What upgrades to skip on a new build?

Skip the cosmetic upgrades and the gadgets on a new build: the developer's premium kitchen package, branded taps, upgraded internal doors, the smart-home bundle. All of it can be changed later, usually cheaper and better. Developer upgrade lists carry a heavy markup because they are convenient, and a bathroom upgraded through the sales office often costs more than a full refit from an independent builder afterwards (we fit bathrooms from £7,000, complete).

Never skip anything buried in the fabric. Extra socket circuits and wiring capacity, data cabling, acoustic insulation between floors and rooms, airtightness detailing, better glazing where offered. These cost little while the walls are open and are brutal to retrofit. We renovate houses across South London and a lot of our invoices are for exactly this: chasing cables through finished walls, lifting floors to add sound insulation, then making good and redecorating. Work that would have been an hour with a first-fix electrician becomes days once the plasterboard is on.

The test for any upgrade is simple. If changing it later means a screwdriver and a weekend, skip it. If changing it later means dust sheets, a skip on the drive and redecoration, pay for it now. Paint colours, light fittings and flooring fail that test. Wiring, acoustics and airtightness pass it every time.

One more: garden and driveway upgrades are usually the worst value on the sheet. Landscaping bought locally after completion costs far less.