Would we buy another NEW BUILD house in the UK?

[@phildxyz]

This ought to be a TV program. Brilliant summary that deserves a wider audience.

[@ge2719]

And a more informed house buyer might actually mean builders need to up the quality of their product and aren't able to get away with the crap they currently are getting away with.

[@MrOdoric]

I thought "snagging" was finding minor faults that missed inspection. This looks like the builders are simply unqualified chancers who couldn't care less. How could you have any faith that the house will be standing in a year's time?

[@corylus86]

Councils should heavily fine developers for not adhering to planning conditions

[@marissakeynes2532]

No they just go after private landlords. ​@@corylus86

[@LiquidFlower]

Trouble is you can just make a limited company and not have any liability as a person if something goes wrong. It enables cowboys like this to do a shoddy job. Always ask the person who is working for you if they have insurance and certificates at the very least.

[@CraigBass1988]

@@corylus86 that won’t help with snagging, you can’t condition that within a planning consent. The problem is the privatisation of building control. You’ve got absolute muppets who don’t have a clue, and are being paid by the developers, to sign off the works. It is a complete disgrace. To add insult to injury, the NHBC is made up of ex-developer directors so they’re nearly always on the side of the builder.

[@TalesOfWar]

@@corylus86 Councils literally don't have the people to do follow these kind of things. Their budgets and resources are cut beyond the bone thanks to central government constantly giving them less and less. On top of that a HUGE swath of the current Tory party are landlords and property developers, and receive huge brib... "campaign donations" from other developers so they turn a blind eye or pass legislation to reduce regulations and the rights of tenants and home owners.

[@richtea7868]

I got really lucky, my new build was build by a small local builder, he buys up big older houses that are falling down and then puts several smaller ones on them. I bought the property off him directly and he sorted all the snagging. His son and family do all the work and Im actually almost friends with him now. He makes a decent amount of money and still does a good job.

[@rbnhd1144]

A small local builder should equal care, you get a much nicer product, built with Pride.

[@klawlor3659]

Can relate to that. My home was built by a local builder in 2003, and touch wood I've had no issues. This was despite it being used and abused as a buy to let property for 14 years, with minimum spent. Just replaced the front door, windows and kitchen and painted it from top to bottom.

[@si0054]

We just did the same, hands down one of the best built properties in the whole region. He built four on this plot, great views no ‘affordable’ social houses That’s a separate issue, I’d never buy a house near affordable housing again. We had a cannabis house, drug dealers, hordes of screaming kids for months on end because we bought without knowing it was social houses at the back of mine. I don’t care what anyone calls me, not what I paid for. Plush the 3 page snagging list.

[@michaelwinkley2302]

"...and we found a full bottle of piss in one of our walls." How you delivered this line was just pure comedy genius. 😂

[@Officialcbr]

@@By-Fun-Jokes-Guitars LOL

[@tubaman66]

I would have been tempted to post it back to the builders asking that they hand it back to its owner.

[@ahah1785]

the most brittish thing ever to do....

[@lewisbrown51]

Just shows the horrendous mentality of the type of person building these houses now, going completely unchecked obviously

[@jakeroadtonowhere4070]

I would’ve took that bottle of piss to the police to do DNA on it ., to get that builder back because he’s taking the piss 😂😂

[@johnboyginger]

One golden rule - Never, ever buy a house built by Persimmon Homes!!! Cheap tat thrown up as cheaply as possible.

[@paulknights1764]

I agree I’ve worked on a few of there sites as a carpenter.. very poor quality and finish .

[@MK-yo4jn]

😂

[@steverobinson9836]

@@MK-yo4jn We were working at a new build house by persimmon and I am not a brickie but OMG it was dreaful, how the hell that even got passed was beyond me and that sums up the state of our unskilled couldn't care less workforce sadly, I wish I had taken a picture

[@MK-yo4jn]

That's scary. I'm so old school. I bought an old property. 1930s and we are slow renovating it. Trying to DIY small things but getting professionals to do the heavy lifting.

[@johnboyginger]

No wonder their former chief executive took a £90 million bonus a few years ago. Cheap tat sold for a fortune.

[@SomeKidFromBritain]

The "negative equity" concern is a very very useful thing to know. Thank you.

[@hughjanus7354]

Anyone who buys anything that requires a loan without understanding this... I feel sorry for you.

[@d.b.cooper1]

It's a simple concept, amazed folks are...amazed by it

[@bobikdylan]

We bought a one acre plot and got a local builder to do the foundations, external and internal walls, and the roof. Bought architect's plans online for £400 and had them tweaked by a local architect so we got exactly what we wanted. All materials are good and solid. The stairs and ceiling are reinforced concrete, and the whole place is wrapped in 15cm of polystyrence insulation. 15 years on we've had no problems.

[@gtiggsmusicstudent]

This appeals to me way more than all the plaster board I have a feeling plaster board walls aren't really for me I I really prefer knowing I have solid walls and any fittings and hangings will not move a millimetre. I have spent the last of five years constantly search alternatives to some.of these house builds and settled on self build like you did and be in control of chosen proven materials. And outside finishes. Ans yeah always wondered why use those renders that then turn green once exposed to blighty's unforgiving weather. I like the crisp nice finish but won't have it unless i know it can be protected and won't discolor. Yes I like your approach.

[@zenastronomy]

how much it cost to build?

[@bobikdylan]

@@zenastronomy It's difficult to say because we built in Poland, where labour is cheaper than in the UK. I'd say about £50k in labour and materials.

[@Thepourdeuxchanson]

@@bobikdylan My friend who bought a disastrous sloppy new build near Cambridge found out that most of the builders on the estate were Polish - Poland exported their worst and kept their best obviously.

[@SZK87]

That’s the only way if you want a good house . But on top of the cost for quality materials and maybe multiple teams of workers (as you may fire some if they don’t do a good job ) you will also have to pay a lot with your time (not sure if you can have a full time job while doing this ) and stress ! Regarding workers . I think all good ones went to west Europe. In Romania you go to church to merry the guy if he knows how to do his job without you telling him .

[@MrDirkles]

"if its under the builders warranty it will all be covered" 🤣That's the best laugh i've had in years.

[@u2kjib4cjkqn]

Not worth the paper written on had a few dealings with warranty’s for customers complete waste of time .

[@fqlynx]

That's because it's an insurance scam and not a manufacturer's warranty. The way some of these developers get off any accountability, is simply by letting the company go bust and starting a new one. The NHBC is a complete disgrace too.

[@christinedavis5813]

I am still laughing at that ass well

[@jellyboy123]

what my company does is change our name every 2 years tax breaks plus the warranty is with the old company we all do this

[@Tokaisho1]

@@jellyboy123 Never using a company less than 5 years old

[@diegolove173]

I'm really happy with my victorian house made in 1857 very solid ! we changed the tiles last year and re pointed the chimney in 2020 so far so good

[@boyasaka]

It’s a disgrace that the builder , developer doesn’t pick lots of these snags up BEFORE they hand over the keys

[@lynnew5619]

I think it’s more of a disgrace that people’s lives are potentially at risk from shoddy, seemingly incompetent work, all to keep costs down & maximise the greedy developer’s profits.

[@DodgyChris2012]

They're hoping people won't care or will perceive it as normal so they can get away with it, doesn't matter on the builder either, even the more reputable ones are awful, the best new builds I've been in or worked are the ones built as small little developments by a smaller company, who actually take pride in their work. The council should really up there game and look more at quality before signing the building certificate in my opinion

[@boyasaka]

@@DodgyChris2012 does the council actually sign off the work as I was lead to belive they use a supposedly accredited company to sign them off but if said company was to strict , large builder would stop using said company to inspect and sign off I mean I’ve seen houses where ground work is above the air bricks Gas meters not sealed And other really serious stuff

[@hewoguys2506]

ive been a snagger and i will tell you new builds are crap buikt with crap materials and tradesmen dont care coz developers dont pay enough thats why its are revolving door of trades coming in and out one thing must say they warm and thats about it

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

@@boyasaka if i was a new build buyer in such a situation id take the inspectors to court

[@Doug....]

If those loose cables didnt show up on the continuity test and other required processes then i would say it either hadn't been inspected or the inspection procedures aren't fit for purpose. 😱. It obviously wasn't installed by a qualified electrician as they would have held the cable in place, tightened up and TUGGED the cable afterwards. Disgraceful.

[@rob5944]

I had a local electrician round to put a towel rail in, he didn't seem to know what he was doing.

[@Doug....]

@@rob5944 Well that makes you think doesn't it. Not the same "electrician" that fitted Andy's consumer unit was it 👀😁

[@rob5944]

@@Doug.... the craftsmen from years ago have gone. Nobody seems to care anymore, no pride in their work. Half the things you buy are rubbish too.

[@LiquidFlower]

Lots of it would be fixed if the law was properly enforced not allowing such bad practices..

[@notmyname4261]

@@LiquidFlower Deregulation started in the 1980's under Thatcher and has slowly increased since. Brexit has made it explode and what's most concerning now is it's coming to the food industry.

[@helenbruce886]

Loved your comments on the Great Park. I live very close to it and would be interested in hearing more about the development which a lot of people think shouldn’t have been built on the land that had germ classified as green belt.

[@Monsieur405]

Not a sparky, but an Aussie homeowner. Your new build disasters are a common story here in Australia too. Build quality has gone down the tubes. IMO it's a combination of problems. 1. Privatisation of building inspectors 2. Drop in quality by trades. Builders and inspectors are in bed together and work that doesn't pass our National Construction Code gets signed off on. If i was dictator for a day, I would 1. Bring inspectors into a government role akin to 'building police' 2. Implement a '3 strikes' system where trades who willingly breech the NCC or 'Australian Standards' get three chances before their license is revoked and they are banned from the industry. For inspectors who sign off on non-compliant work and are found out? Lose your license and banned from industry. I've got a particularly bad case in my own home where the structural engineers signed off on non-compliant structural work. 'She'll be right', 'You can't see it from my house' and 'what the eye don't see the chef gets away with' are phrases that sum up the attitude of builders here. I genuinely don't know how these cowboys can sleep at night.

[@snoopy13946]

I’d take it further and introduce jail time for certain offences. They’d buck themselves up then!

[@gm2407]

If the structural engineer doesn't know what they are doing or care the the whole thing is doomed. Might as well build the damned thing yourself for all the garbage the industry throws up.

[@fritz4345]

Never trust the shiny rendering of any developers. They are worse than any car salesmen. While new houses might have better insulation, at older houses you know what you are getting into, you see the developed neighborhood and you can fix most of the old house problems over time. Excellent video!

[@John-ou4rm]

There can be a lot of cost with an older house, and they can't be fixed cheaply especially as often it requires ripping out good fittings to access what you're trying to remedy, like underfloor insulation.

[@funnythat9956]

The house to buy is a 4 year old new build. The snags have been dealt with and the insulation is still up to the latest standard.

[@John-ou4rm]

@@funnythat9956 I've got a 172 year old house, and they're ice boxes in the winter, to put insulation back in requires a lot of invasive work. I think a 1980s house probably is a good middle ground as electrics / insulation etc is all reasonably up to spec. 1980s houses generally were built quite well, modern houses use the cheapest of fittings that will look really tired in 10 years, taps will bubble and rust etc. We build houses, we know.

[@tmmtmm]

@@funnythat9956 did you watch the video? You can renovate/fix a house but you can't renovate non-existent infrastructure.

[@sirrodneyffing1]

"at older houses you know what you are getting into," really?..

[@clivelockwood3236]

Fair play you do get insulation in the new build which is a good thing but that's probably where it ends.

[@Dr.Stacker]

Even then not difficult to retrofit into an old property, Got all walls cavity insulated, Floorbeds removed and insulated and loft...

[@BoxxArt]

Only because they are forced to install it. Do you think they are doing to be nice?

[@steve11211]

As an electrician I would be really worried about what you can't see if that is what you can see, I would however point out that the back boxes do not need to be earthed on sockets and fcu, the regulations state as long as there is one fixed lug which there is on metal back boxes then it is not required as it will be earth'd via the screw..

[@Chanesmyname]

Really interesting to listen to your experiences, subscribed! You jogged my memory, our first home was a Victoria terrace, on doing some work on it we found that a support wall had been built on two planks of wood and the original outrigger had not been built to connect to the main house brickwork the floors were built on coal shingle and scrap, dodgy building is as old as the Victorians!

[@Zel0978]

I bought a 4 bed detached place in Grantham in 2020 that had been on the market for over 6 months. Built in '78 and rented for most of it's life you can imagine the landlord had spent the bare minimum to keep it liveable. It was on the market for £215k and I got it for £195k, and proceeded to strip it back and start over. We've only got the kitchen and living room left to do and nothing has been missed out. It's now worth about £315k as it stands and we couldn't be happier. Watching this made me realise just how many criminals run around in suits, and how easily people are separated from their hard earned money.

[@gm2407]

As you say you can buy a substandard new build and fix it yourself, or buy a substandard old build that only gets repaired if the owner has the money and inclination to do so. I.E is not a slum lord. Then fix it yourself. If you can find an honest workman who knows what they are doing, when you have to sift through getting quotes and waiting to get the work done. It is a tough gig for most people as there are so many bear traps you walk into if you don't know how something should have been made and the standards the work should be done to.

[@SBBUK]

Your new build videos from a few years back were super helpful helping me chose a new build ,based on your fair and balanced view of the pros/cons. In general, pur new build has been a good house. When we purchased ours in 2021, the prices of houses were inflating at a massive rate, and the new build actually presented better value for money at the time we purchased, even based on proper calculations of the m2 of the property, factoring in optional extras. etc, as the new build prices were somewhat fixed and weren't subject to market forces as quickly. The house itself we're happy with, but my main piece of advice for anyone considering a new build is just really have a look deeply onto the plans of the plot you are considering buying, and think about the frontage, access, etc. We focused too much on the house itself, room sizes, if they were suitable for our needs etc, and didn't realise that the property was on a narrow shared driveway (on the plans, it looks like a small cul-de-sac, but after measuring the plan I realised how small it actually was .. with no foot path... ) with several houses which is pretty awful to live with. It might not bother some, just my 2 pence. Snagging wise, the only real significant issue we've had resolved is both the front and back doors got replaced as they were installed poorly. I've noticed many of the other houses nearby having similar work done. My understanding is that the developer purchased "off the shelf" size doors but the apetures they will fit in in the houses were not accurately built, so whoever installed the doors just smashed them into place, bending and packing the frames to fit as best they could. Not particularly a huge deal but incredibly annoying and wasteful of time and materials. Also on the topic of council tax, I managed to successfully challenge our council tax band, based on the size of nearby, similar sized properties on an earlier phase of the estate being a band lower. I did have to go to the national valuation office, and prepare for a tribunal, however - fortunately the case was discontinued in my favour, before I actually had to present any evidence.

[@hafidselougha795]

Just Brilliant talk and very well researched. Thanks

[@traceywoodall6937]

Wonderful explanation of what is out there. Thanks for you honesty.

[@damianbutterworth2434]

I do all my own building, electrical, plumbing etc. Your want it right, do it yourself. Fitted my own wood burner, solar panels etc with no problems.

[@pureblood1978x]

I worked for the cowboys who supplied and "installed " the windows at great park. They're garbage and the firm went bust. The boss was a clown. On one development they fitted float glass instead of acoustic glass, lied about it and got caught. This helped sink the company.

[@satanismybrother]

Excellent video mr Mac. 8 years ago we bought an old house and my mate bought a new build. we recently sold ours quickly and with a decent markup whereas my mate is unfortunately struggling and in negative equity. Like you say - overvaluation

[@markbaker980]

I bought a Redrow new build in 2021. Pretty happy with it. Snagging was not too bad. Only issue that wasn’t a quick fix was a crack in external render, which I fixed myself in the end. You are right about the insulation. Our bills are a fraction of what they were in our previous Victorian terraced house, and it feels so much warmer. No issues with electrics, though having seen yours I will do some checking!. Split RCD, I hope by now they are using RCBOs as standard. I may upgrade my socket rings to AFDDs soon. Heating system is great. We have three en-suites and the pressurised hot water tank can supply all three showers at once. Thermostats and controllers are cheap, I will put NEST or HIVE in before next winter. I have a 3 car driveway and a single garage. The garage is too small for a modern car, needs to be a metre wider! It came with a car charger, but it turns out to be a 13A socket in a waterproof housing. If I ever get an electric car, it will cost me £1000 to fit a proper charger, which won’t use any of the current socket’s circuit. I don’t miss the list of jobs I had trying to keep my old Victorian house going!

[@JosephByrne]

Fantastically objective video. I'm on a similar estate in the South and we have some similar issues to those you described. The unfinished roads are grating on me too. We do have a great community though.

[@chrisfaron]

@Gosforth Great video, just one point about sq metres, having lived abroad where price per sq metre/foot is a great way of comparing price/value for different houses. in the UK we are obsessed with bedroom number rather than total square feet. I think you are in a great position to educate buyers in using this method.

[@Ramblingpete]

Thanks for the tip off so by my knowledge that’s all builders so far what a shame we need more people like you to worn people more thanks man

[@qloudz]

Fantastic video. I'm looking at buying a house (in Newcastle) so this brought so many insights into new/older builds. Thanks very much.

[@ge2719]

7:20 wtf! I always though electrical certificates were meaningless. Since if you change something in your house who is to know it wasn't like that when it was certified. But for even the electronics certification system to be so completely corrupt that there multiple faults that could burn the house down amd it still gets signed of.... That's absolutely nuts.

[@zlamanit]

A friend had exposed live cables in the loft. There were sparks! The guy who self certified the work insisted that it’s OK.

[@1sally1288]

We have been in our new to us house for about 2 months now. It's a converted 30s bungalow (4 bed) just outside of a nice southern town, my brother bought a new build about the same distance on the other side of the town. We bought for the same amount, his is smaller, but very nice (and cheap to heat), but he had to spend 15k on new carpets etc since he didn't want the finishing touches the developer offered. We have a bigger house and garden, but estimate that we need to spend about 30k (less with doing bits ourselves) but we also estimate that our house will end up being worth about 100-150k more in a few years as it really is the rough house in a popular area. We didn't want a new build due to the worry about equity and also the lack of space, but I guess it is really up to you on how much work you want to do yourselves. Great video!

[@terryj50]

Would not buy one in the first place seen so many bad stories. I bought an old home it’s been up 200 years I’m sure it will be up another 200.

[@sarahm4909]

Bradley Stoke, just north of Bristol, is a similar sort of development, but it was started at the tail end of the 1980s. Many homeowners there found themselves in negative equity and as a result, it earned the nickname "Sadly Broke". I've not been out that way in a long time, but from what I can gather it's not a bad place to live, it just took a long time to get things sorted.

[@DjGiluk]

Brilliant video Andy, very informative and well balanced. Having only lived in the North East for about five years it’s really interesting hearing about Great Park and the dream people were sold. I completely agree about over inflated house prices for new builds, it’s ridiculous. We bought our first house two years ago (1960s 3 bed semi) and we are renovating it now and yes it’s hard work but we love it!

[@kitchendiner]

17:22 worth noting the houses with the mould issue have incorrect guttering installed or *no* guttering where its needed most. ive had white render for around a decade without issue as do millions of homes up and down the country. mine is a textured finish which allows water to bead. with smooth versions the water just streaks along the surface many will specify smooth render as it seems counter intuitive to specify a rough cast texture. its just one of those things that you dont find out until you find out

[@k.hussain360]

I think you need to go down the self build route Andy, would love to see your approach to a project like that, although I guess not so different to your renovation project.

[@stuartandrews4344]

Self build every time, you control the quailty & finish of the build.

[@cuebj]

Negative equity: £90k in March 1989; £45k a year later and stayed that way for about 5 years. Beckton, in London Docklands, was national capital of negative equity. Eventually, lived there for nearly 30 years, raised our family, and enjoyed our time in our tiny house with neighbours and church. Upsized south of the River so children, spouses, grandchildren could visit. Spent 5 years gutting and rebuilding what we bought while still working and living in our old house. 1930s semi that is now thermally efficient and extended sideways, backwards, upwards and we have a large brick inhabitable bungalow shed at the end of the garden. Children did really well finding their homes - a 1970s massively extended 3-bed semi in North Wales and a 19th century terrace in South London. Our current house and the 19th century terrace a well out of true. The 19th century house, like others I've seen has corkscrewed and rooms drop 50mm or more from one wall to the next. But no cracked walls and it makes for interesting fixtures and fittings - I built a large kitchen for a friend that was flexible to hug the wavy walls - looked perfect 20 years later.

[@AllenTaylor-lu9bu]

We had recently built homes in Coventry where scaffolding was installed around the houses to make them 'safe'. The row between the home owners, developer and NHBC went on for years as did the the issue of not completing the roads on the estate. However the City Council had no issues in allowing them to build even more shoddy homes as the row went on for years.

[@mypointofview1111]

I wonder how much the local councils get bunged for turning a blind eye to all these blatantly dangerous buildings. That's just corruption at its most basic

[@kennethausten]

The electrical certification must have been a back hander to get it passed. A proper inspection would have found those problems. I am a retired electrician and we had high standards. I saw how scruffy the wiring was which indicates no care taken, probably on a bonus and consequently you get a very untidy installation.

[@cuebj]

The electrics... seen a lot of that done by registered, highly recommended sparks. One friend struggled to get taken on so he could complete his qualifications because he was being too 'by the book'. I've been amazed how our house could pass the tests then I found loose wires, oven connected to a mains level MCB, not the neighbouring oven grade MCB, etc. I always check work done by professionals and fix it myself unless I can't. The diligent pros I know are retired to care of infirm spouses but the cost of keeping registered is too high to work part-time

[@thomaslgrice]

In the U.S. snagging is called a "punch list" or simply punch, though current day terminology also includes "blue tape inspection" due to the practice of inspectors using blue painters' tape to physically indicate faults. In commercial construction we used a variety of colored signal dots to indicate which subcontractor would be held responsible i.e. green for painting, red for electrical, blue for plumbing, yellow for carpentry, etc. Nice video, well said and quality production, though I'm only 7 minutes in (what is that in metric?).

[@415volts]

Really good and informative vid - thanks - I've prob missed a trick by not moving up the property ladder in last 20 years, still in a modest 60's house, but on plus side I'm now mortgage free & I could never justify in my head the high price of new builds, despite how nice they looked in a show-home visit. Cheers.

[@richardslater677]

Very interesting and informative thank you. I was astonished at the house prices and council tax. I live in the south, in Croydon, not central London and not the most salubrious place in the world. Down here in the south where we’re all supposed to live like lords, I live in a 1930s built 3 bedroom semi in a residential area. The market price for this house, an average house, is £650,000. The band E council tax is £350pm. Salaries are not that different, especially in the public sector (we get outer London weighting which adds a little bit). A pint is £6.50. (Except Spoons). A five bedroom detached house for £275,000 is utterly unbelievable. You cannot get a two bedroom flat for that in the “working man” part of the south.

[@jamesmc1272]

Hi, Metal back boxes are the best method for house wiring, plastic are only used for additions where fitting a timber noggin is impractical. Elec contractor 45 years exp

[@SBBUK]

To add to this my understanding is that the metal boxes are used because they can be mounted at first fix, sealed with tape, then the plasterer can just cut around them. Then spark can come back at 2nd fix and just put the accessory on. Easier switching between trades on site. If you use plastic boxes that "clip" into the plasterboard (which you'd use when fitting a socket after the fact) then the spark would have to come back to pull the wire in, maybe cut in the box, etc. So I can see the logic behind that. Obviously the correct screws should be used though!!

[@peterwest7855]

Keep cool everyone. Andy is right, be nice to each other; even the professionals bashing the DIY's and vice versa.

[@HeliumFreak]

We got a new build back in November from Persimmons. I thought ours was bad but i guess maybe not if your friend had over 300 snagging issues. We only had 26 snagging problems and none of them were serious, most of it was cosmetic. Scratched glass, cracked facia, garage floor screed cracked, taps plummed backwards etc. All of it besides 2 or 3 things have been fixed and im just giong to fix the final things myself instead of waiting for them. Because they are a headache to get them to do anything we had to bust their balls several times a week to get them to do anything. I certainly wouldnt recommend Persimmons to anyone else though but thankfully it worked out well for us.

[@stevencrisp753]

I'm looking at places in and around Leeds right now (within 20-30 miles or so so covering a lot of nearby towns like Wakefield, York, etc) and the one thing I keep seeing in new builds is the small rooms. The 60s-70s or older builds have nice large rooms, the newer builds, unless you buy a premium 4-5 bedroom property, have tiny rooms, for example the "kitchen/diner" has room at best for a small 2 seater dining table, or all the additional bedrooms beyond the master can only fit a single and a small wardrobe. For that reason I'll likely end up going with something more established and older, even if I do need to spend a bit more getting work done to it over time...

[@petergoddard1960]

I've looked at a lot of new homes here in the North East from all the main builders and the overall impression is that they are 'pokey', hard to furnish as a result and just poor value.

[@JohnnyMotel99]

I was talking to a new home owner in the Poundbury, Dorset development. The problems she is having made me question the QC on new builds there. The older properties seem to be a lot better constructed and thought out. This is a development that is constructed by reputable builders! She said that the humidity in the house was approaching 80%, settlement cracks, bit's of external fascia coming away from the main walls.

[@graeme6040]

We bought the last plot on a big development in Wallsend (not far from Great Park). We had our snagging issues but all were sorted, most with no hassle but admittedly a couple took constant nagging and chasing. Being the last plot on the development the roads and pavements were all finished and topped within 9-12 months. My advice to anyone buying new is go in with your eyes wide open. Don't take anything at face value that you are told by your builder. If you accept that houses aren't built in factories and will have issues you should enjoy the experience.

[@richardh50]

This is a good advert for getting a factory built home

[@farukm7627]

Thanks for a thoroughly comprehensive look at the pros and cons of new builds. I wouldn't touch one less than several years old. And with eyes wide open. Due diligence.

[@richardstamper5630]

Excellent, I actually watched it to the end without skipping. New builds are not for us, we bought a double fronted 30's house which we have fully modernised, including solar. My interest is in our children who due to price will be forced into a possible new build so your video has given us much to think about - thanks.

[@mypointofview1111]

Same here. However snazzy a new build show house looks it's almost guaranteed yours won't look anything like as nice.

[@sergiofernandez3725]

Good video Andy well balanced arguments on the new builds Vs older properties. Orlando Murphy and his team at New Build Inspection are great. I recommend them to everyone buying a new property. As for the electrics they should be reported to the CPS (Competent Person Scheme) like Napit or NICEIC. People who are prudent could get an EICR for about £200 to £400 depending on size and it should take about 3 to 5 hours if done properly.

[@dan44zzt231]

Brilliant video 👍 a deep dive on Great Park would be good, I did a load of the road, drainage and substructure designs for a few of the earlier cells when I was an apprentice. It seemed almost futuristic at the time, and some of the early phases genuinely has nice architecture and street scapes, although the reality is a bit different. The newer normal house builder stuff is awful.

[@1powercom]

i have to agree some of the first stuff nearest Kingston park (cell G I think )has some of the nicest homes and street I have ever seen , always reminds me of dutch streets for some reason, additional parking in the centre of the street and houses with good drives and garages and so on looks great even today it must be 20 years old now at least. The later stuff seems standard new build fair cramped streets lack of space cars parked on paths etc not fan at all

[@paulaevans2555]

If you had the choice of an older property which was well presented and modernised say 9 years ago, beautifully kept, or a new build ( I’m thinking heating efficiency, but also with all the snagging etc and service charges etc ), which would you go for?

[@marissakeynes2532]

Old.

[@paulaevans2555]

@@marissakeynes2532 Thank you.

[@thomasward8894]

one things that's true in my area is that all the new builds bar some new very small estates are being built so far away from the town centres... that you need your car for everything... school run, shops, taxis to the local pub, One should never forget that new or old location of the property is still no.1

[@petergoddard1960]

Extremely informative, well covered yet I sense that this is just a rabbit hole. We're lucky that we're settled in a good quality property built about 30 years ago, we've renewed everything, new floors, electrics, plumbing, heating, windows, fully replastered, new bathroom,kitchen, appliances,roof issues fixed, the list goes on. It wasnt cheap, but we have no mortgage. The large garden needs probably about £30k investing in it and that's the next thing to tackle. We're in a good location, a village near Durham which we love. Recently we looked at the new build options accross the north East and found shortcomings everywhere or prices greatly inflated. So we've decided to stay put and invest a little more in what we have. I think it would be hard to walk away from that fabulous garden you have, at least for a long as you are fit and well enought to maintain it. It's stunning what you've achieved in your time there. It's compelling, rewarding viewing and always a treat.

[@Kazi2812]

30k for a garden?

[@petergoddard1960]

@@Kazi2812 very probably. Large garden, very steep hillside which needs retention walls, new paved areas. Removal of massive hedges all round the boundary, replaced with new fencing. New planting, trees. It’s pretty extensive. Not a DIY job. We’re too old and not fit enough to take all that on. I might be being pessimistic in my estimate, but I expect not by all that much.

[@50bft]

Well produced and presented video.A very informative eye opener!

[@eynshamyman3403]

Trying to answer your questions regarding electrics, Metal back boxes don't require a separate earth as long it has fixed lug, its earthed through the front plate screws. The ring fault may have been caused by the electrical tester, if he tested at the consumer unit, they have to remove/replace conductors out of mcb to test continuity, which probably had passed the tests, only to fail when the cables were reinstalled into mcb. A conscientious sparky might do a quick tug on conductors to check connections are sound.

[@carolynewilliams1194]

Can you imagine that sage building as a shopping precinct? With cafes and a theatre? It’s a shame really that they were allowed to abandon it.

[@marissakeynes2532]

Backhanders 😐

[@peterreime3146]

Interesting to see about the equity issue. This really must be a regional problem because here in the south east we have seen the price for new-builds to sit a good 10% below the local market value when sold off plan and gaining as much as 20% when sold on 2 years later.

[@petercampbe11]

we bought our first house in Nov 18 (a Bellway new build) we got off very lightly with snags, a patio door was split, a window also. but other than that all other stuff indoors was okay - the problem came with the garden, this was a hell hole, took me all of lockdown to sort it out - i dug a trench in the garden to see what i was dealing with (spade width, 1 ft down and about 10 foot long) i complained to Bellway about the garden and they couldnt help me because i had messed with the garden (the trench) so my advice to anyone regarding the garden is get the builder out first if you have complaints. Sold for a nice profit in 2021 and moved into a 1950's semi detached house.

[@clarkeysam]

If you want to see some negative equity cases with new builds, check out Lime Square near Ouseburn/Quayside. I'm sure some were nearly £200k in the red!!

[@stewartmcardle8149]

NHBC policy isn't worth the paper on which it's written.....unless it's Andrex (other brands are available!)...

[@Tina_Fay]

I need this mini documentary on Great Park! This video was so interesting

[@ArkiPlan]

This breakdown is amazing! Thank you for your honesty and thorough descriptions!

[@glencoe8251]

There are also bare parts of the live cable showing in the consumer unit.

[@papschmoo]

That was an outstanding documentary. Well researched and edited. I doubt many will understand the work that went into that.

[@Face--wx5js]

I live in a new build house that we purchased from the developer. On the plus side, they offered to buy my previous house for a very fair price, which was a rescue at the time as we were in a pretty big chain and the original person buying my house pulled out on the day of signing the contract to try force down the price! The area our new build is in is lovely, on the edge of a very pleasant village, so we were not 'sold' a dream of a new area being built from scratch as it already existed with all the benefits of that. The house was also very reasonably priced and has increased in value over the 10 years we have been here. Additionally we got solar panels on the property that we did not have to pay extra for and the kitchen was apparently the best the best they offered... On the downside, the quality of the build is shockingly bad, you can absolutely tell they built these properties as cheaply and quickly as possible. I am not a person who raises complaints as a rule, but we had to have the developers out almost weekly to fix stuff that was a major problem, from dodgy electrics to leaky roof's, tiles falling off and broken guttering, internal doors that did not fit properly so would not shut, as well as goodness knows how many issues I fixed myself because I could not be bothered having a debate with the developer. And that raises another issue, when we discovered a problem, half the time it was a battle to get them to accept that it was their responsibility to fix it. After about 4 or 5 years the inverter on our solar panels stopped working, looking through the paper work we discovered we were still in warranty, so we got in touch with the developers to get it sorted - they tried to fob us off by saying it was the company who installed the system who was liable, not them. After investigating this company it transpired that they had declared bankruptcy and the person who owned the company had a history of starting companies, completing contracts, then promptly declaring them bankrupt. We had to almost threaten the developers with legal action to get this fixed, pointing out that they were either negligent in their due diligence in utilizing that particular trader, or were willfully ignorant. All in all I would say there is a 25% chance of me buying a new build again, but in hindsight I would take the advice of our neighbors who's current home is their 2nd new build property. When they agreed to buy they made all sorts of demands and modifications to the plans to make it suit their needs. They also had a much better knowledge base on what they could get the developers to fix/change/amend in those first 2 years

[@CarlBland-tn1jo]

25 percent r u stupid?

[@NorthernMonkeeUK]

Shame Sage moved out of the space ship. Used to love visiting there and nosing around, some areas inside were quite spectacular, but then other areas were a little less nice (and the building did have some quite significant issues) - but all the people were really nice.

[@Sean_S1000]

When we were looking for our first home we brought a 2002 home fairly well built, we looked at the new estate which the houses weren't built yet where 80k more expensive, smaller houses and garden. Probably not the same everywhere but new builds are not worth it as that price difference.

[@rbnhd1144]

I really enjoyed this, so sad things were never finished but its typical of marketers building a vision of your dreams, it happens all the time, Promises Promises.

[@JP-ln4ue]

Superbly informative. My new-build has been ok, but it took ten years to see the market value rise.

[@SalisburyKing]

As you mentioned on your video, if you want proper outside space and a space between you and your neighbours, you need to buy an old house. I have recently bought a 1970's property which had a C1 79 energy rating which was better than the new build I moved out of.

[@Probity100]

First time here and have learnt valuable lessons from the show and tell. Love videos like this thank you.

[@mikebashford8198]

I bought a new build once. The worst snag was the first floor banister - properly fixed to the newel post at one end, but fixed to the wall plate at the other end with a panel pin. Could have killed someone if I hadn't noticed it.

[@birdsaloud7590]

Your garden looks so much nicer and more characterful than in a new property.

[@sackville_bagginsess]

Great video. I've got a new build and thankfully only had cosmetic snags really. Your issues with the electrics would really worry me. I'd 100% be getting the electrics inspected by an electrican firm you trust and invoicing the builders.

[@EverydayLife621]

Excellent vlog-my 1st house was a new build in 1999. Exactly the same findings on new builds, mine cost £72k, and was grade E council tax. Now live in a 1918 detached house, albeit cold at present, in a posh area, and pay grade C- which is less now than 25 yrs ago!!!!

[@andyc972]

Thanks Andy, I shall be sending a link of this to my grown up kids who are at the point of, or thinking about buying, you've given a balanced view which is pretty hard to come by ! We've actually purchased new properties twice, in 1990 & 1998 and had plenty of snags but nothing too major. We were fortunate enough to have my father-in-law who was a civil engineer help us with the snagging on our first property, and he even successfully got the builder to move a garage door that they had placed incorrectly which would have made our back garden considerable smaller. We were in negative equity on that house for the whole time we were there, as many people were in the early 90s, it amazes me that people think it can't happen again !

[@stronzer59]

In Oz any poor wire installs get reported to the Board and they send out gaffers to inspect the work Usually a minor hack is ignored but hanging live wires on new jobs would be a FIND a NEW Career outcome period

[@craigwelsh]

Its one thing to gamble on a new build in an established town/city location, its quite another when its a development like that great park one where its building a new town with the promise of necessary amenities coming later! My parents got stung with a ne build estate to the west of Cardiff in the '80s. Large council estate next to the development soon after. House prices plummetted.. We went for a 60s build in Australian style with car port and large garden. Converted the garage and now have a 5 bed, well insulated, new electrics and heating and still council band c. As its a mature area the schools etc are well established and theres no where to build many more houses nearby. Though a developer did buy a property on the street with a detached double garage and manage to replace that with a 3 bed detached!

[@neelamharia4225]

Enjoyed this video very much. Yes you are right, a properly test electrical system would have shown these faults. Keep the videos coming

[@NorthernNegatives]

As a resident of the Maples (Persimmons latest venture in Great Park), I can safely say that after almost 2 years living here, we’ll be moving as soon as possible. The whole idea of Great Park is… great. But the reality is far from what is promised when you have your first appointment with the eager salesperson. The service charge is a rough topic 😂 I love your channel though and this video really stuck a chord.

[@Wiltshire-observer]

I’ve had two new builds over the last 35 years, they were not ‘that bad’, for snags. Both returned a profit for me, but were located in the South West of England. The first new build returns a 50% profit in the space of 5 years. The second new build not so good, about 15% after 7 years. The snags on the second one (a 4 bed townhouse) were notable, because the flat roof design at the back of the house leaked excessively during North Westerly gales !. It took the builder 3 years to solve it.

[@ClarkOVision]

Another excellent video Andy. Love your channel. The electrical issues are just beyond belief. How can those be passed as safe/correct? Crazy world we live in. Take care.

[@phillcom3]

i managed to get my old 40 year old house reduced. from d to c, as the houses on the street half were c and i was d for the same exact style of house. contested it and there wasnt even an argument. got 2 yearsw backpay and i hope the previous owner got 30 years of overpaid given back

[@HaramXL]

Well done with this.

[@MinotaurvsCyclops]

They didnt contest it because there was only 2 years, lol. If it was the previous owner, then they wouldve contested it

[@thenullco]

Really good summary. We got off quite lightly with a few windows needing adjusting, shower screen resealing and radiator joints tightening. Speaking to others and getting a feel for the wider industry, it does seem that the larger developers just lose all quality control. Not to mention hiring questionable contractors and offering terrible customer service. We went with a relatively small builder and they could not have been more responsive and professional throughout the purchase and the snagging. Almost two years in now and no lasting issues. That said, I've seen and heard the horror stories in nearby developments from the bigger outfits.

[@HoverdogBrewery]

I bought a new build in 2000 and the quality looked good on the surface but every DIY job takes me 10 times longer than it should as I have to fix the mess made by 'professionals'. My house was "ready" on a Friday afternoon and I had seven days to complete or I had to start paying interest on the sale cost of the house. Had some free carpets thrown in and they were fitted on Tues/Wed so I could only snag on Thursday. Made a list of extremely obvious things and only two were fixed before I had to move in on Friday. New builds are thrown up to a poor quality to maximise profit. I spoke to one window fitter and he said he was paid £20 to fit a each window and most jobs took two people so you will get windows that are thrown in, a couple of screws and hope it don't fall out before someone moves in. Same for the rest of the trades I guess. I recently priced up a new build that is about the same size as my current house (4 bed detached with integrated garden) and the builder wanted £450k and the garden was the size of a postage stamp - no thanks, I will buy an older property that I can sort.

[@stuey_spurs]

Great video. I'm about to buy a new build flat and it worries me a lot having heard so many things about them, but I know that you can have all sorts of issues with old homes too. I have seen lots of snags in the flat already and will probably get a professional snagger in to look at it too. My concern from what I have heard is that so many new build developers just ignore snag requests. Is there some kind of law to do anything about this if they just ignore me and don't fix the snags? I expected snags. I just want to know that they will be resolved and not ignored. It annoys me a lot that the builders try get away with so much sloppy work. It's all about money for the builders and developers sadly.

[@mumihp]

This is why I would never consider a new build. Sure, it shiney and new but most of the time, you find so many issues. Developers, builders don't care but they care when you refuse to sign the exchange contract. Anyone who buys a new build, don't sign the exchange contract until you have checked out the property, take a building surveyor, make sure they property is 100% fine. Once you sign the exchange contract, things move slowly and will take months to fix. Read the horror stories online.

[@marissakeynes2532]

I was thinking I hope ur own conveyancer advised u not to sign until everything is fixed but then I thought that probably the developer offered their own legal team. 😬

[@alwinjm1404]

Buy the showhouse as it is meticulously well built although you cannot personalise it. However the appliances and everything are ridiculously expensive but included in the price. I live in one built by a relatively small scale housebuilder

[@smith12whu]

I love the nerdy local details!

[@soul146]

I used to work on site you lived on, i recognised the Sage building in first few seconds of vid aha, though i spent most my time down on the apartments by main road. Was it a Persimmons home you lived in? looked like one of them, or was it one of the Taylor Whimpey homes? Spending years working on new builds as joiner, no matter the company, i don't think i'd ever buy one

[@justlookingaround9834]

A cracking well balance vid. Well done.

[@36736fps]

Everything you mention in the UK is also true in the US. The main cost driver here is the extremely inflated extra costs for anything better than the cheapest products. Most new houses end up with at least 50% higher costs for better countertops, cabinets, carpet, windows, appliances, etc etc etc. The house builder charges about twice what they cost him to install. And the quality of new houses in the US is getting poorer each year. Crappy materials, rushed construction, and poor or falsified inspections. At least you could see your electrical boxes. A friend of mine had his boxes covered up by the drywall before they were wired! And it passed inspection!

[@neutralcorner5950]

Lots of good points raised, see re New build prices, they say builders premium is 10% upwards. It is wrong, it’s almost like buying a brand new car. It is wrong but unfortunately it’s the reality. Like you say lenders turning a blind eye, that is until people default on payments.

[@MartinParnham]

This is fascinating for me as we live in a "new build" that we bought off plan. We had snags but it sounds like we got off pretty lightly compared to yourselves. I'm trying to remember some of the issues we had but will probably have missed some as a lot has happened since then. One thing I do remember is that our en suite toilet seemed to smell for no apparent reason, and it turned out the seal round the back wasn't on tight enough or something, so that meant air was escaping (fortunately nothing else did). The main one that I can recall is that we were supposed to have fitted wardrobes but these seemed to have been missed! They were eventually fitted but by that time we'd had a TV mounted on the wall, so they had to cut one of the wardrobes down to fit. Nobody could tell us how far the wardrobe would come out so we gambled a bit on whether the TV would be in the way. In the other bedroom, it transpired that an outlet (socket) had been installed right where the wardrobe should've been, so the fitter then had to stop while a sparks came in and moved the socket... We had a "ticking" coming from our central heating, which to be fair, they fixed although nobody could tell initially where it was coming from and it took 3 visits and various holes in our hallway ceiling to fix. It was made good though and you can't tell to look now that any holes had been made. It turns out a pipe had been put too close to a joist or A.N.Other piece of wood, which meant that when the pipe expanded once the system heated up, it made a loud "ticking" noise. We still hear something occasionally but it's very low level and nothing like as pronounced as it was when we first moved in. The developer did end up relaying the tarmac out the front of our row of houses though, after all the residents complained about the initial surfacing seeming to flake after not very long. More recently, we had to have our dishwasher repaired. It's integrated and there had always been a bit of play on the appliance but I didn't think too much of it as the dishwasher was working and nothing was leaking or anything like that. When the engineer from Indesit (also had a bad experience with D&G/Indesit, but that's another story) came to repair it he said that the dishwasher was basically being held on with a couple of screws at the sides and that the front of the appliance should've had two brackets installed for the door to hang on, but these brackets hadn't been put on, so the door had just been screwed on and those screws were taking the weight. Obviously, you're not going to pick that up in your snagging as nobody is going to take their dishwasher door off... The other issues we had were fairly minor and were resolved pretty swiftly, to be honest, so it could've been a lot worse. We do still have problems with drainage though and if it rains heavily for a couple of days then the garden is basically a bog that you need wellies to walk round (and that's not an exaggeration). I still can't fathom why the gardens were done with no drains in them, the nearest one is on the drive. In our previous house, we had a drain directly under the outside tap. The current "issue", which is comparatively minor, in fairness, is that there is a trailing fibreoptic cable out the front - which we found when digging out weeds and gardening - which is not connected to any supply and that nobody seems to know why it's there or who fitted it. We had Openreach out and apparently, it isn't one of theirs. Some comments on your experience: That electrical stuff with the switches and smoke alarms is shocking. How any electrician worth the title can do work like that is staggering. I'm not a qualified electrician but I would expect one to be able to wire a light switch and a smoke alarm correctly. I pretty much agree completely with your thoughts on the positives of new builds. It worked for us at the time and we feel we got a lot of house for our money. The bedrooms are a bit on the small side but that's the case with most new houses built in the last 20-odd years and you have to weigh everything up, unless you have unlimited funds. Interesting how the Great Park development has turned out. This is already an essay but we are keeping an eye on our development to see what actually transpires. Thanks for doing this video!

[@azog23]

I live in Ireland and all of the issues you mention look familiar. We looked at a new build but the estate was being built with a train station in one corner. All of the shops had been built next to the train station. So if you hadn't bought one of the early houses you'd be walking miles to get to what shops there were. On top of that people were selling houses for less than the newest built houses were selling for, so maybe the value had dropped?

[@Richardincancale]

The Leasehold versus Freehold issue is a big deal. I read that most new houses these days are on a leasehold basis - you’re buying something that essentially you’ll never own - and have to pay ground rent for nothing. I’ve known people in London on a 99 year leasehold - by the time the first couple of ‘owners’ have been through it they can become unsellable with only half the lifespan left in it.

[@abcxyz3028]

I wasn't aware UK also have a 99yr lease. Are those flats or houses? I only know of Singspore where the govt subsidised houses, HDB, are on a 99 year lease. From what my Sg friend said is that the new builds are slightly smaller and overlook other houses. They even have strict rules and restrictions for a single person ownership. They're expensive too!

[@cardinalb]

You say UK but not really something that happens in Scotland.

[@u2kjib4cjkqn]

I thought leasing is been done away with in the uk.

[@AndrewDCDrummond]

Local shops for local people ??

[@Richardincancale]

@@cardinalb True - I recall paying Feu-duty in Glasgow in the 1980s, but it was only a few pounds per year and got abolished I think?

[@JohnDoe-mi9pn]

When I left school 20 years ago, the idiots in my year where encouraged to work in construction, while the more intelligent people were encouraged to go onto third-level education to eventually work in science, engineering, tech etc. I remember one very intelligent bloke went on to work in construction (electrician) and he was the only one not to lose his job in the 2008 crash. I've saw some of these idiots work on sites that were ultimately condemned and families evicted by a fire department due to fire safety hazards. It's no surprise when I see the terrible quality of new homes (and bottles of piss) knowing the idiots that are left in charge to build them. (Disclaimer: There are lots of brilliant professionals working in construction. It's just a pity there are also so many unprofessional).