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I’ve actually agreed with him on something.
https://speakerimpedance.co.uk/?act=two_parallel&page=calculator
I believe one of the guys behind a major building firm was a significant Tory doner as well. The building regs were then changed to allow developers to downsize what is legally classed as a bedroom, in order to allow them to build more houses on a plot of land.
If you look at the majority of the new builds upto 280k in the southwest. You will notice that if they have been lived in previously, the photos show a double bed rammed into a room with a wardrobe in and that's pretty much it for space.
The typical room sizes and postage stamp sized rear garden would put me off buying a house in most new build estates. Add in the small driveways and narrow roads and it gets worse.
Improve don’t move!
With leasehold houses, as opposed to flats, leases are often 999 years, the excuse given by builders for the lack of freehold being the need for a covenant enshrining the responsibility to contribute to the cost of upkeep of communal areas, gardens, Parking spaces etc. Although the lease will never need extending, a fast-increasing and unfair ground rent could render the property unsaleable in future and, although under current legislation the leaseholder can in effect buy themselves out of the agreement, it is expensive and should not have been necessary in the first place.
Some developers use high/ fast increasing ground rents to retain a capital value stake in developments they have already rinsed every other penny from.
If you are considering buying a new home, be fully aware of the future cost/saleability implications and ALWAYS use a solicitor recommended by someone other than the developer.
Additionally, you do not have to accept the offered length of lease or ground rent arrangements. Ask for 999 years and a fixed £10 per year ground rent and you are fully insulated against being shafted in future.
Developers will often also use the trick of telling you that the work has to be done in a silly short time frame, and some of this is simply a way to try and pressure your solicitor into fucking up or not being as diligent as they should be.
Developers, especially the large ones, are ruthless motherfucking money making machines. They are cut from the same cloth as credit crisis bankers. I am not being dramatic and i have worked with both!
I wouldn't say "be afraid" I'd say "be fucking terrified"
Slightly more seriously, if you're going down this route, do it *really* carefully.
Snagging? Lots of snagging. Bathrooms not sealed, heating not working, exterior doors not fitted correctly, cracked plaster, broken tiles, cracked window panes etc... And upwards of £250K...
The norm is that you can't redecorate for 12 months on new builds as the constructors need that time for faults to develop, and to address them.
My 1970 house is quite small in comparison to the new builds but there's just 2 of us and a cat. My mortgage is peanuts so why would we move?
Others have highlighted the other potential pitfalls:
Snagging
Leasehold houses
Change of plans - i.e. no shop, cafe, pub, green space, school, doctors etc (whatever might have been 'promised') early on.
How long is the new development being built for? If years, then expect disruption and difficulty selling in the short term (why buy a second hand one if you can buy new round the corner).
Service charges with 5 years/10 year increases
Whatever you do get your own solicitor (not the recommended one from the builder or the mortgage provider).
Maybe the valuers think you will be offered a low-ball px price?
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself