New build homes v older properties - the pros and cons

Most new homes come with a 10-year warranty by Zurich Municipal, the Premier Guarantee or the NHBC. These do not guarantee that your home will be free from snagging defects and are primarily insurance schemes for the developer and not the home owner, but they do provide useful cover and it is not advisable to buy a new home without one.

Disadvantages

1. Small Size

Small room sizes and a lack of storage space is often cited as the most common complaint about new build homes. The current trend of building three storey homes which eat into useful loft storage is making the problem worse.

2. Plasterboard Walls

These don't support much weight and do little to prevent the transmission of sound throughout the property.

3. Parking

In addition to building three storey houses with smaller room sizes, the developers maximize the number of units on a piece of land by reducing the number of driveways and replacing them with communal parking areas and shared drives. This can lead to disputes with neighbours over parking.

4. Snagging

New homes are often riddled with defects, or snags as they are known in the trade. This is a major source of disappointment and frustration for homebuyers because most don’t expect any snags and it can take real determination to get the developers back to carry out the necessary
remedial work.

5. Hidden Costs

New build buyers often wrongly assume that moving into a new home is cheaper than a second-hand home. As well as the obvious costs for landscaping, curtains and flooring, there are also some less obvious costs that should be factored in. These include the cost of a snagging
inspection and the fixtures and fittings that successive owners in a second-hand home will have installed, such as coat hooks, towel rails and door stops.

6. Gardens

New build gardens often comprise of little more than compacted sub-soil. If you are lucky this will be covered with, at best, poorly laid turf . As well as making it very difficult for plants to thrive this often causes major problems with drainage and turf frequently dies before the new owner has even moved in.