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

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

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

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?

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

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.

An old house has stood the test of time. Honestly, if you have money, then I fail to see the appeal of a new build.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

“Oh and obviously we found a full bottle of piss hidden in one of our walls…anyway..” 🤣🤣🤣

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

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.

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.

I bought an old Victorian terrace last year and have been unable to move in due to all the problems its had. Damp, rewire, plaster on walls and ceilings falling off, on and on 😩. The party walls are only 1 brick thick so you can hear everything next door both sides. It’s nearly finished now but I’ve already decided I’m selling once complete. It’s been a nightmare and a huge strain on mine and my families mental health, not to mention the money it’s all cost me. Never assume that because a house is old and characterful it won’t have a plethora of issues. Like you say, do your research before buying an older property. Personally I’d take a nice warm new build with all the aforementioned issues than buy a Victorian house again.

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!

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.

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.

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

I also bought new build and whilst I was fairly happy with the quality of the building I wasn't happy with the legally binding maintenance and service agreement which is supposed to look after the area when I also have to pay the parish premium on top of the council tax which should cover the same work meaning I'm paying twice just for the grass to be cut along the roadside. However, the real disappointment was finding out the Council Tax band which wasn't disclosed until afterwards. I then knew the band was too high and did all the work to prove it and went to the Tribunal. Waste of time as all they did was listen, wait a month and then rejected it. Yes, council tax banding on new builds is indeed a stitch up!

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!

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.

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

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

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.

@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.

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!

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.

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!

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 !

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!

I bought a new house about twenty years ago. I would not buy a new house that's been built in the last ten years. The quality has fallen off a cliff.

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.

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.

A 19th century mid terrace with a decent rear garden in a neighbourhood where neighbours actually talk with each other is my ideal home. A home which oozes character, solidly made and rooms you can swing 30 cats in let alone only one. My son just sold his "modern" home built 20 odd years ago. A 4 bed 2 bath semi detached with downstairs toilet and shower, conservatory, utility etc. Sounds great you would think, even the outside looks pretty decent. Looks can be deceiving however. Plaster boarded internal walls, flimsy internal doors, cheap looking sanitary fittings, a kitchen no larger than my dog's kennel and free entertainment courtesy of the neighbours TV. To me modern estates lack that community vibe. I would be surprised if today's 'modern" homes are still standing in 300 years time. I know with 100% certainty my 125 year old victorian build will be.

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.

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.

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!!!!

Part of the testing would be to remove the two wires from the breaker and test for continuity. It might have been the tester themselves who did the final connection wrong!

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

Fantastic video!! Thank you! This was incredibly helpful to me

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

This service charge on new builds is a scam, considering how much council tax you already pay. It’s now standard council tax increase @ 5% great video, well done.

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.

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.

A very helpful and informative video, thank-you.

The big house builders only care about profit and don’t care about you once the bank has handed over the money . As for the NHBC they should be dissolved as they are complete clowns and no use to anyone who actually needs them . 3 bed detached up here 20 mins from Liverpool £367 ! Over a third of a million ! How do normal folk get a mortgage for that . I worry for my kids 😔. Superb video Andy and a real eye opener cheers 🧱👍🏽

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.

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.

Great video and very informative.

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.

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

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.

I hope the Fisher Lane, Cramlington development won’t be another Great Park issue.

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.

A big problem with Brickwork on newbuilds is that wank brickies are always in the footings.

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.

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.

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.

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

im looking into the market to buy my first house and this video is absolutely amazing. the promises from the developers are pure fiction! think im going to start with an existing house rather than a new build

Nice informative video; well done.

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.

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

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

Great video, highly articulate guy. I like the impartiality too.

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

Great video, a good balanced view of old and new

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

Interesting stuff Andy. Cheers.

I am so pleased that we left our new build house into an 1870's property. I was fearful that the service charges were going to spiral out of control as its run by a private company. Its a ridiculous method for the council to steal tax people.

I bought a new build (off plan) on a smaller development on an old brown field site inside a nice town, when I'd recently got divorced and it served its purpose. I probably paid 5 to 10% over the equivalent older properties that would have needed some work but it was a turnkey solution, clean canvas, new start solution to a problem. The builder even stated that the majority of buyers were either first timers or restarters (like me). So from that perspective I can see the purpose of new builds. I made a good profit as I looked after the property and when I sold it 5 years later, for example, the carpet was so good people asked if it was new. So it still had that new build feel to it. So maybe I was simply lucky, I probably didn't over pay and I bought in a smaller development with amenities already locally available. I think the moral of the story is don't over reply on the developer. Large developments are obviously more complicated to project manage and that means errors and delays occur such as employing less competent and failing to to manage the trades.

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.

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?

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.

There is a good reason why Victorian and Edwardian houses are still standing as good as they were 100 years ago.

It blows my mind that the electrics had been signed off in your new build. Even as a DIY electrician I can do a better job, when I make connections I take time to look and feel that the wires are actually in the proper position and fixed. In the time constrained industry they obviously don't take time to check these, and even take shortcuts by using improper materials. As you say you mostly know what you get in an old house, but not everything. Some things I found during my current renovation I luckily was able to correct myself, like improper foundations on an extension, but such things can get very costly if you have to hire a professional to do it. It would also not show up at a survey unless there is a lot of cracking in the walls. Mostly there will be no warranty on such issues unless you have proof that the previous owner knew of these issues, and that proof is very difficult to get. So there is a certain risk on buying an older property, but in general they were better built and lots of issues have to do with later extensions and renovations often done as DIY jobs and even without planning permission where it should have. I guess that half of the add ons in older neighbourhoods should have to come down if all non permitted structures had to be demolished.

Sage HQ - Great park including the adjoining land was sold a few years ago for around £9m.. The new owners are struggling to find things to do with it.. Currently it's up for rent. The building was originally set to be renovated by Sage, but they found a lot of problems wrong with it that would have cost too much money to put right, so the option was agreed to move to a prebuilt office that suited their needs and to sell the great park office space. It's sad to see great park not fulfil the promises that were envisioned. it could have became the next Cramlington.

Nice mention of new build quality control great channel

As always, yes, let’s be nice to each other. We moved into a new build 37 years ago. It is a 4 bed on a big big plot, with a double garage, on which we have five sheds, one stream with a waterfall and a pond which is 23’x13’. Unfortunately it was an ironstone quarry and the garden is still sinking. There are new builds going up all around the town but we doubt if schools will be built and the surgery is already under stress. You and your family are welcome any time, Andy, and, as you know, we are South of Leicester 🌞

The other option is to buy an existing house, then flatten it and do your own new build! I was surprised when this was done to a house near us, but apparently you don't pay VAT on new builds, but you do on extensions. So, if the house is small (this was a 2-bed bungalow) and you are doing a lot of work to it, it can be cost effective to start from scratch.

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

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

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

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?).

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.

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.

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.

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

The Sage building needs a LOT of work to be modernised. Many of the central building systems (HV power/heating/lighting etc.) are antiquated by todays standards and required major investment (plus all of the associated disruption) to be brought up to standard during the proposed refurb when Sage globally rolled out a new design for it's corporate offices. At this point the North Park building was an outlier in that it was the only building wholly owned rather than leased. For accounting purposes the fixed costs of leasing were more attractive than sinking tens of millions of pounds into a site refurb, so a decision was made to move and sell. Broadly, the company were happy there and the staff were well used to a lack of facilities on Great Park. (These views are my own and not necessarily those of my employer!) 🙂

In the southeast, the main issue i see with new build developments is they're all next to motorways or something else undesirable. Nothing you do will change the location so its a hard no from me. If someone does happen to build a few new builds in a decent location with good sized rooms and gardens you just know they are going to put a 7 figure price tag on it.

The Great Park Debacle sounds crazy, would definitely like to hear more about that

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..

We had a Leech house in the 1960s, Leech was downmarket but affordable. And the houses were adequately built. There was another builder with lots of developments and his houses did have better finishes, The plasterwork was excellent! But you paid for what you got. The 'posh' builder apparently saved on site costs because he had 'connections'. I think he landed in jail. But the houses were good. Your electric system was a disgrace, and the electrician clearly incompetent but the guy who certified it should be locked up for gross negligence. My guess is that too many so called craftsmen are not trained and examined. In Germany an electrician, bricky, plumber or whatever has a 3+ years apprenticeship before he or she is allowed to work unsupervised. In UK apprenticeships used to be 5 to 6 years.(Time served) So how are craftsmen trained and examined nowadays?

Oh mate you had me in fits at 16:12 , your so bang on point.

Developers where I live in Kent are really hiking their prices in this last 4/5 months when property prices are dropping. They still seem to sell them but I do wonder what happens if owners get into financial difficulty.

Great Vid , disgrace that a development like Great Park can be left like this , very rare i would say . That woukd have affected prices alot

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.