable.

YOUR preference of house sounds like a nightmare to me, and I'm sure many others.

Exactly! Now ours are 10 years old there are some enormous trees in the front gardens, big healthy established hedges and mature shrubs.

Well, you'd be mistaken. Forget all the people who live in new(ish) builds and what they say about them, because the owners of the charmingly unique victorian semis say that they are all built of cardboard, ready to fall down and have no facilities.

Absolutely, I must be imagining my pretty solid, well insulated, easy to clean and maintain house with straight walls, flat floors not to mention all the easily accessible local amenities. I have extended family in old sandstone buildings, absolutely beautiful to look at but every one of them have sunk £10,000s into them I’ve the years. And the heating bills…

The Victorians were notorious for knocking up cheap housing as quickly as possible. Be careful what you wish for with your characterful terrace.