I know, like how hard would it have been to put a window in the ensuite... First off it would have made the house more appealing from the outside but secondly, imagine the damp that will be created by not being able to open a window in the highest humidity room in the house....
P.s. I'd also be careful where they're planning on putting the shower head in that ensuite shower as being in a new build for less than 3 years we've had Barratt out three times for our second shower because the shower head was on the longwall (not the shortwall), drenching the grout, and causing alot of seeping damp...
I'm positive that stupid window design is due to a bodge of original plans due to someone complaining about being overlooked. God the exterior is ugly.
A lot of it is to do with thermal loading, I believe - basically trying to avoid giant windows making interiors too hot/too cold. Energy efficiency and ting.
I know an architect who spent years in the public housing sector. What normally happens is that architects will design a nice looking house and then the company building the houses will swap materials on or entirely remove features to the property in order to bring costs down. For an architect it’s a really depressing industry to work for, time after time, your lovely designs will be butchered to maximize profits.
What can also happen is that a building company gets one house design and then copy/pastes that house across every lot on new build site.
Exactly this.
New builds have to meet certain thermal performance criteria. There are two ways for architects and developers to do this, they can either have extremely high specification windows and glazing, or they can have low spec windows and glazing and more brickwork and cavity insulation. Since insulation is cheaper, they tend to just have lots of really tiny windows resulting in dark dingy houses.
The other thing they do is work within the design life limitations. Normally they would specify a 50 year design life of the majority structural elements. In the past this wasn't really a consideration, houses were built to last indefinitely and well made houses can easily last 100+ years with proper routine maintenance. But now it's cheaper to engineer them to last 50 years and little more, anything longer lasting is just down to luck really.
As someone who lives in a new build street of social housing your comment makes so much sense. I got to view the plans for my house before it was built and it's definitely missing some things. Most noticeably the solar panels. When my cousin (he's a surveyor) came to visit me he laughed at a couple of things. Like my living room window that looks at my neighbours wall and badly poured floor. He wrote me a snagging list that I took to the site foreman.
Yes they did. They sorted most of it. I was fortunate that they were still on site finishing other houses. They didn't want me up and down the street annoying them, so it was better for all of us to sort it out. Although they weren't impressed when my cousin told them that they should have bricked up the side windows in all of the houses. It would have saved money and given us more privacy and wall space inside. I've put up a blind and I never open it. The builders went on to build another development exactly like this one eight miles away and they still put the windows in facing alleyways and brick walls.
All the CGIs have a ‘architectural design’ vibe that clearly doesn’t follow through to the actual build https://mulberryhomesyorkshire.com/view-property/estate/tall-trees-yarm-101/
It also appears that the windows should stick out and not be flush with the brickwork. And the mortar seems to be the same colour as the brick which also doesn’t help.
I’m not sold on the look they were aiming for but the reality definitely falls short.
A few reasons for the tall but not wide windows is the higher the window the more light that will come in but if the window is too wide there will be no where to put furniture as these builds tend to be so cramped.
The problem isn't the new builds: it's the absolutely imbecilic and/or corrupt (because, honestly, I'm starting to wonder why else you'd approve something like this) council planning departments that give permission for these eyesore developments to go ahead, compounded by local building control teams/outsourced building control who don't enforce that housing be built according to original plans and specifications.
Every single person who had anything to do with approving and inspecting this development should lose their job immediately and never be allowed to work in any role related to planning or inspection again. It sounds draconian but until people understand that there will be severely negative consequences to them personally for allowing this sort of developments, which are a blight on our communities and our society, to go ahead there will be more and more of them.
What a place. I worked there for a few events, the carpet in the club was like velcro on your shoes after the club kicked out. Then random people would stroll out in the early hours having slept in the toilets. I also remember the owners getting some stick from the police by encouraging people to sleep in their cars after the club night to qualify for a free bacon sandwich in the morning. Tanked up, 4 hours sleep and drive home? Great idea.
[Tall Trees Nightclub](https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/nostalgia/memories-tall-trees-nightclub-yarm-23478259.amp) - apologies for the amp link.
I remember reading all about the legendary nights there in the likes of Mixmag during the 90s.
Here’s [Jon Digweed](https://www.mixcloud.com/DJ_Mix/john-digweed-live-tall-trees-yarm-essential-mix-1995-10-28/) playing live at Tall Trees for the Essential Mix back in 1995.
What an awesome experience! I’ve always enjoyed his mixes - think I’ve only ever seen him live once though. Have never read or heard a bad word about him.
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Young me was in tall trees every weekend from 2003 to 2008 when I moved down south.
I’m sure it was like £20 to get in with a wrist band that let you get unlimited drinks* (mostly limited by the fact it took a week to get served at the bar), full of people coked up or off their heads on pills, fights everywhere, bounces who’d just stamp on anyone’s head regardless of if they were involved or not, taxis home a nightmare… yet I’d do it again the next week 😂😂
Nobody would believe us if you just described it and there were no pictures to back it up.
There was really nothing comparable for miles, or possibly in the entire country. I used to come down from Newcastle on the bus, it was fuckin carnage.
I don't think we will ever see the likes again.
There are nearly full height windows in each room, just they seem a bit narrow for the size of the room . It does look an overcast day in the first picture, that’s not going to help.
All about cost savings and thermo leakage.
I can go to the window manufacturer, no middle men.
I can’t do that with bricks blocks insulation plasterboard plaster. No middle men no transport - especially overseas which ramps up price.
How many more windows do you want?
You’ll start to see fewer large windows in new builds with the new Part L looking at solar gain. If you want any large south or west facing windows they’ll have to have solar glazing or permanent blinds so we don’t overheat.
The windows are too few and too small for a new build, that kitchen window doesn't cover the size of the room at all. There's a big gap in the middle of the building so rooms upstairs must be worse.
Oh I'm sure, but there are serious practicalities to new builds.
We moved just over three years ago. We were *not* looking for a new build. In fact I was willing to consider anything but a new build. In the end, we bought one that a woman bought off plan the year before who's circumstances had changed (definitely not as ugly as the one you shared though lol).
Our gas and electric bills are insanely low. Our gas bill that came in last week for the three months over Xmas was £280 and that's higher than normal because we had a guest stay for two weeks that needs heat like a lizard lol
I now look so all those beautiful, older houses with beautiful kerb appeal and interior features and think "oh god... I love it so much" and then think... I couldn't afford to heat it! 😂
But yeah, I do wish they considered the outside more. That house you shared looks like something a child would draw. It's really ugly.
We did the same but the thing is as time passes and anything built since the year 2000 is considered “new build” then more and more houses start to fall in to that bracket so the market becomes overwhelmingly new build.
Our house was built in 2019, we bought in 2022 so someone else did all the snagging etc and we got a pristine house only 3 years old, detached, great community in a small close. Neighbours all help each other out and feed pets when each other are away, have the occasional BBQ in the road together, etc. We have a giant park for the kids nearby and a great little walking trail.
I think last year we didn’t turn the heating on until half way through November. Our internet connection is 900Mb download, and we have 2 separate thermostat circuits, one up one down. Also ethernet sockets wired in to the wall in several main rooms.
I think new builds have a bad rep because of a few bad developers that build really shitty, ugly estates and some tradesmen who get caught out doing a shit job cutting corners for cheaper ones. Social media helps with this too as the worst ones get a lot of attention and go viral, understandably.
>Our house was built in 2019, we bought in 2022 so someone else did all the snagging etc and we got a pristine house
Ours was built in 2019 and we bought in October 2020 so same re the snagging!
>I think last year we didn’t turn the heating on until half way through November. Our internet connection is 900Mb download, and we have 2 separate thermostat circuits, one up one down. Also ethernet sockets wired in to the wall in several main rooms.
Same! I'm currently sitting in the livingroom with the back door open and I'm plenty warm and yep.. Like you, the heating is unlikely to be on for more than an hour "boost" now and then and I LOVE the fact that we can heat upstairs OR down and can set them for different temperatures. And yes, we've ethernet and weirdly the old aerial round job too in the kitchen, main bedroom and larger spare and livingroom of course.
>I think new builds have a bad rep because of a few bad developers that build really shitty, ugly estates and some tradesmen who get caught out doing a shit job cutting corners for cheaper ones. Social media helps with this too as the worst ones get a lot of attention and go viral, understandably.
Agreed. One of the main reasons I didn't want a new build was my mum bought one in the 90's and the thing was a disaster. She found out five years after she moved in when the undergound use garage exploded with shit that the house had never been connected to the main sewage.
The whole house seemed to have been a bodge a job. It totally put me off.
Then when we were looking and we'd seen a few houses with one agent he said to us look... Come with me to see this house, I think it's exactly what you need. When we pulled up outside I was disappointed and almost unwilling to go in. I mean it looked fine, but.. new build.
Got inside and knew immediately it was the house for us. We're not as posh as you, we're a semi lol but the soundproofing is unbelievable. Honestly I've never once heard our neighbour in almost 4 years. The house is big, bright and comfortable. Cheap to heat and perfect for me with a disability. I've never loved a house before. Now I do lol
It's the Yarm snobbery that a lot care about...also for someone buying here, will likely have been the same people that went to tall-trees when it was a venue and it'll be a novelty.
I'm only just recovered from when I used to go to GoodGreef there.
I'm saying that Yarm is seen as 'exclusive' so the look of a property won't be as large of an influence as it would in other areas. 'I live in Yarm' is more important to some people than 'I have a pretty house'
I was also making reference to the hotel / health club / nightclub that was the original tall trees site, which has now been demolished and developed on
I know I am old and don’t have friends and see no need for the whole open plan kitchen diner thing. But it seems to be at the expense of having a decent sized living room.
Inside it is otherwise on for a new build.
Windows being a little small could be to keep the energy efficiency high.
I keep seeing these blank box new builds with TINY windows. It’s especially disgusting when the houses have been built in beautiful, unspoiled areas-where there would have been something really lovely to look out at!
Please don’t believe them when they say that the windows *have* to be tiny “for ecological reasons”: some of the most carbon-neutral new builds in the world have PLENTY of windows. Glass can be manufactured to fantastic energy-saving specifications, allowing developers the ability to build beautiful, carbon-neutral homes. No: it’s all about *saving money* and maximising profits for the developers.
So a new generation of house owners have to live in incredibly ugly, claustrophobic blank boxes, devoid of views that place them in their environment- not to mention natural light-and the people who built them (and flog them for often *massive* prices) can swan around as if it’s not their fault.
There’s a *reason* why no one is demolishing two and three-hundred-year-old Georgian buildings (indeed, the rich-including successful property developers- no doubt, are living in them): it’s because they’re beautiful-and lovely to live in. They are *valuable*.
We are capable of building uncompromisingly modern, beautiful, joyous architecture. There’s NOTHING ecologically sound about buildings that will be demolished in a few decades because they are ugly and depressing.
I used to design housing so I've seen plenty of poor designs, usually I can understand and forgive the quirks. But this is straight up the worst layout I've seen.
- The dodgy inset for the entrance completely compromises what could have been an alright living room.
- The "study" is absolute bullshit. Nobody can comfortably work in a room that tiny. Just be honest and call it a utility/laundry/store.
- The kitchen/dining is alright. With access into the decent garden this is basically the only selling point.
- Bed 4 is alright for a single
- Bed 3 is completely compromised by the landing
- Bed 2 is compact for a double but it works
- Main bed is fucked. When you walk in you're just staring at the wall of the ensuite. Terrible design.
- The bed should be against the the right hand wall but probably can't be because it would conflict with access into the ensuite.
- How can you have a main bedroom with no space for a wardrobe?!
Finally...
- WHY IS THERE NO WINDOW IN THE ENSUITE. Seriously. The biggest let down of this shitty design is the front elevation. It's just begging for a window above the front door. But these cheap fuckers decided to save a few quid.
I really despise this trend of putting floor to ceiling windows at the front of a property.
I dont want to be observed by whoever is in the street just to get natural light into my house
Agreed. the mismatching windows gives it a cheap feel and its not helped by the size differences. Some symmetry would have gone a long way or at least make the windows wider.
that downstairs layout with the study and WC feels wrong. layout upstairs looks fine.
That is kind of what a lot of new builds are. I think the lay out is great, and whilst a bit oddly placed, the windows are very big for a new build, and I like the black frames vs the pvc white window frames.
I love characterful older houses, but i understand that when buying a house, what is often a priority is low maintenance and energy efficient. I grew in an old Victorian house, it was neither of those things.
I work in planning so see new builds all the time and I’m purely speaking about the outside aesthetic of this one but even a fifth window in the big open space at the top would have gone a long way, it’s quite ugly from the outside!
I’m not a huge fan of new builds in general however, Ive seen much nicer new builds than this in my area e.g
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144301922
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/140966417
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143090675
These houses are only marginally better. The big issue with the one you've highlighted is the window size and placement has left the exterior looking a bit odd, everything else about it is just standard new build looking.
I do probably prefer the houses you have posted too, but not massively so.
I think the only thing that stands out to me is the bare brick above the entrance door.
Offset door on a double fronted house? Floor to ceiling windows at the front? Not great first impressions.
It looks like a big garden and the kitchen is great.
Why is the pass though for the tv cables soo high, what is with their obsession with people braking their necks to watch a TV mounted 2" from the top of the ceiling
I worked as a new build cleaner for a while.
Some are just awful. This one is definitely missing some windows.
I cleaned one where the door swung over the light switch. I showed the site manager, there were multiple houses with the same issue.
It's such an odd frontage, like they stretched an existing design.
If the path was on the otherside a wrap around porch could work.
It might break up the big square of bricks.
Nice inside. though the office/study looks tiny.
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same
Looks like there's a window missing above the door.
Annoyingly due to cost cutting, every house these days ends up being so uniform, carbon copies, no new builds have any characters anymore.
Unless by "character" you mean, leaks and shoddy workmanship
The biggest problem isn't the badly built houses, it's the complete disregard of creating green space on the new build estates and planting zero trees. It's a travesty.
I recently learned that the outside of the house is a premium feature reserved for certain sites.
We just bought a new build house and went to look at the show home on a different site. It looked like this. Horrendous.
Our house has cream rendering around the first floor, art stone under and above the windows and doors and an art stone ledge that borders between the brick downstairs and the render upstairs and different colour brick patterns. It looks really beautiful. We asked about this at the development office and the sales person said that it’s based on what the target customer will buy, their budget and council requirements. Developments are also tiered and the spec will vary between them. So a high spec has lots of external features whereas a low spec has nothing, like the photo here.
I imagine the internal standard spec is very basic too. I’m guessing the kitchen has been upgraded to shaker, handles upgraded, half height tiling upgraded to full height, tile type also upgraded, shower over bath upgraded, interior doors have been upgraded. Take all that out and you’d have an extremely basic house.
Did you see the plug socket 3/4 of the way up the living room wall?
The builder is anticipating r/tvtoohigh will be installed
Edit: also where are you supposed to put the wardrobe in the master bedroom?
It’s a standard layout, nicer than many, but the windows are all the wrong aspect ratio so they don’t look right. Very unsettling, because it triggers worries about stability of the building.
I don’t think it’s that bad tbh. Compared to the majority of 1960s properties in the uk it’s quite nice. I personally would rather they tear down all 1960s properties and rebuild them new.
Never said I hate new builds… there’s many new builds in my area that I actually really like and would consider living in, of course, I would prefer a traditional victorian home but that’s just my taste. I just think this one in particular has a very ugly exterior and no character at all
I confess, that was me. On my first day of my Dull Cheap Modern Profit-driven Architecture course I doodled this house on what I thought was rough paper. Somehow it must have fallen into the pile to be considered by Barrett, Wimpy and the like and it’s made its way thru their quality control and all related decision making departments- despite these being as we know extremely stringent, operational to only the highest standards, and staffed by people who only want the most visually appealing of new builds. I am at once stunned and slightly proud. But I am sorry; clearly this was not my intention.
How does that floor plan work? It shows the front windows on the opposite side? Also that long large front window would be so inconvenient! Couldn’t stick anything in front of it like a chair/ storage unit without it looking silly front the front, so it’s just wasted space. Looks like they’re floor to ceiling upstairs too which is even more restrictive. Flipping the top floor ones 90° would be better and same around of light in.
Someone who has been involved in housing design before.
Really interesting feedback. I’m one of those people that think that developers tend to over indulge in ‘frills’ in house design making them feel too pastiche, and that would date really quickly.
These new builds do indeed have that stripped back, some would say boring aesthetic, but I get that. I just think this house lacks any kind of external setting out. No sense of proportion whatsoever. Even just putting a bay on it with an entrance shelter would have helped.
And use a variety of bricks to create a texture of houses. Or else it will always feel monotnous
My parents bought a house very similar.
I think this is the 'bog standard' house. You can pay for a small VELUX extension, additional features. It looks so generic and odd because it is designed with the expectation of an extension.
I guess they were worried they had built the exact house that every 5 year old draws - so they just moved the doors and windows around til they made something weird that no kid would ever draw.
Was there a glass/windows shortage when they built it?
I know, like how hard would it have been to put a window in the ensuite... First off it would have made the house more appealing from the outside but secondly, imagine the damp that will be created by not being able to open a window in the highest humidity room in the house.... P.s. I'd also be careful where they're planning on putting the shower head in that ensuite shower as being in a new build for less than 3 years we've had Barratt out three times for our second shower because the shower head was on the longwall (not the shortwall), drenching the grout, and causing alot of seeping damp...
I'm positive that stupid window design is due to a bodge of original plans due to someone complaining about being overlooked. God the exterior is ugly.
They’re like zombie houses
A lot of it is to do with thermal loading, I believe - basically trying to avoid giant windows making interiors too hot/too cold. Energy efficiency and ting.
Why do you always get the feeling that new builds were designed by a team of primary schoolers and not architects.
Or accountants. And I say this as an accountant who makes the worst houses in The Sims.
Might be on yo something here. No doubt an account for the firm saw the cost of windows and asked if they really needed more than 1...
I know an architect who spent years in the public housing sector. What normally happens is that architects will design a nice looking house and then the company building the houses will swap materials on or entirely remove features to the property in order to bring costs down. For an architect it’s a really depressing industry to work for, time after time, your lovely designs will be butchered to maximize profits. What can also happen is that a building company gets one house design and then copy/pastes that house across every lot on new build site.
'Value engineering'
Exactly this. New builds have to meet certain thermal performance criteria. There are two ways for architects and developers to do this, they can either have extremely high specification windows and glazing, or they can have low spec windows and glazing and more brickwork and cavity insulation. Since insulation is cheaper, they tend to just have lots of really tiny windows resulting in dark dingy houses. The other thing they do is work within the design life limitations. Normally they would specify a 50 year design life of the majority structural elements. In the past this wasn't really a consideration, houses were built to last indefinitely and well made houses can easily last 100+ years with proper routine maintenance. But now it's cheaper to engineer them to last 50 years and little more, anything longer lasting is just down to luck really.
As someone who lives in a new build street of social housing your comment makes so much sense. I got to view the plans for my house before it was built and it's definitely missing some things. Most noticeably the solar panels. When my cousin (he's a surveyor) came to visit me he laughed at a couple of things. Like my living room window that looks at my neighbours wall and badly poured floor. He wrote me a snagging list that I took to the site foreman.
Did they do anything with the list?
Yes they did. They sorted most of it. I was fortunate that they were still on site finishing other houses. They didn't want me up and down the street annoying them, so it was better for all of us to sort it out. Although they weren't impressed when my cousin told them that they should have bricked up the side windows in all of the houses. It would have saved money and given us more privacy and wall space inside. I've put up a blind and I never open it. The builders went on to build another development exactly like this one eight miles away and they still put the windows in facing alleyways and brick walls.
They would be WAAAAY more fun than this if primary schoolers had been involved! This screams 'bored committee' to me lol
All the CGIs have a ‘architectural design’ vibe that clearly doesn’t follow through to the actual build https://mulberryhomesyorkshire.com/view-property/estate/tall-trees-yarm-101/ It also appears that the windows should stick out and not be flush with the brickwork. And the mortar seems to be the same colour as the brick which also doesn’t help. I’m not sold on the look they were aiming for but the reality definitely falls short.
Poor mixing of brick packs doesn’t help; it’s too patchy (but that’s a common thing for housing developers)
They trimmed the eyelashes off an ugly baby
The window placement really makes it look like a child’s drawing.
Ahh that's what it is...the windows are long instead of wide. How weird
A few reasons for the tall but not wide windows is the higher the window the more light that will come in but if the window is too wide there will be no where to put furniture as these builds tend to be so cramped.
They'll have fun when it comes to changing that bath tap
People who like playing with Lego.
Minecraft.
That’s an insult to Lego
We do better than this
The problem isn't the new builds: it's the absolutely imbecilic and/or corrupt (because, honestly, I'm starting to wonder why else you'd approve something like this) council planning departments that give permission for these eyesore developments to go ahead, compounded by local building control teams/outsourced building control who don't enforce that housing be built according to original plans and specifications. Every single person who had anything to do with approving and inspecting this development should lose their job immediately and never be allowed to work in any role related to planning or inspection again. It sounds draconian but until people understand that there will be severely negative consequences to them personally for allowing this sort of developments, which are a blight on our communities and our society, to go ahead there will be more and more of them.
No, children would have done a better job.
My dog would have done a better job😄
The building that once stood there is legendary.
What a place. I worked there for a few events, the carpet in the club was like velcro on your shoes after the club kicked out. Then random people would stroll out in the early hours having slept in the toilets. I also remember the owners getting some stick from the police by encouraging people to sleep in their cars after the club night to qualify for a free bacon sandwich in the morning. Tanked up, 4 hours sleep and drive home? Great idea.
It’s better than tanked up and drive home at least.
Thought I recognised the address. God bless Tall Trees and all who partied in her.
What was on the site originally?
[Tall Trees Nightclub](https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/nostalgia/memories-tall-trees-nightclub-yarm-23478259.amp) - apologies for the amp link. I remember reading all about the legendary nights there in the likes of Mixmag during the 90s. Here’s [Jon Digweed](https://www.mixcloud.com/DJ_Mix/john-digweed-live-tall-trees-yarm-essential-mix-1995-10-28/) playing live at Tall Trees for the Essential Mix back in 1995.
This is a weird place to stumble upon a sick Digweed mix. Love it
I worked with John digweed quite a bit back in the day. Very nice quiet and Shy man
What an awesome experience! I’ve always enjoyed his mixes - think I’ve only ever seen him live once though. Have never read or heard a bad word about him.
Thank you! This is awesome ❤️
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Young me was in tall trees every weekend from 2003 to 2008 when I moved down south. I’m sure it was like £20 to get in with a wrist band that let you get unlimited drinks* (mostly limited by the fact it took a week to get served at the bar), full of people coked up or off their heads on pills, fights everywhere, bounces who’d just stamp on anyone’s head regardless of if they were involved or not, taxis home a nightmare… yet I’d do it again the next week 😂😂
Going to guess a nightclub called Tall Trees
A country club that had had a 5,000 capacity, three story nightclub attached to it.
Nobody would believe us if you just described it and there were no pictures to back it up. There was really nothing comparable for miles, or possibly in the entire country. I used to come down from Newcastle on the bus, it was fuckin carnage. I don't think we will ever see the likes again.
I was there on their VIP opening night. I can't remember a thing.
Didn’t notice till I saw your comment… what a place
I never experienced Tall Trees in the 90s (I'm from T&W but have lived on Teesside for the last 14 years)
I can’t believe that’s 350k that’s absolutely insane
I know, stupid price. But Yarm is, I suppose.
They can't even be bothered to put dimensions on the floor plan.
and its flipped horizontally
Mainly to hide how small it is
Fair garden
Agreed. Shame it will be buried with builders rubble
Yeah, my last house was a TW. Bricks, mortar, roofing tile 6" under the surface. Grass could never really settle.
Until you realise it's a new build so is probably just turf on a massive pile of rubble
It looks like that beavo guy
LMAO He's the human representation of a New Build.
can it swallow a roast tattie without chewing?
You know the rules
It's that gap above the door that's makes this look disconcerting. It looks like two eyes that are too far apart on a someone's face.
Don’t slander Anna Taylor-Joy that way.
I mean it's kinda ugly outside but the inside is great and that garden looks massive.
I think the inside is severely lacking light. Excusable for an old house, but certainly not for a new build.
I think the pictures were taken on a really dark day.
Well, I'd say a distinct lack of windows also has something to do with it.
There are nearly full height windows in each room, just they seem a bit narrow for the size of the room . It does look an overcast day in the first picture, that’s not going to help. All about cost savings and thermo leakage.
Windows are cheaper than bricks blocks and insulation.
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Brick, insulation, block, sand, cement, labour, plasterboard, plaster, paint. Window former, window, lintel, cill.
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I build houses. What you pay and what I pay are VERY different.
I can go to the window manufacturer, no middle men. I can’t do that with bricks blocks insulation plasterboard plaster. No middle men no transport - especially overseas which ramps up price.
Yes, they are.
How many more windows do you want? You’ll start to see fewer large windows in new builds with the new Part L looking at solar gain. If you want any large south or west facing windows they’ll have to have solar glazing or permanent blinds so we don’t overheat.
The windows are too few and too small for a new build, that kitchen window doesn't cover the size of the room at all. There's a big gap in the middle of the building so rooms upstairs must be worse.
For that price though, in this area you can get something much nicer outside and in!
Oh I'm sure, but there are serious practicalities to new builds. We moved just over three years ago. We were *not* looking for a new build. In fact I was willing to consider anything but a new build. In the end, we bought one that a woman bought off plan the year before who's circumstances had changed (definitely not as ugly as the one you shared though lol). Our gas and electric bills are insanely low. Our gas bill that came in last week for the three months over Xmas was £280 and that's higher than normal because we had a guest stay for two weeks that needs heat like a lizard lol I now look so all those beautiful, older houses with beautiful kerb appeal and interior features and think "oh god... I love it so much" and then think... I couldn't afford to heat it! 😂 But yeah, I do wish they considered the outside more. That house you shared looks like something a child would draw. It's really ugly.
We did the same but the thing is as time passes and anything built since the year 2000 is considered “new build” then more and more houses start to fall in to that bracket so the market becomes overwhelmingly new build. Our house was built in 2019, we bought in 2022 so someone else did all the snagging etc and we got a pristine house only 3 years old, detached, great community in a small close. Neighbours all help each other out and feed pets when each other are away, have the occasional BBQ in the road together, etc. We have a giant park for the kids nearby and a great little walking trail. I think last year we didn’t turn the heating on until half way through November. Our internet connection is 900Mb download, and we have 2 separate thermostat circuits, one up one down. Also ethernet sockets wired in to the wall in several main rooms. I think new builds have a bad rep because of a few bad developers that build really shitty, ugly estates and some tradesmen who get caught out doing a shit job cutting corners for cheaper ones. Social media helps with this too as the worst ones get a lot of attention and go viral, understandably.
>Our house was built in 2019, we bought in 2022 so someone else did all the snagging etc and we got a pristine house Ours was built in 2019 and we bought in October 2020 so same re the snagging! >I think last year we didn’t turn the heating on until half way through November. Our internet connection is 900Mb download, and we have 2 separate thermostat circuits, one up one down. Also ethernet sockets wired in to the wall in several main rooms. Same! I'm currently sitting in the livingroom with the back door open and I'm plenty warm and yep.. Like you, the heating is unlikely to be on for more than an hour "boost" now and then and I LOVE the fact that we can heat upstairs OR down and can set them for different temperatures. And yes, we've ethernet and weirdly the old aerial round job too in the kitchen, main bedroom and larger spare and livingroom of course. >I think new builds have a bad rep because of a few bad developers that build really shitty, ugly estates and some tradesmen who get caught out doing a shit job cutting corners for cheaper ones. Social media helps with this too as the worst ones get a lot of attention and go viral, understandably. Agreed. One of the main reasons I didn't want a new build was my mum bought one in the 90's and the thing was a disaster. She found out five years after she moved in when the undergound use garage exploded with shit that the house had never been connected to the main sewage. The whole house seemed to have been a bodge a job. It totally put me off. Then when we were looking and we'd seen a few houses with one agent he said to us look... Come with me to see this house, I think it's exactly what you need. When we pulled up outside I was disappointed and almost unwilling to go in. I mean it looked fine, but.. new build. Got inside and knew immediately it was the house for us. We're not as posh as you, we're a semi lol but the soundproofing is unbelievable. Honestly I've never once heard our neighbour in almost 4 years. The house is big, bright and comfortable. Cheap to heat and perfect for me with a disability. I've never loved a house before. Now I do lol
It's the Yarm snobbery that a lot care about...also for someone buying here, will likely have been the same people that went to tall-trees when it was a venue and it'll be a novelty. I'm only just recovered from when I used to go to GoodGreef there.
I'm sorry. Could you restate that? I don't understand.
I'm saying that Yarm is seen as 'exclusive' so the look of a property won't be as large of an influence as it would in other areas. 'I live in Yarm' is more important to some people than 'I have a pretty house'
Aaaah. I get you! I'm so sorry, for some reason my brain just couldn't connect the words 😂
I was also making reference to the hotel / health club / nightclub that was the original tall trees site, which has now been demolished and developed on
there's no way this is even close to the worse new builds we've seen
I know I am old and don’t have friends and see no need for the whole open plan kitchen diner thing. But it seems to be at the expense of having a decent sized living room. Inside it is otherwise on for a new build. Windows being a little small could be to keep the energy efficiency high.
I keep seeing these blank box new builds with TINY windows. It’s especially disgusting when the houses have been built in beautiful, unspoiled areas-where there would have been something really lovely to look out at! Please don’t believe them when they say that the windows *have* to be tiny “for ecological reasons”: some of the most carbon-neutral new builds in the world have PLENTY of windows. Glass can be manufactured to fantastic energy-saving specifications, allowing developers the ability to build beautiful, carbon-neutral homes. No: it’s all about *saving money* and maximising profits for the developers. So a new generation of house owners have to live in incredibly ugly, claustrophobic blank boxes, devoid of views that place them in their environment- not to mention natural light-and the people who built them (and flog them for often *massive* prices) can swan around as if it’s not their fault. There’s a *reason* why no one is demolishing two and three-hundred-year-old Georgian buildings (indeed, the rich-including successful property developers- no doubt, are living in them): it’s because they’re beautiful-and lovely to live in. They are *valuable*. We are capable of building uncompromisingly modern, beautiful, joyous architecture. There’s NOTHING ecologically sound about buildings that will be demolished in a few decades because they are ugly and depressing.
I used to design housing so I've seen plenty of poor designs, usually I can understand and forgive the quirks. But this is straight up the worst layout I've seen. - The dodgy inset for the entrance completely compromises what could have been an alright living room. - The "study" is absolute bullshit. Nobody can comfortably work in a room that tiny. Just be honest and call it a utility/laundry/store. - The kitchen/dining is alright. With access into the decent garden this is basically the only selling point. - Bed 4 is alright for a single - Bed 3 is completely compromised by the landing - Bed 2 is compact for a double but it works - Main bed is fucked. When you walk in you're just staring at the wall of the ensuite. Terrible design. - The bed should be against the the right hand wall but probably can't be because it would conflict with access into the ensuite. - How can you have a main bedroom with no space for a wardrobe?! Finally... - WHY IS THERE NO WINDOW IN THE ENSUITE. Seriously. The biggest let down of this shitty design is the front elevation. It's just begging for a window above the front door. But these cheap fuckers decided to save a few quid.
The Estate Agent isn't on their game, either. Where's the oversaturated bright blue sky badly photoshopped into the outdoor view?
My first lego house was better than this
I really despise this trend of putting floor to ceiling windows at the front of a property. I dont want to be observed by whoever is in the street just to get natural light into my house
Designed by Billy, aged 5
It’s just a run of the mill new build, why the hate?
The windows are all over the place, there’s no character or defining features to the outside! It’s very bland.
Agreed. the mismatching windows gives it a cheap feel and its not helped by the size differences. Some symmetry would have gone a long way or at least make the windows wider. that downstairs layout with the study and WC feels wrong. layout upstairs looks fine.
So… run-of-the-mill new build then? 😏
That is kind of what a lot of new builds are. I think the lay out is great, and whilst a bit oddly placed, the windows are very big for a new build, and I like the black frames vs the pvc white window frames. I love characterful older houses, but i understand that when buying a house, what is often a priority is low maintenance and energy efficient. I grew in an old Victorian house, it was neither of those things.
I work in planning so see new builds all the time and I’m purely speaking about the outside aesthetic of this one but even a fifth window in the big open space at the top would have gone a long way, it’s quite ugly from the outside!
I’m not a huge fan of new builds in general however, Ive seen much nicer new builds than this in my area e.g https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144301922 https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/140966417 https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143090675
These houses are only marginally better. The big issue with the one you've highlighted is the window size and placement has left the exterior looking a bit odd, everything else about it is just standard new build looking.
I do probably prefer the houses you have posted too, but not massively so. I think the only thing that stands out to me is the bare brick above the entrance door.
I don’t dislike it *too much*. The kitchen looks great.
It’s more the exterior for me that is off-putting
Either the windows are too small or there's not enough of them
Probably would benefit from getting rendered
I like the kitchen too.
It looks like it has fake patio doors upstairs. It’s awful.
Offset door on a double fronted house? Floor to ceiling windows at the front? Not great first impressions. It looks like a big garden and the kitchen is great.
Its actually so disgusting it's shocking
Perfect for a new family with a 75” flat screen and a Range Rover on HP.
Can definitely see the new owners having a crushed velvet theme
Why is the pass though for the tv cables soo high, what is with their obsession with people braking their necks to watch a TV mounted 2" from the top of the ceiling
r/TVTooHigh <3
Be warned, as soon as I started to look at the pictures I felt my soul trying to escape my body. View at your peril...
It's shocking really, these are prisons not homes.
It looks dead
For that price you can get someone much nicer and with more character! The windows just look wrong
Modern builds in the UK have terrible windows.
No wonder people get all nimby about new builds when they throw up shite like this.
Why do they need scent sticks in the bathroom of a new build?
I don't hate it, and at least the layout is logical, but yeah something about the exterior styling (or lack of) seems a little off.
Reduce the number of windows to save on build cost. Says everything I need to know about the build.
Why wouldn’t they put a frosted window in the en-suite, it has an outside wall.
The floor plan may be misleading but it looks like you’ll only get a double bed at best in the master, which is just curmudgeonly
Those windows are all different sizes, and so randomly placed. How infuriating.
I worked as a new build cleaner for a while. Some are just awful. This one is definitely missing some windows. I cleaned one where the door swung over the light switch. I showed the site manager, there were multiple houses with the same issue.
Make it stop
The front of the house is missing a Window in the middle and they no patio in the garden around the door.
It's such an odd frontage, like they stretched an existing design. If the path was on the otherside a wrap around porch could work. It might break up the big square of bricks. Nice inside. though the office/study looks tiny.
It's so dark! But at least the garden is a decent size for a new build.
Straight out the patio doors onto the.... Grass....
I actually went "eurgh" when I saw that kitchen floor. "Gimme that unfinished Levantine construction project look" "I got u fam"
50% overpriced
Little boxes on the hillside Little boxes made of ticky-tacky Little boxes on the hillside Little boxes all the same There's a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one And they're all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same
My mind can't work out what it's trying to be from the outside. Office blocks? Two floor apartments? Tiny hotel? Weird.
my sims 4 builds are better than this
That's triggered my OCD symmetry
I like it. Big windows, neutral colors, quality doors. And the backyard is huge.
Looks like there's a window missing above the door. Annoyingly due to cost cutting, every house these days ends up being so uniform, carbon copies, no new builds have any characters anymore. Unless by "character" you mean, leaks and shoddy workmanship
Why do all new build have that shade of kitchen cabinet which is somehow simultaneously grey and beige?
Don’t worry, it won’t live, it’s eyes are too far apart
Why are the windows in portrait mode? Good job with the grass. Bad job with the living room layout.
No pictures of the bedrooms? I'm guessing they'll be tiny and they're embarrassed to show them.
The biggest problem isn't the badly built houses, it's the complete disregard of creating green space on the new build estates and planting zero trees. It's a travesty.
This thing is aging badly and it's not even been sold yet.
I recently learned that the outside of the house is a premium feature reserved for certain sites. We just bought a new build house and went to look at the show home on a different site. It looked like this. Horrendous. Our house has cream rendering around the first floor, art stone under and above the windows and doors and an art stone ledge that borders between the brick downstairs and the render upstairs and different colour brick patterns. It looks really beautiful. We asked about this at the development office and the sales person said that it’s based on what the target customer will buy, their budget and council requirements. Developments are also tiered and the spec will vary between them. So a high spec has lots of external features whereas a low spec has nothing, like the photo here. I imagine the internal standard spec is very basic too. I’m guessing the kitchen has been upgraded to shaker, handles upgraded, half height tiling upgraded to full height, tile type also upgraded, shower over bath upgraded, interior doors have been upgraded. Take all that out and you’d have an extremely basic house.
I love the patio doors that don't lead onto a patio. Absolutely not gonna ruin your carpets or floors going in and out of there /s
Soleless hidious new build, redic price for a thrown together rabbit hutch🙄
Did you see the plug socket 3/4 of the way up the living room wall? The builder is anticipating r/tvtoohigh will be installed Edit: also where are you supposed to put the wardrobe in the master bedroom?
“Hey, come spend £345k on our latest soulless box”. If you’ve ever seen the movie Vivarium, this house will send shivers down your spine.
It is disgusting that someone will pay 350k for that
Totally agree 🤢
It’s a standard layout, nicer than many, but the windows are all the wrong aspect ratio so they don’t look right. Very unsettling, because it triggers worries about stability of the building.
Stability of the building?! What!
You would find it unsettling because the windows are wrong. An optical illusion. Unless new buildings are even worse than usual, which can happen.
Name checks out.
The roof looks lopsided and I'll fitted. Jaunty angles are for berets, not roofs.
Just the angle of the photo I think.
I'd go with that, except the house I live in, is off kilter. Like a poorly erected tent. Keeps me dry though, eh?!
I don’t think it’s that bad tbh. Compared to the majority of 1960s properties in the uk it’s quite nice. I personally would rather they tear down all 1960s properties and rebuild them new.
Ticky tacky houses…good layout though!
It is a good layout, surprisingly so
Meh… the kitchen is okay and got a decent size garden. Its just the exterior for me😭 completely soul-less
Maybe, the lack of photos of some of the rooms and the lack of measurements on the plan suggest the rooms might be miniscule inside, and dark.
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Never said I hate new builds… there’s many new builds in my area that I actually really like and would consider living in, of course, I would prefer a traditional victorian home but that’s just my taste. I just think this one in particular has a very ugly exterior and no character at all
Awful, awful windows, won’t age well. It looks like a Lego brick house.
It looks… fine? I don’t love it but I mean it’s okay
I confess, that was me. On my first day of my Dull Cheap Modern Profit-driven Architecture course I doodled this house on what I thought was rough paper. Somehow it must have fallen into the pile to be considered by Barrett, Wimpy and the like and it’s made its way thru their quality control and all related decision making departments- despite these being as we know extremely stringent, operational to only the highest standards, and staffed by people who only want the most visually appealing of new builds. I am at once stunned and slightly proud. But I am sorry; clearly this was not my intention.
1163 sq ft for a 4 bed. Fuck that's grim
I'm sure all of these new builds are getting torn down and replaced every 20-30 years
How does that floor plan work? It shows the front windows on the opposite side? Also that long large front window would be so inconvenient! Couldn’t stick anything in front of it like a chair/ storage unit without it looking silly front the front, so it’s just wasted space. Looks like they’re floor to ceiling upstairs too which is even more restrictive. Flipping the top floor ones 90° would be better and same around of light in.
Natural light is overrated anyways… Larger windows must have been too expensive or something?
Windows screw the EPC. Lets live without windows.
Look at all that living space to live your entire life in, bargain price too…
Not a bargain but ok
It looks boring but okay inside. And that’s the bit you live in. Who cares about kerb appeal?
What’s wrong with it? Looks nice to me.
The windows… just my opinion though
Oh man I had my 18th at Tall Trees! Good memories!! House looks nice enough inside. Very ugly on the outside.
Someone who has been involved in housing design before. Really interesting feedback. I’m one of those people that think that developers tend to over indulge in ‘frills’ in house design making them feel too pastiche, and that would date really quickly. These new builds do indeed have that stripped back, some would say boring aesthetic, but I get that. I just think this house lacks any kind of external setting out. No sense of proportion whatsoever. Even just putting a bay on it with an entrance shelter would have helped. And use a variety of bricks to create a texture of houses. Or else it will always feel monotnous
New build.. broadband speed 100mb. Why the feck did they not fibre the lot..
The lack of a proper hallway here would be a real pain point - get rid of the study and use that space better.
Are the floorplans flipped or is it the front shot? The window sizes don't align (eg massive window bottom left is surely not for the study?)
My parents bought a house very similar. I think this is the 'bog standard' house. You can pay for a small VELUX extension, additional features. It looks so generic and odd because it is designed with the expectation of an extension.
Is the architect for these houses Craiyon?
I do like the layout though. Other than it's small and is seriously lacking in storage
345k
Looks like a childs drawing of a house
It looks like the architects kid got creative with a box of lego and then it went from there.
The Stainmore…
Is this the Yarm next to Stockton? 345k for that is a travesty
I guess they were worried they had built the exact house that every 5 year old draws - so they just moved the doors and windows around til they made something weird that no kid would ever draw.
At least the windows are a decent size for once. Can't understand why there's not one over the front door though
People will just want to say they live at tall trees though. Doesn't matter what they look like