It would be if new builds did not have a rep as they do. When you hear all the bad stuff and then see it in person on the first new build you go to view you kind of give up on them after that.
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- Thread starter glenimp617
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It would be if new builds did not have a rep as they do. When you hear all the bad stuff and then see it in person on the first new build you go to view you kind of give up on them after that.
That's what I thought. But I suggest you do more digging. I don't remember the specifics from the top of my head but it really put me off. Worth doing a lot of research. But if you have and happy then don't let my comment put you off. Hopefully all works out.
I'm in a gleeson house one of the cheapest you can get. Don't have any issues with it really or noticed any. Apart from the odd cosmetic thing that I have cheaply fixed myself, mainly drywall tape coming away slightly due to foundation settling (it's a 6 year old house now, guessing the previous owner wasn't bothered) was an easy fix when I did some decorating.New build
Went to view a house recently that was built in 2019 and the bloody state of it put me right off touching new builds.
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Because its horrendously common that new builds have serious issues with them and are built appallingly. And when they are built really badly its usually a reflection of an awful company who will be up to their eyeballs in issues that they will being trying to fire fight, probably using the same winklespanners that created the issues in the first place.
If you get a good builder in a good area you should be fine but when there are issues they can be an absolute nightmare. Most normal houses are fine outside of issues that your surveys should pick up on.
I guess they can't all be bad. I just could not believe what I was seeing in the 2019 build house I saw. And the builders part exchanged it. Why not just go in and fix any issues on the cheap to make it easker to shift? I know had they done so we may have not been spoked off. Sold in the end anyway.
Soldato
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Compare that to the horrors of older buildings where if you discover something post purchase you didn’t before and you’re out of luck.
There’s bad new builds and bad older buildings too. Both have pros and cons to consider.
Soldato
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But you are sort of making out that every old house that isn't a new build was built perfectly.
Everything was a new build once, and there are no doubt loads of really awfully built older houses too.
I agree that you have to accept that even though it's new, it won't be perfect and you'll still have issues just like any property.
However you can at least get them fixed for free on a new build.
dlockers
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dlockers
Soldato
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I do get a bit bored with the new houses are terrible thing.
Having owned of lived in (via parents) pretty much a house built in every decade from 1890 to 2010 I cannto think of a single decade that had perfect housing.
Some better and some worse than others.
My 1890s for example, everything, and I mean everything was just not consistent, doors, bricks, windows, floorboards, joists, everything. Meant that anything that needed doing was painful. Plus of course basically unavailable.
Was also cold in the winter and hot in the summer, very difficult to heat and cool.
IMO you need to decide what you want and pick a decade to match. Eg energy efficiency and ease of heating is far superior in modern houses to old ones. Yes you can retrofit lots of insulation to some but its loads of work to get close to modern performance.
The optimum is probably something like a 60s house that you can afford to basically semi demolish and modernise the insulation in, triple glaze (because they had large windows), etc
Having owned of lived in (via parents) pretty much a house built in every decade from 1890 to 2010 I cannto think of a single decade that had perfect housing.
Some better and some worse than others.
My 1890s for example, everything, and I mean everything was just not consistent, doors, bricks, windows, floorboards, joists, everything. Meant that anything that needed doing was painful. Plus of course basically unavailable.
Was also cold in the winter and hot in the summer, very difficult to heat and cool.
IMO you need to decide what you want and pick a decade to match. Eg energy efficiency and ease of heating is far superior in modern houses to old ones. Yes you can retrofit lots of insulation to some but its loads of work to get close to modern performance.
The optimum is probably something like a 60s house that you can afford to basically semi demolish and modernise the insulation in, triple glaze (because they had large windows), etc
Soldato
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I've had two new builds in the past eight years with no issues worth mentioning.
Builders haven't changed over the centuries.
Soldato
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There were, but they've probably been knocked down for being ****!
This. There are a lot of advantages to a new home.
Obviously, like you say you have to pick what you want/pick your poison. If you want, for example, any sort of front garden or a big/decent private drive you likely will not get it with a new build unless you are buying at the real expensive/premium end of things. Almost every new house has its front door almost on the pavement, and a tiny or shared drive.
On the flip side you could pick a nice older place with a lovely amount of frontage and a big private drive, but then it will probably be cold and damp and rubbish at keeping the heat in during the winter. But, then in the summer the new build will be unbearable (both mine have been far too hot upstairs during any sort of heatwave!).
There isnt any right or wrong answer when it comes to new or old houses really. It just depends on what you need/want/can cope with/afford to do up etc etc.
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We're renting a new build at the moment and it's definitely good at some things, terrible at others. It feels a bit like a house that's been built for profit though rather than a 'home'.
We have a car port - it's not wide enough to open both car doors in the car port so you have to park slightly to one side to ensure the driver side can open before you reverse out to get the passenger in. We don't have a particularly big car.
The garden wasn't levelled, it all slopes down to the bottom right. So with the amount of rain we had in Autumn last year the back right of the garden essentially became a bog - our landlords are fuming with the developers because they've done this at every property. It's now rotting the fence between the houses and they're a little worried about it causing long term subsidence.
The storage is so so limited. We have a cupboard under the stairs, that is it.
The kitchen cupboards aren't deep enough to fit a dinner plate.
The oven was sat about 10cm too high in the housing so kept shorting the hob - they had to (in the last week) refit all 400 ovens and lower them to stop this happening.
The positives though...
It's so so good at staying warm, we have our Hive set to 18 deg in the day and 16 deg at night. Even when it's freezing cold, the most it comes on is for 3 hours a day. In our last home (Victorian Terrace built in 1902) we could have the heating on for 6 hours + and it would still be freezing. Last night the heating came on for a total of 14 minutes!
FTTP - it is great not having to worry about internet speeds for WFH etc.
The people - our neighbours are so lovely. One side are renting from the same company as us and are great, the other side bought theirs and are just the nicest people. The street we're on is a real mix of young families, older retired couples and one or two people living on their own. The majority are just really happy that they can buy their own home.
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They serve a purpose and I think for some people they really are ideal. We're buying a house (not a new build - but built in 2006) at the moment (completion is next week) and whilst I don't think I'll miss the new build we're in, it's definitely been great for what we needed.
We have a car port - it's not wide enough to open both car doors in the car port so you have to park slightly to one side to ensure the driver side can open before you reverse out to get the passenger in. We don't have a particularly big car.
The garden wasn't levelled, it all slopes down to the bottom right. So with the amount of rain we had in Autumn last year the back right of the garden essentially became a bog - our landlords are fuming with the developers because they've done this at every property. It's now rotting the fence between the houses and they're a little worried about it causing long term subsidence.
The storage is so so limited. We have a cupboard under the stairs, that is it.
The kitchen cupboards aren't deep enough to fit a dinner plate.
The oven was sat about 10cm too high in the housing so kept shorting the hob - they had to (in the last week) refit all 400 ovens and lower them to stop this happening.
The positives though...
It's so so good at staying warm, we have our Hive set to 18 deg in the day and 16 deg at night. Even when it's freezing cold, the most it comes on is for 3 hours a day. In our last home (Victorian Terrace built in 1902) we could have the heating on for 6 hours + and it would still be freezing. Last night the heating came on for a total of 14 minutes!
FTTP - it is great not having to worry about internet speeds for WFH etc.
The people - our neighbours are so lovely. One side are renting from the same company as us and are great, the other side bought theirs and are just the nicest people. The street we're on is a real mix of young families, older retired couples and one or two people living on their own. The majority are just really happy that they can buy their own home.
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They serve a purpose and I think for some people they really are ideal. We're buying a house (not a new build - but built in 2006) at the moment (completion is next week) and whilst I don't think I'll miss the new build we're in, it's definitely been great for what we needed.
Maybe we just get the cowboys here in London then.
For me, the biggest negative for new builds isnt the build quality, but how much everyone gets sandwiched in. It means you have to be very quick to get the limited good plots on a new development that might have a private drive or be decently detached from other people. Unfortunately even some of the bigger and more expensive houses on these new estates have small shared drives etc.
I would never, ever consider buying a property with a shared drive.
I would never, ever consider buying a property with a shared drive.
Soldato
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They mostly do what they're allowed to. And it's not like regulations haven't got stricter.
dlockers
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dlockers
Yeah I think this is the biggest issue I have with them too. I have a 13x3m workshop and I am planning on building a 6x3.5m. My wife said careful we don't overdevelop, but the plot we have is ~390m2.
Caporegime
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I agree with that. If I had the choice of a modern house on an old style plot I would take that every time but unfortunately that doesn't really exist today. Houses are built on top of each other to maximise profit per square foot or whatever you will want to call it as after all the developer doesn't have to live there.
There are a million reasons why a modern house is far far better than my 1970's built one but everything has or can be rectified or upgraded. What you cannot change is the plot it is built on. The road outside my house is the same width as a main road even though it is all one big cul-de-sac and the spacing between the houses is great. My front drive can fit 4-5 cars on it at a push. My rear garden is a good enough size that a dog can run around it or children can play football.
When we bought we looked at plenty of new builds but the plots they were all on generally leave a lot to be desired. This new fad of building houses 3 stories high is not great either as it blocks out all of the sun on your garden too.