New build on unadopted/private road and at the bottom of a hill/slope - helppp

[Whichhousetochoose]

Hey everyone, would really appreciate some advice about a new build we are/were about to reserve! Found out a couple of things yesterday that im not sure about. House has not yet been built.

1. This particular road on the estate is a private/unadopted road. There will be 7 houses total along the road. So we will need to pay a maintenance charge to a seperate management company (not the developer). Its about £260 per year at the minute but understand that could rise. What would it mean in the future if something went wrong with the road (eg pothole) or sewer etc? Would we have an extra bill on top of our monthly charge? What if a neighbour doesnt want to pay etc? How would it affect home insurance?

2. This end of the estate is on a downward slope - the house we are looking to buy is on the road right at the bottom of the slope. Im concerned that the rainwater from the houses higher up will end up in our garden and it becomes a bog/floods the house. If relevant, there is a large field beyond the road/house. Developer says garden will be levelled up. I asked to see the drainage plan, which they showed me but to be honest i had absolutely no idea what i was looking at and if it looked suitable!

Any advice would be much appreciated! In all other ways, this is the dream house and ive fantasised about owning one for so long. Will be gutted if this means we have to reconsider. Thank you!

I think you need a proper drainage design

In today's world of severe drought/flooding, no way would I buy a house at the bottom of a slope.
The unadopted road would also put me off 100%, for the reasons you mentioned. Have the developers explained why the council won't take over the road?

@StylishM no, they havent said why. We are going back down there today so I will ask them. Keep reading horror stories online!

The situation with the maintenance charge is that it should build up a fund to cover maintenance. The two things that would worry me are:-

1. Who is managing the fund? I think it should be entirely the residents of the road.
2. That management fee could increase very rapidly if not managed properly.

In the event that something needs doing and there isn't enough in the pot, the residents need to cover the shortfall. I don't know what happens if someone doesn't pay. Presumably a very protracted court case with the remaining residents covering that shortfall too.

There are benefits to a private road, but there are also risks. I think this would put me off if buying off plan and I couldn't see the entire picture. Either that or you need a pretty cast iron contact with the developer about exactly how they will leave it.

Ditto about the drainage plan.

@HappiestSleeping thank you for your advice. These are exactly the things that are concerning me. Just worried the ‘dream house’ could turn into a money pit.

We were so excited to sell our house to a cash buyer last week so that we could buy this house. No others on the market we like. Really quite disheartening!

You can probably mitigate some of the risk by engaging your own subject experts. There will be plans registered at the local authority and the building inspector to speak to as a start. They may be able to point you in the direction of deeper expertise.

I have to be honest, I am also sceptical about the quality of new builds, so make sure you engage a specialist snagging company.

Look at the New Home Quality Control youtube channel. That guy has eyes like a hawk. If engage him and he goes country wide.

My DD bought a house on an unadopted road. It was a struggle to get a mortgage because of this.
When part of the road became worn and needed resurfacing, some of the other residents contributed, but not all. It cost £10k to resurface about 20m of road - single track country lane.

DP works in highways/planning..... when we were looking for a house he wouldn't even view anything on a private/unadopted road. Just too much potential hassle & he's seen so many people have problems.
The potential flooding would put me off too if the house was at the bottom of a slope.

I live on a private road and we do not pay anyone anything for maintenance. There are a couple houses on the road. We have insurance and we all contribute whatever the excess amount is for maintenance as it arises. Originally our excess was 5 figures said not on your life and I think it’s £200 now so worth looking into. The road has recently been resurfaced but we didn’t have to pay anything for this. I would also run a mile from any house that may have flooding issues, you are unlikely to get B&C insurance after the first issue

We live on an unadopted road. There are about 50 households on it (mix of flats and houses). The problem with maintenance is very real. A few times over the years we have had a meeting of householders as the road needs to be resufaced. The first time they said that if every householder put in £150 that would cover the costs in entirety. We put in £300 as we knew our neighbour could not afford that and in the end only 4 householders put in their share. So it was pointless.

Also we are a few roads back from the main part of our town and transport links and it is a bloody nightmare for commuters using our road instead of paying for parking. In the end we all had to club together again to get a private parking management company to monitor the road and that then presented another set of problems.

So- I would be unenthusiastic about it tbh. Particularly if you have potential drainage issues as well

This may not be an issue where you live but it won't get gritted in winter, the Council may not install street lights and they may not drive down the road to collect your bins.

Near to where I live is a new build cul-de-sac where the road has not even been finished/surfaced/tarmacked. There is no pavement or kerbstones. The builder has the £££ from selling the houses and has just walked away. (He's known locally for this). The residents expect the Council to sort it out. They won't.

I'd be asking the builder why they are not intending the Council to adopt the road in the future.

Councils have guides for developers that set out the construction standards for new roads so that they can be adopted. I’d be worried that the road wasn’t built to the standard and so would be more likely to deteriorate.

Most small roads dont get gritted anyway, adopted or not.

I have lived some where with a maintenance fee, costs can go up as well as down 😊

Also drainage would worry me, water finds the lowest point which would be the levelled garden at the bottom of the road ie yours 🙁

I wouldn't just because of the private road, price rises, potholes etc, it could end up being expensive.
Plus being at the bottom of the hill, flooding etc.
As a side note there's a road near me on a hill, it's unadopted by the council.
The home owners on the right hand side have pooled together and tarmacked the road but only on their side so it's tarmacked, lovely and smooth up to the middle broken white line , the other side of the white line is a potholed, cratered mess.
It looks awful and makes driving on it horrible, the tarmac is at least two inches above the other road surface, it's a side road with cars parked so it forces you down the middle of the road.
Makes me smile every time I walk up the hill 😃

I'd avoid it for all the pp reasons. We are at the end of a private unadopted lane to the backs of our gardens and it has been badly rutted by bin lorries and endless trades lorries delivering home improvement supplies. Any attempts at repairs are churned up by neighbours' cars. A mad strimmerer comes along every few months and rips up my attempts at some greenery on the verge outside my garage. Last week was the final straw when I saw that bushes in bud had been destroyed. Lack of lighting makes it vulnerable even though most of us have motion sensitive lights.

It's a hard no from me.

We live on a private road about 8 houses and each house owns the bit in front of it plus the hedgesection of the field opposite.I would prefer your arrangement, than having to persuade everyone to chip in when it needs redoing .

Have you checked the area for flood risk?
https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/find-location

https://check-long-term-flood-risk.service.gov.uk/postcode
Sorry. This one

I'm a conveyancer, if the road is going to be unadopted it's because it won't be constructed up to the standard required for adoption which means you are already dealing with a substandard road. Costs of road maintenance are stupendously high, much higher than people imagine so your monthly service charge may very well not cover costs, plus as it's a management company you have to pay the costs of keeping the company running, insurance, professional management fees etc. There may be complications that you haven't thought about such as the bin lorry not collecting from the houses only the nearest adopted road because the council don't want to be sued for damaging the road with the lorry.

Moving on to your second point I wouldn't ever buy a property at the bottom of a hill. New build estates are thrown up as cheaply as possible often on land previously not built on due to being part of a flood plain and the gardens etc are rarely properly drained.

Thank you so much everyone for your advice. Have decided not to proceed with the purchase. Difficult as we love the house, but I would just be worrying every time it rained, and worried we would be landed with a huge maintenance bill one day. Thats also not taking into account any of the other issues you can encounter with new builds!!

Now i feel so deflated and questioning myself whether it wouldnt be that bad! But im too much of a worrier and would never be able to relax 😭

In addition to what I've previously said, the construction quality of new builds are generally terrible. You are overpaying to be able to spec your kitchen, bathrooms and flooring. They are rarely worth it. Also, please get a survey, do not rely upon the bank's valuation survey. Whilst you pay the bank for it the bank instructs the surveyor and you cannot rely on it at all.

When you talk about a field on the other side, is the field above or below your house? You can get a surprising amount of run off from fields depending on what they are used for, and of course even if your house was fine, if the field was ever changed/built on, it could become a problem in the future.

If flooding is an issue, it will further damage the road surface, which will potentially increase your maintenance costs too!

Are you desperate for a new build? If not, it probably makes more sense to look at existing houses where any issues will be already clear/known.

@Postapocalypticcowgirl its below the house 🙂 and yes with the risk of flooded garden from rainfall from properties further up the hill, i did consider there would be a higher chance of the road needing to be maintained sooner.

oh im so disappointed! I know regret it worse than disappointment but id honestly loved that house for months & was so excited to be able to reserve it. Theres a little voice in my head saying maybe it wont be that bad, but Im pretty certain it would be!