Investor With 2,000 Property Deals Says Never Buy A New Build, Because A Home Worth £200,000 Gets Priced Near £260,000 Then Falls To Resale Value

Here is a warning from a man who has seen both sides of the housing market. Jamie of @JamieYork says his video exists largely to put you off buying a new build property unless you are “one of the 1%.”

He has some credentials for the claim. Over the last 12 years, Jamie says he has invested in property and transacted on more than 2,000 deals. Some were amazing, he says, and luckily more than half of them. Some were terrible, and most of what he learned came from new build and off-plan homes.

A new build, as he describes it, is a development finished in the last couple of months, where you are the first person to buy from the developer. The attraction is obvious. The price tag is where the trouble starts.

A Home Worth £200,000 Gets Priced Near £260,000

Jamie cites a 2026 figure that the average new build in the UK is priced 30% higher than a comparable resale home. Picture an area where every three-bed semi-detached house is worth £200,000. The new build version, he says, will be listed at £260,000.

His point is that “new” only lasts for about six months to a year. After that, it is resale stock like any other house on the street. He compares it to a new car, since every car loses value, though some lose it faster than others.

That extra 30% is what he says drops away in the first five years. When the home falls back to the resale rate, he says one of two things happens. Either you cannot sell because the loan is bigger than the home is worth, which is negative equity, or you have to pay off the extra £60,000 out of pocket.

The Phone Calls Nobody Wants To Make

Jamie runs a portfolio building company that handles about 200 transactions a year. He says it spends around £25,000 a month reaching out directly to people selling their homes.

Over the last couple of years, he says, a lot of the sellers calling in had bought a new build or an off-plan home within the previous five years. Nine times out of ten his team cannot help them, because the company buys investment properties. Sometimes it offers a lease option, where it pays the owner a pound, takes control of the home, and gets the right to buy it over the next 5 to 10 years.

That is not a great spot for a seller, he says. He adds that it is no fun making those calls, because some people end up in tears after being sold something they never should have bought.

Quality, Warranties And Rooms Getting Smaller

Jamie argues that construction costs for bricks, timber and labor have risen while house prices cannot keep up, so builders look for cheaper ways to produce homes. He says UK new builds are drifting toward the quality of American ones.

He lives in a converted barn built 500 years ago, and says it is not going anywhere. How many new builds, he asks, will still be standing in a hundred years?

Warranties tell a story too, he says. A hundred years ago new homes came with 15-year warranties, while today they carry 2 to 3 years. Rooms have also shrunk over time. Jamie points to the rise of London micro apartments, including a studio flat of 18 square meters.

Off Plan Is “Everything Wrong” With A New Build, Plus The Home May Not Exist Yet

Off-plan homes are bought before they are built, and Jamie says they carry every problem of a new build plus the fact the home does not exist yet. Buyers get glossy brochures and computer-generated pictures. He jokes about Manchester, asking whether anyone has ever seen the city look the way the pictures show it.

He says the average off-plan sales agent makes £40,000 per transaction, and gets paid when you exchange contracts, about four weeks after the first chat. That is why prices get inflated, he says, and why they rely on what he calls hope value, the idea that the market will be better in 18 months.

The common story among his investors who bought off plan, he says, is putting in 40 grand up front. Then it comes time to complete, the home does not value up, and they need to put in another £40,000.

Where A New Build Can Make Sense

Jamie does give new builds credit in a few places. You know what you are getting, with white walls and a move-in-ready home, and he says that can be inviting for a first-time buyer. He notes his own first house was a roughly 50-year-old resale with a bit of damp.

The biggest plus, he says, is no chain. In a chain, you rely on selling your home while your buyer relies on selling theirs, and a failed legal check, search, insurance or valuation can end the deal. With a new build it is only you and the developer, and the developer wants to make a deal.

He also says you can negotiate, and he shares a few ideas.

Ask for a furniture package, which means you borrow against furniture instead of spending cash.
Ask the developer to contribute toward stamp duty, if you owe it.
Look at developments near the end of their sales run, where a handful of homes remain and the builder wants to move on.

Jamie says he has bought new builds at a 35% discount. He adds that the average home could drop 30% in five years, so he sells at about a 10% discount and still makes a profit.

His Final Word For Homebuyers And Investors

If you must have government lending just to buy, Jamie says he would not buy. He is clear it is not financial advice, but says putting down a 5% or 0% deposit does not make financial sense to him. If you are a homeowner, he says, you might choose a new build and negotiate heavily. If you are an investor, he says, do not do it.

It is his opinion, he says plainly, but he promises always to give his honest opinion and the most value he can in each video.

Willow and Hearth