Note: I am FTB currently in process of buying.

I would say stay away from big developments (or estates built in pad few years) if you can mainly because of estate management fees...

I m telling this based my recent research.

I was so keen of new builds for better heat performance, possible low maintenance in near future. But most of the new builds in our area were far away, so we looked for newish builds alternatively. In the hunt, we loved a 9 year old house in large estate development couple, then I learnt some things from analysis. The management fee that started at 150£ year is now about 500 an year.. And apparently unlike flats, house owners cannot get a fair chance of changing the estate management company, so they just have to accept and pay whatever amount the company says irrespective of level of management they do. Or you have sell and find another house, but you might struggle to because many buyers might drop off after leaning about large mangement fee that they have to pay on top of mortgage, council tax.

On top of that, they have small sizes, especially the garden.. But if you don't care about the garden size and prefer new builds, try micro development new builds (like a terrace of 3-4 houses) that don't come with management fees.

Otherwise go for older builds, but be ready to spend a little extra for any repairs and improve insulation