AIBU - new build houses are AWFUL

[hooplahooper]

I am currently living in a BRAND NEW Bellway home - renting while I renovate my childhood home. I was excited to live in something new enough to be zero maintenance while dealing with my own big Reno project...

But holy HELL it's been an awful eye opener for me. I've lived in 11 houses across three countries as an adult - 5 of which I have owned + sold - and I have never come across such bad build quality before. Some of the (many) entry level issues (which the landlord has repeatedly
flagged with the builder to no avail) include:

• The walls aren't plastered, just painted plaster board - so zero internal sound insulation,
• the tiling is wonky in all rooms
• the windows don't seal,
• half the doors don't catch on the hinges without considered effort.
• the laminate kitchen counters aren't sealed at any joints
• the front door hinges are loose
• the electric car charge point doesn't turn on
• The stair railings aren't secure
• there is black mould everywhere from a leak (now stopped, but mould not attended to)

I'fe lived in new builds before overseas - I know there are always snags, but everything about this house feels like corners are cut + quality is compromised.

I'd let it go - I don't really care for me, I'm moving into my own home in 8 weeks - but I'm raging on behalf of my lovely + hard working neighbours here - who have got enormous mortgages on these poor quality structures.

I posted about it on my personal stories and have heard all sorts of even worse horror stories about new builds by Baratt Home, Persimmon + Taylor Wimpey as well. It seems universal that these huge developers are building low quality, parasitic dormitory towns on (often) greenbelt lane - and making astronomical profits from them (650m for Bellway last year..!)

With such gigantic profits - they could be building better quality homes if they wanted to. But they don't. And the government is clearly so caught up in meeting housing targets they are turning a blind eye.

I am RAGING. I am grateful I don't have to live here forever - and furious on behalf of the millions of people that deserve so much more.

YABU - let it go, they're not so bad you terrible snob. People are happy with their homes + can make their own judgements

YANBU - hard working people deserve more + there has to be a way of holding these big companies accountable for prioritising profit over quality homes

Completely agree, in my house a kitchen cupboard fell off the wall recently and left lovely big holes in the wall 😏

DSis lives in a new build home, it’s gorgeous. They have zero issues with it. I’m rather envious really 😁

I've never lived in a new home. I'm in a Victorian terrace and although it's quite solidly built and the noise insulation is quite good I worry about damp and it falling down, so I imagine I'd love living in a new build if it was built well. All clean and modern and lovely. Yanbu about the stuff you've described though.

Does anyone have a bespoke/self built new build, like where you've purchased the plot and taken it from there?

We just took down a wall in our new build (by choice!) - stud wall, but tonnes of insulation in it. No major issues with sound at all.

I rented a shitty Persimmon home about 15 years ago. A sad little plasterboard box. I'd be very reluctant to repeat the experience, not just for the fear of being a shoddily built house but those new estates are depressing, like everyone's on top of one another. I realise though that for many families they're the only practical option available.

I remember reading that if you do buy a new build be the second owner rather than the first as hopefully a lot of the issues will have been worked out by the first owner. Not that they can change plasterboard walls to brick, or increase tiny bedrooms sizes...

We're in a Persimmon and we've not had any problems with it. The soil in the gardens could have done with being a bit higher quality, but we've improved it ourselves. Other than that, it's great, I love it. Good value as well.

Developers are taking advantage of the demand to cash in. I live in rural Essex, where horrible ‘new build’ estates are being jammed onto every available bit of land. My local woods have been hacked into, and a new estate is being built at the other end of the village as well. Plus, a vile new estate was built on the edge of the local town (about three miles from me) which is more like a mini city than an estate - just a sea of red brick rabbit hutches. The traffic is now so bad we must be close to booking time slots to use the roads.

I know several people who’ve moved onto these estates, and all of them complain about the ‘problem families’ they have to live near and the terrible quality of the housing. It’s like we’re building new slums. And it’s never enough. No matter how many of these horrible estates we build (where the roads are so narrow you can barely drive a single car down them) we always need more. On the front of the Economist magazine, there was a headline saying ‘Why the Greenbelt Has Got to Go’. I also heard a Labour politician on TV say the same thing (followed by a rant about NIMBYs). Anyone who thinks they are going to retire to the country and see out their final years in rural bliss is in for a shock. Ten years from now there won’t BE any countryside.

Any major housebuilder is throwing them up as quickly and cheaply as possible. The more "premium" housebuilders just use slightly higher spec fixtures and fittings. If you don't have issues you're incredibly lucky.

They're definitely not what I'd choose.

I’m in the first new build I’ve ever owned. I’m the second owner, so the first kindly sorted any snagging. I’ve only previously ever had period properties and 60s built. You wouldn’t believe what people will hide re their DIY jobs or general neglect of a property. Also, the heating bills ££££ and having to replace all the old windows, deal with damp, repointing, the expense of renovations to let some light in. Give me this new build any day, tiny heating bills and everything is just easy.

It does sound as if your current house is a fucking lemon. That's dreadful and please do let your landlord know how poor the house is.

I live in a brand new build (moved in June last year) and we've had about three things on our snagging list, so it's not inevitable that you will end up somewhere substandard.

I think it really is a lottery. I live in a new build Cala home now, having had a new build Bellway before ( and a couple of relatively new countryside houses before)

this Cala home is 100% better quality finish than the Bellway , but I had zero problems with that either.

I love the newness , I’d hate having to change everything from someone else’s taste and for problems to be my problem. In a new build it’s all their problem for 2 years!

If you have tiktok there is a really eye opening account called New Build Quality Control. They are a snagging company for new builds and record some of their findings. It is shocking!!

My godfather was a builder. "Never buy a house built after the Second World War" was always his advice.

Always found it good advice.

They’re terrible

There’s a load of new builds around the corner from my parents house. Before anyone could even move in they’re being torn down as no damp course was put in so they’re all covered in mould

I'm not in the UK but we've been in a new build since 2018 and it's been great, no problems. I actually know the architectural technician who designed it, she lives nearby and would love to have been able to afford one.

Wouldn't touch a new build with a 10ft barge pole

Build quality is usually very shonky as it's a case of throw them up at the most competitive price

Soulless boxes in endless rows crammed into the development

Massively overpriced

Little or no amenities in new developments

We have a local developer and their houses are amazing, I can’t complain and would buy another. I have heard some stories about the national builders

We are in a new build and I hate it. Our garden is so small and you are literally surrounded by other houses where they can actually see into your house if they want to. Can't hang anything up as it just falls off the wall, can't have my kids in adjacent rooms as the walls are so thin that they will wake each other up. If I didn't have to live here I would certainly move in a shot.

Jeez bit of a generalisation much!

I’m in a Taylor Wimpey new build less than a year old. We paid for a professional snagger on completion and only minor issues flagged, mostly cosmetic and they’ve all been resolved with very little inconvenience. We are very happy and are already considering upsizing in 5 years on a future phase on the same development. Soundproofing is excellent - my partner has been bumped to the bedroom next door as we have a newborn and a toddler. We haven’t found the sound carries at all. Garden is a good size and not overlooked by any other house.

I don’t work for them 😂

I live in a new build and although we had some snags - none as bad as you have described.

However I live on a street where we all know each other, have a Christmas party and summer bbq, and the children all come out after their dinner to play in the evening and the adult chat about their day.

My last house was a terraced 100 year old character property with damn that cost a fortune to heat with tiny rooms.

Current house is 10% bigger, detached and coats less to heat.

We are happy.

I am in my second new build. The first one was great, hardly any issues and the small snags were fixed quickly. This one was a huge mistake, I fucking hate this house!

Both of the above - it's really got under my skin, I live on a road full of the most lovely people who are mortgaged to the hilt on tiny, horrible houses.

Maybe I need to climb down from my soapbox. But I read Bellway's shareholder report talking about their profit margins - and I hate that they're getting away with such cheap work

God I loved our new build. We lived there for ten years and it was fab. So warm and clean. DH insisted we move to another area and a bigger older house. The bigger older house has come with mice every winter, leaks in the roof, the walk in wardrobe has mould in it, Ivy growing up the walls, an inefficient old boiler ten times the size we actually need, paper thin walls between us an next door so that is definitely not just a modern thing... a whole host of issues tbh if listed them I'd be here all day.