This conversation is always so frustrating, especially when the usual cliches are thrown down and from hear say not direct experience. "My uncle says" "I've heard" "my carpenter told me". You have to research yourself, and the individual development.
New builds are not built equally, you can't group all new builds together any more than you can old houses.
I look at more modern houses and have chosen new builds for the following reason:
- I had a small deposit and didn't want to nor have the cash to do work, I wanted it perfect from day one.
- more energy efficient, cheaper bills, better for the environment.
- modern functional living, I want multiple toilets and bathrooms, I want a modern layout with a mix of open plan and segregation, in most houses I looked at I preferred the flow of new builds even if the rooms were smaller.
- I wanted a double garage and private double driveway, this was easier for us to find in our budget with modern houses.
- if you negotiate a good deal (we had flooring, upgraded appliances etc) there is very little initial outlay, no rewiring, boiler or carpeting you may have to do for an older house.
Not all new builds are small, or have management fees, or are over crowded with poor parking. Not are all timber frame, ours is traditional build. Mortgage companies would lend on houses supposedly "thrown up". Just as with any house search your budget will determine how much space you will get, we do not have a small house, perhaps we'd have got "more house for our money" with an older one, but this house is a perfect size I don't need more, space is one criteria and I'm not personally looking for the biggest house I can get, I wouldn't want too big I have an optimal size. We do not have a management company. We are in a cul de sac that is not over looked with parking for 6 cars as do the houses around us so parking is not an issue. Yep you pay a bit of a premium, but remember it is brand new, people negotiate deals when houses need work, you'd pay more for a refurbed house so why wouldn't you for a new build? New builds DO increase in value, when the property market is stable, they increase, yes they can be a bit more of a risk in the short term in an unstable market, no they may not bring as much of a return as an older property. New houses aren't like new cars. And if it's a longer term purchase, as ours is, I don't think about it, we made a profit in our last house despite selling within 3 years: the areas they're built in are often desirable in my experience. And London new build flats are a whole other kettle of fish when it comes to value and space etc vs the rest of the country, they can't be discussed in the same conversation.
Snagging is an issue, as you would expect with anything made by people, mistakes can happen. The trick is to research the site to assess customer service, not the developer as it differs massively even within a developer. Our site has the site manager who won site manager of the year last year, he wants to keep that reputation. We booked a snagger, we had 60 insignificant snags listed (didn't see most of them myself) every one of them was dealt with within 2 weeks, the customer service from the team and tradesmen has been brilliant. This is a well known national builder.
I have lived in 4 new builds and loved every one of them. The biggest compromise for me, although this is budget related of course but I accept I'd have likely gotten bigger with an older property, is garden size. But that was a compromise I was willing to take and like many new builds our development comes with lots of green spaces.
I hope I covered all the usual qualms, nope they're not for everyone, but considering hundreds of thousands are built they are suitable for many, no need for such snobbery.
And to reiterate, YOU CANT GENERALISE!