Buying a house

[armaghniac]

Buying a new build (in the north) and contract just landed from vendor - they aren't adopting the roads so will be private roads.

Anyone have any experience of how people deal with that?  Really really putting us off if we can't get a resolution.  Does it suggest the builder/developer not constructing roads up to right standard?

maybe worth researching the originally planning permission for the development.

[Aughafad]

I've dealt with this a few times over the years. Roads aren't adopted for one of two reasons: 1 - they are not up to transport ni standards e.g. poor visible splays, narrow footpaths or just poorly built. 2. the developer owes money to transport NI (road service) in the form of a bond for this site or another.

If its the first point, i would be wary of the liability you as a home owner would be taking on, such as the responsibility for sewers to the road boundary rather than your site boundary as well as any other utilities within the development.

You can PM me with development details and i can check with contacts within transport ni to find out why its not being adopted if you like.

[Rois]

I've dealt with this a few times over the years. Roads aren't adopted for one of two reasons: 1 - they are not up to transport ni standards e.g. poor visible splays, narrow footpaths or just poorly built. 2. the developer owes money to transport NI (road service) in the form of a bond for this site or another.

If its the first point, i would be wary of the liability you as a home owner would be taking on, such as the responsibility for sewers to the road boundary rather than your site boundary as well as any other utilities within the development.

You can PM me with development details and i can check with contacts within transport ni to find out why its not being adopted if you like.

Thank you - likely to be Number 2 - the front man is a former bankrupt, though he is not the site owner. It scares us that even public liability would rest with us. Only 6 houses in the development. I might take you up on the offer - trying a couple of other ways of finding out the craic. We won't buy if there's any risk. We're the first to buy in the dev. Gutted this eve.
Can he (developer) go now and get bond etc and get them adopted?

[Aughafad]

Generally no, as transport Ni like to inspect each stage of the road structure as it's built.
One question I would ask is if the road is not being adopted, who will the owner be of the road? As they still will have responsibilities in regards to drain/sewer/street lighting maintenance.

[illdecide]

Buying a new build (in the north) and contract just landed from vendor - they aren't adopting the roads so will be private roads.

Anyone have any experience of how people deal with that?  Really really putting us off if we can't get a resolution.  Does it suggest the builder/developer not constructing roads up to right standard?

Hi Rois, sound like to me they're keeping the roads private because they don't meet the specification. This does not necessarily mean they will be constructed of a poorer quality but could simply be that they don't have the adequate road width or geometry to meet the DMRB/Creating Places guide lines, they will still construct the road to a standard that will be to the BSEN standards as they will have submitted drawings to planners and Transport NI etc for approval.
The only issue you will have is not now but maybe 10 years down the line when/if the road was to break up or the un-adopted sewers below the road that will remain private (as Aughfad pointed out) will be the responsibility of the home owners within the private road area and this will be written into your contract that your solicitor will point out to you. You may well pay an annual subscription into a management company that will be responsible for maintenance of un-adopted sewers and roads. If your car leaked brake fluid over the nice new road and crumbled the surface up and the next heavy frost breaks it up or your neighbour does this who fixes this if there is no management in place?...having said all that i've designed plenty of roads in small developments that have had private sewers and roads and TBH there hasn't been much of an issue...there never is an issue until something happens...just tell your neighbours not to throw wet wipes down the toilet...A BIG NO NO...hope that helps, if you need any further info or a contact no for someone in TRANSPORT NI give me a PM...

[majestic]

Hi all

Have recently agreed to buy a new build house (as a first time buyer), nothing has been signed as yet other than the agreement with the estate agent that will hold the site for us. Have inquired about the possibility of reducing the price of the house because of the virus and the damage it will likely do to the economy. They are not changing on the purchase price of the property but have suggested they may pay for some extras which we wanted, need confirmation on this. The estate agent has suggested that 90% if the sales are still going ahead as planned and don't foresee any change in demand, I am having real difficultly believing the 90% figure. Anyone got any thoughts?

[Rois]

I went sale agreed on a house last week. Price is largely what it was on at before lockdown.
Had mortgage appointment today - they said that they aren't able to approve any new mortgage drawdowns yet as valuations can't take place. we can get an offer subject to full valuation, but won't Be able to complete. Now I would assume new builds are different.

My colleague just completed on her new build last week and didn't get a price reduction.

Word from one of the big developers in the north is that they are not reducing prices on new builds.

So you may end up saving a bit if you wait, but you might not, depends on how desperate the builder is.

[tbrick18]

Personally, I think it's inevitable that house prices will fall over the coming year.
The UK economy is predicted to be one of the worst hit economies

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52991913

Think back to 2007 when we had the crash what the effect was to house prices.
Predictions now are that this will be a bigger hit to the economy than that of 2007.
If the economy shrinks, there are less jobs and less money around. People are more likely to be out of work so less likely to be in a position to buy. Banks are less likely to lend and the knock on effect is that there is not the same demand for property which drives prices down.

Of course estate agents and builders don't want to reduce prices now, they will want as much as they can get now as their income could well reduce by a large percentage over the coming year.

For me, if I wanted to buy, I'd hold on 6 months and see where things are then.

[bennydorano]

A lot of builders & estate agents playing their poker faces at the minute. How can there be anything other than a major, major downturn? Inevitable imo.

[Rois]

I'd love to be able to hold on for six months but am desperate.

However, I still don't think it'll be as bad as in 2007 (13 years of paying a mortgage and I'm still just about break-even).  But I do laugh at the agents talking it up.
Pre-lockdown prices were not as inflated as they would have been in 2007 as people weren't able to get stupid levels of mortgages from banks to drive prices up.  Therefore they don't have as far to fall.

The developers who have come out alive are much more wary around working capital (generally build what they can afford) and haven't had the endless supply of capital from banks to build vast estates.  There are far fewer people who have turned their amateur hand to property development.

Doubtless there will be an impact due to job losses, but flooding the market with excess stock held by wannabe developers or building firms on the brink of collapse just won't be possible - the stocks don't exist in the same way. 

Commercial real estate - that's a different ball game altogether.

Now, when can valuers get access to houses?  That's what will hold my process up.  Think land registry may have opened again.

[bennydorano]

Yeah, it doesn't have as far to fall as back then. I bought on the down slide of that crash, the fella that I bought the house of had been offered 100,000k more than I paid for it just 18-24mths previous, and it's nothing special! Utter madness, I'd say I'd just about scrape past what I paid for it if I had sold pre Covid.

[illdecide]

A friend of mine is looking to buy atm too and he asked for my advice (don't know much about it), he's asking should he wait another few months and see if house prices fall. Suppose everything is a risk and it's hard to know what's going to happen in the next 6-12 months, I know my house price hadn't really went up that much from i bought it 14 years ago and knowing my luck it'll prob drop back down to what i paid for it. 10 years left of a mortgage...can't wait.

Rois...i thought you'd bought a house in Lurgan last year? Did that fall thru?

[tbrick18]

Its really difficult to know how the market will react or how quickly it will come back.
The prices of houses is one thing, but banks could become more strict about lending again too.
With uncertainty in the economy, there will be uncertainty around employment and so a mortgage could be higher risk than it is currently.

The other thing affecting the market will be the ability to sell a house so that you can move up the property ladder. If my house falls in value into negative equity, I'm less likely to sell or to buy.

[Rois]

Rois...i thought you'd bought a house in Lurgan last year? Did that fall thru?

Er...yeah - fell through when the developer demanded an extra £30k from us the week we were due to move.
Never fear, attempt number 3 at buying in Lurgan is still under way...I'll be in that ice cream place before the summer's out!

Interestingly though, we were looking at a Belfast new build in January, and it came down to two of us who had no chain and looked to be good bets.  The agent tried to get us into a bidding war (on a new build!) or a contract race.  The other bidder threw a few exta £ks on, and we didn't bother matching it, so lost it. 
Just this afternoon, the agent contacted me and asked if we were still interested, as the other person hadn't been able to progress the mortgage.  I feel a genuine delight in telling the agent to f**k off. 

[JohnDenver]

Rois...i thought you'd bought a house in Lurgan last year? Did that fall thru?

Er...yeah - fell through when the developer demanded an extra £30k from us the week we were due to move.
Never fear, attempt number 3 at buying in Lurgan is still under way...I'll be in that ice cream place before the summer's out!

Interestingly though, we were looking at a Belfast new build in January, and it came down to two of us who had no chain and looked to be good bets.  The agent tried to get us into a bidding war (on a new build!) or a contract race.  The other bidder threw a few exta £ks on, and we didn't bother matching it, so lost it. 
Just this afternoon, the agent contacted me and asked if we were still interested, as the other person hadn't been able to progress the mortgage.  I feel a genuine delight in telling the agent to f**k off.

How much commission do these agents be on?  Is it worth that shite of playing potential buyers off each other for the extra few £ks on the overall price as you say?

I'd be of the same opinion as you in telling him where to go, but no doubt he'll still get the sale through with somebody else.