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?

We live in one. Absolutely love it. I really don't get the criticism of new builds. Every house was new once...

Yabu and ridiculous obviously.

I live in a really old house. It costs a fortune to heat, it's damp and there is always something going wrong with it. Also the nearest park isn't in walking distance. I quite like the idea of a new build.

Maybe not everyone wants a huge garden and prefers something a bit more low maintenance? ☺️

No character, pokey little boxes with small gardens and no space!

You realise much of this statement is dependent on budget, not the age of the property?

What I really dislike about the ones round here is how small they are. You can get 150sqm of older house for less than 120sqm of new build, both are detached with 4 bedrooms but the new builds are packed with tiny rooms and endless titchy bathrooms. Not much garden either.

We are in our 3rd new build and I'd never to buy a pre owned house again.

No DIY repairs or replacing
No redecoration needed
All new appliances, fixtures and fittings
All my taste - not someone else's
Garden designed exactly as I want it.
Easy to sell if we want to move

We bought this house when we were late 20s, both working 10 hour minimum days. The last thing I wanted to do was mow a massive lawn and/or water a load of pots. We've got 1 DS and the rectangle of lawn at the back plus patio at the front is plenty.

No character, pokey little boxes with small gardens and no space!

Mine is huge with floor to ceiling windows in some rooms and an enormous wraparound garden overlooking a very large park and ancient woodland.

I really can't get the love for the massive windows that seem to be on trend right now (I'm guessing it is for energy efficiency) I had them in my student house 25 years ago and they were awful, always felt like I was in a goldfish bowl.

It’s easy in the fact that for the first however many years it’s all insured. If anything breaks or gets damaged in my house I text the site team (who are still based on my development) and they arrange to send someone over to fix it immediately, no charge to me.
having a young baby and no DIY skills it’s very convenient !

lots of people to ask about lots of things. You aren’t ‘on your own’ as much in dealing with things

I once lived in a new build & felt very privileged. We were the only people who had ever lived there, & it was all new, clean, & modern. I’d never want to live in what to me would be a tatty, creepy, old place, covered in years of filth from the many that had been there before me.

I wasn’t looking for a new build when we found ours but I love it! It’s two years old and very well built, with good quality materials and some thought obviously put into the design. It has solar panels, underfloor heating, utility bills are low, it’s easy to keep clean and maintain, the layout makes sense, and it just looks nice (if you like modern interior design, which I do).

Things I don’t love are the open-plan kitchen and living room, and not enough storage space, but this was our first home and these were very minor things to have to compromise on in order to buy a house, and in an area we liked as well.

Then again, maybe I’m not that fussy. Those who think new builds are awful, boxy and have paper-thin walls probably didn’t grow up on a council estate built in the 60s!

This house is my first new build , for us we were moving closer to my parents and this had been built but not bought and meant we could move from a two bed terraced house which I loved into a four bed detached for the same money. It was a blank canvass and over the last twenty months we have been gradually making it home. My dad passed away in Sept so I am beyond grateful that we moved when we did and while I don’t love the house it really is a great property and very well constructed.

Other advantages are downstairs loo , amazingly insulated which has saved us a fortune in bills , driveway parking for both cars and a nice sized garden. It’s a reasonably small estate and has attracted people from all over the U.K. wanting to move to Northumberland and while normally new build prices dip after purchase we would be able to sell for a significant profit.

We are here for probably another 4 or 5 years and then will move to our forever home which will be a heart decision , the head decision to move into this house was the right one

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

Would ye, aye?

@WhiteFire

I really can't get the love for the massive windows that seem to be on trend right now (I'm guessing it is for energy efficiency) I had them in my student house 25 years ago and they were awful, always felt like I was in a goldfish bowl

The rooms which have them are not overlooked and the light is glorious.

It's a bit different for me because I live in a brand new HA house. I absolutely love it!
Everything brand new, the rooms are big and light. It's really well insulated and built to be eco friendly. My energy bills have been very low.

The estate is a mix of HA, help to buy and private. The houses are a good mix of styles so not all identical boxes. The pavements are nice and wide, there are little parks everywhere.

We were one of the first families to move into our section and we have been living in the middle of a building site.
I've found it fascinating and really nice to watch everything be built around us. To see houses go from nothing to be finished and then have families move in all excited about their new home and our community begin to develop.

I bought a new build because the developer paid the legal fees, stamp duty and the deposit (obviously the price was bumped up to take this into account and they're not allowed to do it now anyway). No way could I have got on the property otherwise.

They're very expensive where we live,most of them are bought by retired people moving from the South East.

I have lived in newbuilds and older homes, I actually really like them both. All homes were new once and all homes will eventually need maintenance and care. Our current home is older but our bills have actually gone down even though the ehcp is worse than for our previous newbuild. I think the overall feel of a home is more important and that isn't solely dependant on age.

I don't live in a newbuild but the appeal of newly plastered walls, modern electrics to modern safety standards, a new central heating or underfloor heating system and proper insulation appeals.

I know you can modernise an old home (i have) but it was a lot of work and cost a lot and we still havent solved the insulation.

Our house was built at the end of the 1970s, and the early 80s by a builder who bought a beautiful plot and built the house of his dreams. It's modern enough to be well lit and insulated, but it's no architectural fantasy. Most of the principal rooms face south, over a valley view, and because land values were lower then, it is extremely spacious. And all of that that makes it work for us. When we had new kitchen units, we only moved the dishwasher. Eventually all the artex ceilings will be replastered. We've lived in it for 25 years, and it's only the gardening (which is hard work for older people as it's on a steepish slope) that will stop us leaving in our boxes.

Our new build will be ready in a few weeks. It’s been an exciting journey so far, making all the choices and watching it be constructed. I’ve never lived in a new house before, all my previous properties have been old with ‘period features’. For us, it’s a lifestyle choice at a point in our lives where deep skirting boards and marble fireplaces are no longer important. We’ve shed a lot of ‘stuff’ it has been incredibly liberating. Smaller rooms and much less storage space mean that we won’t be buying more stuff. A small garden will be easy to maintain, significantly cheaper and much less time consuming. We’ll have more disposable funds to enjoy life and not be concerned that we need a big pot for property maintenance. It will also be cheaper to run with the latest energy efficient construction techniques. I would once have scoffed that new builds are soulless boxes without any character, but I now know that it is who is inside that really counts.

My house is character oozing and 180 years old.

Every time you want a "little" job done you're up against 180 years of fuck ups.

I look wistfully at new builds but probably couldn't afford one.

People are sneering at the many bathrooms crammed in to new builds too. My house has 3 beds and 3 toilets, one downstairs, one family bathroom and one en-suite. That means my DH and I have our own toilets to ourselves and I have my own shower. I absolutely love it.