When you’re looking for a new home, one of the options available is to buy a new-build property.

Like any other home purchase, it comes with its own advantages and disadvantages, all of which should be carefully considered before you commit to a purchase.

Here’s a rundown of some of the key pros and cons to think about.

Pros:

•    You may get the chance to choose your own fixtures and fittings. Many developers offer this (assuming the house isn’t fully completed already) and it means you get to choose things to your taste, like the colour of walls, bathroom tiles or the type of door handles, so you don’t have to decorate when you move in.

•    Extra incentives are often available, too, like brand new appliances in the kitchen.

•    There’s no chain involved. This can be a major bonus, as you don’t suffer the consequences of getting caught up in a lengthy property buying chain, and completion can often be quite quick.

•    Compared to older homes, new-build houses are built to rigorous safety standards. Fire retardant materials are standard these days, for example, and homes come with fire safety doors and smoke alarms.

•    Due to increased awareness of the environment, new homes are more likely to use less energy, emit less carbon dioxide and have less of an impact on the environment.

•    There’s less maintenance. When you’re buying a new home, a big advantage is that you’re less likely to have to do much maintenance, especially in the early years.

Cons:

•    Some new houses are prone to being built close together, as developers are often keen to fit as many new homes as they can onto the available land space.

•    Due to pressure on space, some new homes tend to end up with smaller rooms than older houses.

•    Although you’d expect brand new homes to be perfect, often they’re not. You may come across minor problems with fixtures or fittings, or with the quality of the finishes. Once builders have moved on to their next job, it’s often tricky getting them back to finish things off properly.

•    The gardens in new homes often need a lot of work. The soil quality can be poor and, although it may look like there’s new turf laid, you can’t guarantee that it’s laid properly.

•    Depending on where you’ve bought and how far into a development you’ve bought, you could end up temporarily living on a building site for a while, whilst homes around you are built.

Search here for a new home to buy in the UK.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 at 10:29 am and is filed under Environment, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.