Survey results

What features of new-build homes are most important to purchasers?

The survey results indicate that certain features of homes are consistently highly-important to buyers irrespective of location (Figure 8).

^{Source: Savills Research & NHBC Foundation}

While Figure 8 shows that ‘location’ scores highest across the three density markets, the highest-rated feature actually varies for different purchasers (Table 1). These align with the aspirations of the different purchasers, however the great importance attached by downsizers to energy efficiency is striking, indicating a shift towards greater public engagement with this issue.

^{Source: Savills Research & NHBC Foundation}

Specific reasons for choosing a new-build home

Survey respondents were asked to select their most important reasons for specifically buying a new-build home. From Figure 9, minimum maintenance (very important to over 59% of buyers) and the availability of a new home warranty (very important to over 50% of buyers) stand out as consistently highly-important reasons across the three market locations.

These two characteristics are also highly important to each of the purchaser types, however Help to Buy (a government initiative providing equity loans for first-time buyers of new-build homes) was most important to first-time buyers (see Differentiating the market – Figure 13a).

Other considerations which are of notable importance to buyers, again with a fairly consistent response across the density range, included an appreciation of modern design, the fact that everything is new and no purchasing chain. These perceived advantages of new homes reflect findings published elsewhere [2].

^{Source: Savills Research & NHBC Foundation}

Parking and car usage

Garages (double or single) were considered to be very important by 39% of buyers, much less than the importance attached to the availability of off-street parking (Table 2). Buyers of larger houses placed much more importance on off-street parking with 65% rating it as very important (compared with 32% for apartment owners).

^{Source: Savills Research & NHBC Foundation}

When accessing amenities, homeowners in high-density locations are marginally more likely to prefer to walk than drive (Figure 10). The preference for walking decreases at lower density, particularly in suburban locations, where there is much more preference for the use of a car. Overall, it is clear that parking and car use is an important consideration for many people, particularly in the suburbs.

^{Source: Savills Research & NHBC Foundation}

Local amenities

In this survey, participants were invited to rank the importance of being close to a range of sixteen amenities, including health services, schools, shops and transport links.

The feedback tells us that the closeness of amenities, though known to give a marketing advantage and potentially widen the range of buyers, does not match the levels of importance associated with the more highly-rated features of the new-build homes themselves.

Figure 11 shows the amenities that are seen as most important amongst those who have bought new homes, compared with the average line for features of the home (from Figure 8 above). The variation in response from left to right shows that being close to different amenities provides important differentiators across the three market densities.

^{Source: Savills Research & NHBC Foundation}