WEBVTT - Is It Really a Good Idea to Buy New in the UK? 0:00:02.560 --> 0:00:07.080 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:15.120 Welcome to Merin Talks Your Money, the personal finance edition 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:17.840 of Merin Talks Money. In these bonus podcasts, we talk 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:20.320 about the best strategies for making the most of your money. 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.480 I'm Merindumseet Web Bloomberg UK Wealth Editor at Large and 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:25.759 with me as ever senior reporter and author of the 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:27.920 Money Distilled newsletter. John Stabeck, Hi. 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:30.760 John hil We are really rattling. 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:32.159 Through this, aren't we. I mean, here we are in 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:35.520 episode five already there's almost nothing more to know except 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:37.400 for what you're going to find out today. Now before 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:38.720 we start listen to. 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:42.280 This, hundreds of new homes up and down the country 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:45.480 have been built using weak mortar that does not meet 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:48.960 recommended industry standards, and by new we mean newly built. 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:52.080 Juliet Says brought a new home listed as being on 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:54.600 one of the most expensive estates in England. The company 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:59.160 had refused to repair ninety one snagging problems. The gate collapsed, 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:02.320 for example, and a coat bottle was found inside a pillar. 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:05.160 Tweet from Paul I purchased a new home last December. 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:09.360 I've had multiple problems, mainly drainage. My garden is constantly flooded. 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:12.880 Hearing all those stories slightly reminds me of the conversation 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:15.880 we had with Professor Yolanda Barnes in our first episode, 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:19.040 remember that about new builds, and particularly about flats and 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:21.399 how they're an unknown quantity. You don't quite know what 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:23.000 you're getting. You don't know where the chargers are going 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:25.479 to go, all that kind of thing. So maybe you're 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:28.160 better off trying to buy a house or flat that 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:31.000 you know has already stood the test of some time. 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:34.000 At least you know what you're getting when you buy 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:35.399 an old house, or maybe you don't know what you're getting. 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:35.680 I don't know. 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:37.480 We need an expert for this, so to help us 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:39.839 answer this question, we are today joined by Paula Higgins, 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:44.479 who is CEO of the Homeowner's Alliance HOA HOA six 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:46.840 A champion the interest of Britain's homeowners. That's an awful 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:50.400 lot of us and provide unbiased practical advice. Before this, 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:52.640 she spent many years working as a civil silver we 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:54.320 might like to hear a bit about that too, and 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:57.880 led the previous government's review into building control. Paula, thank 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:01.240 you so much for joining us. 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:01.000 Lovely to be here. 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:03.760 Okay, right, we've got quite a lot to get through here. 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:06.240 So first, can I just ask you a question You 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:08.000 may not know the answer to this orthod off your head, 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.440 but roughly what percentage of houses that change hands every 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:14.560 year were sold every year a new build and what 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:15.519 are secondhand? 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:20.080 There's about a million transactions a year, and I'm not sure. 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:21.959 I mean, we're sort of running about, you know, we're 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:24.440 not meeting the targets for building new build, but there's 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:27.440 generally about forty thousand, if we're talking about flats in particular, 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:30.520 forty thousand new build flats going on the market every year. 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:34.079 But it's the new build is a very small percentage 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:35.799 of the overall housing market. 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:37.840 Yeah, I mean I targeted three fifty year or the 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:39.840 current target is three fifty a year, right. 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:43.560 That's going to be pretty impossible to make, so hats 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:44.720 after them. 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:47.800 Yeah, and I understand that this year we're already running 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:49.400 behind last year, so we're not going to make that, 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:51.080 but none of less. So, so there are a lot 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:53.960 of people out there buying new builds every year. And 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:55.919 the statistic that always s turns out to me when 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:57.280 I look at this This is a study from a 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:00.360 couple of years back suggested that you're buying you build, 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:04.680 you walked through the door, and it's instantly worth around 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:07.839 fifteen sixteen percent less than it was before you walk 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:11.520 through the door. So if we're looking at old versus new, 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:13.799 I would have thought the first thing to look at 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:15.959 is if you're only staying there for a short time. 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:18.079 If you're looking at buying a house to stay and 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:19.880 only for a couple of years, you've got a big 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.640 hill to climb or other. The market has a big 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:27.919 hill to climb to get you even evens with that depreciation, 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:31.440 plus the costs of purchase your stamp duty, and you 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:33.880 know your various fees for surveyors, et cetera, which you've 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:35.600 talked about before, So that seems to me to be 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:37.760 the immediate thing. 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.400 It is. It's a big hurdle. So we always say, 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:43.120 if you are buying you build, you might want to 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:46.320 think about staying there for five years. But that said, 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:49.960 you can also offset that new build premium by asking 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:52.640 for lots of extras. So you will have developers who 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:55.280 will pay for your stamp duty, who will you know, 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:58.560 upgrade you know, sort of flooring, sort of fittings, that 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:00.320 sort of thing. So they like to keep the price 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.520 of the new build high. But actually, if you can 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:04.760 get all these extra bits and pieces in there, you 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:06.600 might be okay. And the other thing we'd say is 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:08.600 that actually, if you want this sort of new build 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:11.600 lifestyle living is that look at resale. So you know, 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:13.920 if you're finding the property is a couple of years old, 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:15.800 then you might be in for a bargain. Really, so 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:18.000 you're not paying that new build premium, so. 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:20.039 My second hand new build. 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:24.000 Exactly because the warranties will still be there, so you know, 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:26.719 you'll still have the ten year warranty. So it can 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:29.880 be you know, a good way to if you want 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.080 that sort of no hassle free lifestyle you want to 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:35.120 move in, you don't have the time to do things up, 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:38.160 you don't have the inclination to do that, it might 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:39.559 be a good, good move. 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:41.880 So it just took me through. You mean when you 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:44.840 say new build lifestyle, well new bill. 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:47.560 So you know, we know that younger homeowners generally like 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:49.560 the idea of a new build. Maybe that's because they're 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:53.599 a bit inexperienced, but actually there's a really real benefits 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:55.760 of people liking to buy new bills, so the energy 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:58.600 efficiency will better lower costs. The fact that you can 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:00.320 move in, you can put a stamp on your own, 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.400 you can sort of develop it how you want, so 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:06.520 that there is some benefits of that. When you're buying 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:08.920 something old, you know, you don't know what the costs 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:10.440 are going to be. You know you might need to 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:13.760 replace the roof, but so you've really got to look at, 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:15.320 you know, the sort of the whole picture of it. 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:17.640 But I would say with new build and what people 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:19.520 really need to be aware of, it's not just the 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:23.239 structure of the property, whether it's a flat or a house, 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:25.240 it's that you've got to look at the charges really 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:28.760 carefully because they're estimating these charges, and we know they're 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:32.040 unestimating them. So if you're buying a leasehold property and 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:34.920 they're saying service charges will be x a year, that 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:38.080 can increase massively. And particularly if you're buying on a 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:41.440 new build a state, there's something called estate charges. A 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:44.120 lot of these states aren't being adopted by the local authorities, 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:46.279 so if you're living in an existing area, you're not 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:48.520 paying for that playground. But if you're living in a 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:50.760 new build a state, you might be, and these charges 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.159 are uncapped and you can't control them. 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:54.840 Okay, Hell, let me take you back a bit there. 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:57.640 When you say not adopted by the local council, you 0:05:57.680 --> 0:05:59.520 mean to these biggest states that you see going up 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:02.160 around the place. They have roads in them, they have 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:05.200 some park maybe as you say, a playground, they need 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.120 the rubbish collected, all that kind of thing. If they're 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:11.159 not adopted by the local council, I then not pulled 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:14.680 into the public services system, all that upkeep and those 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:17.760 services have to be paid for external to the council 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:19.440 or not. 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:21.960 Not that you still be paying the council tax, so 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.160 you still get your bins collected and that sort of thing, 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:25.960 and you might get you know, sort of basic services. 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:28.120 But if you've got like a playground on that new 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:31.240 bill distinct, you're probably paying for that in some cases 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:33.800 the lighting on that. And then we're really worried because 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:36.760 we're seeing that actually maybe the quality is not that good. 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:38.720 So it might be fine for the first few years, 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:42.000 but when you go to sell that next buyer the conveyance, 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.039 you will be saying, well, what are these charges for? 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:46.159 And we also know that even if you're not happy 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:49.200 with the management it. You can't change your manager. So 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:51.200 at least if you're buying a lease whole property and 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:53.280 you're not happy with the managing agent, you can. You've 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:55.640 got the right to manage and to share a freehold. 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:59.200 But if you're on these are called estate charges. We've 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:00.800 got lots of advice in our site. 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.240 But who manages the estate? So when you say in 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:05.159 a book of flats you have a managing agent and 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:07.800 you have some degree of power, particularly if you own 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:09.479 a share of freehold or a common hold, you have 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:11.760 some degree of power to go after them. But let's 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:14.560 say you buy a house on an estate that was 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:19.280 built by Barrett Homes or Percimon whatever. Do they continue 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.800 to manage that estate or does that become disas. 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:24.640 Do they sell it? They sell it to somebody else 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.360 who will manage that estate, and you have, you know, 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:30.400 you've got very weak controls over it. That said, the 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:32.920 government is looking to do something about this, and they 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:35.560 are consulting on this later in the year. But you 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:39.120 know what will happen with the existing estates now and 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:43.200 we are campaigning for adoption of all new build estates 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:44.000 going forward. 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:47.360 John is looking absolutely horrified. We've never heard of estate 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:48.360 management charges. 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:51.560 No, I just want to interupt, as the talking idiot 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:54.600 on the podcast here, it's so you're telling me that 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:57.920 you can go in buy a new home and what 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:01.920 you're basically saying up for is an uncapped liability in 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:09.360 timsy and your service course. That's just accitable. Why why 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:11.320 would you ever do that? Why would you say, yes, 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:14.320 I am definitely going to pay this and your fee. 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:18.840 Okase you don't understand compounding and you don't understand the 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:22.400 nature of the present value of an uncapped liability. 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:25.679 And I would say, also, you're being sold the dream. 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:27.760 So you're buying a new build, and if you if 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:30.800 you're going with the solicitors or the conveyancers that are 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:35.080 recommended by the new build developers, you might not be 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:37.080 told this. And what they can say is they'll they'll 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.040 just say, oh, there's a little bit of money, you know, 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.360 maybe a couple hundred pounds of years for upkeep of 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:44.040 the you know, the common grass or whatever. But this 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:47.640 can increase and you don't have you can't say, it's 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:50.880 very hard to get to change that managing agent. And 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.440 with leaseholed properties you can go to the first property tribunal. 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:58.440 There's no such mechanism with these estate charges, which is 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:01.120 why I think it is like the big scandal. It's 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:04.520 called fleecehold. So look it up, shuere But I just 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:05.080 I guess. 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:07.160 I mean I was a weird the world issues. I 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:09.640 just hadn't a pre season bad. I mean, this is 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:12.440 like we're getting on neckers on the twist over like 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:15.560 PPI for Carls at the moment. This is so much 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.920 was this is life ruining. Oh sorry, but anyway. 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:21.920 Well John as well, if you if you're going to 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:24.000 go and look at some of the big flats in London, 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:26.760 those big new leasehold states where you see, you know, 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:29.240 a couple of big blocks of luxury flats going up 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.280 in central London, and then they had that land around 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:33.520 them which is not adopted by the council and has 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:36.200 to be kept up to a relatively high standard. And 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:38.800 you know, your general public of walking through it and 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.880 stopping here and stopping there, and you're effectively paying for 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:46.360 a public park in central London. I mean it's extraordinary, right, Sorry, Paula, 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:47.600 I'm taking over back to you. 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:47.880 Yeah. 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:50.640 No, and I can say that happened in I think 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:53.000 it was Devin, a Dorset where they actually were paying 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:56.640 for a big country park next door. So and the 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:59.400 council tried to help. They tried to step in and say, look, 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:01.520 we will take over the management of it, but we'll 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:04.160 charge you for it. And then they were stopped because 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.640 they couldn't treat some of their you know, their constituents 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:09.560 or their you know, the people are living there differently 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:12.760 from others. But the people there were delighted because then 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:15.160 the charges were a bit more reasonable. So it is 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.920 a real problem, and it's something that I think it 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:20.320 will become, you know, bigger and bigger in the future, 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:22.880 especially as these new build estates. As people are starting 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:25.840 to sell, they might find that they find a fewer 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:27.640 buyers to be able to buy that. 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:28.640 I'm just so amazing. 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:30.920 Yeah. The other thing I would say is to be 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:32.880 aware of it is that if you're buying a leasehold 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:35.760 property today, and you build a leasehold property today, the 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:39.360 government is also committed to bringing common hold so that 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:41.240 will be sort of in a few years time, you'll 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:44.160 only be able to buy new common hold properties, which 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:47.080 is a generally good thing. There's more control, you won't 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:49.560 have service charges, you have budgets. But if you're buying 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:52.360 a lease hold property today a flat in a few 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:55.320 years timing, you might be competing with those common hold properties, 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:58.120 so you might need to think about switching to a 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:01.000 common hold or you might need to price in that differential. 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:03.520 So that's another thing to think about if you are 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:05.360 looking to buy a new build flat today. 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:09.200 Okay, interesting, Now I'm trying to think of upsides to 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:09.880 buying your I've. 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:11.719 Got an upside so far. 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.520 We've got as far as maybe they'll chuck in the carpets, 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:17.040 which isn't really doing it for me. But the biggest 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:19.520 one I can think of is well, you could say, 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:21.320 well maybe you can get help to buy, or you 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:23.640 can get shared owner shit, but we've been through those. 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:26.520 Don't touch them with a bodge pole listener. So here's 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.079 the only other thing I can think of. No chain, 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:32.800 No chain, You buy direct from whoever's going to rip 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:35.160 you off at the house builders, and you get to 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:37.120 move in right away and it's not going to collapse. 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:41.040 Yeah that's true. But if you are buying with a mortgage, 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:44.280 you might you want to make sure that that delivers 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:46.200 on time. But I can give you another upside of 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.520 buying new build. So if it's the energy Performance Certificate 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.319 of A or B. You can get a green mortgage. 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:54.760 You can get lower mortgage rates. So the best mortgage 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.000 actually at the moment now is Barkleys, which is under 0:11:57.040 --> 0:12:00.679 four percent, and you can get cash backs. So there's 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.199 another upside that you might get a mortgage better mortgage 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:05.880 rate if you're buying a new build. But it is 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:09.319 true that if you're you know, there's no chains involved, 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:11.959 which is brilliant, but you know, it's very difficult for 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:15.360 somebody who's trying to buy and you build, who's relying 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:17.200 on a mortgage, which is most of us of course, 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:20.240 if it's more than six months in advance, because that 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.400 mortgage offer will run out and you could be stuck 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:26.559 between a really difficult position if you can't renew that 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:28.240 offer or get another mortgage offer. 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:31.880 Paula, I think that was an excellent effort with the 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:35.400 cheaper mortgage, and I'm I get it well done, my belt, 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.040 Why would you not just buy one that was a 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.760 couple of years older, save the save the fifteen sixteen 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:44.320 percent and you build premium and take an ordinary mortgage. 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:46.800 I mean, if we're after the cheapest option here stuff 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:48.800 the green mortgage, mortgage get the lower price. 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:51.760 Yes, no, I would agree. And the good thing is 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:54.240 if you're buying something a few years older, you know 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:56.440 you'll you'll see you know what you're getting. Because a 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:58.080 lot of people, if they're buying and you build, they 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:01.000 get they get sort of sucked into the dream. And 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:03.840 and we've seen you build estates have been promised schools 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:07.600 or GP surgeries or a high street and they don't materialize. 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:10.079 And that is really difficult to sow because you're here 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:13.360 just based on marketing brochures. What we always say if 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:15.240 you're buying something you build, is make sure you get 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:19.160 absolutely everything in writing, so you've got some way of 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:22.120 coming back. If you've been promised car parking spots, it's 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:25.040 a cul de sac, whatever it is, make sure you 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:26.240 get everything in writing. 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:28.719 It seems to me that one of the things that 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.320 we're really talking about here is the sense of community. 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:33.800 So if you buy an old house, and particularly if 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.680 you buy one in a in a town or village outskirts, 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:38.720 so if you can already see what the community is 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:41.000 going to be like, so you can know if you've 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:43.080 got a pub, you've got a shop, what kind of 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:45.360 other people live in the area, etc. You get some 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:48.280 sense of how you're going to live when you buy 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:50.480 an older house, whereas when you buy a new house, 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:52.559 as you say, you're buying a brochure, not a reality 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:53.599 or not a community. 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:56.520 That's true, and it's it's very hard to price that 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:58.680 in so you don't know what it's going to be like. 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:02.040 You've got no comparables. So if you're buying an older property, 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:04.480 you can look on land registry and see what other 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:06.760 people are paying for it. You could see if you 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:09.320 could do it up, put an extension in a loft conversion, 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.480 you can add value to it. But if you're buying 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:15.360 into a completely new development, there's no comparables to see 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:18.320 is that going to increase? And that's where you really 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:21.120 need to do your research properly. Not all developers are 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.720 the same, you know, you want to see that the 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:27.040 developers that maybe hold their resale value. There's a lot 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:27.720 to think about. 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:30.600 Actually, was something I wanted to ask about, is you 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.200 know this ten years guarantee that you get with a 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:36.400 new built home, Because in my experience, everything to do 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:40.000 with property is the most caveat emptor thing you will 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:42.360 ever buy in your life, and there is no comeback. 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.440 Or in anything at all, So I'm just want to done. 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:49.080 That is the guarantee actually both very much. 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:54.360 Yeah, it's it's really limited. So the first two years, 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:57.600 you know, the developers should have, you know, do the 0:14:57.680 --> 0:14:59.720 snags and things like that. And that's why we always 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.840 say make sure you get a snagging survey. Diorize that 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:05.800 two your points, because if you don't get anything fixed 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:08.720 before then you might be a bit stuffed because between 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:13.280 years two and ten it's structural. So it's really structural stuff, 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:16.920 and there's also ways of invalidating, so if you decide to. 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:19.360 We have a situation somebody came to our site they 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:23.680 changed the radiators. You know, a young couple bought a 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:26.280 new bill. They just wanted to sort of have nicer radiators. 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:29.160 They invalidated that warranty when they found out the boiler 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:32.640 and there's problems with that. So it is really tricky. 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:35.880 So I would say again, you know, make sure you 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:39.960 know you now can get pre completion inspections. And it 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:42.360 seems a bit odd that you're buying something you don't 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:44.320 expect to get a mechanic to buy a new car 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.440 to look over it, but in this case we probably 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:50.120 did it's not all the same, so it is a 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:50.800 bit bonkers. 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:55.560 God, there's so many reasons to loathe house builders. It's insane. 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:58.240 Isn't The other thing that I worry about with new 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:01.760 bills it's the size of the rooms. And when you 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:05.840 look at houses built even up until the fifties, sixties, 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:08.600 and particularly even council housing for example, built in the 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:11.920 nineteen thirties, the rooms are big and spaceous in light, 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.280 et cetera. But when you look at the floor plans 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:19.080 of new built you often see really very small floor space, 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:22.600 small small rooms, and that seems to me to be 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:23.640 something of a concern. 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.080 Yeah. No, and they even do things like put in 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:29.600 tiny furniture, or they might not have wardrobes in there. 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:32.240 You don't have built in wardrobes. And one of the 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:35.480 reasons why, because they're building for profits. So and we 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:38.240 we market our rooms our houses on based on number 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:41.400 of rooms in most other countries of European countries is 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.320 square footage. So then you could be able to compare 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:48.560 you know, a two bed Victorian flat to which might 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:50.760 be the same space as a you know, a small 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:53.440 three bed house, So I think it is. And that's 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:56.400 where you know, you want more information and we're really 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:59.200 much wanting as much information on If you're looking at 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.880 right Movements Zoo in the property portals, they are actually 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.520 we did some research earlier this year they're actually doing 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:06.719 more on that. So you can look at the floor plans, 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:08.879 you can look at the square footage and do the 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.800 sums yourself. What's the price per square footage you're paying for? 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:14.480 This slightly takes us. 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:17.480 Back to use a buying agent who knows all this stuff, 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:19.080 not back to we haven't we haven't done that episode. 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:24.280 Yeah, because in other countries you buying agents and estate agents, 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:26.320 you know they're working on behalf of the seller. The 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:28.680 buyers aren't aware of that. But you know, with the 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.720 affordability so stretched, buying agents seem to be for the 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:36.760 rich and the time pouring cash rich. But yeah, no, 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:39.120 and that's why with our site, that's what we try 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:41.760 to do. We try to empower people, get them to 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:44.760 ask the right questions, you know, making the right choices 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:46.480 and avoid the pitfalls of others. 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:49.439 Don't know if Paula, if you would want to discuss this, 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:53.080 but obviously you have been within nothing distances the levels 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:56.320 of power in the government and I don't know if 0:17:56.359 --> 0:18:00.440 there's anything from that experience that you would want to see, 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:02.760 like how we've ended up here if. 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.480 You like, yeah, I mean it's it's interesting because that's 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:08.800 why I set up Homeowners' Alliance actually, because I was 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:12.280 working in government and housing and I was being approached 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.680 by you know, some big developers saying, oh, we don't 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:18.520 need to do inspections. You know, consumers don't want to, 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:20.960