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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask what you would not choose again if moving house

365 replies

chaletdays · 11/05/2015 16:56

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?

OP posts:
BarbarianMum · 12/05/2015 14:08

Never, ever in a place that floods, could flood or has ever been known to flood.

BreconBeBuggered · 12/05/2015 14:24

Corner plots. Always wanted one, but won't go there again. A pain if you subsequently get a barky and territorial rescue dog.

SnozzberryPie · 12/05/2015 15:07

We have a lot of things listed on here but they don't bother me, eg
On street parking (we live in a flat so pretty much inevitable)
Terrace (but our neighbours are great)
Leasehold (but we are buying the freehold)
Shared access

One thing I don't like is the north facing garden, and the kitchen is just a bit too small even after buying every bit of storage Ikea sell.

mandy214 · 12/05/2015 15:28

Depending on where you live, the vast majority of the property (housing stock) is leasehold. But the leases are 999 years from the 1930s mostly so its long leasehold. Not an issue - ground rent is £4 a year.

Leasehold flats, especially with short leases (less than 100 years) and with high service charges are a different kettle of fish though.

MehsMum · 12/05/2015 15:32

More bathrooms is not necessarily better. You just have more of the fuckers to clean.
Exactly. This place was kitted out with bathrooms like a B&B and we got rid of one and turned another into a shower room.

I love our conservatory: the back of the house is quite dark and can be cold until the weather warms up properly, and the conservatory brings in lots of light and warmth. I sit out there and drink tea and work.

needastrongone · 12/05/2015 15:43

Our house is pretty perfect. It's new build, or was, but bought from a small builder at the stage where the shell was built, but no more. They allowed us to redesign pretty much everything to our taste and need. Bottom of a very small street, backs onto open fields, large everything. It was our One Big Move and all the compromises we had made in previous moves were not going to happen here. So, wooden floors instead of laminate, granite surfaces etc.

Strangely, the HUGE garden, which was one of the reasons we bought the house in the first place, can be very hard work at times. Upkeep in general, but also at certain times of the year i.e autumn, when all the old and long established trees shed their leaves!

No open plan here, never again Smile

I am lucky, I really am, I adore this house. This thread has reminded me of this, thanks.

AryaUnderfoot · 12/05/2015 15:51

I am lucky, I really am, I adore this house. This thread has reminded me of this, thanks.

^^this

I love my fugly 70s box - despite the primary school and the alleyway and the huge mortgage.

LittleFluffyMoo · 12/05/2015 15:58

Wooden worktops next to a sink - ours are rotten around the sink. Not our doing to start because it was like that when we moved in, but it has got worse because that area is so difficult to keep dry.

Walnutpie · 12/05/2015 15:59

I don't rate ensuite bathrooms. Really don't.

A bathroom with a window and nobody around to listen to what you are doing in there, is a wonderful thing.

Also don't like velux windows over kitchens or dining areas, the noise of rain is awful, as is the feeling of being cooked, in hot weather.

GuyMartinsSideburns · 12/05/2015 16:07

I'm about to complete on a house (our first one) which has most of the 'never again' things listed here... I don't feel as excited now as I did before but it is the best we can afford so hoping it won't be so bad! Time isn't on our side tbh.

serialgrannie · 12/05/2015 16:11

Love our house - almost perfect for us, after two extensions/renovations in 30 years but are now considering moving/downsizing. Unless you are really mad keen, don't underestimate how much time you spend gardening if you want it to look reasonable. Next house must have:

off-street parking for several cars
kitchen/diner (separate dining room is waste of space)
small/landscaped garden
en suite bathroom
not on a main road (DH v noise averse - his hearing is getting sharper as he ages!)
be detached (once had a semi where we could hear the NDN go to the loo and pull the flush!)

CatOfTheWoods · 12/05/2015 16:15

I don't want a bathroom with every bedroom, and I don't understand why so many new houses have that. But more than one would be nice – you start to see the point of that as your kids get to the stage of having a shower every day. Our bathroom is tiny and the toilet is right next to the bath. And someone always needs an enormous poo every time I'm in the bath.

Walnutpie · 12/05/2015 16:19

Yy to more than one bathroom being a great idea!

Also agree separate dining room waste of space.

propelusagain · 12/05/2015 16:24

More than one bathroom is essential. But then there are 5 of us and I have teenagers.
We have a bathroom ( with bath shower and toilet) DD has an en suite, and a downstairs loo.
Also have a huge kitchen/diner, off road parking, small landscaped garden, five bedooms, a small estate set in ancient woodland, 14 minutes by train into the heart of the capital- and all for £210K!

Girlwhowearsglasses · 12/05/2015 16:38

More light!!
Less wood chip and textured ceiling
More awareness of the word 'potential'
More Soundproofing

Love our house but used to live on a square. This I would recommend - we all had keys to the gates and spent many lovely summer evenings in the garden with wine and toddlers unable to get out!

Toomuchtea · 12/05/2015 16:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RaptorInaPorkPieHat · 12/05/2015 16:50

I would never have a back garden that backs onto an alleyway again (nice sheltered spot for anti social behaviour, and the kids climb our 6ft fence to get their footballs rather than walk the 10 minutes to our front door), and I would (if possible) never have a terraced/semi-detached again, I have never been formally introduced to next doors kids but I know their names because their mother screams at them every morning.

An extra loo would be heaven.

Sunnymeg · 12/05/2015 16:54

Never buy a house on a private road close to a school. as you will spend a lot of your life pointing out to people that they can't park in it to do the school run!

mandy214 · 12/05/2015 16:57

GuyMartin - a house is what you make it. You change what you can, you learn to live with things you can't.

We have had lots of these issues with houses, some things will drive you insane, other things people have said are a nightmare will be trivial to you.

Be excited about your first house - don't let this thread put you off. Nearly everyone has to compromise in some shape or form Smile

whomovedmychocolate · 12/05/2015 16:57

Do not buy the idyllic country house down a farm track or with a driveway you struggle to get into. My car suspension was shagged in a year and cone harvest time we have dawn till dusk tractors roaring slowly past while we reversed inch by inch back home grrrrr

whomovedmychocolate · 12/05/2015 16:59

Oh and avoid those houses where the main bathroom is downstairs. They don't sell easily because no-one wants to be having their dinner in the dining room which you poo or bathe next door. Weirdly!

needastrongone · 12/05/2015 17:02

Having a bathroom each is a godsend, I have teenagers Grin

And a cleaner........

amothersplaceisinthewrong · 12/05/2015 17:02

A house near a main road! It was not that noisy 20 years ago (although the bargain price should have maybe sounded more warnings , but it is in the garden now. We will have to reduce the price significantly when we come to sell! Shame because otherwise it's a pretty good house for a family!

newmumwithquestions · 12/05/2015 17:03

never buy a flat opposite a pub... now you would have thought this was obvious but I had a small budget and limited time. If you do then check out the pub first. How bad can it be I thought, the bedrooms are at the back away from the pub? Walking out on a Sunday pm to find people vomiting in the street wasn't quite what I imagined... and don't get me started on the weekly Karaoke.

We are now in a fixed upper (6 years and a lot of money sunk into it so far), but at least we knew what we were buying (it was a wreck, anyone could see that). And we get to do it how we want :-)

The things we didn't foresee were problems with water supply (shared water supply and a neighbour who refused to pay for a weeping rusty pipe to be upgraded; eventually we paid for our own separate supply). And we didn't realise we were on dodgy victorian shared drainage which is causing us a similar problem. The drains stink at times and need upgraded, but our neighbour doesn't want to pay for anything... in the meantime every year we pay for them to be unblocked from the damn sponges she flushes down her toilet.

dotdotdotmustdash · 12/05/2015 17:05

As an avid reader of Gardenlaw forum, I would never buy a house with the following issues due to problems..

Shared Driveway
Rights of way, particularly over the back garden
Tall trees in neighbouring gardens
Boundary issues (check what you see on the ground with the plans carefully before signing on the dotted line as so many people seem to find discrepancies once they've moved in)

On a personal level, check very carefully with local people about what is expected to happen in the area regarding planning. Our house overlooks a pretty loch. We were there for a couple of years before the plans were submitted to drain the loch and turn it into an opencast coal mine for 10plus years. The locals had known for years that it was going to happen. Luckily for us, the financial collapse of Scottish Coal has stalled the plans for the moment.

Check the boiler meticulously. Ours was condemned within 24 hrs of moving in and we had to find 2.5k immediately that we hadn't planned for.