WWYD - New Build Estate Planning Change

[Planningchanged]

So we’ve had an offer in on a new build for a few months now, but for various reasons have yet to exchange. We’ve just found out by accident that they have completely changed the layout of the plots across the road from our new house from all 4 bed, double garage & drive, to a higher number of 3 bed properties with single drives, and more housing association plots on the site.

We feel this will completely change the look and feel of the estate, and isn’t what we were originally buying into. We also feel that the builders have been really sneaky about it as they haven’t yet submitted the plans formally to the planning office (or at least it’s not on the website), haven’t changed the plans in the site office and are pushing us to exchange ASAP.

I’m not yet sure how I feel about this, but our initial thoughts are how will this impact on the future resale of the property and I’m now thinking, I’ll be back on here with vs a parking thread once they build the other houses!

This is a really expensive house and is our dream forever house, so we’ve always said the terms of it have to be right, before we commit. So I guess my WWYD is, would you still go ahead, ask for a price reduction or pull out?

Disclaimer, I’ve got a lot of other stress going on besides the house, so I may be blowing it all out of proportion, which is why I’m posting. I totally get this is a first world problem, but please be kind.

How certain are you about the new information?

I work in development and plans can and will change. If I were you I would refuse to exchange until you know their plans have been submitted. Usually they will be approved because they would only put something in if they were sure of an approval. More 3 beds rather than 4 beds might make it feel a bit different but it won't be a huge change. More affordables? Presumably because they have more units on, find out the location of the affordables that would be the most important point for me. If it feels bad and not what you want, don't pull out immediately but look around at your other options, you might find something you like better, it sounds like the shine has come off this and will it feel that good again? Most new build estates are successful with people keeping themselves to themselves but it's all about how you feel inside.

@lemontreebird - very - it was partially shown on a deed we were sent.

@Weffiepops thanks, yes we were aware that plans could change as they’d said in passing that they might put it back to planning. But with a view to upscaling not downsizing. And they have changed the order of build on the estate as well. It just feels really sneaky and you’re right, the shine definitely feels likes it’s coming off Good advice to wait for exchange until the plans are in. The affordables are one house up from the house directly opposite us. But to be honest the whole part of that plot looks like the housing will be at least a third, to half the price of ours.

If you want the shine to come off more then google the word Fleecehold and ask the developer about estate rentcharges.

Who's the developer?

I already know about the fleecehold issue thank you @SparkleTwinkleShine. This does have estate management fees but isn’t as open to turning into a fleecehold situation as some, so we would still proceed even though it has fees.

I’d rather not say who the developer is at this stage, as we haven’t decided what to do yet, and haven’t replied to them.

I can understand your annoyance. The way they plot developments now it’s very much like streets and zones within the site. If I didn’t like the look of a street I wouldn’t buy a house there. If I liked the next street two down, I would.

Future parking issues can be very stressful. They can manifest in most new build estates though, as they are rarely designed well for real life living. Are you wedded to the idea of a new build?

they probably have been found out that they were building without fulfilling a condition (the affordable home one) and now need to change plans so they can get a good return on the houses.

It will unfortunately change the feel if they put in more affordables. From my experience, you are more likely to get multi occupancy and therefore more parking problems. I would wait until you know for sure

@ConsiderTheCentre yes that’s exactly how I feel (but didn’t express it very well at 4am! ) I sort of am wedded to the idea now, and this house is just perfect in every other way. Nothing else on the market come close in terms of what we get for our money with our wants/needs, plus everything is new and shinyefficient
@woodencoffeetable Planning had already been passed for the whole estate with the affordable housing already built so I don’t believe that is the reason it has changed. Unless they’ve changed the ratios since the original plans were submitted.
@skippetyskoo - yes I agree. We’ll definitely be pushing back on the exchange date until we know exactly what the full plans are. I’d be interested to know if anyone else that is buying on the same estate knows about the changes - I suspect not so they may have a lot of people pulling out at last minute once the new plans go up.

Actually, does anyone know if I can raise an objection to any new plans that go in? And if so what a valid objection would be, rather than I don’t like it

Location is so important. Knowing exactly what other houses will be nearby, what the reality of parking will be and the type of people living nearby is vital before committing.

It's easy to get caught up just with the house itself, amd especially if you love the house and have emotionally invested, to not pay enough attention to the location issues. You never live just inside your individual house, but on a street and the layout and other houses definitely impact you and will impact when you come to sell-on.

If you were buying an old house, you'd never just consider the house, but the area too. You'd look at the parking and other houses and visit at different times to see what traffic was like and if people parks on the pavements because in reality there's not enough parking provided and roads are too narrow. You'd watch and see if it al snarls up with people queuing to get one way down the road, when people can't drive in both directions because of parking issues. You'd look to see if there was lots of social housing and how nearby and if that had an adverse impact or not. You wouldn't just ignore those things.

With new build there's much more risk if buying off-plan as you simply can't visit but have to rely on a plan. Lots of people wouldn't feel happy with that. Sometimes people find the location doesn't turn out quite how they thought it would - that it's all a bit more squashed in than imagined or the roads are windy and annoying. Sometimes people find their big expensive house doesn't sell well a few years later because the next buyers can see that there are some social housing flats or houses pretty nearby which don't quite fit in with the big expensive houses, or that cars block the roads. Those things weren't clear to the original buyers because the whole estate simply want built.

So if you're buying off-plan you have to accept some element of not knowing what the finished location will be like. But to accept it could continue to change and go ahead seems daft.....it's almost like buying a house which might have 4 beds or actually just have 3 in the end. Location is so important - hence Location,mlocal ion, location. You can often alter the house once you're in, but not the location or its surroundings.

There will always be more luxury new builds in other locations. If you have to pull out because of lack of certainty, you will find another. You are right to be worried about proceeding. Tell the developers in no uncertain terms that you need full information and certainty before you can proceed and it's not an unreasonable request. It will be a shame if you have to pull out, but better that than discovering when you move in that the surrounding area has a very different feel and character to the one you'd thought it would.

Thanks @WombatChocolate, I really appreciate your post, and everyone who has helped me realised I’m not just being a snobby cow and completely unreasonable. It was a bit of a shock to find out half the story but I definitely feel better now, knowing I’m not the only one that would query it.

Affordable/social housing is usually a set percentage of the development where I live, so if they are changing the plans to build more houses overall then yes, I think you are right that the number of affordable/social houses will also increase.

Agree with the PP who have suggested waiting for the plans to be finalised before exchanging. Good luck OP, hope it works out well for you - it is always stressful buying property and you don't need this on top of it all!

Thank you, it really is, and we thought we were doing it the easy way as we are part exchanging

I would be concerned not so much about the Affordable housing but about the change to parking allowances. I live in a fairly upscale development (too small to require an Affordable element) and we are just about getting by with parking. Unless they are providing a minimum of 2 parking places per property plus visitor places, it is likely to be chaos once all those houses are occupied

You will find many planning authority think lack of parking is good! No cars they think! Home owners don’t agree but parking rarely increases these days for obvious reasons! It’s all about forcing people not to have cars. Not about reality. The new plans wi have to be approved. It will alter ratios. No council wants more and more big homes and no smaller more affordable ones. Look at the planning documents for the estate. Look at any recent planning documents. Speak to the planning officer. This will be more about affordable housing and social housing. Part exchange doesn’t help you though. You are tied in. Can you extract easily?

Sadly @BubblesBuddy is right. Planning authorities are trying to Plan people to reduce car use by underproviding parking places but all that results is pparking çhaos

Yes - check very carefully and I ageee that unless 2 spaces are provided per property, it won’t be good enough and cause problems. You do also need some extras for visitors.
Don’t go ahead until you know that info and it has been finalised. New estates are having worse problems with this as planners and developers increasingly fulfill ‘green’ by giving fewer spaces. Of course this doesn’t reduce the amount of cars, just more parked on the narrow estate roads which won’t be able to have 2-way traffic flows when the extra cars which don’t have parking spaces are dumped wherever the residents can find.

Go and look at a large estate which has been finished in the last year or so and you will see worse problems in this are.

It’s not just the house, but this stuff that determines your quality of life.

Councils often insist on wiggly narrow roads with islands to slow traffic down too. Occasionally it can work. Only if public transport is good though. This is highway authority and planning department thinking! Some estates are not like this if they are intended to be traffic relief roads. So checking it all out is vital.