Hi,

Currently living in Norwich where in the past year or so local authorities have designated at least 15,000 new homes to be built in the Norwich catchment area. One of the bigger developments (6,000 homes) has now ground to a halt, no builders are now on site just the plasters and electricians left on there finishing of the built houses.

A sure sign of just how things are heading for the new build properties in the region, they just can not sell them and developers are closing down work left right and centre.

I'd avoid the new build sector like the plague. As has already been mentioned, leave it for a year and see the outcome of the current climate.

Well, just my little 2 pence worth.

Cheers,
J

Property is pretty volatile in most places at the moment - read up on horor stories in Spain, Bulgaria even the Algarve property and holdiay rentals business is slow and off plan properties are as cheap than second sale properties - not a good sign.

We have been contacted today by a large company in the UK who source these types of properties for investors wanting us to supply their clients with our properties because everyone is waking up to the fact that off plan and new builds are rubbish !

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http://spectruminvest.co.uk

Hi,
My first post on here,
A few months ago I signed up for a 1 bed flat in the new Lumiere building, (41st floor) which when complete in 2011, will be the highest, most futuristic residential building in U.K. (please google it, it looks more like it should be in Dubai or New York.


It's expensive already, and then the British housing market turned really ugly, but in a way i'm still optomistic.
My thinking is that this is a landmark building, a safe haven with parking in the financial district of Leeds,and they are 95% sold out, some investors buying 5 at a time.

I'm thinking that this is such a niche market, that maybe the rich and famous may want a place at this desirable address, and it will do well.

Please feel free to comment, and bag me, or laugh at my naivety, I'm really interested in others honest comments, as i have 3 years to decide what to do with it.

It looks very impressive and innovative.
Is it a lifestyle buy or investment?
What worries you with it being a 3 year project? Do you think it was over priced?What deals are being offered at the moment?
What type of apartment have you purchased,size,cost etc?if you dont mind..
What is the current ROI for similar lets in the area if you rented it?
Ive been very impressed everytime i visit Leeds,its chasing the tails of Manchester and London very quickly.The bars are awesome.
I wish you luck,hopefully ill be wishing i had invested in 3 years time.

From what I've read there is a vast oversupply of flats in Leeds, one of Inside Track's favourite places to sucker in naive investors. In addirtion Barratts pulled the plug on a large development because of poor sales/lack of demand.

.
Off-plan - money to be made but risky

- much less risk in Egypt at this point in the UK market.
.

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The price of per discount means nothing now as the really price is what you will get paid for your property, which is to hard to rate now.

You need to be very sure of the location and property

You would have to have very thick skin to invest in off plan new build apartments in the UK at the moment.

There is a chronic oversupply in city centres however if you can get them at 50-60% bmv at auctions then I think you have a good solid long term investment and you should also be able to get a good yield out of them (if you can get them rented!)

A lot of people bash new builds however I think they are a good choice for the investor who wants to take the hands off approach, the advantages to new builds are the building and structural guarrantees that are in place. Many investors have not got time to worry about fixing boilers etc and these problems will occur with older properties.

Sixgun,I hope your investment works out - it sounds like it's 'different' enough that it could attract attention and plenty of renters.

I was wondering though, could you rent it at a premium to tourists, or would tgat be not allowed / too hard to manage?