New build negotiating

[Pipersgirl]

Hi all,
We are hoping to move house shortly. We are having photographs taken of our house to get on the market hopefully next week- slightly worried given the current market that selling might not be as easy as we hope, but we will dip our toe and see!
There is a new build development we are interested in near my parents. It has been an ongoing development, but the current phase is nearing completion and there is some hesitation about whether there will be further development (another 2 phases planned, but not going ahead currently).
When we went to visit at the end of the last year, they only had two plots left to sell in addition to their show home. There now seem to be at least 5, although they aren’t keeping their website particularly up to date- it seems that reservations are falling through and coming back to the market.
Despite this, when I spoke to the saleswoman by email she was adamant they aren’t reducing prices. She isn’t the friendliest, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to approach things in terms of opening some negotiation.
The plot we are interested in is £690,000, which has risen from £660,000 last February. Looking at the market for older houses (or even ‘secondhand’ new builds selling from earlier phases of this development) this seems to be very over the top pricing, especially with everything else seeming to be reduced due to increasing interest rates.
Would anyone have any advice about how much to try and negotiate, and any success stories of previous incentives offered? It’s a slightly ‘premium’ large builder and things like turf, flooring etc are all as standard.
Thanks so much for any advice!

[LadyMargaretDevereux]

Some builders pay stamp duty - it's worth asking about that.

[APurpleSquirrel]

A development near me is offering £500 a month towards mortgage payments for first 12months, £3000 towards stamp duty & £1000 towards legal fees.
Other developers are offering similar including up to £5000 to help with cost of living rise.
Some properties are being reduced but mostly the developers want the sale price to remain the same & then they'll give you other incentives.

When we bought our house (10yrs ago, new build, first time buyers) we offered £15k less than asking, & asked for a 5% deposit so that, combined with our savings, we could get a better LTV rate. They agreed because we were FTB, & could complete quickly before their companies year end.

Definitely think about things like legal fees, stamp duty, moving costs, upgraded fixtures/fittings & tech, flooring, counters etc which they could offer to either help with costs or give you a better home without increasing the cost to you.

[Bluevelvetsofa]

We had stamp duty paid, upgraded hob and oven.

Does the developer’s name begin with B?

[nontoxicstuff]

Don't ask for a discount tell them what you will pay, they all say we dont do discounts they do they all do. Put yourself in a strong position first by getting a buyer for yours though its much more powerful. Good Luck be cheeky as well the worse they can do is say no but come back with an offer to you.

[Pipersgirl]

Thank you so much everyone- you’ve confirmed what we thought in that negotiations are common. Completely agree nontoxicstuff, we will make sure we are under offer before we start bartering otherwise worried they won’t take us seriously.
We would be happy to keep the overinflated headline price if that’s what they want, as understand they want it to look good on paper. Perhaps the way forward will be to aim for adjustments in terms of stamp duty, legal fees or cost of living payments. It’s difficult- everything in the area seems to be reduced on rightmove, some in the region to up to about 10%, so it’s just knowing how much we can ask for without looking ridiculous…

[Lkydfju]

We were offered either 5k off asking price and stamp duty paid or 7k of extras and stamp duty paid. That was once we’d viewed the show home and been clear we were serious buyers

[Febb]

@Pipersgirl just wondering how you got on? I am now in the same position considering a new build and making an offer..

[Snorkers]

Just be aware that when you try to sell you may not see your money back. Developers inflate the house prices by up to 20% and majority of people would not touch a new build ith a bargepole (horror stories of bodges, monotype designs, soulless estates, parking nightmares as not enough spaces for all, cheap building materials, gardens that are full of rubble, overlooked/no privacy, poor locations, resentment from local communities who have had their green spaces trashed etc).