Would you buy a new build home?

[mcg_]

May be of interest when looking for a developer to purchase from

https://www.hbf.co.uk/documents/7471/HBF_CSS_Broch...

[selym]

mcg_ said:

May be of interest when looking for a developer to purchase from

https://www.hbf.co.uk/documents/7471/HBF_CSS_Broch...

Very interesting, thank you.

[Patch1875]

Thinks do crop up at reasonably prices, we stay at Western Corner so fairly close to the city centre it’s a 10yo4 bed townhouse so a new build but it’s only 5 houses in a courtyard we bought it a couple of years ago for less than 350k.

[Toaster Pilot]

mcg_ said:

May be of interest when looking for a developer to purchase from

https://www.hbf.co.uk/documents/7471/HBF_CSS_Broch...

survey funded by developers in praising developers shocker

[mcg_]

Toaster Pilot said:

mcg_ said:

May be of interest when looking for a developer to purchase from

https://www.hbf.co.uk/documents/7471/HBF_CSS_Broch...

survey funded by developers in praising developers shocker

Have you looked into it at all?

[Toaster Pilot]

mcg_ said:

Have you looked into it at all?

Yes, it’s very praising of the biggest NHBC members and only slightly damning of the ones that build the worst houses like Persimmon.

NHBC is funded by developers and has no reason to shun them.

[blueg33]

Toaster Pilot said:

mcg_ said:

Have you looked into it at all?

Yes, it’s very praising of the biggest NHBC members and only slightly damning of the ones that build the worst houses like Persimmon.

NHBC is funded by developers and has no reason to shun them.

However, most housebuilders also get the results of customer satisfaction surveys done by an independent company that shows their results against the others. These are anonymised do you can’t see who the others are, but ultimately you can work it out.

The NHBC report linked above is more or less in alignment with the independent surveys.

When we were doing 750 units PA, we would have about 2 per year with serious big issues, 15 or 20 with issues that were not serious but a bit more than snagging, and probably 50 or so with minor snagging that took more than 4 weeks to fix.

Not too bad for a hand made product built in a field in English weather.

Our customer satisfaction ratings were in the top 5 %.

[loafer123]

The issue is more the depreciation curve.

Building cheaply means things wear our more quickly, but that will only show up a few years down the line.

[selym]

loafer123 said:

The issue is more the depreciation curve.

Building cheaply means things wear our more quickly, but that will only show up a few years down the line.

I'd imagine council estates were built as cheaply, if not more cheaply and those places refuse to fall apart.

[TTmonkey]

Biggest issue with new build estates, at least the lower end of the market appealing to young families etc, is that every day looks like bin day, and the paths are often blocked by cars as there’s far more cars than parking spaces.

Seriously why is there no storage for wheelie bins anywhere on these estates????!

[selym]

TTmonkey said:

Biggest issue with new build estates, at least the lower end of the market appealing to young families etc, is that every day looks like bin day, and the paths are often blocked by cars as there’s far more cars than parking spaces.

Seriously why is there no storage for wheelie bins anywhere on these estates????!

When I bought mine, there were various covenants designed to avoid this kind of thing; no parking on the road, no caravans, no speedboats, no sky dishes on the front of the house, bin storage inside the property (mine was drawn into the 'oversized garage' drawings but they go behind the gate).....a service charge for the grassed and planted areas chargeable to each house.

I'm not sure how they will be enforced, but it seems like a good way to keep the look of the place as the community wants it.

[loafer123]

selym said:

I'd imagine council estates were built as cheaply, if not more cheaply and those places refuse to fall apart.

Most were brick and block, compared to the timber framing used by many box bashers nowadays.

[selym]

loafer123 said:

selym said:

I'd imagine council estates were built as cheaply, if not more cheaply and those places refuse to fall apart.

Most were brick and block, compared to the timber framing used by many box bashers nowadays.

Tis true, but it does depend on the 'standard' of the development I suppose. Not all developers and developments can automatically be regarded as timber frame builders - mine is block and brick for example.

[soupdragon1]

A couple of articles around timber frame versus traditional block build.

There still seems to be that general myth floating around the UK that block build is better but the overall summary is that it depends on individual preferences. Both have pro's and con's. Both methods are as good as each other, but have differences. Its how those difference fit around what you want from a home is what it all comes down to.

One of the things we prefer around timber frame is that you can control the temperature a lot easier. Nice to quickly turn a house from cold to warm in the winter, and it only takes about 10 mins. Same for cooling in the summer. Brick built effectively means the house stays warm during the summer nights and you don't get as good a nights sleep as a result. A timber frame home you can cool it back down very quickly, once the sun sets.

We're on our 3rd new build in a row, previous were 1 block build, 1 timber build. at 3rd time of asking, we went timber frame, as it just suits our lifestyle better than block build (plus the fact we needed the house built quickly and we went from foundations to move in ready in about 3 months!)

https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/comparing-masonry-a...

http://www.constructionchat.co.uk/articles/timber-...

[selym]

soupdragon1 said:

A couple of articles around timber frame versus traditional block build.

There still seems to be that general myth floating around the UK that block build is better but the overall summary is that it depends on individual preferences. Both have pro's and con's. Both methods are as good as each other, but have differences. Its how those difference fit around what you want from a home is what it all comes down to.

One of the things we prefer around timber frame is that you can control the temperature a lot easier. Nice to quickly turn a house from cold to warm in the winter, and it only takes about 10 mins. Same for cooling in the summer. Brick built effectively means the house stays warm during the summer nights and you don't get as good a nights sleep as a result. A timber frame home you can cool it back down very quickly, once the sun sets.

We're on our 3rd new build in a row, previous were 1 block build, 1 timber build. at 3rd time of asking, we went timber frame, as it just suits our lifestyle better than block build (plus the fact we needed the house built quickly and we went from foundations to move in ready in about 3 months!)

https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/comparing-masonry-a...

http://www.constructionchat.co.uk/articles/timber-...

People don't like change - and I can attest to the fact that brick built houses absorb heat during the day and radiate it inwards during the night. Not my new build, but the older married quarter i am currently in.

[blueg33]

selym said:

I'd imagine council estates were built as cheaply, if not more cheaply and those places refuse to fall apart.

That is not correct. Most of the system built ones have needed significant remedial work, many brick built ones suffer from wall tie failure, render has usually failed and been replaced by now, they pretty much all have replacement windows, damp proof courses fail regularly, anything pre 1970 will have been rewired, there are instances of purlin failure, many pre 1960 units didn’t have felt under the tiles and had single skin walls.

Yeah old council houses are great

[selym]

blueg33 said:

selym said:

I'd imagine council estates were built as cheaply, if not more cheaply and those places refuse to fall apart.

That is not correct. Most of the system built ones have needed significant remedial work, many brick built ones suffer from wall tie failure, render has usually failed and been replaced by now, they pretty much all have replacement windows, damp proof courses fail regularly, anything pre 1970 will have been rewired, there are instances of purlin failure, many pre 1960 units didn’t have felt under the tiles and had single skin walls.

Yeah old council houses are great

Well, you would say that wouldn't you?

No-one said council houses are 'great' but they are still there.

[mcg_]

TTmonkey said:

Biggest issue with new build estates, at least the lower end of the market appealing to young families etc, is that every day looks like bin day, and the paths are often blocked by cars as there’s far more cars than parking spaces.

Seriously why is there no storage for wheelie bins anywhere on these estates????!

Thats the residents that cant be bothered to put the bins in their garden.

[blueg33]

selym said:

blueg33 said:

selym said:

I'd imagine council estates were built as cheaply, if not more cheaply and those places refuse to fall apart.

That is not correct. Most of the system built ones have needed significant remedial work, many brick built ones suffer from wall tie failure, render has usually failed and been replaced by now, they pretty much all have replacement windows, damp proof courses fail regularly, anything pre 1970 will have been rewired, there are instances of purlin failure, many pre 1960 units didn’t have felt under the tiles and had single skin walls.

Yeah old council houses are great

Well, you would say that wouldn't you?

No-one said council houses are 'great' but they are still there.

I would say that because I have valued and surveyed plenty of them, why roll your eyes, do facts give you a problem

Volume built houses from the same period are still there too and they are generally better quality, so your point is moot.

[selym]

blueg33 said:

I would say that because I have valued and surveyed plenty of them, why roll your eyes, do facts give you a problem

Volume built houses from the same period are still there too and they are generally better quality, so your point is moot.

Classic PH.