UE4.16 Issue while creating new c++ project (hexadecimal value 0x00, is an invalid character)

I had the same issue and found out that the cause was this file:
My Documents\Unreal Engine\UnrealBuildTool\BuildConfiguration.xml

Deleting it was the solution.

There are two other potential locations of the buildConfiguration.xml
I’d advise checking all of them to see if any of them are empty.