Have We Forgotten How To Build A House?

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42396938
I'd never buy a new buiold today, total tish build quality. I'd expect better from a major builder like Bovis but it seems they too are utilising the High Chaparal building technique.

[andy-hughes]

TTT - Builders have not forgotten how to build a house, they just prefer to build them as quickly and cheaply as possible, for maximum profit, hence the issues modern builds attract.#

A major firm has just lost a four-year fight to build on a field near me, even though there is clear evidence that it floods in winter - dismissed as 'circumstantial' by the builders.

They boasted a bus route, local schools, shops and doctors for new buyers, even though the schools and doctors are accepting no new intakes, and the bus stop is almost a mile from the nearest edge of the new estate, correspondingly longer as you move into the development.

Their plans were not dismissed on any of those grounds, but on safely, because the one road accessing the main route is too narrow to accommodate the additional traffic.

So the builders would have built and sold on flooding land with no doctor, school, or transport links, and sold those houses knowing that they would flood in the first winter.

It shows the ethics of modern house builders - or lack of them.

[Barmaid]

I think the trouble is with most developers is it is a case of stack it high and sell it cheap. I bought a new build on an estate in 2006. My brother (who is a niche developer and takes old buildings and develops them sympathetically using original materials and craftsmanship and has won awards for his work) took one look at the plumbing in the house and shook his head. After he'd sorted that out, he sorted no end of things out. Trouble is, people wont pay for that level of quality! People (as I was) are swaying by the outward look of the thing and dont realise that it is crap underneath until stuff goes wrong.

[Quizproquo]

My employer provides work for the major building developers. I too would be reluctant to buy a new build, but only because I'd want to see how the whole place looks once it's matured before moving there.
A lot of people buy new builds just to sell them on to people like me a couple of years later. Bovis are trying to improve, to be fair to them.
The trick is not to hand over a single penny or sign anything until you are completely happy with your new house. 2-3 grand might seem nice at the time but once you are in, the impetus to fix your snags is not so great as getting you in there in the first place.
There are good new builds out there though.

[ToraToraTora]

"3T that will be take the specifications, get the bean counters to shave them to the bone, starting with labour and materials, and then set a timescale that is impossible to do the work with any care. " - gawd help us, really? I have never owned a new build always went for the older more solid build but I did stay in a house my mate rented in ireland once! None of the door locks lined up, the skirting ended well before the floorboards and the window sill had a gap under it that you could see through, the draught was biblical!