What type of house would you never buy?

[PinterandPirandello]

Just looking at a thread where properties are being recommended for £750k. One of the houses was completely open plan downstairs which we would hate as a family. Dh likes to sit at the kitchen table and have the radio on (loudly), dc like to game and I like to watch telly in peace. Plus the dishwasher and washing machine on. So we prefer at least a couple of separate rooms. However, I can see open plan could work with small kids but I’d still want private space.

My schoolfriend grew up in a thatched cottage - apart from the damp and the cold the thatch gets full of spiders and crawlies. Not as romantic as you'd think. And apparently quite uninsurable these days. Not for me.

A new build.
One where the front door opens straight into the living room,same with front door that opens straight out into the street.

We have open plan and love it. Only negative is that it's hard to keep warm.

Terrace. Live in one now and totally reliant on the quality of neighbours. 12 years of good neighbours, now a shit family have moved in and ruined my home.

And I wouldn't live in a flat for same reason, plus need a garden.

Hmmm. My terraced house is the quietest house I've ever lived in. The detached I owned was louder although objectively, it was a nice house. Maybe it's because my terrace is so old, with thicker walls? I've never really considered it. Neighbours on one side are a fairly loud family but I've never really questioned why I can't hear them before.

Mine would be quite a long list of what I don’t want :
no off street parking
no access to the rear garden from the front without going through a building
shared parking / drives including shared access
completely open plan
no hallway
dark beams
low ceilings
thatch
no garden
leasehold
bungalows
if I’m being really picky I want to be detached and have access down both sides which I have now .

I live in a terrace (end) with no hall, you walk into my front room off the street. People on here would hate it and rather die than live like me but hey, guess what? I managed to do it up all by myself, pay for it all by myself as a single parent and keep as nicely as my finances allow. Moving is not an option as I am not well off. £750K would buy several houses on my street, MN really is another world at times. I have friends who are still renting in their 40's and would be happy to be able to buy a house like mine but they tend to get snapped up by BTL landlords who see them as investments.

A modern one with plasterboard walls.

My house is Victorian. All the inner walls are brick and rock solid, sound proof and capable of supporting large pictures.

And detached. I once had a neighbour who screamed at me because he could hear my alarm go off at 7am. Now I like a safe distance between me and the neighbours. It's less likely I will upset anyone.

Thatched cottage or townhouse.

Thatched cottage due to upkeep and restrictions normally. Townhouse because either you have a small downstairs in comparison to bedrooms or your sitting room is one floor up and the bedrooms are the rooms you spend the least time in and the thought of having to go downstairs to get a cuppa would drive me mental.

No off-street parking
Living areas fully open plan
Downstairs bathroom
No downstairs toilet
New build
Not a deal-breaker but I have a large-ish porch and now I'm used to it, I think I'll struggle to live in a house without one

Anything near water or with a flat roof or a townhouse. Townhouse especially with young kids.

I wouldn’t ever live in a townhouse again.
I also wouldn’t do open plan downstairs, or a long narrow Victorian house. We lived in one and it was so dark and oppressive feeling, and always damp.

Thatches don't get damp unless you have not looked after the thatch, lasts about years depending on type. They are actually warmer in winter. We don't get any more spiders than in Victorian house. Its every bit as romantic and love it. Perfectly insurable - may need to go through broker but never been able to not insure it. Is more £600 a year or so and when thatch needs doing its pricey so its not for those on tight budgets. Loads of beautiful birds, squirrels and our children describe it as being in a holiday cottage all year.

I wouldn't like a house without at least 2 off street parking spaces.

I live in Dublin and loads of the new estates have communal parking and not enough of it.

New build LEGO style houses.

I wouldn't buy a house next to a busy road or close to a motorway, both because of the noise and the pollution.

Open plan layoutsare expensive to heat and offer no privacy or separate spaces for different family members. We have previously used the dining room as an office for example.

I wouldn't buy a flat because ground rent and service charges are disproportionate. Similarly a new building with ground rent would be out.

No estates because there are rarely any shops and if you don't have a car you have to walk miles round the twisty turny cul de sacs to get to a bus stop or shop or park.

Give me a town centre five minutes away with a restaurant, pub, supermarket and bus stop close by. Which is where I live.

Wouldn’t buy a new build, don’t like 30s houses, wouldn’t buy mid-terrace unless the house was very very large. I don’t discount properties with the wrong layout - we are happy to do work and have things our way. I’m a proper fuss pot though. Location, size, aspect and sightlines are my key considerations.

A lot of people on here are obviously uk based as I’m seeing a theme with a bias towards Victorian houses. They are few and far between here in Ireland, new builds and older houses that have been renovated and retrofitted here are the most popular. In rural areas you will have detached and then semi detached in housing estates are the next most popular. New builds in Ireland are generally to a higher standard than those in the uk apparently too.

There is a big move here towards building houses that are energy efficient. You wouldn’t be able to build a house with an open fire here these days.

Mine is a 5 bed, three story semi detached in a small estate. I absolutely love it. It has an A rated energy efficiency. Each to their own.

What I WOULDN'T buy again is an old house. My current terrace has high ceilings and they take a lot of heating.

I'd love a new, modern bungalow. Semi would do as long as the living room opened into the back garden.

Why not thatch ? (I’m curious, not critical).

Why not to buy a thatched property?
There are several reasons why one might consider avoiding a thatched property:
High Maintenance Costs: Thatched roofs require regular maintenance, which can be costly.

Fire Risk: Thatched roofs can be at a higher risk of fire, especially if the chimney flue is not properly maintained.

Insurance Premiums: Thatched properties often have higher insurance premiums due to the increased fire risk.

Insulation Issues: Thatched roofs may not provide as much insulation as other roofing materials, which can affect energy efficiency.

Limited Availability of Thatchers: The skill required to thatch a roof is becoming rarer, which can lead to higher costs and difficulty in finding reliable thatchers.
...

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A new build, everyone I know who has bought a new build have had tons of issues, from poor workmanship. Very thin walls, rubble hidden under lawns. Not one person I know who has purchased a new build are happy from the get go.

I would never live in a terrace again, unless I was deaf. One neighbour played a musical instrument so loudly it was like he was in my kitchen, and the other like to fall asleep to loud rock music.

Living in a detached place with a driveway is heaven.

I also wouldn't live in a place where the stairs are in the living room. My parents live in one, and the sound carries upstairs and downstairs. I can't stand hearing 2 noises at once, and when I stay there, all I can hear over the tv, is the sound of my dad's tv upstairs.

I would never buy a new build on a new development

I would not look down upon anyone else's choice. Our first house was what they called "link detached" We were semi on one side and on the other side we were attached garage to garage. On the semi side our neighbours were "cock of the walk" types who commented if we made any noise at all and got drunk and had screaming arguments every sunday. We swore a fearful oath that while we could afford it, we would never go semi or terrace again. It was late 70's and we put up a cork tile wall on the lounge wall that was the semi side to muffle the noise. It worked very well and made the house a lot quieter on sundays! When we sold the house we heard that the buyers had ripped out the cork wall. Their choice fair enough but I bet they wished they hadn't!