Viewing new build house for the first time - what to look for?

[raininthenightgarden]

Our possible new house is nearing completion and we've been invited to see for the first time - we bought off plan.

Any advice from wise MN about what to look for / ask on the walk round?

I feel quite emotional and nervous as this has been in the works for 18 months and we are currently trying to sell our existing house which has been a bit traumatic.

On the one hand I'm scared I won't like it, on the other I'm scared I will and it will all fall through!

So I need some help to think dispassionately and calmly and sensibly!

Thanks in advance

I just looked round our new build. Dont know the answer but did notice for example there was a big chip on the worktop and one of the cupboard doors wasnt hung great.

After reading reviews on builders i would check all internal and external doors open and close properly as well as windows.

My mum had a lot of work done for her by a plasterer who is contracted to a lot of the new builds in the area and said a lot of issues is the foundations and the fact they plaster in a lot of empty space that can lead to sinkage and damp.

I’d tap knock on plaster behind anything plumbed in and see if it’s very hollow, if it is the chance is that they plastered straight over the plumbing making it a nightmare if there’s a leak or a repair needed.

That and try to view the house when it’s raining/has rained and see what they drainage in the garden is like. I know a few people who have problems with drainage in their gardens because turf has been put over damp soil with nowhere for excess water to go.

Great thank you both! Just the sort of thing I need, especially like the plastering tip - would never have thought of that.

www.nhbc.co.uk/nhbcpublications/literaturelibrary/homeownerdocuments/filedownload,42392,en.pdf

This gives you an official tick box list - very useful!

We reserved a newbuild on Monday. My tip is to get the professional snaggers in either before or soon after completion. They will spot stuff you won't. Worth every penny in my opinion. How have you managed to reserve without being in a secure complete chain btw? Our developer wouldn't let us reserve until we were under offer!

Brownieb thanks! That's a great checklist.

Moving, ooh I don't know. Fairly big deposit might've helped? We made an offer before our house was put on market and it was accepted. The sale has been a fiasco and still not over the line though.

Moving - also never heard of professional snaggers that's a brilliant idea - thank you so much. Best of luck with your move.

new build developer here..
check how long your defect liability period is for snags to be completed. some say 2 years but actually after 1 they only rely on nhbc/premier warranty which is major defects failures only.
main issues that come up -
have all taps running for a while when you're viewing (for leaks or water pressure issues)
check all lights and switches
get the heating on
turn all electrical items on
check all doors move and lock easily
check for chipped tiles / missing grout / plastic
flush toilets
make sure if you have any tech or meters or boilers etc etc you have been shown how to use them properly. especially underfloor heating which people seem to have no clue over and end up thinking its broken.

oh and sit in the bath, on the loo, where your sofa would be etc. you will see things that might annoy you once your living there

Oh as well, take a measurement of your large furniture like beds and sofas and take a tap with you to measure if the sofas in the show Home are the same size. It’s been known that they show he house with furniture smaller than standard size to make the rooms seem bigger.

All great advice thank you! Shapeshifter what do you think about professional snaggers, have you come across this?

I cant advise it as they will obviously find "snags" since you are paying them to do so. yes their list is usually entensive, but majority of their points are either obvious and you would have spotted it yourself, or not technically a" snag" and they just get refused by the developer anyway. (e.g. tiny mark wall or small drying out cracks which you would have to wait until your end of defect inspections in a year to fix anyway)

There shouldn't be anything you cant see yourself if you give it a thorough look over and testing.

Check any flooring close to the external door openings arent overly bouncy. if its laminate they will move a bit as you walk out the door for example, but if it's excessive there may be something missing underneath (happens quite often)

@shapeshifter88 there is a chip out of the worktop on our newbuild maybe the size of a 5p piece or slightly smaller. I also noticed one kitchen cupboard door seemed to be fitted incorrectly as you could see the bottom of the cupboard frame beneath the door. Are these snags worth reporting? Probably a stupid question!

@Rarfy yes I'd report both. small chips are a bigger deal if it's on a worktop rather than maybe say a skirting board, so i would expect them to attend to those. the door probably just needs slight adjusting but if they are coming back to touch up a few items they should be able to see to that in a few mins.

depending on what kind of worktop it is they might need to use the "magic man". he costs around 500-800 quid a day so they might wait until they have a few items /houses to do in one go to make it worth their while calling him out. so sometimes it takes a little while to get seen to for those kinds of things.

make sure they do take note of everything you find wrong with the house before you move in - the second you're in there is no proof you haven't caused the damage yourself, so be covered!

Thank you very much for your help. We are buying shared ownership so i will try and figure out how to go about it. We have had our viewing and i suspect next time we see the house will be when it's ours.

Shapeshifter could I ask your advice? I saw the house and one of the bedrooms only has skylights and no other windows. This is not great for us as we don't want to be in it or put the DCs in there. The house is just a shell - no plaster on walls even. The building foreman says no window because of privacy issues for the houses that back on to it. Do you think there is anything we can do to get a window? It's a terrace so only one wall is possible for a window.

Most likely not :( if theres privacy issues their planning permission would only have been granted by removing those windows. The best they may be able to do (and this would involve them getting the planners to agree) would be to put a window in for light but have a film on it so you can't actually see through it.
If the builders dont want to speak to the planners, you can contact them yourself too and arrange a meeting on site to see if it's something they would consider post purchase too.

what was shown on the plans you used to reserve ? have they changed the build from what was drawn or did u just miss this?

if its the former then you will be able to get out of the purchase and should get all money back at least as its been missold.

take a tape measure to make sure standard furniture can fit in, they are very small compared to older houses.
I know they use special scaled down furniture in their show houses.

Look at the quality of anytthing built in.
Check there's not a thin layer of grass and soil with builders rubble underneath.

Sorry, after several friends experiences I wouldn't touch a new build.

I cannot stress strongly enough the value in professional snaggers if you do go ahead. Yes, you will notice the easily repaired details yourselfsuch as if there is a chipped sideboard or wood work but you may not notice until out of warranty the major structural details. We have ended up 10’s of thousands out of pocket for the sake of a few hundred quid.

Thanks shapeshifter, definitely not on the plans as I remember asking about windows as the plan was very arty and no windows on it so I checked. Not sure I want to pull out as still a good deal for a house in this area (v central London, but 2/3 of the price of a house round here).

Also it's a spare room, so we can use it as a study (we had intended to use one room as a study but not that one as next to the bathroom)

Thanks Pigeon, I will

Romany, good advice thanks, I lived in a new build before and loved it but you definitely have to be careful.

Hi Shapeshifter, I feel like I've asked you a lot of questions so it's totally cool if you're fed up and don't respond.

But a slightly weird thing has arisen and I thought you might know where we stand.

We are buying a new build terrace house in a gated development with landscaped courtyard and bike storage etc.

Our solicitor says that the house is freehold but on Friday the EA was certain it was leasehold.

I'd thought the leasehold scandal meant that govt changes had stopped developers selling houses as leasehold properties. But obviously we will need to pay a service charge?

We reserved in Nov so maybe the changes won't affect us?

Anyway any thoughts you have would be great.