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I lived in a new build (flat) in about 2001, and it constantly felt like if you coughed too hard, the walls would fall down. I later moved into a 1940's council flat which was far nicer. But the newbuild was in a fairly rundown part of town and I figured most are probably not like that.
But then, reading this, it seems like there's a big problem (still).
Anyone here bought one? Or would you?
Yip. My last two have been new builds. First one was owned by my girlfriend. It was fine, but some of the quality of the finish was really poor. Was quite the snag list. Current house we have been in over a year now, much better. Built by Jones Homes. Okay, not perfect, but nothing jumped out as terrible other than the rear lawn. Ongoing issue, but it's the only one. There some negatives. You don't get much space around your home. It's all about cramming in as many homes as they can.
There will be many many opinions on new builds, the chaos they cause to the local towns and environment, the awful quality overall. But hey, everyone's home was new once. Of course there are horror stories out there. Due some research on the builder, go visit the site if possible. I certainly don't regret it.
Yes and yes. Some are shit, some aren't. Doing stuff to a new house is a lot easier than doing it to an old house imo. A lot less surprises when you want to alter something.
the newbuild was in a fairly rundown part of town and I figured most are probably not like that.
All new builds are broadly the same they're built to specific regs and margins. Price is almost entirely a result of the location and as the price goes up the kitchen and bathroom are marginally improved as they're the "nice looking" bits.
The shoddy building, single skin plaster board, creaky uneven floors etc etc don't change from a 60 to a 600 or 1600k house. You do get a nicer oven and feature tiles in the shower though.
That being said, the houses finished first on a plot tend to have more time devoted to them than the later ones on the same development so two identical houses can actually be wildly different.
Without seeing the specific property it's broadly impossible to tell if you're buying a diamond out a lemon.
Before we bought this 1960s house we seriously considered a new build on a new estate.
The main reasons why we didn't were the size of the gardens, how overlooked your garden is and this house meant we could walk the kids to school. Yes, I know new builds have their problems but which house doesn't? This one really needs insulation in the walls retrofitted, we had to completely redo the plumbing and electrics (the old chap was an electrical engineer apparently and had made a few 'interesting' modifications). Everywhere is a comprimise, at least with a new build you get the NHBC guarantee - or should.
No - but not from a build quality issue* as I'm sure many would be fine. The new build houses, and estate type living, just doesn't appeal to me.
(*my 1920's semi has some 'characterful' wonky walls of it's own! 🙂 ).
After watching a few of those new build snag videos that crop up on my Youtube timeline, I don't think I could buy one.
I would, and I did.
Our house is poorly finished, for sure, but the trade-off is stuff that was well finished 100 years ago but has been bastardised and messed about with constantly by god knows who. My sister lived in a Victorian semi that turned out had originally been one house split into two, then loads of weird stuff added on and bodged over the years by people who were clearly less than qualified.
My house had missing bits of insulation that caused slight draughts but was always warm and dry even with that. I was able to improve it myself fairly easily once I knew what was going on. My sister's houses have needed new rooves, had damp, had single skin walls, etc etc all of which was much much harder to rectify.
The other nice thing about my new build was that everything in it was brand new and perfectly clean.
No volume housebuilder I know of directly employ contractors, especially finishing trades. The work is done to a tight price and often under time pressure (tiling to damp freshly plastered walls for instance). Landscapers are likely to bury bricks/cement etc because they won't get paid to take it away. But...this has gone on for decades, it's nothing new with new builds. Smaller spec builders are the ones to go for but they tend to be at a premium price.
If I had to I probably would, but be prepared to create a big snagging list and get up close and personal with the site manager.
Bought a new build 7 years ago. Redrow.
We were impressed with the land we got with the house (going against what everyone else is saying) both for the front and rear gardens. Nice estate, tree lined road, nice wide footpaths with cycle paths. Really good sized integral garage big enough for the classic car and the bike collection plus a work bench and 2nd fridge and freezer.
Was plagued with bad plumbing from day one - they hadn't connected the waste water from the ensuite show! But after that, not really had any problems. Would I buy another? Maybe not, but wouldn't completely rule it out
id have a new house
id not have one on a new estate layout.
The shoddy building, single skin plaster board, creaky uneven floors etc etc don’t change from a 60 to a 600 or 1600k house.
This is, of course, untrue. Yes, it might apply to high volume builders on large estates, but there's plenty of houses being built to other than minimum standards.
I'm a keen skilled DIYer. My first house was a complete old wreck, gutted it, kitchens, bathrooms, wiring, etc, made it lovely. I drive old cars, I fix and recycle things, I DIY everything, we go camping for our holidays I am the complete opposite of the 'everything on finance, new build with grey furniture' stereotype from instagram.
3 years ago we moved into a very reasonably priced, brand spanking new, red brick and render detached house on an estate. We didnt quite buy off-plan, the plot was a half shell in a muddy field, about 1/3rd of the way through the development.
It is brilliant. We have a family now. We are time poor. I dont have to 'fix' anything. Every room is bang square, with loads of sockets, big good quality thermally efficient windows and strong composite doors front and back. It (still!) costs us very, very little to heat and power. It was cool throughout the heatwave. It is warm and quiet all night and day during the depths of storms. It has a decent garden and a single garage big enough to fit a car, plus my bikes, a bench etc in. Its quiet, we chat with the neighbours, theres a great little community (halloween trail for the kids being built this week, everyone out in their front gardens).
It was a massive leap of faith for me - somehting I never thought I'd do. But it was the perfect choice, at the perfect time - young family/kids, energy crisis, etc etc.
- DO YOUR RESEARCH. Get to know the builders, the contractors, the sales teams etc. SCOUR the planning portal for all available info. There is one absolute muppet on our estate who thought they'd bought a house at the end of a cul-de-sac with an unsed 5 metre wide stretch of tarmac outside their drive. They are now miffed that theres a 2nd phase bieng built and they live on the main entrance. All of this was freely available info to them had they looked. Plans, environmental schemes, surveys etc are all publically available.
- Be realistic. There will be snags. We had a few. They all got sorted and dealt with.
- "They have no character". I'm perfectly happy with the character our house has developed by virtue of it being our family home, filled with all our stuff, memories, photos, art etc. I could have bought a few doors down from my Dad in the same village, for the exact same cost (we considered it). His beautiful 130year old townhouse is full of the character afforded by having to wear a coat inside, forth-bridge like repainting and plastering, fuel bills that are 400% of ours and great games such as 'will this electrical appliance trip the electrics if I switch it on' and 'has my cellar filled with rainwater again'.
- Be picky. Out of ~200 plots on our estate, theres ours and maybe 2 others I would consider. Most have poky drives, or overlooked gardens, or parking issues, or are badly oriented. Pick VERY carefully. I even created a full annual shadow map of our plot before it was even built.
Articles like that - are just the usual media bollocks. Same as all the stuff you see on instagram, facebook etc, promoted by exactly the kind of company mentioned in that article. Extremism. Yes, there is some absolute trash out there. There are plenty of people perfectly, perfectly happy with their modern houses - and if it works for you, at whatever stage in life you are at, then go for it, with eyes wide open and not afraid to wait, just as with any massive financial purchase.
There's a whole new town sprouting up around us (Northstowe), some of the houses are woefully small, the larger ones all have small plots and gardens are surrounded by other houses as there is lots of non-linear roads. When it was windy recently one house next to the open space/park between our village and the new houses lost lots of roof tiles and solar panels - and this was one of the 'premium' houses. All the gardens are clay soil with turf laid over the building waste.
Half or less of the roads have the final surface on, so there's raised ironworks all over, there are no facilities, our local doctors is now massively overloaded, there's not even a shop. It made national news as it's such a shambles, that being said, there aren't any empties I know of.
I have lived in the same area for the last 20+ years in an exposed spot at the edge of Harrogate that gets some pretty strong winds lots of the time. The first house was over 100 years old and withstood every storm we ever encountered. The place we moved to (just across the road) was built in the mid-eighties. Again, it's withstood all the storms we've had. The new builds just down the road from us have taken a battering with several losing a few tiles, one losing a rain canopy and another (ironically the show home), losing a huge section of tiles and flashing - not once but twice.
On the new builds, all the gardens are tiny and houses overlook each other badly. There isn't enough space to park all the cars on drives so they are littered all over the roads.
I wouldn't buy a new build.
They're not for me.
I prefer 1960s-1980s houses.
I've had 2.
Both have had minor snag issues, but they all get sorted by the developer (if larger one). Overall, they have been great. The build quality is often better than old houses that have been 'improved' over the years and so many have fewer issues to worry about. The quality of tjose house was far higher than the 70's one we owned and that encouraged us into new builds so we didnt have to think about it!
The downsides of new builds is not the build quality but parking, garden/plot size and overlooking however these can often be fixed by picking the plot carefully
we bought a nice new build off plan nearly 8 years ago. Was from a "premium" builder in a small (16 houses) estate. Decent size gardens, we had a few snagging issues (nothing major), since when the only problems we've had have been the smeg appliances being slightly faulty (hardly the fault of the builder).
Internal walls are mostly blockwork, so its nice and quiet. First floor is on engineered beams, so no creaking. Whole place is massively well insulated, and flooded with cabling/plug sockets.
Total cost on maintenance on the last 8 years has been £0. Would buy again, but this is a bit of a different price point to the average bovis home.
There isn’t enough space to park all the cars on drives so they are littered all over the roads.
this was a stupid government policy for a while and is now thankfully abolished. Anything built in the last 5 years shouldn't suffer as badly
After watching a few of those new build snag videos that crop up on my Youtube timeline, I don’t think I could buy one
Those new build snagging videos that just happen to be posted by professional snagging companies?
We looked at a couple of new builds when we moved in 2018 and it was a no at the time, not down to build quality but room sizes, postage stamp drives and living on a fairly large development where everything felt crammed in and ontop of each other.
We bought a 1960's build bungalow just up the road and having walked the dog a few times through the estate it was most definitely the right decision, cars and work vans parked on pavements because no one has enough parking space, and these are pretty much all 3/4 bed detached houses.
, cars and work vans parked on pavements because no one has enough parking space, and these are pretty much all 3/4 bed detached houses.
this was a stupid government policy for a while and is now thankfully abolished. Anything built in the last 5 years shouldn’t suffer as badly
It's not, it's because huge numbers of people are wombles and won't park on their drive incase someone else parks outside their house. Also parking on the drive is for one or two cars and many households have three or four.
It's absolutely not a "new build" specific problem.
Friends parents moved in to a new estate just down the road from us, the snags were epic:
1. Main sewer blocked under the house (so can't flush the toilet or use the shower or cook)
2. Downstairs UFH leaking as they'd installed it across the entire ground floor, then fitted things like door frames, one of which had a fixing into the floor..
In the end they were moved out whilst the downstairs concrete floor was removed, everything fixed and a new floor laid.
This was after months of being blamed for using the boiler incorrectly as it kept loosing pressure and wet patches appearing on the concrete floor and having to shit in buckets
Total nightmare.
Award winning new build so the brochure said....
It’s not, it’s because huge numbers of people are wombles and won’t park on their drive incase someone else parks outside their house. Also parking on the drive is for one or two cars and many households have three or four.
Having walked through the estate a number of times, yes it is 😀
You may well be talking about UK wide but I wasn't, I was purely relaying my own personal experience. Drives that might accommodate 2 cars if you're lucky aren't much use in 3-4 bed houses once those kids hit driving age.
Drives that might accommodate 2 cars if you’re lucky aren’t much use in 3-4 bed houses once those kids hit driving age
But you generally won't find a 40s built 3/4 bed with parking for four or five cars either...
I could never afford a new build so I've bought one from 1890!
Our house was new build in c1985, it's pretty badly built to be honest, I'd buy new build if it was by a reputable builder & had a decent sized garden - so probably not 🤔
this was a stupid government policy for a while and is now thankfully abolished. Anything built in the last 5 years shouldn’t suffer as badly
The development I am talking about is about half-finished and it still suffers badly.
THe development I am talking about is still being built and it still suffers badly
I think this is because an extra space on the drive is half another house and, given you're probably looking at an hg postcode that half a house is £350k.
No one is paying £350k for an extra parking :. tiny parking and squash another house in there.
Those new build snagging videos that just happen to be posted by professional snagging companies?
Well yes, but the joke's on them, I won't buy one at all now, so have no need of their services...
Must admit, I've never seen a new-build advertised that seemed worth the premium they seem to attract.
I could never afford a new build so I’ve bought one from 1890!
beat you, mine's 1889.
Cold stone walls but enough height in the rooms downstairs to put up a golf net and swing a driver.
Sister's is older than that in Brighton and made of that bungaroosh stuff.
I think this is because an extra space on the drive is half another house and, given you’re probably looking at an hg postcode that half a house is £350k.
No one is paying £350k for an extra parking :. tiny parking and squash another house in there.
Absolutely - that is precisely the problem.
22 years in a new build, spent most of that time adding sockets, sorting plumbing, digging bricks out of the garden and generally improving the poor finish left by the trades. But expected that andnot had any significant issues. Our cul de sac is pretty open with good views over the moors. The rest of the estate is a lot more crammed in. Also helps everyone keeps their gardens under control except the old dear next door so I kept that sorted, she died earlier in the year so now waiting for new neighbours for the first time since moving in.
I like to imagine the welsh snagging guy's great-grandfather going around all the London 1930s semis at the time pointing out all the shoddy ways they were thrown together.
Most new build estates are crap because the companies are trying to squeeze as much profit out of it as possible.
everyone keeps their gardens under control except the old dear next door so I kept that sorted, she died earlier in the year s
I think it's a bit unfair to criticise her letting the garden get a bit unruly then!
The garden was a mess before she died, ive been looking after it for years.
Nope
because of this. Even the "nice", well built new builds are horrible, IMO, because of this. All it would take is the developers to be [I]slightly[/I] less greedy, make [I]slightly[/I] less profit, and just give everyone that bit more space/privacy. But obviously, that'll never happen!You don’t get much space around your home. It’s all about cramming in as many homes as they can.
First and second houses were new builds - I'd not buy again. First one was actually built well enough - Redrow brick-built (rather than wooden frame I think?) in 2001 but the estate had the usual issues: squished in with small plots and crappy parking. Second in 2006 was a local builder and a ****ing shambles: looked good at first, nice materials, but erected by utter eijits it seems - . I passed by recently and it looks terrible.
House we moved into almost 6 years ago has been here 140-150 years or so. I imagine it'll still be here in another 140-150 years.
to be slightly less greedy, make slightly less profit, and just give everyone that bit more space/privacy.
It's not just slightly, the government kickbacks alone per new house they build are huge.
I designed and built my own so yes. I am not sure buying a new home from a volume builder is going to fill you with joy. Small to mid scale developer with good reputation should be fine. So many older homes have been badly diy’ed over the years there is no guarantee of quality there either.
I met a senior surveyor for one of the big builders at a party a few moons back; he told me they're specc'd and built to the minimum level that's compliant with the 10 year warranty.
He said that if they exceed 10 years, the company has wasted money. 😬
That's not to say older houses are brilliant either, mind you....!
because of this. Even the “nice”, well built new builds are horrible, IMO, because of this. All it would take is the developers to be slightly less greedy, make slightly less profit, and just give everyone that bit more space/privacy. But obviously, that’ll never happen!
That was one of the issues with our second new build: crammed in with little privacy and not enough space. Only 10 houses in the development and described as 'link-detached' - each house joined to the next by garages. Layout on three sides of a square and open to the other side. Good in theory, crap in practice. We bought before the 'third' side of houses had started being erected, wish we hadn't bothered.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/CnLm99ySvMHxvbZX9
Maybe.
Currently in a 70's self build house so it's nice and solid. But I'm never being talked into a "project we can put our stamp on, just look at all that potential" again. I've just been paying a mortgage for 7 years to live in a building site when I could have had some nice boring white walls even if they are a bit flimsy!
These have just been built near me…
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86660763
…on a main road, some are link-detached (the new buzz word for a semi!), on a main road and next to a very busy pub. Price? Yeah - we’ll charge a fortune for them!!! 🤣🤣🤣
some are link-detached (the new buzz word for a semi!),
Not quite the same, "semi" means each house shares one wall with a neighbor then has side access on the other. Link dethatched means there's a garage between the houses sharing the walls, but you don't share any walls between the actual houses.
e.g. I live in a detached house, but it's pointless because that just means there's an inaccessible 1ft gap between my garage and their wall when we could both be saving a bit of heating if they'd been built link detached
I would, with real caution.
We lived in a new house in the village, but rented. Solidly built, but leaked heat like crazy... "Built to regs" thermally - but only on paper...
One of our family has a £600k+ "luxury" house on a small development. Among the host of problems is needing to move out for 6 months after 2 years as the timber frame and floors were missing most of the noggins and some doubled up structural headers etc ...It all started twisting and collapsing.
My sister bought one, from a big developer, on a tiny, tight estate. Despite being overlooked at every direction, and nowhere for cars to go, the actual house is lasting well - first major maintenance really was this year after 10 years in the place.
So I would, but with real caution.
I wouldn't. It would just make me sad every time I looked at it. ( unless super posh detached). Old buildings are so much nicer. Mines 1870s
…on a main road, some are link-detached (the new buzz word for a semi!), on a main road and next to a very busy pub. Price? Yeah – we’ll charge a fortune for them!!! 🤣🤣🤣
They look like farm sheds!
They look like farm sheds!
…this was done by the same developer - again very busy main road and close to a very busy pub…
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86411676
…completed a couple of years ago and two have come up for sale recently but haven’t sold.
They look like farm sheds!
To be fair, it's an improvement on the normal "looks like a house" architecture. At least someone sat down and actually had an opinion.
Live in a new build at the moment. Don’t mind it but wouldn’t buy another. Sold a Victorian house to buy it which was over a hundred years old. This house won’t be here in a hundred years….
The design is fine - it’s just the price they want for the location they are in. Those who know the areas won’t buy them.
No way, in an estate anyway. All the reasons above, shoddy quality, small gardens, insuffient parking, all crammed in.
New spec built of one / half dozen by a smaller local company, maybe.
Current house was spec built in 1989, internal finish was a bit cheapskate (cheap pine doors, few sockets, kitchen and bathroom not high quality) but, in 2017 everything was end-of-life, so suited me as a project to do a complete refit, and sort out a terrible downstairs layout. Very happy now, comfortable, modern home, with lowish running costs. And can fit 5 or more vehicles in the front yard, and thats only using 1/3 of the driveway down the side of the house (log stacks occupy part of the rest).
Interesting comments above storm damage to new builds, I thought B-regs had changed to require all tiles nailed (traditional was every other tile?), but also now have to use dry (no mortar) verges and ridges, is that a weakness letting the wind under the tiles I wonder?
Small to mid scale developer with good reputation should be fine.
Except as per that Guardian article they’re being squeezed out of the market by the big boys?
I do love how the artists' impressions always seem to show just the one (usually BMW) parked on the drive. Truly aspirational living.
Im happy with my old(built 1901) tenement flat. Big rooms, but not so high ceilings(9') been a bit of subsidence somewhere in its history from flooding I think, so the door frames are a bit of a parallelogram, but other than that its solid and sound.
With many new builds, the rooms are tiny with thin walls, sometimes little better than stud partitions. The plumbing aint great, but you know where you are with it and its not too bad really.
Cavities were all insulated a few years go with a free government scheme, and ive had new double glazed put in front and back so its all good there.
Too many times i hear stories like the above, of super duper award winning new builds, that turn into a nightmare of maintenance within a couple of years of moving in.
Except as per that Guardian article they’re being squeezed out of the market by the big boys?
I wonder how much of that is down to the governments house building targets though.
Round here it goes
- speculative application that shouldn't stand a chance (e.g. it's inside the AWE fallout emergency preparedness planning area)
- rejected
- well where can we build then?
- what? You don't own any other land?
- you have to find space for 5000 new houses before the end of the year to meet your target or approve this one by default
So if they don't rubberstamp the big developers thousand home developments in barely appropriate locations, they have to deal with hundreds of smaller ones in even worse places.
Not a chance.
Built to a price point by barely skilled labourers.
1 day to complete the bathroom, 2 day to do the kitchen. Wiring run god knows where.
I have heard dozens of horror stories from distraught people who have just dropped £300k on their dreams home only to find out it's a pile of poo.
I'm sure some are absolutely great, and I would buy a new build.built by a small local building firm who has been trading for years, not a new build estate built on an old waste site , signed off by themselves with Bulgarian and Romanian plumbers.
When I was first married our toddler son could only walk in one direction in his bedroom - downhill & all his toys ended up in one corner the floor was that sloped, mind you the house was built in 15th century.
Everything was a new build once....
Having spent 25yrs crawling all over and under our old slightly shonky 60s bungalow rectifying and improving, installing my own kitchen and bathroom etc, I really thought I'd struggle with a new build.
But it has been generally great. Small estate and developer, not crammed in. Location is a bit remote, so they struggled retaining trades and site managers, resulting in a bit of dodgy finishing and plumbing. But watched it being built from footings up so know the important stuff is done ok and it had a massive warm dry spell before and during roofing.
Kitchen was installed direct by the manufacturer to avoid builders trashing everything - nothing fancy but that was done really well.
Massive insulated floor slab has been a revelation (I did netting and rockwool under our old floor but this is way better). Similarly celotex wall insulation that doesn't bridge the cavity and has a big overlap with the floor insulation (and external bricks were left out at regular gaps so cavity could be inspected for debris).
Thought I'd hate dot and dab plasterboard walls, but using Corefix plugs for heavy stuff has been really clean and easy (same for adding sockets / back boxes). Wish we'd taken more photos of pipes and wires at first fix....
Properly finished and accurate sized window openings, with well fitting frames (not dodgy lintels, undersized aftermarket frames and a ton of cludge).
You do realise how little DIY most people can do - we're in a tiny minority that could do our own patio, trim doors after carpet etc.
Glad we like it - I never ever want to go through the stress of selling / moving house again.
It’s not, it’s because huge numbers of people are wombles and won’t park on their drive incase someone else parks outside their house. Also parking on the drive is for one or two cars and many households have three or four.
It’s absolutely not a “new build” specific problem.
it is a new build issue though. Government policy for a while was to push for roads that were narrow and houses with at most space for one car on the drive to avoid "car focussed neighbourhoods". This was wishful thinking, as having to stuff a car half on the pavement doesn't stop someone's "need" for a second car. Older estates have a similar issue, but often have a front garden that can be paved over and a road wide enough to park on both sides and still drive down.
. Even the “nice”, well built new builds are horrible, IMO, because of this
Nice new builds can be lovely. These are the last two developments the builders of our house did, plenty of space.
You do realise how little DIY most people can do
Surely this only holds true if you keep moving into new builds every few years.
As much as the quip about everything being new build at one point holds true so does the converse point of eventually everything needs repaired.
urely this only holds true if you keep moving into new builds every few years.
Met a guy once who'd lived in loads of new builds. Instead of doing the usual property development thing of buying scruffy properties and doing them up for a profit he'd buy one of the first few homes available on a new development. There would be considerable discounts and incentives from the builders to sell houses while the estate was still being built and also because so many houses were on the market at the same time they weren't exactly hotly contested. So he'd buy, move in, then once the estate was finished he'd sell. Everyone else on the estate had just moved in there would be no other houses there for sale or likely to be for a while so for anyone who needed to move to the area his was the only option available so there would be a bit of bidding war.
He made very similar margins to many developers but did absolutely zero work for the money
His day job was building houses 🙂
Parking..hah.. all the old houses round here have no off-street parking at all 🙂
Interesting comments above storm damage to new builds, I thought B-regs had changed to require all tiles nailed (traditional was every other tile?), but also now have to use dry (no mortar) verges and ridges, is that a weakness letting the wind under the tiles I wonder?
Our previous house (link in post at top of this page) lost 300+ roof tiles 6 months after the build was finished and we'd moved in. Storm over Hogmanay 2006-07, high winds took off some tiles complete with battens, other tiles bent and snapped in the wind. Utter devastation: we were the only house without damage to our cars (the only ones to use our garage, and other car was away with us). Even before that we'd seen whole sections of roof tiles flapping up in the wind. Builder blamed planning regs but it became clear he'd used an unsuitably lightweight tile for the location. Entire roof replaced at his expense on all 10 houses, replacement tiles used were 3-4 times heavier than the originals.
New builds round here are crazy prices, but the old stuff is pretty poor quality, mostly run down and needing repair etc....of course our own house fits into this category too...
Parking..hah.. all the old houses round here have no off-street parking at all
All the new builds round here have 2 spaces. But you better drive nothing bigger than a fiesta.
I'll stick to my late 40s ex council house with it's drive way that fits 5 cars and isn't just the entire front garden paved.
As for nailing tiles down. Ours has very few nailed. We lose 1 or 2 tiles every year or so in a very exposed hill top location If they were all nailed it would be hellish.
But then. The structural engineer was surprised when I told him the dimensions of our roof woodwork when doing calcs suggested the extension could be almost half the dimensions rather than his usual catch all comment of "match existing timbers" and being old and Scottish has full sarking and not just tiles on battens over membrane hanging on with a hope and prayer.
My old man was. A site manager for a large collapsing floor based company up in this area for a few months before he got asked to leave due to refusing to sign off on shoddy / nee dangerous houses as finished.
I went to have a look at one of these new builds in Sheffield, I liked it: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/138847091#/?channel=RES_NEW
Tiny developer (actually a pair of architects), triple glazing, underfloor heating, solar panels. A bit of a premium but it seemed fair compared to what else is available.
I live in a 4 year old house, bought 2 years ago. No problems with build quality other than they specced rubbish appliances. It's warm and cheap to run.
I think you generally get what it says on the tin: no character, not much privacy/space, warm and IMO very low maintenance.
Would I buy one off plan... Yes, but I would get an anally retentive builder to do the snagging list.
When I was a kid every time it was windy people lost tiles. I haven't seen a single one leave a roof on this street of 2007 houses.
We lost concrete tiles as a kid on a new build( built in 88 and tiles lost in 91)
I mean it was the hogmanay hurricane and most houses in the town had some damage.
My grandparents on Shetland saw 190mph winds in that storm. They saw complete(wooden) houses blown over.
#3pigs
There's new builds here in the new town that ban solar panels and all sorts of other rules.
We recently moved into a new build. Prior to that we lived in a bit of a Victorian project house.
Prefer a character property with high ceilings as I'm a tall git. Decided on new build as there weren't any character properties with 4/5 bedrooms and we wanted to stay in the local area.
As others have said choosing a good plot is key. We have a nice old oak tree out the front of our house and live at the end of our little road so no passing traffic.
Drive and garage is nice to have.
Nice and warm with minimal use of the heating.
Snagging list was quite extensive. Nothing major and the builders are fixing things. Frustrating as most of it was obvious and avoidable but seems some of the trades didn't give much of a shit.
Best thing is not having to do much to the house so have more free time to ride bikes.
Also leasehold issues, I would not buy anything that came with ground rent or charges to management company.
Is it the case that on many "estates" the roads aren't adopted by the local council?
We've been in our new build for 2.5 years. Zero issues. It's a small development with only 50 houses and it's pretty much an isolated development with woodlands behind us and open countryside in front so it doesn't feel like a typical new build estate. Our snagging list was very small. Some minor cosmetic stuff.
The house is spacious with a large garden. Roof has 9 solar panels so our electricity bill is very low. The house is very well insulated so the gas bill is also very low.
I definitely wouldn't have bought it if it was a huge development but we've really lucked out. Neighbours are nice and everyone keeps themselves to themselves.
Probably the biggest attraction with a new build was avoiding the crazy bidding system in the Scottish market where as well as having a 20% deposit we'd also need another 20-30% of the home report value to plow into the place in order to win, and even then that would've been on a place that probably needed a new kitchen or bathroom etc. Knowing the price the builder wanted and no hassles with bidding was a very attractive scenario
My first 2 houses were an 1890 2 bed cottage and a 1902 Edwardian detached 4-bed. The last one was ‘modernised’ in the 1980s, so had the ‘benefit’ of an uninsulated concrete slab floor to stop it subsiding, draughty windows and minimal insulation.
2 years ago, we had this house built by a local, family building firm. We changed the interior from a 3-bed upside-down to a 2-bed, working with the architect. Built during COVID it took 9 months - we were living on the other side of the country. I had to get pretty hands-on in terms of the interior layout, kitchen, bathrooms etc. sourcing and ordering stuff in order to keep things moving. We moved in 2 months later than planned and it still wasn’t finished. I also had to fit out my workshop inside the garage, plus building the polydome and another bike shed.
The ‘garden’ was just bare earth, so that’s been landscaped, lawned, installed raised beds, a chicken run, fenced and gated. I’ve still got a jobs list after over 2 years of living here.<br />
I’ve heard too many horror stories about volume house builders to want to buy one - cutting corners, not meeting building regs, useless NHBC guarantees. I’m sure there are plenty of smaller to medium size builders/developers who turn out good quality properties, but you need to be pretty hands on, have a pretty well-defined idea about what you want so you don’t end up disappointed. I’m hoping this will be the last move - we can live entirely on the ground floor if needed.
On the parking issues, our development is pretty good. We have a good sized drive, although not overly deep, but we could fit 3 cars side by side on ours. We're currently waiting for the road to be finished, been notified it's happening next month which should finish it off nicely.
We've struck lucky with great friendly neighbours too.
sure, any developer can buy a farmers field in the middle of nowhere & build a spacious development. Location, location, location tho innit. What the snazzy brochure doesn’t tell you is that it’s next to a busy bypass & the only pub within walking distance is shit 😂. Hard pass from me! 🤣Nice new builds can be lovely. These are the last two developments the builders of our house did, plenty of space.
Good God no! There’s a new estate being built somewhere here in the South-West, I honestly can’t remember where, but half the houses already built and sold are having to be demolished because of issues with the ground they’re building on!
Here in Chippenham the government have forced the council to build hundreds of new houses because ‘local plan wasn’t adequate…’ one small estate sits on a narrow wedge-shaped plot that’s between the London - Bristol railway line and a fairly busy road bringing traffic onto the A4 into town from the A350. It’s sloping down from the railway embankment on all sides and the top is a thick band of solid grey clay, perfect for making pots with. God knows what their drainage is going to be like, although there’s a large drainage pond just as you drive into the estate. Meanwhile the town centre is dying on its ass because the four car parks have no free parking for the first hour, while all the big retail parks surrounding the town have free parking and cafes and other eateries close by. And the councils keep saying they’ve got regeneration plans in hand. 😖
My house needs some remedial work doing, I’m waiting on details of a load of pensions at the moment to see what sort of lump sum I can get without degrading my annuity, but it’s solid otherwise. It should be, it’s 90 years old, built just pre-WW2. I wonder how kind 90 years will be to all these timber-framed buildings will be.
I wonder how kind 90 years will be to all these timber-framed buildings will be.
Aye. Timber is such a short life span material in buildings.
Drives that might accommodate 2 cars if you’re lucky aren’t much use in 3-4 bed houses once those kids hit driving age.
"Driving age" only needs to be driving age where public transport is dogshit...which it usually is on new build sprawl estates.
What the UK needs is a bunch more Swiss style 3-5 storey blocks of flats (with underground parking if really necessary). You can get one of them on the plots of two old suburban houses.
This thread is depressing.
The snobs are gloating over their perfect character filled cottages, meanwhile people buy what they can get if they are lucky enough to be able to.