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New build houses


Lloyd90
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I've bought and lived in 2 new builds since 2007, the only reason I moved was to get a bigger house and have had no issues whatsoever. Yes there isn't as much land/space as an older property and some of the internal walls are plasterboard but it's worry free living, most appliances are new and guaranteed, the structure itself is guaranteed for 10 years and any quality issues get fixed straight away.

 

Agreed, I had never considered a new build until I bought one 6 months ago. It is absolutely pristine inside and looks to me to be finished to a high standard. I'm not interested in DIY in the slightest and liked the idea of modern fuss-free property. There are no neighbour noise issues despite the plasterboard walls, but I did have to bolt my gun cabinet to the floor rather than the walls!

 

What I have also found is there a real sense of community with the other homeowners, as everybody on the block is 'new' people seemed very friendly and welcoming :good: Having said that, it's early days.... :lol:

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I move into my newbuild in May.

 

There are pros and cons for newbuild (all of these are assuming that the builder has fulfilled their obligations).

 

Pros:

  • No previous diy/additions to sneak up on you (think bad wiring hidden under floorboards/ using incorrect circuits or plumbing bodges).
  • New boiler and central heating system
  • Well insulated
  • New appliances
  • No work needed, just move in and live in
  • Incentives and assistance for buyers. Such as help to buy, part ex or assisted sale. PS, if you are a first time buyer, look into the Help to buy ISA. It’s free money.
  • You have some choice over fixtures and fittings
  • New homes tend to be better laid out than older ones (depending on developer) Ours has four well sized bedrooms. No silly box rooms or single bedrooms.

 

Cons:

  • The resale values is governed by the developer’s prices until they are off site (why would you pay a premium for a used house when you can buy a new one)
  • Living on a building site until the builder is off site
  • Some builders are crooks
  • Tradesmen don’t take pride in their work, this can lead to niggles
  • BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHERE THE “AFFORDABLE HOUSING” IS BEING LOCATED ON THAT DEVELOPMENT, AND MAKE SURE THAT YOUR HOUSE IS AS FAR AWAY FROM THEM AS POSSIBLE. We had friends who had Socrates living next door. They ended up selling their house and moving.
  • Garden is usually an inch or two of topsoil spread over rubble
  • You are often not allowed to make external alterations until the builder is off site
  • Smaller garden

 

New builds do have their square footage listed, so you can make your own comparisons. The best thing is to drive as close to the actual building works as you can and get a feel for the construction. See if you'd be happy to live in those houses.

 

Out house has double block walls with an insulated cavity between us and the neighbour so don't anticipate any noise issues.

 

For us, we have been looking at houses for a while, and needed to move fast (an adjacent property to our house was being converted into an HMO for potentially troubled individuals (ex adoption system teens). We couldn’t find a house that suited our needs better than the new build. It was in the area we wanted to live in etc.

 

One thing to watch out for. A lot of people who buy new builds seem to be governed by heart over head. The developers will try to play this and bully you. Don't stand for it, and be prepared to walk away when negotiating on price/extras if you don't get what you want.

Edited by BrowningB525
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It's the Hexham style townhouse with Barratt Homes.

 

Pro's are they've been rated 5* builder for the last 8 years, meaning over 90% of their customers would recommend them on.

They are also brick and block, not timber frame.

 

Cons: There are a fair few 'Affordable Houses' and they're all spread right across the development. I'm not a snob but it's put me right off. The gf seems to think that's what your going to get anywhere you go. I'm already wanting to say no and get on looking for something else 😂

Think she liked the fact the house is big and 4 "double rooms". I'm changing jobs at the moment so hope they sell it before my paperwork comes through 😂😂

 

7115287E-1AB9-4976-8410-7CB5728F2B27_zps

FYI we were looking at number 164. Affordable housing are all the white squares.

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It doesn't matter if its new or old property,all have their problems and don't believe the 'they don't make them like they used to'.

I have worked/built new builds and they do have problems,look at the ones that are in the process of being built,a good developer will keep it clean and for example make sure internal blocks are pointed up even though they will be covered,others may have trusses just laying about rather than stacked,so make sure you look at the ones being built and not just that shiny one.

We loaded out joists with blocks on a new build and and the metal joist hangers just folded and whole lot collapsed,but have renovated a couple of victorian terraced properties and they only had 3" joists and a plumber had notched out 1" for pipes !

House i was working on recently built 1950s has concrete fence posts as lintels for inner leaf and bricks just sit on frames !

 

Just be aware what ever you buy.

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In my experience when I bought my house 5 years ago follows what many have already stated.

Pros

New house with new build guarantee

Nice new shiny fittings and fixtures.

No need to spend money fixing it up in the near future

Cons

£50k+ premium for a new build

The new build will will be smaller than a 1970/80s house of same value.

The new build will have in most cases less parking. This results in every available pavement filled with vans and cars.

An older house in an older estate will already have developed it's nice and bad streets. In a new build estate that is yet to happen.

 

Friends of my wife have had to move out of their new builds due to undesirable neighbours making life unbearable and were concerned for their children. I also work with people who have had almost comical issues with their new build houses like toilets flushing hot and light switches not connected. All got sorted though.

 

In the end we went for a 1970s house. Parking for 3 cars, large corner plot, 3 double bedrooms and a garage something we could not have stretched to in a new build. On the downside we've had to spend quite a lot over 5 years doing the place up. Not enough to go over the new build premium but then again I've spent many weekends fixing the place up. It is all down to what you want. The large outside space and parking is what tipped the balance for us.

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It's the Hexham style townhouse with Barratt Homes.

 

Pro's are they've been rated 5* builder for the last 8 years, meaning over 90% of their customers would recommend them on.

They are also brick and block, not timber frame.

 

Cons: There are a fair few 'Affordable Houses' and they're all spread right across the development. I'm not a snob but it's put me right off. The gf seems to think that's what your going to get anywhere you go. I'm already wanting to say no and get on looking for something else

Think she liked the fact the house is big and 4 "double rooms". I'm changing jobs at the moment so hope they sell it before my paperwork comes through

 

 

 

 

7115287E-1AB9-4976-8410-7CB5728F2B27_zps

FYI we were looking at number 164. Affordable housing are all the white squares.

Edited by wandringstar
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So the card carrying socialist cant face the socialist policy of social housing, its good enough to inflict on others, but not on yourself.

Being a member of a party for some ideals doesn't make you a hard left communist 🙄 Although I doubt someone who has repeatly shown themselves up public would be able to understand 🖕🏻

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Don't be put off by timber frame houses, they are really well insulated and cheaper to heat.

 

The more expensive houses have the same skirting boards doors etc just have more of them. Don't think an older house is better built some are very poor.

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A terraced Victorian house in summertown, oxford, needing work often goes for £900k, its a nice spot though, iffley is very nice aswell.

 

This has nothing to do with new builds so sorry for the diversion.

hello, your right i know someone with a 4 bed victorian semi in summertown area 1million :rolleyes:

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So the card carrying socialist cant face the socialist policy of social housing, its good enough to inflict on others, but not on yourself.

Are you having a laugh? I would say the developer has been very sneaky they aren't building cheaper houses because they want to but because they have to, in an earlier post someone said look out for where the affordable housing is.

 

Who if your being honest would choose to spend say £300k and live by a 100k house, Kirsty always says you want the worst house on the best street this way you can make money and improve your position.

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Are you having a laugh? I would say the developer has been very sneaky they aren't building cheaper houses because they want to but because they have to, in an earlier post someone said look out for where the affordable housing is.

 

Who if your being honest would choose to spend say £300k and live by a 100k house, Kirsty always says you want the worst house on the best street this way you can make money and improve your position.

 

He's best just ignored I think. He likes to make silly comments to try and start arguments.

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https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/oct/29/new-builds-house-buyers-leasehold-property-trap

 

Their are a number of problems owners are having with leasehold on new build properties.

It is worth checking before signing on the dotted line.

Wise advice here.

Our lease was valued at £7k when we bought our property just a couple of years ago.

Now the remaining leases that were not bought by owners have been sold on to an investment company.

They now want double the amount, albeit apparently negotiable.

 

Worse case I've read was a lady who was quoted £34k for her lease 5 years after buying her new build - it was originally just £5k !

This will become the next PPI situation as original builders state ground rent (lease) will not increase more than inflation so everyone thinks that's ok. Then the builder sells it on and the new leasehold owner can do what they like with charges.

 

ATB.

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there is social housing on most sites now, if the site is above a certain number of houses they have too make 10%(i think) social housing, you can tell which is which because the spec of the social houses is better than the private houses, and the curtains tend to open after midday as well . i wouldnt buy a new house, the seem rather flimsy to me, a complete lack of storage, proximity to neighbours are all factors. i have seen some shocking work passed off by nhbc inspectors also, as has been mentioned quality does differ massively from site to site

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I worked on a newish estate this week, they had the social housing block in the middle of nice well-to-do houses, you could tell because an old rusting clapped out car was sat there on axle stands and had been for years, bringing the place down.

That was my car ;)

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