why avoid new builds?

[perplexedandbemused]

DH and I are looking at houses. Over the years I've come to completely disregard new builds based on a feeling/tone from others, without ever actively questioning the opinion against them.

So, I'm questioning it now. Please can someone explain in simple terms why a person might avoid a new build property?

After a friend of mine nearly had a literal nervous breakdown dealing with the issues in her new build (which ultimately ended up in them replacing the entire kitchen and stripping back the walls to the bare bricks and redoing it), I wouldn't touch anything from the big chains.

Our house is on an estate that was built c.30 years ago and there are quite a few roofing problems coming to light now that shouldn't be happening. Despite our house being identical in layout to next door, the finish of their roof, walls, insulation, etc, is all different to ours. A neighbour that's lived there from the start said the builders worked in teams and each team seemed to have preference over what to use, or whatever they could use cheaper. So while our walls are filled with solid insulation blocks, next door's is filled with polystyrene balls!

The only people I've known that have been immediately happy with their new build are local builders that have done small developments of up to 10 houses.

Most people only live in houses for 20 years or so.

I would rather live in a house built to last 100 years and keep the money I save to spend on cars and holidays rather than having gigantic thick walls that will make it last 500 years and not benefit me at all.

What happens to my house in 100 years time is largely irrelevant to me. That's someone else's problem. All that matters is that it survives long enough for me to be able to sell it for a decent price before I die.

Have brought two new builds and four older properties over the years.

Our current house is NB but on a very small devlopment and its great. Yes, there is a snob value on NOT buying new but the botched DIY of older houses and the lack of care is often not great on older proerties. My Mum had a terraced Victorian house and it wasnt great, damp proof course was put in wrong and rooms funny sizes. They liked small rooms rather than open plan in those days.

Give me a NB on a very small estate any day. Would never go back to the older properties.

Over priced.
Poorly constructed.
Never ending snagging list when you move in.
Lack of communication with builders when things go wrong after you've moved in.

I've lived in new builds since 2000. Am
In my 4th and love them. Never had a problem.

I don't want 'character' I want a nicely decorated house with no DIY and all new appliances

Avoid them if your thing is redocration and DIY because they are not for you.

I'm in a new build which has large, airy rooms, parking for 2 cars, landscaped gardens and is A rated epc. The emphasis is on greener living. I don't hear my neighbours and they don't hear me. I've had minimal snags and the developer has been quick to respond. All the tradespeople are courteous and considerate.

I've lived in houses of all ages and styles and I can honestly say it's the best one which is just as well because I'm not moving again.
Not all developers are cowboys!

Got my two bed flat as a new build six years ago. Quiet, well insulated, warm and large. Large living area. Bedroom one is huge like a hotel suite with an en suite and walk in wardrobe. Bedroom two is a good size double. Large 'family' bathroom. Roof top garden and private 7 metre balcony - can put as much or as little effort into that as I like. Private secure parking. Built on old industrial land near a train station so transport links are excellent.

Better in every way than the old, small, damp Victorian houses friends have bought with their leaks, old boilers, neighbours they can hear constantly and where they're constantly battling for a parking space.

Not true

This is why we bought a new build where we wanted to move to - same price as comparable houses 20-30 years old.

Yes the gardens were bigger but I hate gardening

But they all without exception needed substantial cosmetic redecoration vs a brand new move in ready house where we'd picked the interiors

If we wanted an up to date house we were looking at 30k more

Appreciate this isn't the same in all areas but it was definitely true for us

Also we moved from a 4 bed Victorian terrace to a 4 bed detached. No bloody contest, wish we'd done it years ago and I used to be a snob about new builds.

Love mine, so warm, my energy bills are 1/3 of my previous house. It's an amazing location too, the trade off is a tiny garden but I don't have green fingers! Our rooms are well proportioned for a 3 bed house - 2 double bedrooms plus a master bedroom with en-suite, large dining kitchen with space for a sofa as well if you want it, home office/4th bedroom downstairs too, several are used for home salons etc as right by the entrance and downstairs loo

Should also mention have great sound insulation, cannot hear attached neighbours or noisy young adults who currently reside here. This is something people moan about continuously on Mumsnet from older properties

So how old can a new build be?

You'd say mine is a new build, but it's 21 years old. When does it stop being new? Or is it all houses post the 60s or 70s?

Anyway mine's a small four bed house. It'd be better as a three bed but other than that I love the fact it's detached but not so large as to make it expensive. Detached was what I needed for my sanity when we moved! I knew other people who lived in the road before me, so I knew the house build quality was okay. Many of owners have been here the full 21 years and are all quite happy.

We are very overlooked by the house behind us (gardens are decent but wide rather than long) but if I was in a terraced house I'd be overlooked to. I'm cool with it.

Not in my area. I'd have paid another £100,000 for a tiny terrace on a narrow street with pot luck parking and air bnbs every other house.

How about:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/jul/13/new-build-home-barratt-house

It’s not an established community so no real feel for an area. I looked at 21 houses when I was buying. Most of the houses were ok but then stuff beyond the boundary isn’t.

There was a new build estate near my friend. Issues on it means the houses lost value.

My 3 bed built in the 1920’s has almost as much floor space as the 4 bed new builds down the road.

Mainly poor build quality, shoddy finishing, gardens usually just an inch or two of soil or turf over the top of building rubble. Doors that aren't hung properly, cracks in new plasterwork, windows that don't open/close, interior painting done as if decorated by a toddler, electric switches/sockets that don't work.

But also lack of parking, small gardens, usually overlooked, small rooms, no storage, small windows, barely fag packet width between houses, horrible winding access roads, cul-de-sacs. Basically far too many homes squeezed into the site.

We've looked at numerous show homes on new build estates over the past 20-30 years and wouldn't touch any of them with a bargepole due to poor design or poor workmanship.

Mostly very poorly built.

It’s the build quality

They are typically poor value because people like ‘new stuff’ so if you buy a new one, you struggle to get your money back when you move (because it’s not new anymore). Proportions are typically stingy, materials usually the cheapest thing going and you typically have not outside space and no oarkjng.

My ex used to build houses. He said he'd never buy one in a million years, they were so poorly built.

So many tradesmen have told me about the shoddy work they have seen on new builds and tell me they personally wouldn't buy a new build. This is backed up by my ds who worked as a labourer on building sites during uni holidays and now works in the industry as a quantity surveyor.

Here you go OP.

Edit: just saw someone beat me to it.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/jul/13/new-build-home-barratt-house?CMP=fbgu&utmmedium=Social&utmsource=Facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3huGu5kRjs93DcnBIx0WOEGH4IShSnse-4cCRYYBYSfSQ9KB45CVVORUQaempW6bxtLNWbzID1GCC4MA#Echobox=1720863340

Pokey rooms

Loads of toilets, and their existence prioritised over larger rooms/more storage space

Small plots/gardens

Overpriced compared to older houses with the same square meterage

Often inconvenient locations eg right at the edge of town, no amenities in walking distance

Sometimes built on areas of dubious suitability for building eg flood plains

Thanks so much, this has been educational!

We have lived in one for the last decade. We don't want to stay so will be moving eventually.

Cons:
Used wrong parts, which caused bad leaks.
Plumber said the bricks are like they are made of sand, really crap to drill through. Any workman we used said they hate new builds.
Promised things that weren't carried out. Sale was to include a fence, they didn't do a fence.
Paper thin walls, I can hear next door arguing, it's awful.
Parking is a major issue. Neighbours here are cheeky and there isn't much space.
Heavily overlooked.
Development went bust so they never finished the tarmac at front so it looks shit.
Garden was rubble. Had to get rid of shed loads of glass. Spent £££ making it decent for the kids to safely play in.
Tiny windows, a kid could fall out of them, they are always locked.
No storage built in.
Carpeting place cost arm and leg.

Pros:
Room size isn't too bad
Garden bigger than some of the others, got lucky.
Apparently insulation good it's like a sauna in summer
Too many people about so deters burglars.
Lots of toilets, suits us as 3 kids and someone always needs the loo.

Really depends on your budget. We've only owned new builds (rented a couple too) and have only had good experiences. When people talk about boxes on small plots with no parking, they're talking about cheaper houses. Our house is large, detached, parking for 6+ vehicles, with a modern floor plan that works for us, cheap to run, but it cost a lot more than small new builds. Obviously. We paid a premium for new but I'd expect that of any home, just as you'd expect to pay more for a refurbed house, our house has increased in value at a good rate since we bought it according to our remortgaging survey and resale prices on the estate. We've decorated it to our style so is characterful for us. Picked a fantastic plot. We have no service charge. It's freehold. Not sure if we'll move again but if we do we'd absolutely go new build again, probably look there first.

So yeah don't rule it out if you like the look of new build, lots of shit ones out there, but lots of shit old houses too, do your research, you can't generalise.