New Builds?

[HangTime]

I'd be questioning why anyone would be selling a house after a couple of years. There might be valid reasons, but it would put me off.

People move house all the time, changing circumstances, new jobs, family break ups, coming into a chunk of money etc etc.
The house next door to ours was put on the market just over 2 years after they moved in, Scottish couple moving back to Scotland, nothing sinister that I'm aware of. Probably get a lot more for their money up there, pandemic meaning spending more time at home, might want to be nearer family and friends etc. Although they were the second owners, not original owners.
Another property a couple of doors down was sold 2.5 years after it was built, again no major issue I'm aware of.
I was kind of surprised to see new build houses getting sold on so quickly but I guess it's worth considering that they often won't be a 'forever' home, perhaps a stepping stone house that people could afford due to the various schemes available etc.

I know where you're coming from though in terms of worries about build quality etc, but I guess no house purchase is risk free and you can arrange surveys to indemnify against serious issues.

With snagging I guess it depends on how fussy previous owners are, for example we did some snagging but weren't super fussy, an example is in one of the showers the tile orientation wasn't right, we'd asked for them to be at 90 degree rotation compared to how they were installed. It was one of those situations where we couldn't be bothered with the hassle of having it all ripped up and retiled for what was a minor cosmetic issue that probably only we would care about (pattern orientation) and wouldn't be visible to visitors. It's the sort of thing that if you were being a used house you would just accept as the way it was tiled and think no more about it rather than something that warranted being changed in the way you might do carpets, wallpaper etc.

As for value personally I'm not completely sold on a nearly-new house, you end up paying the premium for new build but without having everything exactly to your tastes (one of the advantages of a new build), the snagging period has typically expired too although you would benefit from NHBC up to 10 years. On the plus side it usually means the major snags have been addressed already, together with utility supply getting sorted out, address being on databases for ordering stuff etc.

 

[Vita]

Thank you for all your replies it has really helped broaden my view.

 

[theone8181]

People move house all the time, changing circumstances, new jobs, family break ups, coming into a chunk of money etc etc.
The house next door to ours was put on the market just over 2 years after they moved in, Scottish couple moving back to Scotland, nothing sinister that I'm aware of. Probably get a lot more for their money up there, pandemic meaning spending more time at home, might want to be nearer family and friends etc. Although they were the second owners, not original owners.
Another property a couple of doors down was sold 2.5 years after it was built, again no major issue I'm aware of.
I was kind of surprised to see new build houses getting sold on so quickly but I guess it's worth considering that they often won't be a 'forever' home, perhaps a stepping stone house that people could afford due to the various schemes available etc.

I know where you're coming from though in terms of worries about build quality etc, but I guess no house purchase is risk free and you can arrange surveys to indemnify against serious issues.

With snagging I guess it depends on how fussy previous owners are, for example we did some snagging but weren't super fussy, an example is in one of the showers the tile orientation wasn't right, we'd asked for them to be at 90 degree rotation compared to how they were installed. It was one of those situations where we couldn't be bothered with the hassle of having it all ripped up and retiled for what was a minor cosmetic issue that probably only we would care about (pattern orientation) and wouldn't be visible to visitors. It's the sort of thing that if you were being a used house you would just accept as the way it was tiled and think no more about it rather than something that warranted being changed in the way you might do carpets, wallpaper etc.

As for value personally I'm not completely sold on a nearly-new house, you end up paying the premium for new build but without having everything exactly to your tastes (one of the advantages of a new build), the snagging period has typically expired too although you would benefit from NHBC up to 10 years. On the plus side it usually means the major snags have been addressed already, together with utility supply getting sorted out, address being on databases for ordering stuff etc.

Valid points. Tbh I was thinking of a new build being more like a 4/5 bed which is more likely to be a forever home.

 

[krooton]

We bought a David Wilson home in South London off-plan in 2018.

Detached garage, and a drive that can also hold 2 cars.
Medium sized back garden (didn't want a huge one any way).
Nice location in the development, less cramped road with actual views of a wood from the front of the house.
Snags were dealt with, and FTTP is lovely.
We did pay a crapload to get a detached though, just so that crappy neighbours are less of a potential risk.

 

[HangTime]

Valid points. Tbh I was thinking of a new build being more like a 4/5 bed which is more likely to be a forever home.

I don't have stats to hand but aside from some exclusive developments I suspect the majority of new homes have 3 bedrooms or less. Made up numbers but I would estimate on our estate it's about 60% 3 bed, 20% 4-5 bed, 20% 1-2 bed (hard to judge the latter as there are a couple of apartment blocks, it might be less than that). They usually have social housing targets to hit as well.
Gardens are small and high housing density / overlooked gardens (with some exceptions, there are some properties that are in more of a culdesac overlooking green space), I suspect people want more from a forever home.

Remember that for developers the key thing is maximising the use of land, a row of terraced town houses with small gardens is probably more profitable than a collection of detached homes. You do see some premium developments focused on bigger houses with high prices but they are the exception rather than the norm.

 

[krooton]

Yeah, this is the kinda density in my development:

 

[MikeTheNative]

That's no way indicative of most typical new build sites. Obviously depends on what OP's budget/desired location etc but they can be pretty cluttered and close at times.
I wouldn't buy a new build just for the sake of it. You have to weigh up the positives + negatives against what normal houses are like in the area.
It's funny as where I live there is a new 400 plot site being built. When prices were released start of last year they seemed really expensive. Since covid house prices have really shot up quite a bit, now the new builds seem actually reasonably priced. If I wanted to move here now I would really consider getting one.

 

[ci_newman]

That's no way indicative of most typical new build sites. Obviously depends on what OP's budget/desired location etc but they can be pretty cluttered and close at times.
I wouldn't buy a new build just for the sake of it. You have to weigh up the positives + negatives against what normal houses are like in the area.
It's funny as where I live there is a new 400 plot site being built. When prices were released start of last year they seemed really expensive. Since covid house prices have really shot up quite a bit, now the new builds seem actually reasonably priced. If I wanted to move here now I would really consider getting one.

That's exactly how we found ourselves in a new build. Price of £/sqm became far more competitive with the covid situation last year as house builders were still listing at "RRP" but the local market has increased 10-15% in the last 12 months. Estate agents encouraging bidding wars on properties and then waiting for the onward chain to be finished meant buying a new build became far more appealing and why we ended up in one.

 

[HangTime]

That's no way indicative of most typical new build sites. Obviously depends on what OP's budget/desired location etc but they can be pretty cluttered and close at times..

I don't think he's disputing that with the photo, it looks like mostly small gardens and narrow pavements right up near the front of the properties so you'd have people literally walking within a couple of feet of your window (although on an estate like that, I doubt there is much thoroughfare). Not 100% clear but possibly some areas you wouldn't even get a pavement to walk on and would have to go grass/road instead. Doesn't seem much in the way of terraced houses to be fair, but then if you look at the semis, it looks like the space in between the properties is used for parking spaces/driveways, literally bang up against your neighbours, I mean it looks like if another car parks alongside you can't even open the car door fully (if I've interpreted it correctly) which would drive me mad (no pun intended) on a private driveway. And not much other option for parking, streets not the widest and difficult to mount the pavement without blocking it due to being narrow. So all in all, density isn't that that low and not much 'wasted' space from a developer POV, they have minimised the space given up to streets/pavements/front gardens and optimising the parking by wedging it in between homes rather than separate parking areas.

Not looking to talk down on their home mind, they've already stated they are in a detached with views of a wood so presumably one of the properties on the left hand side without some of the issues mentioned above.

 

[BUDFORCE]

I don't think he's disputing that with the photo, it looks like mostly small gardens and narrow pavements right up near the front of the properties so you'd have people literally walking within a couple of feet of your window (although on an estate like that, I doubt there is much thoroughfare). Not 100% clear but possibly some areas you wouldn't even get a pavement to walk on and would have to go grass/road instead. Doesn't seem much in the way of terraced houses to be fair, but then if you look at the semis, it looks like the space in between the properties is used for parking spaces/driveways, literally bang up against your neighbours, I mean it looks like if another car parks alongside you can't even open the car door fully (if I've interpreted it correctly) which would drive me mad (no pun intended) on a private driveway. And not much other option for parking, streets not the widest and difficult to mount the pavement without blocking it due to being narrow. So all in all, density isn't that that low and not much 'wasted' space from a developer POV, they have minimised the space given up to streets/pavements/front gardens and optimising the parking by wedging it in between homes rather than separate parking areas.

Not looking to talk down on their home mind, they've already stated they are in a detached with views of a wood so presumably one of the properties on the left hand side without some of the issues mentioned above.

It's just a simple case of the developer makes more money the more houses they can build on the land they have, so most of the time they are literally built on top of each other.

 

[Delvis]

I don't think he's disputing that with the photo, it looks like mostly small gardens and narrow pavements right up near the front of the properties so you'd have people literally walking within a couple of feet of your window (although on an estate like that, I doubt there is much thoroughfare). Not 100% clear but possibly some areas you wouldn't even get a pavement to walk on and would have to go grass/road instead. Doesn't seem much in the way of terraced houses to be fair, but then if you look at the semis, it looks like the space in between the properties is used for parking spaces/driveways, literally bang up against your neighbours, I mean it looks like if another car parks alongside you can't even open the car door fully (if I've interpreted it correctly) which would drive me mad (no pun intended) on a private driveway. And not much other option for parking, streets not the widest and difficult to mount the pavement without blocking it due to being narrow. So all in all, density isn't that that low and not much 'wasted' space from a developer POV, they have minimised the space given up to streets/pavements/front gardens and optimising the parking by wedging it in between homes rather than separate parking areas.

Not looking to talk down on their home mind, they've already stated they are in a detached with views of a wood so presumably one of the properties on the left hand side without some of the issues mentioned above.

We share parking on the side of the house (two cars deep, and we can't open our doors fully I don't think, but then you can't in a lot of places publicly.

We wanted side parking because 1 you get two allocated spaces (lots of new builds only give you 1), and we didn't want to park in front of the house, just looks naff to us.

The downside to the above is the pavement outside out house is like half width? So it's a bit naff on that front, but we do have about 6ft of front or under front 'garden'. Which is just bark and shrubs ATM as apparently you're not allowed to change it much, not that they've explicitly told us which you'd think would be pointed out. They've screwed us and the neighbours around so much over six months I doubt they'd dare tell us off anyway

 

[-Ad-]

Are they actually worth the money?

Well... Most new builds are on these vile estates, with houses crammed in, multiple ones looking over your garden, garden being a postage stamp and full of rubble/soil, parking for 1.6 cars then more littered across the streets, snags galore, badly build and rushed by a host of contractors on the clock, maintenance fees for the estate with uncapped increases from management company vultures, restrictive covenants..... I could go on.

The only people winning here are the developers, but people want 'NEW', just like a PCP'd poverty spec Audi S-Line, so there needs to be something to cater for this large demographic!

Buy an older place and make it your own, you'll also pickup some useful skills in the process.

Or the other way to get a new build is to find a plot and do the 'new' build yourself.

 

[krooton]

Not looking to talk down on their home mind, they've already stated they are in a detached with views of a wood so presumably one of the properties on the left hand side without some of the issues mentioned above.

Yep, house on the corner on the right-hand side of the street going up the left of the image, half my house looks out over the wooded area next to the first house that appears on the left side of the street.

 

[ci_newman]

Well... Most new builds are on these vile estates, with houses crammed in, multiple ones looking over your garden, garden being a postage stamp and full of rubble/soil, parking for 1.6 cars then more littered across the streets, snags galore, badly build and rushed by a host of contractors on the clock, maintenance fees for the estate with uncapped increases from management company vultures, restrictive covenants..... I could go on.

The only people winning here are the developers, but people want 'NEW', just like a PCP'd poverty spec Audi S-Line, so there needs to be something to cater for this large demographic!

Buy an older place and make it your own, you'll also pickup some useful skills in the process.

Or the other way to get a new build is to find a plot and do the 'new' build yourself.

Congrats on skim-reading the thread and completely ignoring the feedback from recent purchases of new-build owners like myself Since we're sticking to stereotypes, you live in Scotland so you must like fried haggis and Irn Bru, right? Or perhaps accept that not all new-build estates are the same and the OP is looking at a new-build that is around 3 years old so he can see exactly what he's getting with parking and crowding and the likes.

 

[krooton]

A more zoomed out view of my estate. Some sections are more dense than others (funnily enough, those are the 'affordable housing' sections), but over all we have lots of open public areas, parks and playgrounds, and a big wooded are to the north that is a conservation area. Not bad given we are still Zone 6.

I am well aware that the old houses in the top left corner of the image have back gardens bigger than my entire plot, but I wouldn't want a massive garden like that any way, and houses along that road are almost double what we paid for ours.

 

[Vita]

To be fair the houses are somewhat spaced a little on the site we are looking at. It’s not fully completed yet. I guess we have to make compromises but it’s one of few houses we’ve found which we like.

My biggest concern to do anything new builds is the maintenance fees which they can charge and seems common for keeping of the area. It would be great if they were capped/regulated, but I’d hate to have it double/triple or even quadruple year on year. That’s another risk to factor in as well.

Having looked at it all I think there the pros and cons level out, compared to something which is an older build which the majority of properties I’ve seen do need work which wouldn’t be cheap, full rewires/reroofs etc. Yet they seem to cost as much as the new build houses (depending on location), if not more. I guess having a larger plot gives them that edge.

We are inclined but the ifs/buts to do with covenants/restrictions/fees do put a doubt on my head in to is this is why after 2 years after the developer warranty runs out and moves onto a third party many are up for sale? Something which I’d have to sit down with my conveyance solicitor and speak about when the time comes. Though the other side to the coin is, many buy and stay there for a while so it can’t be all bad, can it?

 

[ci_newman]

To be fair the houses are somewhat spaced a little on the site we are looking at. It’s not fully completed yet. I guess we have to make compromises but it’s one of few houses we’ve found which we like.

My biggest concern to do anything new builds is the maintenance fees which they can charge and seems common for keeping of the area. It would be great if they were capped/regulated, but I’d hate to have it double/triple or even quadruple year on year. That’s another risk to factor in as well.

Having looked at it all I think there the pros and cons level out, compared to something which is an older build which the majority of properties I’ve seen do need work which wouldn’t be cheap, full rewires/reroofs etc. Yet they seem to cost as much as the new build houses (depending on location), if not more. I guess having a larger plot gives them that edge.

We are inclined but the ifs/buts to do with covenants/restrictions/fees do put a doubt on my head in to is this is why after 2 years after the developer warranty runs out and moves onto a third party many are up for sale? Something which I’d have to sit down with my conveyance solicitor and speak about when the time comes. Though the other side to the coin is, many buy and stay there for a while so it can’t be all bad, can it?

With our new-build, the home owners are Directors of the management company and then subcontract to the service company. If we are unhappy with the fees the service company are charging us, we can choose to move to a different company. I think that's pretty common and not like a leasehold / management fee for an apartment block.

 

[MikeTheNative]

To be fair the houses are somewhat spaced a little on the site we are looking at. It’s not fully completed yet. I guess we have to make compromises but it’s one of few houses we’ve found which we like.

My biggest concern to do anything new builds is the maintenance fees which they can charge and seems common for keeping of the area. It would be great if they were capped/regulated, but I’d hate to have it double/triple or even quadruple year on year. That’s another risk to factor in as well.

Having looked at it all I think there the pros and cons level out, compared to something which is an older build which the majority of properties I’ve seen do need work which wouldn’t be cheap, full rewires/reroofs etc. Yet they seem to cost as much as the new build houses (depending on location), if not more. I guess having a larger plot gives them that edge.

We are inclined but the ifs/buts to do with covenants/restrictions/fees do put a doubt on my head in to is this is why after 2 years after the developer warranty runs out and moves onto a third party many are up for sale? Something which I’d have to sit down with my conveyance solicitor and speak about when the time comes. Though the other side to the coin is, many buy and stay there for a while so it can’t be all bad, can it?

UK gov did introduce laws a few years ago to try and stop those predatory lease agreements, not saying that it never happens now though but it's not as bad as it was.

 

[HangTime]

Yeah these maintenance fees are a joke, ours go up most years (something like £230/year now) but you barely ever see them doing any maintenance, maybe a couple of times a year they will come and cut the grass, trim some trees or whatever. Then charge you extra because it was special tree work or something.

We share parking on the side of the house (two cars deep, and we can't open our doors fully I don't think, but then you can't in a lot of places publicly.

We wanted side parking because 1 you get two allocated spaces (lots of new builds only give you 1), and we didn't want to park in front of the house, just looks naff to us.

The downside to the above is the pavement outside out house is like half width? So it's a bit naff on that front, but we do have about 6ft of front or under front 'garden'. Which is just bark and shrubs ATM as apparently you're not allowed to change it much, not that they've explicitly told us which you'd think would be pointed out. They've screwed us and the neighbours around so much over six months I doubt they'd dare tell us off anyway

Yeah very similar here, bark and shrubs in the small strip between the front of the house and the pavement, although at least on our street the pavement is a reasonable width (some of the other streets don't, in some cases no pavement at all). Some people have had the front gravelled over with a membrane underneath, looks tidier than the overgrown mess we periodically get.

The side parking sense from a maximising use of space perspective but would put me off, our allocated parking space in front our our garage has plenty of room either side, I appreciate if we wanted to have two cars parked outside the garage that room for two cars might be preferable even if a bit awkward at times. As I say for me it's more specifically about when you've got a private space, you don't want to feel so constrained in your own home, in public obviously you have to put up with it.

More generally I think the pain points on new builds may impact people differently over time, when we moved here for example we had no kids so weren't that fussed about the garden being quite small and overlooked. Having something that's new and slick with modern large living spaces, big open Kitchen/Breakfast room etc is good for house parties and the like. A 3 floor townhouse worked well for us in terms of price per square metre. We used to have friends stay over and they'd get their own ensuite bathroom etc. But maybe nowadays I'd favour a two-storey detatched house with a different garden - less running up and down the stairs with the kids, less noise from the neighbours at kids bedtime, less self-conscious going out in the back garden etc. And I guess this isn't really specific to new builds, just changing housing needs over time. Since moving in, we've gone from our 20s to our 40s, had two kids, both changed jobs, MIL gone into a care home etc... so a house from the noughties might not be the best house for us in the twenties.

 

[BUDFORCE]

Since we're sticking to stereotypes, you live in Scotland so you must like fried haggis and Irn Bru, right?

Nah, everyone in Scotland likes fried Haggis and Irn Bru, and so they should, they are great.