to think SOME people that live in period houses are pretentious twats

[carriedababi]

i find it weird how people in small victorian terraces are snobby about new builds, someone i know who lives in a really small 2 bedroom victorian terrace,

complains [frequently] that new builds are built too close together, and have small gardens..

when their victorian terrace has no garden only a yard, and its in a row of about 20!
they couldn't have packed in more houses!

the stairs are really narrow and steep
theres no where to park,so its parking wars with the neighbours, everyone has wheelie bins in the front, well, yard bit that about 2-3ft deep.
so the whole street looks scruffy all you can see is bins everywhere

so, i can't really see how someone can complain new builds have small gardens and are built too close together when they have no garden and the house are built 20 plus in a row!

i can understand people that live in fabulous detachted georgian house etc being a bit snobby, but it seems to me the ones in the small terraces that are most pretentious

Cheese Toastie, how beautiful.

Ooh. Emm. Gee bupcakes I cannot believe the price of that place. Where I live that would get you the aforemntioned two be terrace with yard.

YABU THey have an opinion you dont agree Doesnt make them pretentious twats just someone that doesnt sharre your opinion.

OP I think the thing with even a teeny victorian terrace is that you get character: solid wood doors, fireplaces, high ceilings and other period features. So it maybe the same size as a new build but it has a certain charm.

A new build is...well just a new build.

I would take period charm any day.

I'm totally with you OP. I've lived in all sorts of houses, from Victorian, Edwardian, 1930s 1950s, 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

That said, I wouldn't live in a new newbuild. I don't like the way all the houses are made of different styles and they are so mismatched, that they just look odd. I also think they are on tiny plots, with pathetically small gardens and they're too small.

That said, I don't like Victorian terrace houses either, and personally wouldn't buy one. IME, they're cold, parking is a nightmare, and generally do not like the layout of these houses. To me, they haven't got character - they're clone houses, particularly when everyone paints them all in subtle beige tones!

To me, the high ceiling does not outweigh the negatives of awkward kitchens / bathrooms, cold houses, long thin awkward gardens, living on long straight roads where children can't go out to play in the streets. In my mind, I can't see that there's anything to be snobby about (although, like the OP I would grant that a big country victorian house, like a manse or something is a totally different kettle of fish).

Personally, I like houses somewhere in the middle - big houses, safe roads, cars on driveways, oh and also with brick internal walls - believe it or not, houses built in the early 80s do have brick internal walls too! I also found that in my old estate (early 80s housing) where the houses had all been developed and extended over the past 30 years, they had all naturally developed a different style and so, character. They weren't clone houses, as no two houses in our road were actually the same any more, yet they were all originally of the same style so all the houses fit in. They also had lots of space around them too, and a reasonable sized garden (bigger than the garden in my victorian house anyways!)

"how on earth can someone complain new build have small gardens, when they themselves have no garden, or that new build are built too closely together when there house is is in row of 20plus all built alongside each other"

I think what they're saying is that if they're going to live in a small house with no garden, it might as well be an attractive house. I wouldn't touch a new build with the proverbial bargepole myself, but that's just a matter of taste. And there are snobby, horrible people everywhere, not just in Victorian houses.

Only read first page but I'm going to buck the trend.

A couple of years ago you couldn't have dragged me kicking and screaming into a new build.

However in a moment of weakness by dh persuaded me to take a look and omg am I glad I did. I now live in a gorgeous new build with high ceilings and big open plan rooms. ALL the rooms are decent sized - spacious and lovely and light. We are in a 3 story townhouse - end of terrace - and NEVER near our neighbours who are a family of 5 with children ranging from 11 to 1. It is over twice as big in terms of floor space compared with our previous house which was a 40s semi.

OK so it hasn't got the character of some victorian terraces but we have a house with the same proportions for half what a simlar sized victorian terrace would cost where we live. And that would be without a garden. Our garden is not huge, granted, but at least we have one and its as big as the garden was in our old house.

And some of your comments about build quality are justified but overall we have a lovely spacious, light, warm home that needs nothing doing to it except to decorate it overtime in our taste. I am a complete convert.

WHile I understand some people would prefer old and love the character I think refusing to look at a new build is just silly - often you can get much more for your money and having a ridiculous preconception that they are not as good means you may well limit yourself from a fantastic house - I nearly did just this and thank my lucky stars I wasn't so blinkered.

" Add message | Report | Message poster Hullygully Wed 09-Feb-11 16:17:40
home is where the heart is"

My heart is in Necker Island - but Mr Branson will not sell it to me

I hate period properties. Give me a shiny, brand-spanking new build anyday!

I've just got to say that SOME people who live on new build estates are pretentious twats.

I live in a edwardian 2 bed flat and have also lived in a new build. I quite liked the new build, it's warm and needs less maintenence.

have mostly lived in oldish houses

dribble with longing when driving past new build estates

Hello

I am pag. I am a pretentious twat. I live in my aunts outside loo and people camp on the front porch.

Dam glad to meet you

Home home on the range.

I live in a shoebox in t' middle o' road, but what I really dislike is how new builds are built too close together and have small gardens.

It's a British thang, and I wouldn't understand.

YABU - in general terms the Victorians here are much, much better proportions than the new builds, with high ceilings, beautiful original features and bags of character plus a reasonable amount of soundproofing and overall sturdiness to the build. New builds are generally done on the cheap here, built on awkward plots or cramming as much in as possible just to tick boxes on the estate agents particulars.

Granted there are pokey Victorians but they do tend to feel bigger than pokey new builds because of the ceiling height.

If I had to choose between a really high quality new build and a pokey Victorian - I'm not sure... I'd probably still like the pokey Victorian since I like quirkiness.

I'm not avidly against new builds though - they are relatively maintenance free and built for modern living with open plan kitchens, space for appliances etc.

I am a dreadful house snob. Totally unashamedly. I will judge you for your new build and UPVC door. Whilst sitting in my 30s semi, with UPVC windows wishing I could afford a 'real' period property. [wink}

I absolutely agree that if you're not bothered about character, go for 1960-1980. Best space / price ratios.

Apparently, the reason that developers build lots of very tiny detached houses very close together and with more bathrooms than bedrooms, is because that's what people want. Actually, I think people want a bit more space for their cash and would prefer a semi with one fewer bathrooms. But perhaps that's just me.

"pretentious" - what do they have pretensions of? I am genuinely curious as this has often baffled me the way this word is thrown around incorrectly.

I'm not sure the stuff about Victorian houses having thick walls are true. I lived in a Victorian terrace where the walls between us & the neighbours (and the outside walls also) were only one brick thick. We could clearly hear the neighbours - even the sound of them pulling their shower curtain across!
Remember there was no such thing as building regs. in those days - so a house could be incredibly poorly built if the builder was doing it on the cheap. Houses built for poorer people often fell in that category - thrown up ASAP duing the industrial revolution.

I only know ONE example of a decent new build estate - it was in Weybridge in Surrey

Well we're anything but pretentious in our scruffy somewhat dated Victorian Terrace. It isn't tiny though and the garden's 85 feet long which is huge for London and we just about have osp for one car. I think it's worth well over a 7 figure sum and if I fancy becoming pretentious then I shall. In the meantime, I love the high ceilings and the fireplaces and the nooks and crannies and the picture rails and the dado rails and the original tesselated hall floor. One day though we will move to lovely, new, easy to maintain modern house for when we can't justify either the size or the maintenance any more. It's also very well insulated - and we leech heat from the neighbours and have relatively low fuel bills.

Our first house was a Victorian terrace. I couldn't wait to get shot of it. We could hear our neighbours arguing until 4am. All the external doors and windows needed replacing. It had a downstairs bathroom with a flat roof that collapsed into the bath one day and had to be replaced. Bathroom and kitchen needed replacing. The floor of the first floor/ceiling of the ground floor were really wonky. If we had done all the work on the house that really needed doing we would have spent more than the house was worth at the time. We made a deliberate decision not to buy a house older than 5 yrs after that and have never looked back.

Our current house is a new build, there have been a few minor issues but nothing to get worked up about. We have a reasonable sized garden, high ceilings, big rooms, gated double driveway and garage blah blah blah. To say all new builds are tiny and have no privacy is as daft as saying all old houses are solid and full of character. There are some beautiful new build houses and some really dreadful old houses!

The only way I'd take on a character property these days would be if we could afford to do all the work on it that would bring it up to the standard of a newbuild!

figcake I wonder if it is the one that my friend lives on.

The first time I went round there she gave the address as the * Estate and I had visions of a perfectly nice 4 bed commuter new build.

Then I drove through the private gates and rocked up to the in and out drive and 18 windows on the front

I could never live in a new build. Whatever the drawbacks of a period property, at least theres character and soul!

Much rather my new build (it was new when I moved into it 17 years ago) to the victorian terrace I was bought up in.

My old house was cold and dark and rooms were smaller.

I have also lived in a converted basement flat in one of the old victorian houses in southlondon. Lovely light rooms with very tall ceilings, but awkward layout and damp problems.

My house has a garden big enough for us and we have been very happy here. Rooms could have been a bit bigger though.