Benefits of Buying a New Build A Rated Home vs 2nd hand average D rated?

cubatahavana

MattS1 wrote: »

Why does everyone need huge gardens? Most people just want somewhere to sit out with some grass for kids etc.

Exactly, small garden with space for sitting and bbq and a little grass for the 2 year old monster to run.

I prefer a larger house and a smaller garden

dubstepper

cubatahavana wrote: »

Exactly, small garden with space for sitting and bbq and a little grass for the 2 year old monster to run.

2 years olds grow into 12 year olds. At that point it is nice to have a bit more space. Doesn't matter too much if the new estate have a shared green. In fact a shared green is more social for the kids.

Klaudia.

dia squish wrote: »

We would like to eventually build a small workshop (with electricity) in the back garden of a future home, either as an extension or separate structure. Does anyone know if this would be more difficult with a new build in Dublin? Understand the back gardens are generally smaller.

Depends on the rules in the estate too. I came across a new estate where there is a clause in the deeds preventing any alternations to the external of the house. No extensions either.

JimmyVik

Klaudia. wrote: »

Depends on the rules in the estate too. I came across a new estate where there is a clause in the deeds preventing any alternations to the external of the house. No extensions either.

When I was looking I found that with a few places. I knocked them off my list straight away.

bobgaf

If thinking of buying 2nd hand and refitting or extending, bear in mind you may have to engage builders and possibly an architect.
Having been through 2 iterations of extending, both were a nightmare and I would advise caution when engaging either of the above.

CaptainCoPilot

Had this conundrum ourselves when in the market for a house two years ago. We considered both options and weighed up the pros and the cons. I think ultimately it comes down to what you want and for us, BER rating wasnt the top of the list.

We ended up buying an older house on the outskirts of a village with a decent garden and space as it was more suited to our needs, both now and with future plans in mind.

Its BER was D, but fortunately I used to work in the building trade and have upgraded the house since we moved in myself (new heating controls, insulation, new heating system, interior decoration etc). This was done by myself with the assistance of mates still in the trade when needed (aware this option isnt available to most). No idea what the BER is now, but it costs less than €1,000 to heat the house to a comfortable level (room temperatures at a comfortable level at all times, hot water available in mornings and evenings and can be boosted if needed at other times). We may add solar in a couple of years.

Personally, I think the BER system is flawed and too much emphasis is placed on it by people buying houses. But to each their own. We decided a new build wouldnt suit us as the density of the estates wouldnt suit our lifestyle. That may change in years to come, who knows.

Yellow_Fern

CaptainCoPilot wrote: »

Had this conundrum ourselves when in the market for a house two years ago. We considered both options and weighed up the pros and the cons. I think ultimately it comes down to what you want and for us, BER rating wasnt the top of the list.



Personally, I think the BER system is flawed and too much emphasis is placed on it by people buying houses. But to each their own. We decided a new build wouldnt suit us as the density of the estates wouldnt suit our lifestyle. That may change in years to come, who knows.

I think you are right. BER A is probably overrated. However I dont think a passivehouse certification is overrated as its an extremely reliable mark of quality, but they are rarely on the market.

Klaudia.

JimmyVik wrote: »

When I was looking I found that with a few places. I knocked them off my list straight away.

Hey, would you send me the list of these estates? It's heartbreaking to participate in a 'fight' to book the house just to realize there are restrictions like that in the deeds/ Management Company rules....

DubLad69

Klaudia. wrote: »

Depends on the rules in the estate too. I came across a new estate where there is a clause in the deeds preventing any alternations to the external of the house. No extensions either.

Would this actually be something that is enforceable though?

Klaudia.

DubLad69 wrote: »

Would this actually be something that is enforceable though?

My solicitor said very vaguely that I may be fine for 20 years and then get into troubles if I'm not following 'the rules'.
I found some information about restrictive covenants in deeds on UK websites, not much on Irish websites. Shortly, they can be enforceable in court.

https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/restrictive-covenants/

Please of course check with your solicitor. I'm just a random home buyer who searches the Internet for information...

carriet90

Hey,

We looking at buying an A rated home but I'm a bit apprehensive because of the concerns the grid is going to experience more outages in the future. I've heard people say, you won't be able to heat your hom, no hot water and won't be able to cook and water pressure might be an issue too if the electricity cuts out. What people's opinion on this ? Any info on battery packs or suggestions for having a backup if this happens. Would appreciate any info. Thanks

KLF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121400522#Comment_121400522

Not really an issue unless you can't do without power for a few hours. We have had a few outages where we are in North County Dublin, mainly due to construction in the area and their tendency to knock out power by accident. An A-rated house isn't going to lose heat that much, ours doesn't dip below 19c even without heating for a few hours.

The heated water will stay nice and hot until the power comes back on. The main issue is everything except the kitchen cold tap depending on the high-pressure water pump. Toilets will refill slowly so it's not total carnage :D

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/115966886#Comment_115966886

Not obviously, many heat pumps are poorly installed and commissioned

a gas boiler in a d rated house is often cheaper to run.

SharkMX

My sister bought a E1 rated house 2 years ago. Spent €15k on it and its a B2 now. I think she said for another 10k she can get it to a B1 but its fine the way she has it now.

I would rather have that house than one of the new A rated ones up the road. They were going for €200k more than she paid for hers. Hers is bigger. Nicer looking. Has a big front garden with room for 2 cars on the driveway and a back garden at least 10 times the size of the new builds near it. The new builds have no front garden (well a patch of grass about 2 square meters) and no driveway and i dont think I could walk 3 paces any direction in the back garden.

In the house she bought she could if she ever wanted to convert the attic or have room for an extension into the garden. Couldnt do any of that with the new builds in the area.

Sunjava

New houses have a mass produced look about them... everything is uniform. It takes decades for new estates to develop a character. I don't think the new build of today with minimum frontage will ever develop much character. As for gardens, they tend to be a bit on the small side, not that a huge garden is required.

herbalplants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121403713#Comment_121403713

I couldn't have said it better. I hate the look of new houses,souless.

rob316

Came down to plot space for us in the end, we went for a 25 year old house, slightly smaller than the new build but big gardens back and front, ability to extend and better more developed area. I also didn't want to live next to a building site for the next 3-5 years while each phase goes up. New build estates are soulless looking and take years to develop a lived in look.

I'm quite handy so taking on all the renovation and decoration of an old house didn't bother me.

RichardAnd

My issue with new builds is that we don't know how well they will age. There are a LOT of Celtic Tiger builds up and down the country that really not borne the years with grace. Just down the road from mere, there are apartments built in 2000, and they really look very shabby. I would like to think that the quality of construction has improved, but who knows?

Given the choice, I would want an older house. That's just me, though.

rowantree18

I've got a bit of a unicorn - A rated, was only 1.5 yrs old when I bought. Small development in heart of coastal village on Dart. No social housing went in as developers built a public amenity instead (think that loophole is gone now...). No front garden, small back. But I wanted that as I want to enjoy the area not spend time gardening. 180e/per 2 months for heat, light, cooking, hot water etc. Just one bill, the esb one. House always toasty which is very important to me. Heat pump maintenance 220e per year, mechanical ventilation maintenance 180e per year. I'm very happy. The houses now sell fast if they come on market for 200k more since I bought 3 years ago. A lot of kid's which is OK but I'm older so not meaningful one way or the other to me.

Cork2021

Ye are giving me the hibbie jeebies!

we’re 80% there in terms of buying a new build in Cork!!

got disheartened with the second hand market!

REFLINE1

Bought a new build about 5 years ago. I grew up in a rural location so was used to lots of space and a big house, living in an estate was a culture shock for me and took a bit of adjustment, my wife on the other hand grew up in an estate. Interesting as to how people define an "older" house at this point. Celtic Tiger era builds are now 20+ years old, probably the only era of house i would 100% not touch, apartment or house having worked in the industry.

New build Pros

• Typically well insulated, lower heating costs and generally cosy with no damp issues etc you might have in older properties
• New build estates typically have lots of young families, nice for kids to grow up in, kids have lots of friends that they can play with on the greens in the summer, call to each others houses etc. Can be a good community feel with families organising street bbqs, Halloween events etc.
• minimal maintenance/upgrade costs compared to older houses, at least in the first few years, you need to spend very little on the house other than the garden.
• Construction and inspection standards for new builds are much better than they were in the past (celtic tiger era).

Cons

• Privacy, during nice weather everyone's out in their gardens and it can be a bit noisy with kids etc, doesn't bother a lot of people but gets on my nerves.
• Small gardens- a con for some, a pro for others? New build gardens typically have very poor soil quality and its a struggle to get a nice lawn going without importing decent topsoil at cost. Some new build gardens are quite overlooked & there is a lack of space to extend significantly in the future in most cases
• A lot of new builds are timber frame, I personally think this is massive negative from a sound proofing perspective. Ours is blockwork and never hear the semi-d next door where as I've been in friends and family new builds and its horrific how much normal day to day noise you can hear from next door