Would you move to a new build

Hah as said, everyone likes something different :)

In all honesty as long as the new build 'lasts' as long as I need it to I couldn't really care less about 100 years time, I sadly won't be around to see it.

I like a nice house, be it old or new, age doesn't factor in to what I like as such but it just so happens that on the whole I favour newer properties.

Plenty of older houses I'd happily live in round here, however they are all massively out of budget ;) Next move maybe...

Also where is people's 'cut off' age as to what constitutes a new house? Would you class something built in 80s and 90s as a new type property?

Anything built after about 1920 for small rooms, but anything after WW2 for build quality.
 
Again massive sweeping generalisations.

My folks move quite a lot and have had about 4 new builds in the last 10 years.

All have never had any problems, nice sized rooms, nice sized plots, no privacy issues and all were sold for more than they paid, some considerably so.

I understand peoples dislike of them, but people also forget buying old doesn't exactly get you a perfect house! My biggest bugbear with some of the older properties round here is parking, often with no or very short driveways leads to jammed up roads full of parked cars.

Just my personal experiences in buying properties and watching the market. Walking round brand new show houses playing spot the fault, looking out the window straight into 3 other houses' lounges and bedrooms - on so-called exclusive developments. A new build dropping in value is a known phenomenon called new-build premium. Why it happens I don't really know as surely it's better to take on a property where the faults have been corrected already so one less headache?

I used to live in a mid 80s flat with plasterboard inner walls (so plasterboard walls isn't a particularly new bodge), and it was a nightmare for fixing things too. However, the external walls were double skin brick. I watch flats being built now with a flimsy timber frame, glorified chipboard walls and then a brick skin! I now live in a late 60s house and that has one plasterboard wall where a door was blocked in, the rest is more substantial brick or breeze block. Amazing how much less noise is transmitted through the walls. I can fit 4 cars on the drive, and it has a garage. And it's a mid-terrace on an estate. Like to see that these days.

Have you read any of the thread?

Yes, thanks.
 
I've had two now one which was great one which was not. I found both didn't really increase their value as much as I would have liked and we move a lot with work it ended up working out for us to rent.

As you have just got married I guess a big thing for you will be nurseries and schools etc. Also you will want to consider the other bedroom situation for the inevitable and plan on having two just to be safe - most people end up on that situation. Accounting for future additions will be a big part of your choice I guess and I would say don't rely on Ofsted choices to guide your decision on what is good and bad - you need to form your own opinion.

With the property situation in Cambridge being what it is though your choice will be limited but as Fox stated way back beware of the consequences of social housing which is something you will be exposed to.
 
We are just about to move into a new build, I liked the idea of having somewhere fresh and new that nobody had touched, no dodgy decorating or wiring or unpleasant surprises. They meet all environmental codes meaning they save you money on heating and you get a 10 year buildings warranty and usually a few years snagging warranty. Also you can usually bargain a bit with them, get money off the house, get free carpets, money towards your deposit, solicitor/stamp due fees paid. It's really down to whether or not you like the house and area.
 
I live in a new build flat at the moment and while the gas bills are low due to the excellent efficiency, the place was built by monkeys in about a week.
The quality of the build is poor and all walls are made of paper.

We are trying to sell and I can't wait to have some brick again and half decent build quality.
 
For me, new builds are small, have tiny gardens, the build quality is often poor to older houses. and try putting a car in your garage or even on your drive if you get one, the road is often narrow, so parking a car on the road will cause problems.

I will never buy a new build.
 
There probably is some truth in the fact that because they are banging up houses quickly they maybe aren't the same standard if you had one built yourself however you get the chance to bring these issues up with the site manager before you get the keys plus you get a decent amount of time to come up with a snagging list which they should fix (this all hinges on having a decent builder though).

Thing is if you buy an old house you still get problems, out dated wiring/central heating systems, damp, single glazing, poor modification/alterations by previous owners, outdated decoration, dead bodies under the patio..so although the bricks and mortar might be sturdier you still need to shell out to fix these and to update the house.

If you really want the best quality from scratch you need to self build with a trusted builder and be on site every day project managing. Which is a hassle.
 
I'm quite puzzled as to why it's supposedly a good thing the value of houses increases, if you remove the effects of wage growth and cheaper mortgage rates, all it really means is the bigger one you hope to move to has gone up more as a percentage. So it generally has cost you more money, not made you any.

When I got my first place, the houses in that particular street were £62,500 for the two beds and £67,500 for the threes. Now that's more like £200,000 & £230,000, so it now costs an extra £25k to move up from a two bed to a three.

But you made "£137.5K" by buying a two bed....didn't you?
 
New builds are ok as long as you don't get lumped next door to the mandatory 20% "social housing" ;)
 
As mentioned, they make good houses for young couples as they're very low maintenance which fits with the stereotypical lifestyle. However they do lack a bit of "character" whatever value that adds. Personally I think new builds have as much character as any house that's built to the same mould as the one next to it.

Regarding build quality, they all have warranties. Therefore any problems can be rectified for free in the first few years (5 for Barratts). What you get in initial problems with a new build you trade off for age related problems in an older house.

The only niggles with new builds in my opinion are the size of them and they're a little bit overpriced. However they generally come with brand new kitchens, bathrooms, flooring and curtains and as long as you have in enough space, so what if you could have got a bit more with an older house, it's just room that you don't need.

So short answer is yes, I would move into a new build if it was a good option for the area I wanted to live.
 
I'm quite puzzled as to why it's supposedly a good thing the value of houses increases, if you remove the effects of wage growth and cheaper mortgage rates, all it really means is the bigger one you hope to move to has gone up more as a percentage. So it generally has cost you more money, not made you any.

When I got my first place, the houses in that particular street were £62,500 for the two beds and £67,500 for the threes. Now that's more like £200,000 & £230,000, so it now costs an extra £25k to move up from a two bed to a three.

But you made "£137.5K" by buying a two bed....didn't you?

New Builds devalue at a greater rate. It's like a new car, you pay a premium for being the first owners.
 
For me, new builds are small, have tiny gardens, the build quality is often poor to older houses. and try putting a car in your garage or even on your drive if you get one, the road is often narrow, so parking a car on the road will cause problems.

I will never buy a new build.

100% agree

Just walk around a development which has been there five years. They look dreadful. The issue is that new builds have silly sized gardens, no driveway and tiny garages. People therefore use the garage as a shed, and park on their drive. Now most have driveway space for one car (this is by design as this is what the government wants). More houses in less space and they are trying to reduce car numbers.

The reality is many people have more than one car, and sometimes have work cars/vans etc etc. Obviously these get parked on the road or the front garden. It's a nightmare! It might not seem too bad unless you go and walk round one. When you get many houses built within a small space, add on the many cars parked here, there and everywhere and it's dreadful.

You can't even walk on the paths as the houses are right up to the road, then you have the car stuck right in front.
 
Which again goes to highlight it's all about what each specific development is like as whilst there are many like that there are also a ones that aren't.

And I'm still not sold on the new houses instantly dropping in value, it's not been my/my parents experience over the last 10 years or so (which I'm guessing yet again depends on where/what you buy, I see a pattern forming here ;) )
 
Not something I'd ever considered, but thats the way Cambridge is going, and when we're looking at sizing up it seems an easy way to do it. I don't really like new builds, nor estates, but at least its a nice area, and they're putting it in a 300 acre country park, rather than just building houses.

I guess my concerns are that its still only half built, the utilities haven't been confirmed (eg not able to check broadband capabilities), and well, its new build! Which I hate. However, for the money we can get a lot bigger than what is available in the dead centre (where we are now, very expensive), and this particular estate is only 10 minutes out of the centre.

Is where you live worth this kind of compromise?

I can only comment on my own experiences of a new build as I lived in one for two years.

Short answer is no, I wouldn't ever want to live in one again.

We lived in a 3 storey town house, with another one attached on our left, and garages with a coach house flat on the right.

First thing you notice in an 'attached' new build is sound. I had my bedroom on the top floor, and in a morning I could hear next door on their ground floor walking through their hall. The woman had ceramic tiles in her hall and wore 'office heels' and every morning you could hear clip clop clip clop. Also, it was so bad that I could lie in bed at night, and if next door got up and used the toilet in their en-suite I could hear the click-click of the pull cord for the light!

Anytime they had guests it was bordering on intrusive - but that is not to say they were being overt, in fact they were quite a quiet couple. It was because there is nothing to new builds and that allows sound to travel a lot.

However, the house itself was lovely - for a month or two. Nice and neutral and comfortable. But then you start to get natural shrinkage of the internal finishings. OK, so I don't mind going around with some decorating caulk and sealing around door frames and skirtings, but when the plaster on your ceilings are all full of nail head holes because they have not been put up correctly, it starts to get annoying! Also the garden was bland, small and overlooked. When we moved in, it wasn't even turfed. Also - my biggest issue was the plastic water/heating pipes with quick release joints. Never thought much of it to start with as I was a first time buyer, but when one pops off, it makes a right mess! Luckily we were at home and caught it. My cousin was on holiday when it happened to him. Small windows was also something I had never noticed but did come to my attention. Ever noticed how many new builds have tiny windows? Overall though I like the feel of a new house, and it could just be that the people that built our estate did a shoddy job, and on other estates it could be better. That said, pretty much every internal wall was plasterboard stud. Not a solid wall in the house other than the party wall and external walls, which didn't help with sound. I suppose it could be a compromise if you managed to get a detached house though.

Then there was the general environment of the street. Very cramped. Everyone on top of each other and parking was a real issue for us but it was one we didn't see straight away because we were one of the first to move in. Again a bit of first time buying naivety, but a bit of an indictment on new build estates nevertheless. Many people in the street had their own parking spaces on a purpose built car park round the back of the houses, but only for 1 car then there were a few generic visitor spaces. Most had 2+ vehicles and insisted on parking in the road, half up the pavement. Even though they parked this way, the bin lorry couldn't get round (our street was like a horse shoe shape with a large grass island in the middle). So unless everyone walked their bins up the street to the main road, the bin men wouldn't empty them!

It took them 18 months to finish paving the footpaths and roads, even though most of the houses were built / occupied. Dodging raised drain covers was the new game!

Then there was the depreciation. Oh lordy we got stung badly. The house cost £160k in 2005. After two years it was valued at £135k (negative equity). In the end, it sold in 2008 for £117k. An identical house across the road was also sold at a similar time for £121K. Huge losses, but to be fair the bottom had just dropped out of the market. Still, you don't expect a house to lose £43k value in 3 years.

It does seem to be the trend with new build estates that they are cramped, and poorly designed. I felt like I was living in a cardboard house. It looked very pretty but had no substance.

There are benefits for first time buyers though, like help with getting a mortgage, no stamp duty, and the opportunity to move into a livable house that is brand new without the added costs of refurbishment or decorating (if you like beige and white that is!). It is a tempting option to many young people, and I was one of them back then. In hindsight, I wished I hadn't bothered, but that is just me.

I now live in a 3 bed detached that was built in 1970. Every wall is block, bar a small area in the kitchen where they have covered an old door up. But it is by no means perfect. The electrics are old, the floorboards upstairs need attention, the ceilings are all artex (hate it!), and the shower is mavity fed from a header tank in the loft and has very little power. The kitchen is over 25yrs old and the window frames in some rooms need sealing properly.The garage roof is leaking slightly, and the driveway needs doing. There is plenty to be getting on with, but the house itself is solid. I would rather have that and see it as a work in progress than a brand spanking new build that looks the part but is really superficial. Also - I have the room to extend, which is something very unlikely on any new build estate.

I would only consider another new build if it was detached and on a street that wasn't cramped and if it had a good size driveway and garden. The rear garden of my current house is adequate, and the driveway easily parks 3 cars, 4 if I block one in. I am also in a nice area and on a quiet cul-de-sac, not to mention the houses are well spaced and the street feels open and not cramped. All for £152k. I couldn't buy what I have now on a new build estate. Agreed, I probably need to throw another £20k at it, but the base building blocks are already there, and I can renovate it over a number of years.

Obviously that may not suit many people, and in real terms I suppose the arguments for and against new builds / old builds are subjective. However - whatever the case, you will get far more for you money 'out of town', depending on the area. It does not always ring true. We were renting in a more affluent area and to buy a house like we have now would cost us in excess of £200k. So we moved even further out and saved ourselves some money! :p

As far as utilities go - I would say you will most likely have on the new estate whatever the general area already has. Query it with the sales centre for the new estate though. When we bought new build, to be fair to the sales team, they were very helpful and informative.

Finally, I would certainly check what the area used to be that they are building on, as well as if it is close to any flood planes or anything that may cause you problems or cause issues with insurance. The new build we had was built on an old common that was quite boggy, and I'm not sure why but the gnat/small flying thingy population in our street was insane. During warm weather they were everywhere. You couldn't walk out of your house without walking into a swarm of them. Never had that in any other street I have lived in, so I am guessing the former use of the land may have had some bearing on it. Also, several houses started to get cracks appearing in their brick work and we had one straight down the middle of one of our internal garage walls. Our back garden was also very boggy, even after it was turfed for two years.

Cheers

Buff
 
No ****ing way.

My mates buying one, she's trying to convince me I'm wrong with what I say about all new builds being low quality, magnolia cardboard boxes sold to crackheads with argos debts on part buy part rent.

Went round the show room and the finish was appauling, cheap tacky laminate throughout, poorly fitted, in one case the grain was running the wrong way so the light from the window highlighted the joints, rookie mistake, most DIYers would know that is wrong.

All the walls were tape and fill not proper skim, and they didn't even do a good job, you could see the joints through the magnolia supermatt poorly splashed onto the surface, ceiling and walls.
It is rare to see such poorly fitted architrave and skirting, but the presumbly eastern european bodge crew they had hired had made several attempts to butcher the cuts that badly, but it's ok because they can cover that with a ****load of badly applied decorators caulk and slap some satinwood over the top
Not a single socket or lightswitch on straight and at one point went for a ****, and I could hear talking clear as day on the other side of the house! Nice noise insulation in the walls there, top notch.
No doubt the plumbing was all plastic ****e, none of it built to last.
Garden was tiny and had just a bit of turf, no patio, no shed.
No garage or driveway either.

And you can't use the attic for storage in new builds remember, invalidates the warranty.

After I crawled out of the tiny low ceilinged, small roomed, magnolia "house" I thought to myself, if that is the showhome, how ****ing bad are the builds they are selling gonna be?
Icing on the cake, saw "wayne and waynetta" in the office talking about getting on the property ladder innit.

New builds aren't sold on merit for being good or desirable, they are sold by a sales pitch, built cheaply and made easy to buy and that attracts the wrong crowd, usually resulting in negative equity.

I'd rather have a smaller house, properly built, in an established area.
 
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I can only comment on my own experiences of a new build as I lived in one for two years.

Short answer is no, I wouldn't ever want to live in one again.


Cheers

Buff

that is a great post and a fair reflection on new builds imo. built to a budget and no susrpise to hear about stud walls and fast fix plumbing but the biggest thing is the houses have no soul, no care and attention gone into the build, literally designed to a metric base and thrown up to beat the programme the contractor won the tender with.

my house was built in 1886 and it has some nice original features. ok the central heating takes an age to warm the house due to poorly fitting doors and offset doorframes but it has a cellar, a loft and more character in one room than in every room of a new build and this is massively important if you're buying a home. if i was living in a new build, it would simply feel like i was living in temporary accomodation.

the fact that i can sit on my laptop, in my 2nd reception room, sitting on a sofa i bought in ikea which sits on quarry tiles laid when queen victoria was ruling the country, looking at an original fireplace that a victorian family would've gathered around, is pretty *******' magic in my book.
 
I'm fortunate in that the Coach House I am buying has no neighbours directly (effectively detached), I get what everyone is saying and I will be keeping my eyes open for snags etc. For me the houses around here in my price range aren't that good, need 20-30K more to get something I'd actually like to live in.

The car port actually looks massive, I reckon you could fit a big car in it no problems. Plus I have the parking spot in front of it as well :)
 
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