With more than 160,000 new properties popping up across cities and towns in the UK every year, most people are jumping at the chance to be the first in the door. However have you ever thought about the negatives of these homes?
A lot of people are set in stone with the opinion that older properties are the way to go, but even these homes have negatives too. It’s all about weighing up the pros and cons and deciding what is best for you, so here we go.
New Build Advantages
Energy-
It is now important for properties to abide by the new energy efficiency regulations, which means that new builds are the best properties you can buy to save you money on your bills. Double glazing and insulation now come as standard which immediately helps you out with your heating bills. Find out more about the new energy efficiency laws here-Law Changes in Energy Efficiency.
Decorating-
If you like to put your own spin on things, new houses are the best for giving you a clean palette. You won’t find any dodgy wiring jobs or damp patches, because it’s all new for you to experiment with. What you have to remember with new properties is they are still settling, so it’s probably best to keep it plain before your extravagant wallpaper gets cracked in the first couple of year.
Quick Move-
This is a new house, so you don’t have to wait for previous owners to move out or find a new place, you can move in as soon as you’re ready. This really helps when selling your own property and moving in when it suit you. .
Price-
With the housing crisis, new homes are relatively cheap to help get young people onto the property ladder and others move up in the world. You may be shocked at some of the schemes available these days to get yourself into a new home.
Security-
These days’ houses are built with burglar alarms, fire alarms, window locks and security locks as standard. Also the new materials are made fire retardant to improve fire safety in houses.
Insurance-
With new homes comes new fixtures and fittings, new appliances and a lot less of a likelihood that a pipe will burst or something will break, which means your insurance provider will look favourably on the low risk factor of the property.
New Build Disadvantages
Size-
New homes appear to be built a lot smaller these days. Tall ceilings and big bedrooms are a thing of the past, which unfortunately can mean there isn’t much storage and you may end up with too little space.
Structure-
As we mentioned new houses come cheap, this may because of the materials. It can mean thinner walls and lighter doors, not the best for sound proofing a property.
Oversights-
As the property is new, there hasn’t been any time for small snags to be corrected, which leaves it to you to be the one to find and fix them. It can take a lot of persuasion to get the developers back to your property to fix these problems, so this could mean a slightly older property that has already been corrected could be better.
Costs-
Although the cost of the property is cheaper than buying an older property, there may be extras you need to consider. As we mentioned with developers oversights, this will cost money to correct. Also smaller jobs such as fitting in your own coat hooks, towel rails and other bits that you probably expected to already be there, it could end up costing you the same as buying an older property that has these things.
Preowned Advantages-
Construction-
Older homes that have stood for decades were built when craftsmen were building properties to withstand centuries of storms and weather damage. They are much hardier than a new build structure.
Garden-
Once upon a time is wasn’t so expensive to build homes on larger lot sizes, so naturally homes had much bigger gardens leaving space for drive ways and alleys between houses.
Character-
Some may argue that the shape of old homes has a lot more to it than new homes. You may remember the arched coving and tall ceilings or hand carved arches and stained glass. It was common to have a fire place in every room before central heating became popular, they can create a great centre piece for each room.
Neighbours-
As older homes may have been passed down through generations, so you may find that there is much more of a sense of community in such areas and your neighbours still find it normal to pop round for a bag of sugar.
Scenery-
These areas have been around a long time and tend to have age old oak trees or large green fields nearby that are great to look at and for children to play on.
Preowned Disadvantages-
Maintenance-
As you would expect, older homes are much more likely to develop system or boiler problems. Over time things break and they tend not to decide to do it all at the same time. You have to be prepared to keep an emergency fund for when something decides to fall apart.
Systems-
One common problem is that old sewer systems aren’t designed for the capacity of a much larger neighbourhood. Not only that but old trees nearby can have roots over 50 metres long! With the ability to break through solid concrete, they can severely damage the sewerage or cable lines.
Design-
A lot of old homes are not equipped with the capacity for modern fittings. The kitchens were shaped differently and the wiring isn’t as accessible as we would like. This can cause problems for fitting that perfect kitchen or bathroom or having access to all of the plugs you want for common day necessities.
Price-
The reason why old homes tend to cost more is because they were built before any other homes in that city or town. This means that they are much closer to the centre of things and make it easier to access shops and schools.
Insurance-
As we have discussed, old homes can have a lot of problems. Whether it be wiring, plumbing, trees or damp, they are seen as a higher risk to insurance companies. This can mean that getting insurance is a little pricier than a new build. If you own or are buying an older property, UKinsuranceNET deal with high risk circumstances and could offer you a cheaper quote.
If you have found this article useful, you may also like to read The Difference Between Hard and Soft Water.
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