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I'm buying a new build house in the UK and want advice
As the title says I'm a first time buyer buying a new build in the UK. It's built by the council and a reputable builders and has the standard warenty and such so I'm not too worried about quality but it's still a huge life change. I'm getting the keys and moving in in a fortnight. I don't have too much stuff to move in as I've been lodging for a while, lots of furniture to aquire! For those who've done this before, what did you wish you knew at the time and what should I look out for?
(Former) Builder here!
In no particular order:
That’s all I can think of for now. Despite the wall of text it’ll only take you half an hour to check everything.
All the best & feel free to ask any questions.
What I wish I knew when I moved into my first house is that I was capable of a lot more than I thought. I really had very little DIY skills, but YouTube and the internet in general can teach you to do almost everything.
Moved a lot as a kid and into my own place a few years back. The thing I wished I did more was not put up with shoddy work before moving in. I'm glad I demanded they move and change some really bad cabinets but I should have had someone come in to check up the plumbing and wiring. That came back to bite me much later down the line. Even if you trust the builders, it cant hurt to give it a good once over.
Don't worry too much about the empty space now, you'll have a lifetime to fill it out. Most people figure out what they like and the mood/style they are going for. Play with the space, move things often, mix and match and it'll come together for you. Just consider your storage well. Tons of useless crap builds up, taking up storage that can go to much better use.
There are plenty of things i think you can go cheap on and some things that you shouldn't. Like my furniture, rugs, daily table ware and work desk are all bargain bin. But I did not invest wisely in good appliances, temperature control and beds. I will personally never buy Smeg or Samsung again. And try to check if the tap water is really hard in that area. If you make a lot of tea or coffee, the scaling can get really nasty.
But most importantly, I never realized how much you can just do and enjoy in your own space. Like if I need some hyper specific piece of furniture: there's probably a dozen YouTube videos on how to make it. My partner has a concerning egg dependency: we set up a chicken koop. The garden can be incredibly rewarding to do yourself and I'm lucky to have good neighbors that help when we need it. Having a home of your own is an amazing milestone and I wish you luck in making it your own.
Moved in to our first new build house about 8 years ago and we loved our time there (have recently moved on).
Your situation might be slightly different, as ours was not council built, but I would suggest you want to spend a period of time checking for 'snags'. You can download online checklists or pay for somebody to do it for you, but our experience was our builder have us certain time frames to raise certain issues.
Somethings you might not discover for years if you don't make a point of checking.
Secondly, our builder (Bloor Homes) were very good at fixing things that weren't wrong, but we wanted changing. For example, one of the spotlights in the bathroom was directly above the shower head - they happily moved it 6 inches so it could actually project it's light. So if there is something you would want different I would say ask the question.
This is easier if the builders are still developing other areas of the site.
Thanks for the tips of snags. I'll definitely look into lists online! The site isn't under development anymore but they're on another site just down the road so hopefully that helps.
A small thing, but try to unpack and put away everything in the first week or two. You'll actually feel like you're living in a home then. Not so much an issue if you don't have much stuff to start with, but gets progressively harder as time goes on. I know people with still-to-be-unpacked boxes years later - don't be like them!
I second this. When we moved into our house (it has always been ours in the sense that it belonged our family since it was built, but we weren't living in it) over 30 years ago we kept some boxes and some remnants of the construction work for years. I was a child at that stage but I remember it felt finally like home when these boxes and remnants vanished for good. Moving out of this house growing up, there was one last box sitting in my basement for over 10 years until I decided to pack a few items of this into my living room and throw the rest away for good.
I don't own the home i'm in but moved in within the past couple of years. Coming from an older house it's insulated so well. This works GREAT in the winter but during this time of year....I've had to introduce the 'window meta!'.
Close the airbricks and windows in the morning and keep em shut til the night time, it helps a little. It's still brutal, but can mean a couple of C-degrees less than if you had the windows open all day. I mean; it's a good problem to have but doesn't make the summer any less of a bitch.
For a 2017 house, other than some leaky taps and toilet push button flushers that like to keep gushing water [requires a tap after flushing, annoying] it's pretty good.
I've noticed various cracks forming around window sills and in various plastering which I can only chalk up to it being your standard new-build style of construction materials used. Combi boiler is so clutch when it comes to baths in the winter.
Thanks for the tips! I've historically lived in northern terraced houses so very relevant. As regards the cracks I've heard that it can just happen when the house settles in the first few years but could also just be new build materials :shrug:.
Try to get the manufacturer and finish information for all of the finishes in the house: Tile(s) in the Bathroom, grout used for those tiles, wood/LVT flooring, carpet, paint color and sheen(!) for your walls, your ceiling, your doors, your trim, etc... Same goes for exterior materials, but those are usually more durable. If you have the money, go buy some "attic stock" of any tile or non-carpet flooring (2-3 each), and go buy small amounts of each paint. That way if you ever do need someone to come in and fix something, you have some of the material handy, and know where to get more.
I keep all the finishes for each room in a binder (either a printed cut sheet of the material, or a swatch if it's paint), along with all of the manuals/warranty information for my appliances with their serial numbers written down.
Don't be overwhelmed by the empty space. My wife and I moved into our first house with nothing but some cheap college furniture. We made a decision to only buy one piece of furniture/decoration a month, and so slowly we filled up our house with a mix of new and used furniture.
Similar but can anyone share a checklist of the things I need to do to buy a house in the UK I’m not sure what I need?
like a conveyancing solicitor, an agreement in principle from a bank, a mortgage broker, how do I book viewings?
What do I need to have in place before booking a viewing?
What do I need to have in place to make and offer and then buy?
Bit late on the reply but I've been finding this article by Which? useful https://www.which.co.uk/money/mortgages-and-property/first-time-buyers/buying-a-home/how-to-buy-a-house-a8zHm0a1JZsP