Building guide: What are the benefits of building a new home?

Building a ‘forever’ home is the dream of many Australians; a home that caters specifically to you and your family’s needs, a space decorated to suit your unique style and personality – but there are many more benefits to building your own home than that.

Depending upon where you live and the proposed value of your home, Australians can access the First Home Owner Grant, a payment offered by state governments to people building or buying their first home. Another bonus when building your property is that you’ll only have to pay stamp duty on the land you buy, rather than the property as you would if purchasing an existing home. Furthermore, if done smartly – such as building a home in the right area, with the right amenities, and that caters to the current market – building your home allows you to build instant equity. Plus, new builds can be cheaper to insure than old homes as they meet all current safety and building standards.

Building your own home allows you to customise the architectural style, interior design, floorplan, materials and amenities to suit your lifestyle. Foodies can specify a chef-approved kitchen, health nuts can incorporate a home gym or fashionistas can create their ultimate walk-in wardrobe – homebuilders are limited only by their budget and imagination. Recent research also suggests that homes designed by architects fetch higher prices on the market.

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Older homes are sometimes built from inferior or outdated materials with short lifespans, inherent health risks or structural inadequacies. Building a new home allows you to specify exactly what materials you want in your home, such as low-VOC materials, recyclable materials, organic natural materials – the list is endless.  For example, current government advice suggests many homes built prior to 1982 have asbestos and homes built prior to 1970 have lead paint.

The benefits of an energy efficient house are both financial and environmental; not only will your water, gas and electricity bills be lower with energy efficient appliances and lighting, but your carbon footprint will be smaller, too. Furthermore, opting to use eco-friendly, recycled, salvaged or restored materials within your build and by incorporating concepts of thermal mass, passive temperature control and orientation, you'll not only reduce the amount of waste produced by your build and the operation of your home, you’ll save money and increase the value of your home, too.  In fact, Domain’s Sustainability in Property report found that energy-efficient homes attract more buyer interest, sell faster, and fetch higher prices.

Read now: Why energy efficient homes are the way of the future

Building your own home allows you to side step the time-consuming and stressful process of shopping for an existing home, which requires careful examination of current market conditions, structural integrity, pest control, water damage and foundational evaluations as well as financial applications, auctions, legal documentation and negotiations.

Building a new home removes the risk of inheriting old issues as you would if purchasing an existing property. Your new home should be fully functional and fitted with brand new fixtures, surfaces, hardware and appliances along with the latest technology, which means no initial repairs or renovations when you first move in. Furthermore, most builders provide warranties just in case problems do occur.

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