It found that while new builds have an average asking price of £458,452, they are typically selling at a discount of around a sixth, the equivalent of almost £64,000 less.
Certain regions are seeing even more substantial asking price discounts. In London for example, new homes come to the market with an average asking price of £712,503 but are selling for £567,526 ‒ a 20 per cent drop.
At the other end of the scale, buyers of newly built homes in Wales, the East Midlands and East of England are only managing to negotiate a two per cent reduction on the asking price.
Lee Martin, head of UK at Unlatch, said that very few buyers are aware that there is even the option of negotiating over the price of a new build.
He continued: “Incentives such as money towards your stamp duty, legal fees, furniture packs and even mortgage and/or service charge fees are popular incentives developers often offer during the lifespan of the scheme. It should be noted that these incentives are offered either at the start or end of a development, or throughout if the sales are slow in order to kick start the momentum, so everyone wins.”
Previous analysis from Unlatch found that the government had missed its new build completions target last year by 40 per cent.
