New homes

[Buckman]

Daughter and hubby have been around looking at new 3 - 4 bedroom homes and a bit of a shock to their systems. Quite few seem to have a large cupboard called a bedroom. Also only the main bedrooms had built in wardrobes. They can manage with one of the bedrooms being small as it can be used as an office., but the bedroom for youngest grandson once put in a wardrobe would also be rather on the small side. We have suggested that maybe they should look at older homes that can be upgraded as they would probably have larger bedrooms. Not sure if the extra small bedroom that cannot be used as a bedroom is the norm now taking into consideration that many new places are close to the £400k mark?

 

[Bluetonic]

Cost very much depends on location, but I agree that if you want usable space then an older property would be best.
When we were looking a new build had enough space for a double bed in one room, but not enough space for a wardrobe, the other two bedrooms could barely fit a single bed nevermind any furniture.
Estate agent was stunned that we were not interested in buying a smaller house for more money than the one we lived in.
Oh, and the garden was a joke, not enough room to have a rotary line up and walk around it.

 

[otherclive]

Britain’s new builds provide the least square meters of space compared to most other European countries.

 

[Bluetonic]

Britain’s new builds provide the least square meters of space compared to most other European countries.

World beating, again

 

[Jcloughie]

Price is very much mostly dictated by location, not once, but twice. First, the building land can represent a huge proportion of the building costs. Then again when selling.

Size is also very much dictated by land cost. The more units that can be squeezed onto a plot the more profits can be maximised.

The actual building costs, materials, and labour. Can be very reasonable.

Regarding older properties, 1930’s houses often had tiny rooms. New houses are also restricted by access leglislation requiring larger toilet and bathroom areas.

John

 

[Buckman]

Price is very much mostly dictated by location, not once, but twice. First, the building land can represent a huge proportion of the building costs. Then again when selling.
Size is also very much dictated by land cost. The more units that can be squeezed onto a plot the more profits can be maximised.
The actual building costs, materials, and labour. Can be very reasonable.
Regarding older properties, 1930’s houses often had tiny rooms. New houses are also restricted by access leglislation requiring larger toilet and bathroom areas.
John

For them it is probably more of an issue of "value for money" although they are not looking for cheap properties. I think in the UK it is a case of a shoebox or nothing unless you are a millionaire. LOL!

 

[otherclive]

World beating, again

I’m fast losing track of how the many many world beating things we can now claim.

 

[otherclive]

For them it is probably more of an issue of "value for money" although they are not looking for cheap properties. I think in the UK it is a case of a shoebox or nothing unless you are a millionaire. LOL!

My grandson has just moved into a brand new threecbedroom terrace house with two dedicated parking spaces. Whilst not a big place the downstairs is spacious open plan and very well laid out. We had no problems when nine of us turned up for a Domino’s night. Main bedroom is a good size and the two singles are suffficient although he and his partner have them as WFH spaces. What is very small is the garden. Compared to our first house in Plymouth (1930s) build it makes a postage stamp look generous.

 

[Challenger]

There are companies that supply 'scaled down' furniture for show houses to make te rooms look bigger!

 

[Hutch]

There are companies that supply 'scaled down' furniture for show houses to make te rooms look bigger!

The show houses tend to have the internal doors removed to make the rooms look bigger.

 

[Mr Plodd]

New build houses are very small. Mainly due to the desperate lack of land thats available for housing, and that lack of availability has a serious impact on the cost of each plot the house sits on. £100k buys you about enough land for a single garage around here (Weymouth Dorset)
The more "homes" you can cram into the (limited) available space the greater the builder/developers profits.
Most modern 3 bed houses have one room that is just big enough to fit a single bed and a bedside table into.
Close to me is a new development. The 4 bed houses have a sliding door between the kitchen(ette) and the dining room because there simply isn't enough room to allow for the sweep of a hinged door And they only have a single allocated parking space and that's so small I cannot fit my 5m car onto one without overhanging the footway. Don't ask about the price of them!

 

[Dustydog]

You didn’t say where they were looking?
Try these https://www.moveiq.co.uk/blog/buying/10-cheapest-places-buy-house-uk/.
And let’s be clear they are full of decent people working hard.Some excellent substantial properties will feature.
Developers of the 70s and 80s and thereafter had one objective , profit!
Blame the Local Authority Planners who said a car could fit in a 7’6” wide garage🤔.

Our Parliamentary Constituency Boundary has just been rewritten. We are now the South Cotswolds👍👍Another 15% added to the property price but it doesn’t increase the bedroom size🤬

 

[Buckman]

You didn’t say where they were looking?
Try these https://www.moveiq.co.uk/blog/buying/10-cheapest-places-buy-house-uk/.
And let’s be clear they are full of decent people working hard.Some excellent substantial properties will feature.
Developers of the 70s and 80s and thereafter had one objective , profit!
Blame the Local Authority Planners who said a car could fit in a 7’6” wide garage🤔.

Our Parliamentary Constituency Boundary has just been rewritten. We are now the South Cotswolds👍👍Another 15% added to the property price but it doesn’t increase the bedroom size🤬

Basically looking around Worcestershire, but out of town, villages or rural as her hubby works from home. It probably needs to be a place with good Internet connection. We are not really sure of their criteria and don't want to pry. The remark about the small bedroom was just an off the cuff one. I think they need to alter their thinking a bit as they have been used a to a home with large bedrooms etc for the past 25 years.

 

[Dustydog]

It’s ironic. When you are young with kids you need a large home with lots of rooms. Kids fly the nest and people like me downsize to a more manageable property , too small for kids. Tough old life!😥

 

[Beachball]

We use to have a new built a 4 bedroom detached and garage it had a kitchen diner 25ft x 8ft 10ft and separate lounge plus cloakroom downstairs suited us master bedroom plus ensuite was a great size and two others were use by our two granddaughters there was enough room for all the family at parties and christmas

 

[otherclive]

When we moved nearly four years ago the only thing downsized was the gardening areas. Like BB there are several times during the year when we have full house with sleepovers, and Christmas is always full. Fortunately it’s not an expensive place to heat when we have visitors.

 

[Buckman]

This was their previous home which sold last year for the equivalent of £150K. As said they need to adjust their thinking.

 

[otherclive]

This was their previous home which sold last year for the equivalent of £150K. As said they need to adjust their thinking. View attachment 5957

Unbelievable a lovely place, no wonder they have a problem reconciling "what was, and what is". I had similar problem coming back from Canada, but fortunately my wife and kids had stayed in Devon, so reality returned very quickly.

 

[Sam Vimes]

Before my daughter moved to NZ she was a Planning Officer in Hertfordshire. They were well aware of all the problems with developments but were constantly overruled by Government policies of 'Build, Build, Build'.

From the rumblings you hear in the press it seems that Governments want to ease or simplify the planning process which I think will only lead to more problems.

She's now a Resource Consent Manager and Commissioner in NZ and it seems the problems are much the same. In fact with the latest change of government even worse.

 

[Sam Vimes]

My other daughter has just bought a new house on a small development in Cambridgeshire. About 80 homes in total and when we went to see her - and of course got roped into the DIY - we were very impressed with the development.

Her's is just a 2 bedroom semi but the rooms are really quite spacious. Mind you the price is another matter.

We went back to were we lived and found that we couldn't afford to buy our old house even if we wanted to. (Sorry folks - could wait to leave the south when we retired)

Here on Skye houses come in a vast range of prices. Some of the older houses are cheap, while the new builds can be very expensive. There are still plots available for new builds - not developments - and you can get quite a large plot. Of course location is everything. In our area you can get perhaps 0.5 acre for £150k since we have unrestricted views out to the Western Isles.

But these days people are finding it very expensive to build a house. One of our friends bought a plot, then discovered they couldn't afford to build on it and it was cheaper to buy something newish that was already built.

 

[Hutch]

We have been looking to down size for several years now, from a large 4 double bedroomed house , double garage etc, a great house for a family with teenagers.
But looking for a 2/3 bedroomed house in our area/village is impossible, especially new builds. By the time we have sold, moved and redecorated, etc, we would have no financial gain, so may as well think about putting in a stair lift for when in a few years Mrs H , will not be able to use the stairs.

 

[Jcloughie]

L @

We have been looking to down size for several years now, from a large 4 double bedroomed house , double garage etc, a great house for a family with teenagers.
But looking for a 2/3 bedroomed house in our area/village is impossible, especially new builds. By the time we have sold, moved and redecorated, etc, we would have no financial gain, so may as well think about putting in a stair lift for when in a few years Mrs H , will not be able to use the stairs.

Upon investigation. We have reached the same conclusion. So we are staying put.

John

 

[Hutch]

Over the last two years we have been getting hit with, Get a government help to fit New Double glazing, New Solar Panels, New boiler, etc, then when you look into it all, Oh sorry, your not on benifits, you earn too much on your pension, etc.
Spend your savings to improve your home then you might be poor enough to claim a benefit, which you then don't need because you have just done all the improvements. So you may as well just stay put,

 

[Buckman]

I forgot to add that one of the developments was on a flood plain. Every year when the Severn flooded, the area was covered in water. Obviously they were not aware of this being new to the area. We are aware of other developments that have been built on what was previously a flood plains in and around Worcester.

 

[Sam Vimes]

Why we left the south. Lunchtime today.