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

There are new builds and there are new builds. Huge developers or bespoke builders. Like with everything they are not all the same.

It's well known that the big developers are building crappy houses and pretty much getting away with it. And don't get me started on the issue of 'service charges' that goes with new builds. Tons of FB groups about all these developers.

The 10 year NHBC warranty is for structural issues only.

Small /Regional builders are the ones I have heard good things about. Nationwide builders sub out work I believe, so it depends on the workmanship of the person/company they sub out to.
My friend's new build 5 bed house gave her so much grief and upset to get many things put right.
And that was 2 years before the pandemic !

That sounds exciting. The planning stage is so much fun!

But the lovely conservation area Edwardian terraces probably aren't comparable properties to the very small new builds people are complaining about. Certainly they aren't around here - they would be comparable to larger/higher end newbuilds.

I've just looked at an area I know which has both - nice Edwardian period terraces, and a fairly recent (few years old) development. There's houses for sale of both varieties right now

1. lovely edwardian house. Pros: Tonnes of period features (high ceilings, big bay windows, cornice, stained glass screen door. Slightly larger square footage -but it has the classic not terribly useful maids room over the utility arrangement (i.e. the extra space isn't in the main rooms really). Undeniably prettier with more kerb appeal. Nice but not very big back garden

Cons: needs a shitload doing to it: full new kitchen, bathrooms, windows are all single glazed, roof needs work, top to bottom redecoration.
It will cost a bucketload to run, home report estimates 5k per year utilities
Work such as windows will be very expensive as it's in a conservation area so it all has to be done in period style wood sash and case
Only has one bathroom, plus a WC tucked at the very back of the house.
On street parking only.

2. second hand new build. Also terraced Pros: not hideous looking - small estate, houses not all identical. Modern, easy to live with layout (big kitchen diner for example) Everything still in excellent condition - any spend would be on optional decor as it's quite neutral just now, very blank canvas. Front garden does actually have plants as do neighbours (no plastic grass or tarmac) Has a separate garage so not only on street parking Extra bathroom, plus a more accessible WC Estimated annual utility bills about £1700

Cons: about 10% smaller sqaure footage wise.
Not as pretty, no beautiful period features
Back garden probably about the same size as the Edwardian but it is all paved (most of the neighbours aren't so don't think this was the developer).

In both properties the room sizes are fairly similar - they each have one small bedroom then 3 proper doubles.

These two are in the same area, same school catchments etc. So nothing in it area wise.

The edwardian is 5% more expensive list price, but realistically will probably need a large amount spent (£100k+ IME). By the time you factor in the renovation costs (which for most will end up on the mortgage via reduced deposit) then you're looking at the best part of an extra £1k a month on mortgage payments. Then you've got an extra roughly £300 on utilities per month.

It's easy to sneer at the boring new builds - but that's very much the kind of maths we were faced with when we were choosing what to buy as well.

It's easy to sneer at the boring new builds - but that's very much the kind of maths we were faced with when we were choosing what to buy as well.

True, balanced post. I don't think there's anything sneery about disliking new builds design at all however.

Lots of them are just thrown up with little thought. That's not a slight on the buyer, that's a slight on the developer. If we could build nice houses for workers 100 years ago, why can't we build (similar looking) houses that function 10x better now? we can. They simply don't care about how it looks because there's someone lined up to buy it

All the trades I've dealt with on my Reno project have said similar things - they aren't paid enough or given enough time to care about the quality of the finish. Quality workers, especially finishing trades, can get more satisfying + better paid work elsewhere.

And the foreman here on the Bellway site admitted he would never move into one...

As many people say. Lots of smaller developments / local developers who do great work. But these huge estate style developments aren't being built by anyone who cares about creating quality homes or building community. This one sucks!

There are definitely some people who sneer at new builds - trust me I ran in to a lot of them! We moved from a period property in a conservation area so most of our acquantances were also in period properties. The amount of "ewww, new builds are ALL awful, why would anyone ever want a new build, they're cold, soulless, lego houses, teeny rooms, yuk yuk yuk" type comments we heard from people who hadn't even seen the house we were considering was insane. I swear some of the responses only just stopped short of fake vomit sounds!

It's one thing saying "I don't tend to like the design of new builds, I really like/prefer period features" or whatever. I'd actually agree, I adore nice period features. But many people do go way beyond that - you only have to look upthread! There's often a class element to the comments too.

I wasn't suggesting you personally were sneering (sorry if it sounded that way), it was more of a broad point.

DEX is an area where this post is very relevant. They have been going up at a ridiculous rate and of terrible quality. Tends to be half of Edinburgh situated in this development though.

One of my friends has a parent who works for one of the big five and he has warned all of his DC not to touch these houses with a bargepole.

"And the foreman here on the Bellway site admitted he would never move into one..."

Yep. That's not uncommon a response from employees of these companies. Most of the labour is subcontracted out.

I can’t stand new builds, would never consider buying one. Large estates, look like toy town. The quality is shocking. Over the top pricing. No chance to add any value. Professional snaggers are earning well out of them by finding all the faults.

It largely goes back to the strangled supply of housing in this country. There is no incentive to build things well because the housing shortage means there will always be a buyer lined up, no matter how crap.

The British obsession with ALWAYS having their own separate house with its own garden is probably a factor as well. If you try to to this for a densely populated country that is trying to avoid building on the green belt, the result will be nasty little lego boxes. Building UPWARDS would create more space, but you try suggesting to the average Brit that they might like to live in a reasonably spacious apartment in an urban location and use public transit! Quite a common choice for families in the rest of Europe, but not in the UK!

I don’t understand this either - surely new builds should have solar panels, heat pumps and insulation as standard.

i can understand the lack of garden though.

Some of this is now required in Scotland - almost all of the new builds here have solar. On our estate we have heat pumps. Phase two got heat pumps and solar - I've added solar to ours as well. It's also very well insulated

Sorry, what's DEX? Edinburgh lass but not familiar with the abbreviation

There are a huge number going up Edinburgh outskirts and it doesn't look like they're getting enough infrastructure. But that is heavily on the bloody useless council too imo

We’re staying in an appartement block in Valencia surrounded by families and it’s really lovely. Large well designed use of space, balcony, excellent sound proofing, communal play area. I’d happily live in a flat like this.

That’s good to know - must make your bills less?
How do you find the heat pump?

Massively reduced bills - our old place was half the square footage and was costing £300pcm (comparing direct debits for ease). That was 2020 so pre hikes.

We fixed our rate here in April 22 at a fairly high day rate (ended up being around the price cap) but a cheap overnight rate. So prices were still well up, but we don't have the full impact of the price hikes. Our DD is now £93, and that includes running a fully electric car doing about 250-300 miles a week. We're also getting a small amount back from our electricity export, looks like that will maybe be £150-200 a year.

I watch my bills carefully so the DDs are pretty accurate.

Heat pump works well for us - I know many hate them. But we just leave it permanently set at 21 and let it control the house as needed. Most of the neighbours are fine too - the ones who seem to struggle are still trying to run it like a traditional boiler where it comes on for a few hours.

Dunfermline Eastern Expansion.

Gotcha! There's a huge amount over there.

Have you ever tried to claim for anything under your NHBC 10 year guarantee? We have. They deny everything. If you claim is for something that you can have fixed for less than 2K they will not even look at it. Our double glazing recently became misted inside the two panes in one room. NHBC told us to fix it ourselves. This is a 3 year old new build. NHBC cover is not worth the paper it is written on. I've known others on our estate denied repairs too which were for a lot more money, but they always find a way not to cover the costs of the repair.

I live in a new build . Mine is council though. With the sounds I can't hear my neighbours. But the inside sound proofing is not that great. Everything seems to be fitted well good insulation etc. I don't like the walls it's harder to hang things. Would rather they were solid like older houses. I can't see new builds still standing in a 100 years like old houses.

We live in a thirties purpose built flat - it is solid, well built and properly sound proofed. It it certainly has character - usually in the form of some previously unknown craziness/DIY bodge discovered during any works. 😂

We once rented a flat in a modern conversion of a thirties warehouse. We were the first occupants (our landlord has bought off plan).

The external structure was fine but the actual flats were mad. All internal walls were flimsy plastboard (to the point it was impossible to put up anything heavier than a small print in a cheap wooden frame on the walls by contrast my current flat needs a hammer drill to make holes in the walls).

The laminate floors were smeared with paint and sealant and the beige carpets were stained.

It was a three double
bed flat but the kitchen was stupidly small - there was one worktop and two small storage cupboards.

The plumbing was so bad there were constant small leaks and for the first month we were there the toilets and the washing machine were hooked up to the hot water supply. The builders tried to say it didn't matter - well apart from the fact we were literally flushing hot water down the toilet!

The place was heated with ceiling heating foils that were crazily expensive and barely heated the place unless they were in for hours and hours.

I wouldn't have thought to claim for that sort of small issue.

It provides structural warranty that you wouldn't get for any other house.

The problem is people don't look into or read what they're getting. Of course every element of your new build house won't be guaranteed for 10yrs. You still have a hell of a lot more protection than buying an older house.