Old house VS new built

[Lskz]

Hi everyone,

We are having a dilemma with two properties and hope you can give some advice or share your opinion.
We placed an offer for a “old 3bed semi” and also interested in 3bed new built semi and trying to decide which one to choose in case our offer gets accepted.here are some deatails:

1. 3 bed old
   driveway parking for 3 cars
   Good sized rooms
   Separate dining room
   Needs some work( painting, changing carpet upstairs, maybe change kitchen and fence in the garden.
   Close to town Center
   Will be part of chain( as the current owners haven’t started to look for a new one)

2. new built, outskirts of town
   ready to move in
   Garage
   Good size rooms and garden for new built
   Open plan kitchen/dining/lounge
   2 streets away social housing will be built as the development is from HA( we are private buyers, paying full price)

We like both, new built that’s all new and doesn’t require any extra work. But old one is bit bigger in size( separate lounge, diner and kitchen) and close to the town Center. And with improvements we could sell for higher price. Price wise, the new one is more expensive( potentially 40k difference) and we need to apply for help to buy. We are FTB with enough savings to afford a mortgage to buy a second hand property but need to give away all our savings and the refurb slowly not at once. With help to buy you could leave around 10k in the bank account( but then we would owe a huge amount to the gov-t) What do you prefer, old or new built? What else we should consider when choosing between them? Every opinion/thought would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Thanks everyone!!!
We have 2yo and schools won’t make major difference as both houses in the catchment of good schools. However, as old one is in the town centre we will have more school choices but all of them will be “good”ones.
We will are not planing to move out from “our future” house very soon (would like to be at least 3-5years)but won’t consider either of them as a forever home, especially the new built one due to help to buy. As I understood better to move within 5 years not to pay to govt, make some money if prices to go up, pay off 20% to the gov’t and have more deposit to put towards a new house. Am I right or not getting it properly.
Thanks for exposing about unadopted road. Find it a bit unfair that I have to pay council tax which probably will be brand c (160ish) and plus £31, which is almost £200.
The old one needs some work but they can be down slowly after we move in. Probably painting and carpeting befor though.

Old. Location every time. Bigger rooms too and the potential.

Old! Much more potential.

also - what is to say that the fund contribution stays at a low £31 ....
House is also staged ... furniture is used to make house look bigger, better, roomier ... at least with the old, you can see how it is lived in

Looked at links now and 100% old. new tiles in the kitchen would be all that's needed as well to smarten that up. Go for it!

What do you think council tax covers? It pays for libraries, your bin collection, police, fire brigade, planning, registrar, education services, transport and highways so not just the road your house is on.

I would vote old, because totally open plan means all kitchen smells penetrate the living room, and second toilet being downstairs is great. No noisy adults trekking upstairs when the children are asleep in bed. Is there any storage at all?

I wouldn't live on an un-adopted road, there can be issues when residents don't pay or agree to maintenance.

I have always lived in either new builds or houses that are less than 15 years old. I would still vote for the older house. We put in storage because there wasn't any. Nice to have a clutter free hall. No coats on newel posts.

Old old old.

I have three friends who bought new builds because you could "move straight in". Yes. But within 12 months all three had major issues because the houses were thrown up and weren't fit for purpose. All three have since moved to older properties and vowed never again.

"Open plan kitchen/dining/lounge"

I've got one of these and it's a pain in the arse for kitchen noise/smells and not being able to get away from each other (much as I love DH/DC). And the picture of the downstairs on that new build looks way pokier than our (not huge) one. It really looks a squish.

Also, although the old one may need a bit of work, that gives you chance to add value over the years. It looks like you could extend the dining room at the back to make a second living space (kitchen diners are fine as long as there's a separate living room). Obviously you don't need to do that, but it shows how the older property has more going for it than the new one which will never be as good as the day you buy it.

Location wise the old wins too.

It's only drawback for me is the chain, but as you're FTB that's one end of the chain sorted and presumably you're in rented so can wait. Just get reassurance that the vendors are serious and will start searching in earnest as soon as your offers accepted. Hopefully it will be!

Have you and your DH seen the actual physical new house or just the show home? Bear in mind the show home will always be the biggest best house on the estate; there is no floorplan on the rightmove link and going by the descriptions the New House bedrooms aren't much bigger than Old House. It doesn't say/show if there's a garden worth its salt either (IME new build gardens are postage stamp sized with the whole world able to see your pants on the line).

Old! Absolutely no question for me.

Personally I think open plan only works if you have a separate lounge. I would never buy a new build again (my first flat was a new build).
Older homes are so much better, thicker walls, not so overlooked etc.
Especially if this isn't your forever home as you won't lose money on it

Yes, we’ve seen the actual new house as a few of them are ready to move in.
Of course the one on pictures is show home, hence upgraded. But to be fair, the actual home specs are more or less the same as show home( only differences are white walls, no dishwasher, kitchen doors handles are bit different and no overhead shower)
Both houses have cloackrooms.
All of you are right, garden is overlooked and garden size is bigger at old one.
Well I believe we will see what’s the owner decision will be, as we placed an offer and they are still considering it which is a good sign and not straight rejection.
Thanks a lot to everyone, this is very helpful as you are sharing your opinions and personal experiences. Much appreciated

Don’t think I’ve ever seen a unanimous thread before!

I’m not a new build fan anyway, but if your DH thinks a new build will be better because there is “nothing to do”, he is sadly mistaken.
I won’t state all the other potential issues as PPs have done this, but is the new build freehold? (Couldn’t find the info on the ad).
If it’s leasehold might be another potentially rising cost.

I know lots of people like the whole open plan thing but I hate having the kitchen in the living space - sound of freezer/ washing machine etc in your main living space. No where else to go if someone wants to watch/listen to something else (so you end up sitting watching handheld devices with headphones) and kitchen smells /grease getting onto your soft furnishing. I don't mind a kitchen dinner or a lounge dinner but I couldn't live with my kitchen space in my living space.

Old, that new build is built on an old sand/gravel pit that was in use the last 10 years.

Not to mention the main road through is a nightmare at rush hour.

Totally agree! None said new and that tells a lot about them,lol
It is freehold and comes with a maintenance charge as leaseholds do

By 'spec' I mean outside tap, burglar alarm, turf etc.

Your chain could still be short, ours is only 3, it is still taking ages and it is the new build that is holding things up.

I would buy the old one. New builds are often of a lower quality and they can show wear and tear after just a few years... Also, we used to live near social housing and it was.....well, messy. The old property is in a better location and as you said, once refurbished, you can sell it with profit. Just bring some trustworthy builder to inspect the property.

Given the choice between the 2, I think the old one looks nicer.

But i wanted to stick up for new builds, I think they're getting a bad rep here. I've lived in one for nearly 5 years and it has been great. All the rooms are a great size, layout great, no structural problems have come to light, no leaks etc. We are actually moving home (due to schools) but our new build experience has been so positive that we are buying another. I do think a lot depends on the company but also the specific site manager. So I do think its unfair to brand all new builds as being bad.

Old one, no contest. Good luck!

I'd always go for older, even if it needs a bit of work. Sad to say, the quality of new builds often isn't good, plus gardens are often very small, poor storage, etc. Not to mention the dodges builders now try to,pull, leasehold with soaring charges, etc.

Both my dds have bought doer uppers, so often better value - and easier to add value to - in the long run. Plus new builds are very often considerably over priced when you compare the sq footage/plot size with older houses. People pay for the 'shiny new' premium, but that's not worth much if there's a whole long snagging list later.

If it's clean and liveable you can sort the rest out as and when you have the time and money to do it.

Old again! We bought our previous house (first home) off plan and it had the creakiest floors ever, never able to get to the bottom of why. Also small rooms and no storage. Now live in an old house with high ceilings and would never go new again. Also had teething probs with cracking walls in the new one. Remember old has been standing for many years!

I can't see why the old house isn't ready to move into, apart from the kitchen being a little dated I think it looks lovely.
As others have said I'd avoid a new build. Plus if you are looking at only staying 3-5 years then you will make more on the old house as new builds generally depreciate in value for the first few years.

Thank you everyone again for advice! We had a second viewing and our offer has been accepted!!! Yay! Lots of things to do and look forward too! Now any advice on surveyors? Should I bring one and do the check so we know for what we are signing? Thanks again!!!

You want at least a homebuyer's report on that house. It looks 1940s so won't be problem free. Best to go in with eyes wide open (and negotiating power if, say, the roof turns out to be knackered)

New builds are great for renting out but not for longer term family life
Old all the time