Need to make a decision ASAP new build plot! Help

[MakeADecision]

We have been wanting to move house for years.

A new build has come up locally, the house price, size and frontage is perfect. In fact everything is apart from the fact that there will be numerous shared ownership properties directly behind the house.

I know new builds have smaller gardens and most now have a certain number of homes as affordable housing, that’s fair enough. What I am worried about is seeing into peoples bedrooms from the back of the house although the main bedroom will be at the front opposite a nice green area.

Garden will be 36 feet deep and the garden of the smaller properties will be 26 feet, therefore from back window to back window it’ll be around 62 feet. Is that a decent distance?

Ive also heard of house builders selling shared ownership properties to the council, I’m worried about nuisance neighbours but then I could have one next door?! Am I overthinking this?

It’s plot 12.

Sorry, 42 not 43. Fat fingers.

As with anything, nothing is perfect.
Everyone has neighbours some are great some are a nightmare.
Our previous house was a new build in the same kind of setting.
It is ticking a lot of your boxes, so go for it.
We had a north facing garden, we got a fair bit of sun. Certainly the back corner, put your patio there. The front part of the garden did not get much so do not spend your £ here.
The green out the front looks lovely, great for your kids to play. We had the same thing, loved it. Dog poo was a bit of a problem you just need a residence Facebook page and keep the pressure up.
I am assuming it is on a estate and the land at the front. Our previous developers sold the freehold to a holding company that were difficult to get hold of when we came to sell. Make sure you get the full management t&c's up front and try and get them to notify you if they were to sell this freehold for the communal area.

Ooh just double checked only 4 of this house type, 2 have been taken and the last will be in phase 2 and not really a great spot.

I mean yes I could wait - however they only consider part exchange when a property has a roof on, that last house may be bought buy someone else that doesn’t need part exchange if that makes sense.

Plot 14 is the same house but sold and plot 43 is the one we originally enquired about in Jan this year - it’s £90K more but that has also now sold. The developer kept our number hence the phone call re plot 12 coming back on the market yesterday

Yes that’s sold too - they are definitely better plots!

It’s a very sought after village location and my worry is if we hold on for other houses to come onto the market in this estate we may miss out - especially as the show homes will be available to view and I think once the estate is a bit more established people wilL be able to visualise living there - it’s just a building site at the moment!

We have a huge green in front of us, and it's never a problem. Occasional kids playing, but in the main, it's really peaceful. We sit in our front garden in the summer, rather than the back, as it's sunnier and has a view. I like the fact that you are only one house from the end of the street, so you will have minimal cars or people passing by - that's a big plus. I would grow leylandii along the bottom fence for privacy - they grow so quickly.

I have a relative who has bought a new build surrounded by 70 shared ownership houses. The key word is OWNERSHIP. There are no full tenants. Everyone is so happy to be on the property ladder and this is evident by the immaculate appearance of the houses and gardens. Two have recently come back on the market and sold in a day.

Agree that the green is more of a problem. We looked at a gorgeous house on a green recently. Went back for a second viewing to find graffiti and teenage boys causing mayhem on the green.

The shared ownership wouldn’t bother me at all. Nor would the fact there are properties overlooking - we have houses behind us and to me it’s just part of living in an urban area.

what I would consider is how big the drives are and if you are likely to have cars parked here there and everywhere. In our estate, different plots have different drives just depending on the way the road curves rather than the size of the house. So we are on a corner plot so can easily fit 4 cars on ours but only have 1. But other houses that are the same as ours can only fit 2. With adult children often living at home longer there are some houses that have 4 cars or a couple of cars plus work van etc and they are bumped up kerbs or parked horizontally over the end of their drive. Just something to think about if you are up that private road. The upside is though, that plot of yours will be quieter as no passing traffic. Although you will undoubtedly have kids playing on the grassy area-not something that bothers me but it will for some.

you know shared ownership isn't the same as council houses don't you? They'll be homeowners just like you

Unless they aren’t sold and are leased to The Council who use them to house “problem families”
Happened to us

The green would be a huge no for me. We sold our dream forever home because it overlooked one. Screaming kids all day and teenagers on the cider all night. Fucking dreadful.

@MakeADecision Do you like the house? Do you like the location? Do you like the price? The reality is that most houses are overlooked on some way but however interesting you think your life is, it's probably not that interesting to your neighbours. They'll be too busy getting on with their lives to be bothered about yours. Reverse the situation. You overlook them too. Will you be staring at them all day?
Shared ownership buyers have to get a mortgage too. They're no more likely to be smoking weed in their garden and trashing their investment than you are or any of the 100% owning neighbours.
We have both shared ownership and affordable housing on our estate too (which is considered to be very desirable with £1m+ houses). This is because we are rural and affordable housing for rural economy workers is necessary. You wouldn't know unless you know.
There'll always be someone who's had an awful experience which will naturally colour their view but there's a lot of scaremongering going on. You could equally pass this house over, buy a house with no affordable/shared/social housing and still end up with an arsehole for a neighbour.

Honestly from your last few posts i would go for it. If the house went to someone d else how would you feel?

You will definitely notice the houses at the back at 60 ish foot away. But this is the reality for most homes. I always laugh at the posters who are aghast at buying such a house. Have they never driven around a town, looked at a map? This is how most people live! Just from the map alone, I can see these are nice houses. Good
size plots and driveways. No house is going to be perfect, and I imagine in your area you’d have to pay a lot to not be overlooked at all, or live more remotely than you would like. imm sure there are plenty of ways you can create some privacy in the garden, with trees or a covered seating area. And you get used to the overlooking houses when you realise that nobody really stands in their back bedrooms spying on the neighbours!

It does sound as if you love the house and it suits you. No house will be perfect. I would check for any management charges because someone has to maintain that green space if nothing else.