200 houses... WWYD?

[cloudchaos]

So, we have been trying to move now for about 2-3 years. Struggling to find the right house and then when we did the chain fell apart. We are a growing family and have really outgrown the current house so that one child doesn't have a room or even space for a chest of drawers. We are tripping over everything and each other and it's making us miserable.

We managed to get into the position of being able to buy without selling our current house as we thought this would make things quicker and simpler.

We found a house we love. It's beautiful but came with compromises. Surveyor says we are paying top price for the property. It's also in a location that's not great. Not awful but not where we were looking and means changing children's schools, a longer commute, plus the road is just not that pretty. Loads of mis matched houses from different eras and the one we are buying stands out as being very different to the rest. There's no wow driving down the road but the house is very pretty and unique - developed by an architect so we wouldn't find anything similar.

We were also keen as there is no chain so we thought it would be quick to move in and we had mentally planned my sons birthday party there in the summer etc. And unfortunately allowed everyone to get very excited.

Now we've found out that on the fields directly behind the house they plan to build 200-350 houses. And we don't know what to do. We feel desperate to move so I feel like ignoring it and worrying about it later. The searches suggested it could be 11 years before this happens but we are pretty sure it will happen as it has council backing and is council owned now. It would mean living with a building site behind us, with no idea what we will back onto and may impact saleability in the future and we are paying top whack at the moment.

We aren't sure what to do. Would you proceed or are we just acting as desperately as we feel?

I just can't work out why we can never buy a house even when we feel we have put ourselves in a really good position. I feel a bit jinxed tbh. Maybe all houses have compromises like this?

Is it definitely going ahead? Many councils have been charged with identifying prospective development sites as part of a local plan but it may well be one of several and not get pursued, depending on local infrastructure, access, environmental issues etc. If you have other doubts it might be worth pulling out.

Well it's not definite but I went through all the documents I could find online and it seems to be their preferred site. They do have worries about increased traffic but it seems to be one of the few preferred locations and they are under pressure to build the houses somewhere so I would bet on it being 80% likely to go ahead.

I would pull out.

On the other hand, this sort of building is going on everywhere, so there are guarantees another house won’t be affected.

If you loved the house, it was in a great area and your children could stay in the same school, I'd consider it. Given that there is nothing you like about the house other than the actual building, I'd pull out. If you're in a position to buy without needing the equity from your current house, you must have options surely?

I wouldn’t be keen to go ahead, especially if you are paying top price for it. It will likely make the house less desirable - removing open field views for houses, increased traffic and inevitable parking issues (as new builds never seem to include enough parking). If you do go ahead, I’d definitely see if you can negotiate a discount.

Don't do it. Noise, flood risk, local overcrowding etc. And buying a house on looks?

Plenty of empty derelict houses in town and city centres to be renovated but decades of stupid politicians can't see it.

There don’t seem to be enough positives to me. It’s just somewhere to move to and be dissatisfied in different ways.
Why not start a thread outlining what and where and see if we can help identify something you may not have considered. Someone did that for me one and it turned out to be perfect.

I wouldnt.. building sites are loud and that many houses will take a long time to finish. Council took over a year just to build 4 houses near me.

Pull out. The only things you can’t change out about a house are the size of plot and location.

Not worth it if its not perfect.

CapnHaddock You would think we would have a lot of options but houses are very expensive around here and there's not much to choose from. I would also like to feel excited about the house... There is also the fact that I was hoping to avoid another chain so it's tricky to find any houses without a chain. I'm not sure I can face 6 months of trying to buy somewhere for it all to fall apart again. I'm even wondering if renting is a better option to just get a break from all the stress of trying to move if this one doesn't go ahead.

Doublechocolatetiffin We think the owners won't be happy to discount... They were very tough when we started the negotiations and talked us up very quickly. We will call the Estate Agents this morning though to see if they knew about it and see what their thoughts are on the vendor accepting less if the only alternative is we pull out. It's hard to work out how much of an impact on the value this would have to the house though...

Thanks for your feedback everyone... it seems everyone is pretty much agreed they would pull out if in the same situation :(

Personally, I don’t see a problem with more houses being built unless you’re paying for views which will be gone.

Otherwise, more houses could mean a bigger community - more groups, activities, the local pub and shop doing better etc. If you don’t want to look over a building site in the meantime, just plant some trees at the bottom of the garden.

However, it does sound like you aren’t happy with the location (changing schools, longer commute etc) so I’d be thinking the house through on those grounds.

You don't think living on a building site while 200+ houses are built would be a problem, JoJo?

I think you're going to have to bite the bullet and accept the chain thing. I know it's frustrating and heartbreaking and stressful - I've been there - but if you're only looking for chain-free, you're severely limiting your options.

And moving to a house in a place you don't really like, with 200 houses in your back garden and disrupting your children's schools to avoid a chain possibly collapsing again is really cutting off your nose to spite your face

Brilliant, not at all. I lived in a house next to a building site and it was absolutely fine. Would choose that any day over the noise from a cut-through road or a nearby school etc. It just wouldn’t bother me at all.

I'd put in a much lower offer, quoting the building of houses. It must reduce the value.

I wouldn't buy it. There are far more negatives than positives:

• top price
• wrong area
• school moves
• longer commute
• ugly road
• huge new estate behind you - not nearby but RIGHT BEHIND YOU
• stubborn vendor

I think your desperation is clouding your judgement.

Chain free is nice but not all chains are a nightmare. A short chain with others in a strong position can be just fine. Also gives some impetus to the process - chain free can potentially mean no urgency from one side...

Keep looking.

It’ll be a shame if they won’t renegotiate, but realistically it’s not worth you paying too much for a property that has a significant downside to it. The current owners will likely have to come to terms with this at some point and realise that it’s going to affect the value of their house, but from what you’ve said about them it may take them a long time to do that. You’ve had a professional value the house and say you are paying top dollar for it, with the building works and large housing development it’s just not worth top dollar.

I personally wouldn't proceed if you think that the build of this size will go ahead. I live near a current build that is a similar size albeit around half a mile away. I am lucky in that my house is actually set 1/4 mile off the main road in a quiet area, but for those living directly on the same road it has been awful. The road was closed at one end to accommodate construction traffic for 12 months. You cannot imagine the sheer amount of construction traffic required to build that many houses. And the mud! The roads have been filthy for nearly two years which naturally is carried by everyone's cars/bike etc. Don't underestimate the noise during half term/school hols/your only day off during the week whilst they are being built. This is likely a phased development so the build phase will go on for a long time. I agree with the pp about reconsidering properties with a chain away from this location.

I work on a business park that has two housing developments in progress either side of it. The worst noise, and vibration, is from pile driving the foundations and they do that in phases. Every day the road is cleaned so mud, etc isn't really an issue. It's the people who buy the new houses who are more likely to struggle to sell than those who have older character properties in the area as new houses are like new cars - as soon as someone has moved in they depreciate in value and it takes a number of years for them to establish higher values.

House builders are made to improve access roads and plant trees, hedges, etc so the look of new estates is more attractive than you might think. The garden of an older house is likely to be bigger though, which is a selling point.

I think things like a longer commute and changing schools are a bigger deal.

I wouldn’t move, at least not without a substantial deduction.
They will have been consulted on this so were selling with knowledge of what was about to happen.
We have lots of housing developments nearish to us and everyone who lives adjacent is miserable about them.

I think it depends on how big the plot you are thinking of buying is and how long you plan to stay there. If it has a 100 foot back garden and you are planning on living there 30 years then it probably won’t be an issue. If it has a 20 foot back garden and you are thinking of living there 5-10 years then it will likely be under construction when you want to move and maybe jammed up against the house you want to buy.

I wouldn’t. If it were say 10-20 houses maybe, but 200-300 houses, no way, that’s a massive estate, some of which will likely have to be social housing. Nope, if I were paying top whack for a house that’s ok, not quite perfect then no I wouldn’t do it.

Could very well be the reason the occupants are selling up now and wanting full whack, possibly hoping potential buyers won’t know about the proposed building until nearer the time it happens, by which they’ll be sold and gone and the buyer left with a house that most probably has depreciated in value.

I’d also pull out. You don’t even love the house to start with let alone enough to put up with years of building noise, effect on view and not knowing the mix of houses to go in. No way would I do it, sorry.