to ask what you would not choose again if moving house

[chaletdays]

Just been reading the open plan thread. When I move again I would definitely not choose an open plan layout, or to buy a place right beside a green or any other communal area where children and teenagers will gather 24/7.

What would be your no nos if moving again?

Oh, I would also not move to a new estate where there is no mix of age groups, just all young families. It just feels a bit stepford; not to mention the fact that large gangs of children all the same age just means hassle at some stage down the road.

That thing about being next to commercial enterprise: I drive past a suburban house in Au that has a commercial seafood outlet from their garage!! FFS.

It must be legal because it's been there, like forever. There aren't any others, so I'm guessing the council sealed that particular loophole, but can you imagine? It must pong at times, sluice you might.

I never ever want to live in another house that is/has:

• terraced with paper thin walls
• many floors with only one or two rooms on each
• shitty little patio garden
• narrow hallway that can't fit a decent buggy
• Galley kitchen
• no driveway so have to drive round and round the neighbourhood to find a place to park

Can I point out that as I live in London, it costs over a million pounds to live like this.

No space for a separate dining area, our kitchen is too small for a table and chairs. Hate eating in the lounge where our table is. Food smells, dropped food on the carpet by kids etc...

My list is;

Has to be detached
No shared access
Not overlooked
Ideally as far away from any neighbours as possible
Not on a busy road
More than one toilet
Not a galley kitchen (fine if there are just 2 of you, but murder if there are children running around)
Off road parking

I would measure the width of the garage rather than (apparently unreasonably) assume you could physically get at least a Mini in it...

Think carefully about windows, french doors, and general expanses of glass.

Back of our house is mostly glass and faces north-east. We only have window coverings for the bedrooms. I do put curtains up at the patio doors in the living room in the winter to try and keep the -enormous- room warm.

You're a right fussy bunch on this thread, btw. No wonder there are so many empty houses in this country!

Saniflo toilets. No. Just no. I'd rather only have one loo than a mercerator. Our three story terrace had (past tense) two*, both of which are currently duct-taped up while we get architects plans drawn up which will allow us to have gravity based toilets.

• We do have a third toilet, so aren't having to use a hole in the garden.

I would also ensure that I had access to a shopfor emergency milk, bread (and chocolate)
Never anywhere near a pub or backing on to public footways or parks
Never off plan

Avoid setting yourself up to drive kids everywhere. Live within walking and biking distance from schools, shops, cub den, community centre, etc

I would not make the mistake of expecting a renovation to be straightforward or cheap. Renovations are never straightforward or cheap.

Would never ever buy in a cul de sac. Especially not one with houses only on one side of the street..an absolute goldfish bowl for being caught by the neighbours every time you step out of the door..no chance of privacy or polite evasion.
Also never ever buy near a bus garage..Urgh, the fumes.

I love our house - even though there are five levels. We don't have off street parking but that isn't an issue, it is cold and draughty but I love the high ceilings and wouldn't swap for the world. Almost everyone loves it and says it is amazing but it is shabby and the kitchen is poorly designed mainly due to victorian cupboards. The only thing I would want is it to be a bit more structurally sound and have a really cosy kitchen, ours is the coldest room in the house.

Victorian through-terrace. I am just fed up with them now. Same boring layout of front room leading straight into the kitchen, one big double, one small double and a box room, and a back garden that ever has a flat lawn, it's all bumpy, rocky and full of ivy. And opening straight onto a pavement.

For years I've been mildly teasing about Toytown estates or those big wide open green spaces on council estates but now I'm older with 2 growing children I can see the appeal of big flat lawns to play on, kitchen big enough for a dinner table, quiet cul-de-sac to play out in, and a front room with patio doors that look out onto the garden.

I'll give the en suite in every bedroom a miss though - just, why?? I'd rather have the extra floorspace.

Anyway, back to reality...

Easily staining composite sinks.

not really a reason not to buy the house, you can change a sink. Ditto with anything that you can remove or replace. Location and type of house are the important things - you can't change shared access or make a semi, detached, but you can change a bathroom or remove woodchip (not that we have, we are too lazy. It's not that bad - well it is, but we are really too lazy and life is too short to worry about it - it's only in one room).

We have three loos and we absolutely need them - there are three of us! When we have visitors we are even more grateful for them. When we bought this house one of my red lines was two loos. We put an extra one in when we renovated the bathroom.

now I'm older with 2 growing children I can see the appeal of big flat lawns to play on, kitchen big enough for a dinner table, quiet cul-de-sac to play out in, and a front room with patio doors that look out onto the garden.

I'll let you know if we ever decide to sell.

Artex
Textured /flock wallpaper
Brick fireplace/chimney breast
Those 1970s open stairs
Front door opening into front room
Stairs in front room
Galley kitchen
Box rooms
Wooden kitchen work tops....never again!
3 storey houses
Integral garages

This thread is really useful.

I'd never buy a terrace again, or even a semi if I had the budget. I don't like hearing other people's noise or worrying that I'm disturbing them.

No Nos: no garage, living by an alleyway (noisy and too easy for people to climb into your garden and nick your bikes (as it turns out)), textured wallpaper, no storage, no downstairs loo, open plan, small open plan kitchen, no utility room.

I would love to move house but we are very well-located for things we need or want - good schools, able to walk to town centre, reasonable public transport, family nearby, so I don't see us going anywhere in the near future. Time to save for an extension I think....

I agree that location is the chief thing. I've had saniflo loos and they've been totally fine. I've lived in terraces with quiet lovely neighbours and felt well insulated and enjoyed the feeling of safety. Three storey houses please me because I can escape the noise of someone watching a movie or playing music if I want peace.
But I'd never buy a house in a main road. The noise and pollution is awful. I also don't want to live a stones throw from a busy main road, either, or have to go via one to get anywhere from my house. Being fenced in by a polluted main road is a no no for me.

We have a townhouse and I love it - main sitting room is on the first floor, but we have a view and it makes the most of that! We do also have a smaller sitting room/snug/den room on the ground floor. The ground floor is the family floor, the first floor is the adult floor (master bedroom here also) and the second floor is the dc's floor - it's awesome!

I would never buy a very old property again - cold, damp, expensive to maintain, isolated (in our case), pretty spooky at times………it was charming and pretty, but it didn't make up for the downsides! I would also never buy a house where you couldn't sit in the kitchen.

My bare minimum is now detached, garage, big garden and quiet road. Everything else is negotiable!

That its located in a politically stable country, without constant threats of becoming a different country, and a stable tax regime.

And also preferably not in an area which changes from rural to urban/suburban in a few years, so that I end up living next to retail parks and massive housing estates, and the consequent increase in heavy traffic.

I love my present house. Other than poor quality schooling, it is next to perfect.

My old house had no off road parking and a large green in front. It was a pain up the arse carrying a baby and shopping across the green. As a big no no, I would be wary of large trees that are close to the house on land that does not belong to you. There were a couple of lime streets planted by the council infront of our house and we ended up with subsidence. The insurance company too the council to court and the council were ordered to cut the trees downs. However some dick head at the house has planted three young lime sapplings. We decided to move at that point!

I've noticed that being able to see trees when I look out of the window gives me huge pleasure, so a tree lined street is high on my wishlist. Big windows, high ceilings, and trees outside my windows is what I look for.

I would not ever buy a house which opens straight onto the street, or has a front door which opens directly into the living space, ie a house with no hall and porch area.