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.

I would never again buy within shouting distance of any licensed for alcohol premises.

We once lived opposite a small town pub. That was ok until it was bought and upgraded by a restaurant chain who could take food orders till midnight...cue drunk yobs and screeching girls in the carpark till 2 am, people peeing (and worse!) in any handy garden, blatant shagging in entrances and doorways....

We sold the house to a young couple who thought it was cool to have a fashionable watering hole on the doorstep. I've often wondered how many nights they were woken by their fellow revellers!

One with rooms onto a road, so people can walk past and look in. Or I can never have windows open.

One on an estate where the houses look the same and no one has a big hedge or fence (I think it is in their contact) I’d rather live in a terrace.

One with a steep staircase.

This. Police car and ambulance sirens woke me up.

Open plan. Hated cooking in what was effectively the living room.
Whole downstairs looks a tip if one part is messy.

Completely open plan downstairs.
Next to a pub or a chippy, or very close to a primary school, meaning you’d endlessly be having entitled parents blocking your drive.
North facing garden, unless the garden was big enough that there’d always be sun somewhere.
A bungalow, or any ground floor flat. I need to be able to open bedroom windows properly at night - not just a crack.
Anywhere with horrible tilt-and-turn windows. £££££ would be needed to replace them all.

A beautiful old Grade II listed thatched cottage with inglenook fireplace, oak beams, low ceilings and tiny windows.

They're lovely to look at - and I used to long to live in one until we were looking at houses prior to a relocation move. We viewed some truly gorgeous cottages, but I realised then that I couldn't live in one. I didn't like the lack of interior light and the slightly oppressive feeling brought on by the low ceiling height. The stairs were steep and narrow and the layout of the rooms was so inconvenient and impractical.

Back to back terrace, they are so claustrophobic-feeling.

Anything with a risk of flooding. Floods are only going to get worse.

I totally agree with that - I think different layouts and styles suit you at different points in life - I’ve lived in ‘a lot’ of houses as we rent, but nice upmarket houses . I had several townhouses when son was preteen and a teen and I loved them - my son in 2 houses literally had his own floor, lounger bit, bedroom, bathroom - and DH had his office up there too - so was up there when son at school . they worked really well

unlike others I really like well insulated and dry integral garages as great for storeage , and easier to access than lofts

things I’ve learnt I’m not keen on after my 21 houses!! ( we once moved 3 times in 10 months which skews it a bit - don’t ask)!

white shiny underfloor hearing
stone effect underfloor heating in a cottage in a hall - absolute nightmare to keep clean
laminate flooring throughout a house- non stop clatter
kitchens that don’t have enough cupboards ( probably not such an issue if you are buying and have the space)
an extension built as such and blocking drives meaning you can’t get bins or garden waste out for rubbish without going through the house

relying on a garden room for an office/extra bedroom - pain in the arse in shit rainy weather

small windows - I don’t like dingy places however pretty the windows

roads that are used as a cut through/rat run - often full of maniac drivers

Nearby tourist attractions!! one of our biggest errors house we rented in Windsor when coming back from overseas - viewed ‘online’ only - house on a cul de sac was good, what we failed to pick up on whilst agent was doing the zoom call round the house was to get out of the road onto the main road required getting through the traffic going to Legoland - frequently took 10’minutes in very busy times of year just to exit the street - and then stuck in traffic for 10 minutes.

North facing garden or one that blocks sunshine. Ours faces south but my friend lives opposite us and gets a bit of sun in the morning and nothing for the rest of the day.

Currently renting having sold a detached that was the dream house, due to divorce. We had extended and everything was to my taste.

Now house hunting and depressed about what I can afford on my own.

area is pretty expensive and I need to consider schools and not be too far from ex as we 50/50

so far my lists are

Absolute Nos:
upstairs kitchen
1 toilet
no external access to the back
new build unless detached

Things I can dream of:
utility room
en suite
4 bedrooms
big garden
no major work needed
detached

Realistically it will be a 3 bed semi that needs work

Inevitably, my requirements have changed over time, but the two constants, in 50 years and more than 30 moves, have been no open plan and access to the garden without going through the house/flat.

Agree.

Our last house was a townhouse. Hated it. Just flowed so badly.

Current house is a large terrace which we love but the dream would be a bungalow.

A house where the front door opens straight into a room. Stairs within a living room area. Also open stairs you can see between the treads.

Anything that couldn't be adapted for a child who is a full time wheelchair user who needs hoisting, somewhere without level access to a level back garden.

Ah you mentioned one of my biggies - steep narrow stairs - our rather beautiful detached ‘villa’ in Copenhagen gave me chronic plantar fasciitis getting down the stairs as the steps were both steep and narrow and I kind of had to walk sideways !! It was an exceptionally pretty and beautifully renovated place, open plan too downstairs, thought I might not like it as first place I had like this- but actually I loved it - was well designed though in a large L shape and you couldn’t see the kitchen from the lounge or vice versa- they used to film bits of Borgen on the next street - ah I miss it !!!!

Having had a partly shared waste system, any house with anything shared is an absolute no for me now.

Nearby tourist attractions!! ... getting through the traffic going to Legoland - frequently took 10’minutes in very busy times of year just to exit the street - and then stuck in traffic for 10 minutes.

I remember going to Legoland with relatives, and they asked me why I left in the opposite direction. Everybody seems to leave at the same time and it can take ages to drive a short distance.

The kids loved Legoland, but take snacks, drinks and pac-a-macs.

A new build. The houses and the estates they’re on look soulless to me. Also I have doubts about the build quality of modern houses- have heard a few horror stories about new builds.

I would never buy a new build.
wouldn't buy a house that is open plan.
a terraced house.
a house with a small kitchen.

I’d never buy a house where I could see other houses either out the front or the back. I want a view over fields on both sides.

A house, much more of a flat person, living in an open plan flat I need a spare room that can be used as a TV room/office.
A big no-no for me is a washing machine in the kitchen and next time I’m definitely buying a flat with a bath.

I bought a house that I said I would never buy! Semi detached and UPVC windows were my absolute 'no-no's '. The house was in a perfect location though.

I have memories of 6 of us in a good sized 4 bed house, but built pre WW2 so just one indoor loo, separate from the bathroom, as was usual then. There was an outside loo for the former gardener or skivvy, but we never used it - spiders!

Many decades ago now but I still remember younger sister at about 3, wriggling and jumping up and down outside our sole indoor loo, wailing, ‘It’s comin’, it’s comin’, it’s comin’!!’

It was certainly ‘luxury’ when the DPs moved in the early 70s to a new build - which had a downstairs loo!

Yeah I get what you mean. I’ve got 2 preschoolers and am in a house where the downstairs is open plan, although long so you could be in separate areas and not bother anyone. It’s been brilliant with having young children though

A new-build on an estate. Any house on an estate. Any house that needs a lot doing to it (beyond just decorating).

I've lived in a grade II listed 16th century terraced, thatched cottage with no back garden, which covers in one go quite a few of the things disliked on this thread . And I now live in a split-level, partially open-plan house!

A town house, a new build (anything from 2000’s really unless a very small and bespoke site), a house without parking, a house without a downstairs loo (don’t want visitors upstairs) or on a main road.