Considering buying a new build but from previous experience, it seems new builds always suffer on a practical level. This based on previously living on a new build estate and visiting/driving through them. My concerns are

1. Lack of storage space or space to put storage units, e.g. cupboards. We rented a 2 bedroom new build once. It had 3 bathrooms, yet the hoover, mop and bucket, and the ironing board had to live on the landing as there was nowhere else they could go.

2. Parking. The developers seem to assume, even for 4 and 5 bedroom houses, that people only have one car. Also allocated spaces seem to be rarely used, people just park outside their house, usually half on and off the pavement. Understandable when your allocated space is at the rear of your property at the bottom of your garden.

3. Drying of clothes. All most all new builds seem to lack a utility room. so where do you put a tumble dryer? People can’t be expected to dry their clothes outside year round. They only seem to have provision for just a washing machine in the kitchen. (I understand that in Sweden washing machines are generally put in the bathroom, which makes a lot more sense to me.)

Currently looking at a new development that appears not to address any of these issues*

*Well I see them as issues, am I being daft?

Sounds like you’re talking yourself out of buying one already? Depends if you fancy a bit of diy or would rather have one already done?

It’s just one option on the table and those are my concerns related to a new build. For an older property I might have other concerns, e.g. energy efficiency

Just wondered if anyone thought the same about new build developments?

Pick the right estate (if you can)

I bought a new build earlier in the year… 4 bed detached, 3 car driveway, half my kitchen cupboards are empty & the downstairs loo doubles as the utility (currently has just the washer/dryer in it) – I do have a spare fridge & old tumble dryer in the garage though, more for convenience than anyway

Compared to our outgoing 3 bed 60’s semi, the heating bills are greatly reduced (due to having some insulation) and water consumption is very very low… No complaints

Build quality is fine, with snags. But better than 50 yrs of poor DIY

I think you are looking at this the wrong way. Instead of looking at new builds and lamenting the lack of utility rooms, why not just look at houses with utility rooms and some of them may be new?

I have seen plenty of new builds of all shapes and sizes.. some with utility rooms, some with lots of parking.. they vary, just like old builds.

If the development does not meet your requirements, don’t buy the house!

I’ve seen new builds with utility rooms. Usually the more expensive plots on a site…

P.S. Tumble dryer – use a condensing one like we do. Lives behind a door under the stairs. Works well & only introduces a little humidity into the air. But then our place is 100yrs old & a bit draughty…

when i was looking ….

estates at the lower end of the pricing scales in decent areas – bedrooms sell houses – cupboards dont was basically the statement of the estate saleswoman. coupled with the house is at the front of the plot to allow maximum extension potential and safe large place for kids to play in the back garden…… yep well rehersed – but in essense you have made the street a lethal place to walk thanks to all the onstreet parking required.

we walked.

living in a 1950s ex council house with decent storage and a decent drive way and much happier for it.

Why not build your new build?

Why not build your new build?

I’d love to, but the chances of finding a reasonably priced, decently located plot in Edinburgh are slim.

The next best thing is finding somewhere with potential to adapt to our needs, which is what we’ve been looking for. However recently some new build development options have looked tempting. Neither of us saw ourselves as living in a new build, but they do have their benefits.

bedrooms sell houses – cupboards dont was basically the statement of the estate saleswoman. coupled with the house is at the front of the plot to allow maximum extension potential and safe large place for kids to play in the back garden…… yep well rehersed – but in essense you have made the street a lethal place to walk thanks to all the onstreet parking required.

Pretty much sums up my thoughts too.

We bought a new build in October, it has:

1. Plenty storage with lots of kitchen cupboard space, plenty extra cupboard space in the utility room too. Decent under stairs storage, and a good sized airing cupboard upstairs.

2. 2 (and a bit) car driveway. Side by side so you don’t need to shuffle things around.

3. Utility room with seperate washer and drier space and room for a clothes horse.

Sounds like maybe you’re looking at some pretty poorly designed houses?

Sounds like maybe you’re looking at some pretty poorly designed houses?

Actually sounds like you chose wisely and are probably in a higher price bracket 😀 The houses I’m looking at are built by “Housebuilder of the Year 2011, awarded by The Housebuilder magazine in conjunction with our industry’s official body, the Home Builders Federation.”

The internal layout and storage etc, can be worked around to suit. My main concern with this development is the traffic and parking, something I can have no influence on

we looked at a lot of new builds

lack of storage space seemed to be a consistent failing

Utility room?

Managed fine with a 3×4 (ish) kitchen when I was growing up, yes it’s nice but how much cupboard space do you really need.

That point aside I do agree that many new builds suffer from a shocking lack of storage space, some of the abominations I’ve seen that claim to be bedrooms (single bed length with possible room for a bedside cabinet next to it, forget any other storage) should really have a law against them.

If you want room in your house either be prepared to pay through the nose or look at something older. In terms of energy efficiency it’s a red herring as unless you are looking at something that meets passivhaus standards the savings would be minimal once you make some very simple and relatively inexpensive modifications (roof insulation, floor insulation).

Depends on the developer and the development.

1, no loads os storage space in ours.

2, Techincally we have two spaces. One in the garage , one on the drive. But who uses the garage these days? Plus they are ususly too narrow to open the doors of a car once inside. I do agree with you on this one to some degree.

3, I have seen new developements with utility rooms, but it is usually at the top end of the prices range for big four or five bedroom hoouses.

But who uses the garage these days?

A few of our neighbours do. Fortunately.. cos mainly thanks to them the rest of us can move around. Lots of people just can’t be bothered and leave their cars littered around the street. Pain in the arse.

PS plenty of older houses have tiny third bedrooms. I’ve seen 30s and even Victorian houses with them.. it’s not a modern phenomenon.

Is parking on the street that bad? I dont like blocked pavements but on street parking in residential areas is hardly a problem. If its slowing you down you are going too fast anyway imo.

Funny regarding the talk of a utility as only today I’ve removed one from one of our current developments, it was basically a stud room within the confines of the actual kitchen, it achieved nothing in my mind other than reducing the size of the kitchen. All I’ll do is put a couple of blank cupboards within the kitchen units to house a standard washer and dryer. It will also allow room for a breakfast bar area in the kitchen.

Recently rented a new(ish) build which had garage + parking space + space at front, and a reasonable amount of storage space. It was a 3 storey 3 bed layout so reasonable floorspace rather cupboards-inside-wardrobes-inside-storerooms.

Microscopic front garden, microscopic back garden, no view out the back, hemmed in all around by brick and tarmac.

One reason for the shortage of parking in new developments might be the planning rules. There is some sort of planning logic that says more parking spaces equals more cars which existing roads won’t take. I know that was the case with the posh flats built next to ours. There was underground parking but only 1.5 spaces per flat – limited by planners. There is some sense in this, at least in towns.

From the ones I’ve seen and been in, new build = tiny tiny windows and tiny tiny postage stamp back gardens. And the ones with fake columns by the front door, urgh ghastly!

Find a nice plot of land, and build your own. Did my first self build 25 years ago, and done about a dozen since then.

My mums house has a garage that is attached to the kitchen, mainly used for storage – it’s just crying out to be split into ‘man cave’ at the front and proper utility room at the back

We had a rented post war council house, with covered ginnel and twin potting sheds plus netty to the side of the house, and that was just wonderful. I preferred using the netty to the bathroom to be honest.

The trend down here seems to be for “townhouses” which as far as I can tell means people will pay up to 500k for a house thats less than 5m wide with a garage elsewhere on the estate. They seem to sell like hot cakes. Not for me thanks!

I understand that in Sweden washing machines are generally put in the bathroom, which makes a lot more sense to me.

Sounds like a good idea until it starts a spin cycle upstairs and you can hear it thrashing around throughout the ground floor.

And the ones with fake columns by the front door, urgh ghastly!

Are you living in 1990?

Is parking on the street that bad?

Well depends on the street, clearly. On ours it’s quite bad – There’s only just enough room remaining for a car, and you have to walk up the road because the pavements are blocked. It’s a cul-de-sac so the kids are playing in a small space completely surrounded by cars. Makes it difficult to play football…

Microscopic front garden, microscopic back garden, no view out the back, hemmed in all around by brick and tarmac.

So you want a big house, big garden and lovely views? Plenty of houses like that around – but you will of course have to pay for it…

True parking on/blocking pavements should be punishable by death.

Lack of storage pish your looking at the wrong houses our new build is just under 4years old has a cupboard under the stairs big enough for tumble dryer,Hoover and quite a lot of crap jammed in there,loads of cupboards in the kitchen,3x bedrooms all big enough for double bed and wardrobe min think you need to have a good look around 😀

my last three main home purchases have been new build.. for the simple fact that i spend all day working in folks homes and the last thing i want to do when i get home is press the repeat button.

some local builders still do niced size rooms decent sized kitchens garages, but your national homebuilders are total utter plank 9 may have used the wrong word there) our presnt home was built by redrow who within the ten year homebuyer warranty replaced all south facing windows replaced all ridge tiles repleced the patio doors and replastered the kitchen. oh and the day they handed the property over they confessed that the kitchen bathroom and boiler had been stolen the night before.. they forgot to set the alarm and the night watchman never saw a thing..

“Lack of storage pish your looking at the wrong houses “

or perhaps his budget means hes looking at houses he can afford – which to meet price point have cut storage …..

“people just park outside their house, usually half on and off the pavement.”

they are too lazy to reverse i reckon.

Well, pretty much committed to buying a new build now. In this one:

1. Storage/sizes of rooms seem ok, can put storage in without much compromise on space. Plus an under stairs cupboard is fitted.

2.Traffic. Seems like the ratio of spaces to dwellings might be up as high as 2:1. Still will see what happens. Plot is on a through road, housed only on one side so should be ok. (I hope)

3. Downstairs loo is quite large so an accessible ground floor shower can be installed in the future, if needed. (Part of the latest building regs) However it also means that there will be waste and water provided to that point. Therefore plan to install washing machine and tumble drier in there. Frees up a cupboard space in the kitchen too. As it doesn’t have a shower or bath, having sockets in it shouldn’t be a problem. Could even remove the toilet and put in a much larger sink with units and have proper utility room!

Now for the fun part, spec’ing and building my bike store/workshop 🙂 No garage so will be in the garden, plot is on a corner so getting a bit more garden for the money