Properties on for £800k+ not selling? Why?

[MuckyBrass]

Near me, there are loads of houses on Rightmove for around £800k, £900k, even up to £1m ish which have sat on the market for a year or two. I've long been desperate to move to a bigger house so I check Rightmove all the time, but my budget is more like £600k so I've never viewed any of them, and really I'm just being nosy. They are all lovely houses, I'd buy any of them in a heartbeat if they were on for £600k. I don't understand. Are they really for sale? Or are they just sitting on Rightmove as pretty houses to make the estate agents's rosters look good? Some of them have had their prices reduced by £100k or even more at various points, but they're still evidently not selling at the £800k plus mark.

I'm in a small (but fairly naice) market town with no train station, not an easy commute to any major city, so I actually struggle to think who would be earning enough or have the cash around here to be the actual buyers for houses in that price bracket anyway. We're not talking loads of land, either. These are normal town houses, period properties mostly, small gardens, 4-6 bedrooms.

They aren't my thing either but I can definitely see why people choose them.
They tend to be a bit better price than older homes and need no £££ spent on renovation. Some people probably just like the 'perfect' look. The developers often offer incentives too.
I don't think new builds have been selling well in general for a little while. I've seen reductions on list price across lots of areas.

I'm definitely not anti new build at all.

I just think you can't really look at new build sales as a great indicator of the London market for higher end properties as most of them are flats, where sales have been depressed in London for a while due to Covid, ground rents, cladding, lack of outdoor space.

There might still be willing money but there is no question sales and demand for London are way down from what they used to be.

Most people don"t NEED to move or buy a house, that is important if you are trying to flog something relatively basic for 800k.

How is Covid depressing sales in London in 2026?

It depressed the desirability of flats, which has stayed depressed.

New build flats have great insulation, soundproofing and good layouts in comparison to conversion flats of the same size. Most have lifts.
They lose value because unless they are share of freehold or managed by council there's no guarantee you'll not be paying 10K in service charges on top of mortgage in a few years and buyers finally realized that.

I think also you need to add the expense of moving especially stamp duty and then there is the stress that a lot of people are probably missing the flat stage and buying a house.

I agree with that. I think the concept of the housing ladder is getting a bit antiquated.

@JustAlice I think that's also true, but there have been a lot banged up in our neighbourhood and I can see why people don't think one-bedrooms that start at 700,000 are a particularly safe investment if they're wanting to work their way up to a house or a family sized flat.

I know development is down overall in London, but it feels like we're getting notified of consultations on planning applications for massive new builds every month in my neighbourhood, which is causing a lot of uproar locally. I don't actually object to new builds, but I do object to ones that no one can afford or that sit empty.

I’m not sure if I already said this but quite a few you get colleagues & some of my relatives have skipped the traditional flat stage in z2/3 and bought a house in z4. It makes sense when you consider stamp duty and the fact people are older and may be thinking about families sooner rather than later

The housing ladder concept definitely doesn't work now like it used to and there's multiple reasons. FTBs are older, so they're more likely to need space for kids at first purchase. Many flats are a much shonkier investment, not all of them but lots. Covid is indeed part of that because we've all just experienced the difference between having a private outside space of your own that you control, and not. Then also the cladding scandal. And also there are fewer properties below the stamp duty threshold now, so moving multiple times gets more expensive.

Agree about the housing ladder. This is the argument I've made a lot.

In the past you'd go FTB, first small family home, mature large family home.

Now most people go FTB home, small family home. Or even just small family home straight from parents.

That's why there's issues with the 'second tier' of the market which planners and builders neglected and that's where all the demand is.

This is one of the reasons we have a housing shortage. It's not necessarily even a shortage of homes, it's a shortage of the right size of homes in the right price band.

Exactly and in the right place too.

I see new builds overpriced on a £/m2 based on older homes in good order and that’s been the case for years now
With the exception of those on a part buy basis they are pushing prices up in many areas
Its also worth noting this idea that all non new builds need work is simply not the case.

My db had 600 snagging issues on his new build taking years to sort out and now after living there for 15 years cracks are appearing.

But new-build houses in London are doing worse than flats, sales down 60%?

I'd be curious to see numbers, prices and neighbourhoods for those, as I can only think of a very few new build houses anywhere in my neighbourhood.

There are definitely flats, and since they start at around 700,000 for a one bed, if the houses are priced in line with that, they're going to cost as much as a Victorian or Edwardian, so I would think they're appealing to the relatively small pool of buyers who have a preference for new.

I can see in some ways that new build estates outside of London offer a neighbourhood kind of experience, with cul-de-sacs so kids can play outside, etc., but you're not getting that in London.

I just looked
Try
Rightmove
London
filter for
Newbuild
Houses

of note most are around the Elizabeth line and in regeneration areas

Click on ‘raw data’ and click ‘detached’ you will see SW, NW and EC saw a rise in detached prices over the last 12 mths - SW by as much as 33%.

Nor can you take total data from outward codes at face value. As I said each outward code contains many different areas and London pricing is very area specific, even road specific.

Thanks, just tried that. There are 20 flats, but no houses in my postcode. I checked another nearby and there are 4 townhouses and 2 'mews' houses, all in the same development. They are £2m.

I fully understand that new builds aren't selling well in London. I just don't see it as reflective of the general market, or at least, not my experience with it.

Service charges and a ground rent issues.

Service charges are a result of councils refusing to adopt new estates. They should be forced to. It would make a lot of this housing more affordable...

A lot of new builds are actually up to 20% more than the value of other similar properties too. So why would you touch them? Mortgage companies will only lend you the money if they think a property is worth the money. Then there's financing deals direct with the builders which again aren't great value for money.

We bought a new build some years ago. Only way we could buy (it was shared ownership). Our service charges and rent were part of the reason we staircased and then eventually decided we needed to move. The mortgage and rent were initially cheaper than a full mortgage. When it got to a point that the mortgage and rent were higher than the mortgage on the full value of the property we staircased. We were lucky to be able to. Then the service charges kept going up - the contract we had was a lot better than many of the houses on the same estate including similar sized ones. We were just lucky to buy one of the first on the estate and got better terms. Eventually we got to the point where we needed more space and the charges were getting scary. Our neighbour had to go to an interest only mortgage as she was so squeezed by the rent and service charge rises.

I wouldn't touch a new build now. It's only got worse since our old estate was built (that's nearly 20 years ago now).

It was worthwhile when we did it. The house was value for money. The new builds near us are so unbelievably overpriced.

A lot are eye watering sums

I didn't look by specific area just the whole of London and set it at highest price first
Fancy a townhouse for £46mill

I think the point re pricing probably varies. I've seen some new build estates which are definitely cheaper than period properties and visa versa.
As far as the condition goes, I completely agree that there are some new builds of shocking quality. That's one thing that always put me off buying a new build in the UK, although not the main factor.

I see that but I also see that most areas have fallen, something that you seem to have missed repeatedly, despite apparently working in property.

I also see that if you look at SW and then check the chart to look at the numbers, there were very low numbers sold (none appear in August at all and v low numbers in the other months). It seems probable that the values here have been skewed by a small number of very expensive homes doesn't it. I also see that the price from peak in the SW area is recorded as 0%. In the NW, it is recorded as -9.6%. Check the data numbers for the EC region and you will see why that result is v unrepresentative. The other regions seem to have more steady sales than SW and EC. You do have to bear in mind that the LR data is many months out of date and only gets published v gradually, with data still being added months, even years later.

I think we've already dealt with your second point several times over.

@rainingsnoring

I’m sorry would have done fine.

I never denied the general market has fallen so I’m not sure why you’re pretending I did.

In SW postcodes most homes are expensive by national standards.

As I said before you cannot understand the London property market from Google. I’m not wasting any more time on this.

Cheaper than period properties on a £/m2 ?

What area ?