New builds have real advantages — a warranty, no chain, no immediate repairs, and much lower running costs. They also have costs the brochure doesn't mention. This shows you both, on your numbers.
The show home is not the plot you're buying
The Purchase
Same area, same size, same number of bedrooms. Check sold prices on Rightmove or the Land Registry — not asking prices. This one number drives everything below, so it's worth ten minutes.
% per year
Ongoing Charges the ones that aren't on the price list
Most new estates are not adopted by the council, so a private company maintains the roads and green spaces and bills you for it — on top of council tax. Ask directly: "is this estate adopted?"
£ per year
£ per year — leasehold flats
£ per year. New builds are typically EPC A or B against roughly D for older stock, so this is a genuine and often understated advantage. Estimates vary widely — £500–£1,200 is a reasonable range depending on the home you're comparing against.
Incentives Offered tick what's on the table and enter the value
Your Protection
Free to check on the New Homes Quality Board register. It decides whether you can use the New Homes Ombudsman if things go wrong.
The premium
You're paying above comparable
£35,000
13.2% more than a similar older home
What that number means
If you sell after 5 years
Position on resale
–£4,000
after selling costs
Assumes the premium erodes over roughly four years as the home becomes second-hand, then tracks the market. Selling costs at 2%. A model, not a forecast — growth is the assumption doing the heavy lifting.
Including running cost savings
Incentives
Genuine cash savingsMoney you'd otherwise have paid out
£4,000
Value-in-kindWorth having, but not cash, and rarely worth the sticker price
£3,000
Total as % of priceLenders usually cap this at 5%
2.3%
Over the lender cap
Ongoing charges
Estate management charges
Unlike leasehold service charges, estate charges on freehold homes are currently unregulated and uncapped, and you pay them on top of council tax. Ask for the last three years of accounts, ask what happens if you refuse to pay, and ask whether the estate will ever be adopted by the council. The government consulted on reform in 2026, but nothing has changed yet.
Watch list
Before you commit
In plain English
The honest bit
This tool is not an argument against new builds. A warranty, no chain, no boiler about to fail, and materially lower bills are real benefits, and for people staying put a decade the premium usually stops mattering. The problem is people buying a new build expecting it to behave like a second-hand house on resale after two or three years. That's the mistake this is designed to catch.
Send this to yourself
Your numbers, plus the questions to ask the sales office.
General guidance only, not financial, legal or valuation advice. Figures are estimates based on your inputs and assumptions you can change. Always take independent legal advice on the contract, lease and estate charges before you reserve.