Reserved newbuild, decided I like another house more

[Bridge98]

Hi all, need some opinions please! Me and husband have reserved a property near us on a new development with htb. All was going well, now they have just advertised another type of house and I love it so much more 😥. It's the same money same number of bedrooms but the overall look and layout is a lot better. Mainly in the new bathroom there is space for mirror above sink in our one there's a window above the sink (really bugs me I know it's a tiny issue! but no where to put a proper mirror anywhere near sink with the layout), in new one the box room (literally a box!) the window and door is positioned on one of the narrow walls meaning the two longest walls are free quite a big deal in such a small room. On ours there is the door on one long wall and window with rad under on the other so really makes it hard to put anything in as hate putting things infront of windows rads. In ours there is no window on downstairs cloack/utility (another thing that bugs me!) in new one there is. The new house has a tiny window on the landing but makes it feel so much more light and spacious somehow? No window on our landing. Outside the new type is a lovely rendered cottage look and ours is the most boring brick box! I was ok with ours before seeing the new one as we have saved a long time and not much comes up in our price range but now I've seen this I'm gutted. We've been approved the mortage, paid for searches and almost at the point of no return with this one, even picked kitchen and bathroom, feel like if I change my mind I will have to go through everything again and pay it all out again 😐. Just can't stop thinking we've saved so long and will be in this house years and years should I cause all this or go with it? Husband doesn't like to rock the boat and if I told him I want to change I think he will be upset and talk me out of it wwyd?? Thanks in advance x x x

Go with your instincts.

We’ve just bought a new build and I know what you mean!
You can but ask them. They may say you have to forfeit the reservation deposit as they probably only released the next section because all the previous ones were reserved and you could scupper that for them in terms of figures/targets.
However, they want your business so no harm in going in to see Sales again.

Good luck!

The no harm in talking to them.

Thank you for replies 😊 Sorry just realised how long that was! 😳 Might pop in there today, they are so lovely I don't want to muck them about but it's the biggest thing we're ever going to do so want it be right! X

No harm in asking. Imagine spending all that money and regretting it every day. Nightmare!

Definitely go and talk to them, they should let you swap esp if you intimate you would otherwise buy elsewhere..

Ask them.

We changed our reservation from one type of 3 bed to another. It's still not big enough really but it's all we can afford.

They just moved our reservation fee across, we hadn't paid for any extras at this stage though and were past the date to change the kitchen (annoying as it's still not in but hey ho).

Ask. Trust your instincts. It's a lot of money to spend if you're not happy unless you plan on selling pretty quickly.

How far into the process are you? If you've just paid the reservation fee, definitely pull out and forfeit that. Bit more complicated if you've paid your deposit!

Speak to them and the solicitors and get the full financial cost of changing your mind. It might be that landing window etc are worth a few thousand to you but not ten or fifteen thousand or more. Make the decision with all the info.

I did this years ago. It really wasn't a problem. Yes it cost me a little bit more but you can't buy the house you don't want just because you're a little bit embarrassed about it. Honestly, I'm sure this happens a lot. Don't worry about it, just talk to the builders.

I agree go and speak to them, they might be happy to help. It's not like you're wanting to pull out altogether and buy from another builder.
Even if it's impossible/too expensive it would be better to try than just carry on and spend your time living in a house that's not right and wishing you had the other one

They should just allow you to transfer your reservation fee across to a different plot.
I wouldn't forfeit my reservation fee lightly - on some schemes these can be £3k for an apartment and £5k for a house.
Is the new property less than £600k as that's the maximum property value that's eligible for HtB.
It should be pretty straightforward provided you haven't exchanged. If you've exchanged then the developer is under no obligation to rescind your contract. They will hopefully be open to doing so though as they would rather that and move you across to another plot than be at risk of you failing to complete at a later date.
Bear in mind that if the new property is also under HtB that you will need a new mortgage offer in place in order to exchange. If completion is more than 6 months away this could be problematic as the maximum most mortgage offers are open for is 6 months.

I can't see why there would be a problem swapping. How did you get on?

In my experience the new release may not be available straight away and you may have to wait a few months to be able to move in. We liked one in phase 1 which was available for occupation in November but then the next phase wasn't available until next June. The next phase may also be more expensive than the one you've already reserved. Hope that the sales team were able to help. Good luck 🍀

Push, push, push to make the change.

It is only paperwork at this stage but might take a bit of time to-ing and fro-ing with the developer.

Make it clear that you will pull out completely if they don't agree and be ready to call their bluff - they wont want to loose a sale.

The sales person will not be the decision maker so just manage your expectations here. Maybe legal fees incurred/searches might not be as much as you think or might be transferable.

Sounds like there are significant differences that mean a lot to you.

How does the location on the development differ and the orientation of the garden.

What are the estimated finish dates for each house and would this impact your decision?