View Full Version : New build?
knittingkitten04
09-Jun-10, 17:41
Does anyone know anything about new builds and whether they work out cheaper than buying an established property? What are the pros and cons? Does it involve lots of hassle etc?
Not to sure about price but have you heard about the croft scheme?
As far as I know if you buy one of these old crofts lying around the council will pay 50% of the renovating bill.
Maybe someone will clarify...
Not sure regarding costings but here are a few pros and cons:
New Builds Pros: Energy efficient, warm, you get eactly what you want, new and fresh!
New Build Cons: Lack character, tend to have smaller rooms, (I know not always) thin internal walls, unless you want to live in the country (consider price of diesel, distance to work, kids evening activities, snow) there are very few sites available in town.
Research carefully and best of luck!!
Scarybiscuits03
09-Jun-10, 19:20
Does anyone know anything about new builds and whether they work out cheaper than buying an established property? What are the pros and cons? Does it involve lots of hassle etc?
I've bought 2 new builds and would never buy anything else. I suppose it depends on who you are and what you like, but there is nothing quite like moving into a new house that you have chosen and is completely yours (never had someone else's "mark" put on it)
As for price - well it depends on how much you want it. New builds generally come with extras to pay ie. fencing, sowing the garden, flooring/carpeting, etc.
If it came between 2 houses, completely the same, one new and one 2 years old, it would probably be cheaper buying the older one as all the hard work is done for you and would probably be cheaper in price as well, considering how the builders around here have hiked up their prices!!
shamrock2007
09-Jun-10, 20:28
We built our house 3yrs ago, did it ourselves or rather hubby! lol. Saved a fortune but wish now we had put another bedroom on. Got to think long & hard about what you want/need
Worth having a chat with Norscot. They do a full service incl. design, planning, etc and can give a comprehensive price. And no, I don't have anything to do with them!
Although a cheque in the post would come in handy:lol:
knittingkitten04
10-Jun-10, 09:57
Hadn't heard about the croft scheme, will look into this.
We do like the thought of being able to build somewhere to 'fit' our wishes as well as having somewhere completely new. We have looked at some houses in the area and there seems to be big variations in price (some houses seem much more expensive than others without there being any obvious reason for this) and have seem lovely ones that are just out of our price range so thought we may be better off building our own
thebigman
10-Jun-10, 10:24
Not to sure about price but have you heard about the croft scheme?
As far as I know if you buy one of these old crofts lying around the council will pay 50% of the renovating bill.
Maybe someone will clarify...
Council don't but Crofters Commission may help - http://www.crofterscommission.org.uk/Scottish-House-Grant-Scheme-CHGS.asp
New builds have advantages over older properties and yes there is a lack of character, but then if you design it yourself (with the aid of an architect) you can get what you want.
Plus you get VAT free materials and or your VAT back.
The energy efficiency is a big plus on new builds.
There are a lot of little things you need to consider, a lot you don't think about until you finished or partway through!!
We built a new build and will build again. We had a kit supplied and used contractors for major parts of the build and I did a lot of internals myself, this saved a few pennies we were able to splash on other things.
PM me if you wish and I'll try and list all the ups & down, pitfalls and things to watch out for.
One thing to do if you go for a new build is lots of planning and thinking things through of how you intend to use the space.
Council don't but Crofters Commission may help - http://www.crofterscommission.org.uk/Scottish-House-Grant-Scheme-CHGS.asp
Thanks bigman
Yes there are several places where you can get a complete package on a self build house. Eveything from a Budget house to a real stylish one. Here are a few links to different companies who will supply and or build a Kit House.
http://www.norscot.co.uk/housekits/homes.asp
http://www.scotframe.co.uk/web/site/home/home.asp
http://www.huf-haus.com/gb/intro.html
http://www.thomasmitchellhomes.com/
http://www.benfieldatt.co.uk/?ebuild
much cheaper to get a joiner to make the kit for you though rather than buy from a company.
The one thing that alot of people find annoying with a new build is all the disabled features you now have to put into a new build, light switches & sockets at an accessible height ( waist height ish), downstairs bathroom with enough room for a wheelchair to turn, downstairs bedroom & all doors wide enough for wheelchair access & of course ramps outside.
But should you need a wheel chair later in life; or want to sell to a wheelchair user, that would be a good thing!
Metalattakk
10-Jun-10, 17:29
The one thing that alot of people find annoying with a new build is all the disabled features you now have to put into a new build,
Yeah, I know what you mean. I dunno how my disabled wife would manage with all those added features.
The one thing that alot of people find annoying with a new build is all the disabled features you now have to put into a new build, light switches & sockets at an accessible height ( waist height ish), downstairs bathroom with enough room for a wheelchair to turn, downstairs bedroom & all doors wide enough for wheelchair access & of course ramps outside.
Now't wrong with future proofin', yer never know what might happen.
Plus the ramps no bad thing, make it a damn sight easier to get heavy things in and out. And it keeps the kids entertained.
Yeah the ramps are a godsend better than trying to hump my pram up & down steps!
Lights & sockets are annoying with young children though just at the right height for them to play discos!
luckily when we built our house a couple of years ago the new regulations for the lights & sockets hadnt come into effect & with building a bungalow none of the other specifications bothered us either.
I always found new-build more expensive (bit like buying a new car rather than one a couple of years old) and then you have all the problems getting the snagging list sorted out, settlement cracking, garden to landscape and make nice, squeezed in more tightly than older properties, etc. I will always go for the more established property myself.
Too right- the need to future proof is important. Remember also that you might be there longer than you think- nothing seems to have sold in Caithness for at least 3 years. Build something you want to live in as your forever house- or go bargain hunting for an existing house you can renovate or extend
Ricco and bagpuss talk sense...
caithness-chicky
14-Jun-10, 22:32
In my experience it's worked out better and cheaper, we designed the house ourselves so we got exactly what we wanted, then we paid a main contractor to sub-contract joiners, sparkies and builders which meant that we only had to deal with one person. We also did a lot of the work ourselves including buying and fitting the kitchen and bathrooms and all the other plumbing work, tiling etc, which saved us a lot of money (including being able to claim all the VAT back on everything that we bought), but the main thing for us was that we didn't need a deposit for a mortgage due to the house being self-build and being valued at about £30,000 more than it cost to put up, although things might have changed mortgage wise because that was about 3 years ago.
If you're willing and able to do as much as possible yourself you can save a lot of money but it will take longer, especially like in our case, myself and my husband were both working full time.
If you have a joiner, a sparkie, a plumber and a brickie in the family your laughing! :L
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