Would you buy this house or carry on renting?

[chaffinch]

Bellway homes are doing a deal near us on a new development where if you buy a 3 bed new build they will pay a 5% deposit, give you £500 towards legal fees and pay stamp duty too. However we had planned not to buy for a while as I am learning to drive and am working part time. The plan always was that when I pass I would look for a decent full time job then we were going to buy a home in a rural area with a nice view which these new houses definitely won't have

My dilemma is this. Do we buy one of these houses, put our hard saved £15k deposit towards it too and go interest only just for a year. After all we are paying dead money in rent anyway and I have heard new builds tend to increase in price by about 20% after they are sold. This would mean we could then buy an even nicer dream home eventually. Or do we stay renting for a while in the anticipation that house prices may come down? We are in Doncaster, South yorkshire if this helps

Thanks for all those who have bothered to read this until the end. I hope someone will be able to advise me as my head is now spinning!

As long as you can pick the time that you move, I would probably buy if I were in your position, ie. only if I was happy to stay for a while if necessary, which you seem to be. If you're inflexible in wanting to move after a year then you are taking a greater risk imo.

We almost bought a new build a few years ago, I'm really glad that we didn't. When you buy an older house within an established estate you can get a general idea of what the area is like. With a new development you could be lucky and have a nice community or it could become a 'less desirable' area to live. Homes will not all be privately owned, a percentage will be offered to Housing Association (usually anyway) - this isn't neccesarily a bad thing (before I get pounced on .

If you can afford to buy then I would go for it but personally I wouldn't buy a new build.

Food for thought. If there are lots of newbuilds in the pipeline in your area, you may have trouble selling in the near future. You may be competing against developers offering incentives to buyers and your house will be second-hand and maybe not such an attractive proposition.
Having said all that, if you are in a position to get on the property ladder, i would, to keep up with house price inflation.

Keep renting. House prices are starting to fall and new estates will suffer more than established areas. The builder is offering these "incentives" for a reason - to get you in. This "get on the ladder" stuff is pure scaremongering. My DH bought a flat in 1988 when prices were rocketing and everyone was saying you are crazy to rent. 5 years later and he was 20 grand in negative equity and that was a lot of money then on a one bed flat.

Only buy if you love the house and would buy it anyway, if you plan to be in it for a long time, and if your financial situation is very strong.

Interest only mortgages are not much better than renting and as a tenant you don't have the costs of decorating, maintaining the property etc etc. Put your money in the bank on a 90 day account and let the interest build up for a while.

I grew up in South Yorks and my Mum and Dad lived there until recently so I know the area. Prices have gone up a lot there in the past few years, I don't think this trend will continue. If you really want to buy I reckon you'd be better off with a do-er upp-er in an established estate, perhaps look at auctions and see if there are any reposessions going cheap.

mrsmalumbas a woman after my own heart