Old v New House WWYD?

[PurpleFlower1983]

Sorry, posting here for traffic.

Obviously this is hypothetical at the moment as no one can buy/sell but I was looking for some advice re houses. We currently live in a 4 bed end terrace in a Northern town. It’s a nice house with period features and good size bedrooms with features. The upstairs is large and downstairs has a smallish Victorian sitting room with a nice bay window/traditional fireplace and a good size dining kitchen. The staircase is central with a narrow hallway as we have an access passage to the back on our land, shared with next door (they come through our front garden to get to it). We have a decent size garden for a house of this kind with large patio, small lawn, space for a shed etc. There is also a small front garden.

I bought the house as a fixer upper 9 years ago for £100k before I met my husband and have spent around 40k on it with new bathrooms, new kitchen, new windows, restoring fireplace etc. It’s still not fully finished as the large attic room needs velux windows and redecorating and there are a quite a few other jobs that need sorting but I love the house.

We are now a family of 3 with a 14 month old. We would like another child in the next couple of years. While there is loads of space upstairs, we are fast outgrowing the downstairs, it was perfect for 2 but not so great for more. We could put an extension on the back to have a larger kitchen/dining living space but depending on how much this would cost, or if we would get planning permission, it would probably take the cost of renovations above the ceiling price of the street which is around £160-£170k for houses of this kind. It would also make the garden much smaller. Parking is a nightmare as it’s all on street and it’s not somewhere children could play out due to the busy roads. We also have some damp issues downstairs and around the chimney in the bedroom which will cost a fair amount to sort. The energy bills are very high too.

My husband is about to inherit some money and is keen to buy a new build locally to us. There are only a few houses left on a local new development, it’s nice, wide roads, decent parking and close to a huge park and brand new leisure centre. The house is just above £300k. I have never wanted a new build as I love period properties which is why I bought this one but it is a nice house with a south west facing garden. There is a green space adjacent and the people seem really friendly. There is a garage and parking for 2 cars. The builder also does part exchange at full market value.

Emotionally I am attached to this house but practically I can see the benefits of the new one. I’d love my DD to learn to ride a bike in the street and feel she can play out safely etc.

We have been looking at houses for a while. The detached period ones I like in the area tend to go between £300 and £450k depending on condition with the cheaper needing lots of work done.I’m not too keen on this as I know how much of a money pit they can be and right now we may not have the funds to throw at it. There are also not many around and detached ones are few and far between. I don’t want to buy a house built in the 60s/70s as I’m not too keen to be honest. We do want to stay in the area for now due to elderly/ill family.

I suppose this is a what would you do or do you have any experience going from old to new? Would you wait? We may miss out on these particular new ones as the inheritance is not through yet and depends on a house sale.

Sorry that is so long!!

Taking everything into consideration, I’d go for the new build. (Provided you like the style of the new house, as you have to live in it.) It does sound as if, overall, it would make your life much easier without any of the pitfalls of extending your current house or taking on a project in an older house.

I can see why you’d move into a new build but I could never forego my period property.

We are in the process of procuring a contractor to extend and although this would take us above the ceiling price I’m not moving anytime soon (next 10/15 years of ever) so it isn’t really an issue.

I hate DIY so I would go with the new build. There doesn't tend to be much storage space in new builds so when you look round it you there's there's so much SPACE but then when it comes to living in it not so much. Many don't have use able lofts either, we can't store anything in ours.

I do love the bright airy feel of a new build and lots of kiddies play out safely on our estate and there's a proper community feel

i'd never buy a new build. They have no storage space and there is often a premium for 'new' that is not worth it.

but are there other houses built in the last 10 years that you might like? And what is wrong with houses built in the 70s? We have a 70s house that was fully modernised in the 00's, and it is warm and light and has plenty of space.

I have a large Victorian house and it's a money pit. Yes huge rooms and 3m plus ceilings but very expensive to heat and maintain. I love period but a would not discount a new build of it was done right. What I hate about new builds is the low ceilings and small rooms and awful casement windows. If you new build is more generous and you like the style then I would go for it. An extension would cost a lot of money, and if you are feeling the squeeze with a toddler imagine two and imagine two teenagers! The new house doesn't have to be your forever home, but it does seem to offer advantages.

I think it depends what matters to you. I hate new builds and Victorian houses make me happy. They are generally much better built than new builds. Also ad your children get older the upstairs space will be more important.

@parietal Sorry I didn’t mean any offence, it’s just the ones locally are not to my taste. There are some lovely houses built in those decades I’m sure.

I have a new build and I love it; we have young children and no time/energy/urge to be doing diy and the house has needed minimal money spent on it (curtain rails and decorating being the only expenses) obviously in a few years (10-15) it will need it but by then we should have more income for it as childcare bills reduce.
I don’t agree with previous poster about no storage space as it depends on the area/developer etc. Our new build in the Midlands has plenty of storage space whereas I noticed in the south where land is more expensive that there’s less likely to be storage space.
I’ve also found that there’s a lovely sense of community as everyone is new to the estate and wants to make new friends and there are a lot of young families

@Musmerian I am not a fan of new builds either despite growing up in one but I do remember a very happy childhood with all the kids on the street.

When I got this house it was what I’d always wanted which is why I’m reluctant to sell it.

The other possibility is staying in this house for a few more years and then moving on then. As much as I love it I do want to live detached at some point, hopefully in a period house. It’s just in the meantime whether we make the move or wait.

I think for me it depends on the location of the new development. So many near us are basically in the middle of nowhere on thw outskirts of town, with nothing to walk to apart from an also new chain pub in the middle. With a baby and toddler I have found it really helpful to be able to walk into town despite having a car. That said I am in a new build which is also town centre as we hate DIY and needed Help to Buy 7 years ago.

I personally don’t like new builds because the quality of workmanship can be poor, I don’t like lots of kids playing out and just find them quite soulless. But I am a lot older than you so probably looking for different things.

@hammeringinmyhead The new build is about the same distance to town as we live now, probably a 10 minute walk, we like that about it.

I think the new build sounds the better option if you get it a good price.

Perhaps you can move to a forever home from there when the DC are older?

@pilates I also find them soulless! The builders all have mixed reviews too! This move would be against what I stand for property wise but I can see the positives!

We bought a good quality new build. It has plenty of storage, off street parking, high ceilings, huge windows, large rooms, and is not on an estate. I love it. It comes with the 10 year guarantee which offers a lot of peace of mind vs an older house which may come with some nasty surprises. Really old houses are lovely to look at but expensive and hard work to maintain. If you don’t want that headache or expense, a new build may be right for you.

Would you ever consider buying land and doing a self build or something like a Huf house (prefab)? Might be similarish outlay and you would get a much nicer house than an estate property without the new build markup and you can make the design decisions.

@RandomMess That’s what we have said, we might be in the position to buy the dream period house then.

In your case, I can completely see why you'd consider a new build and it does sound like it might be a great option. As someone else said though - if you view it do consider the storage, and also compare the sq meterage to see if you're actually getting a bigger house once you consider you'll probably not have a loft/attic for storage. Personally I've never found a new build I'd be willing to buy because the prices are quite inflated for what you get. I would potentially consider a second hand 'new' build though if it was priced correctly for the area.

Have you considered altering how you use your current house? You have 2 spare bedrooms - can one of those become a family/living room and then the small living room downstairs can become more of a playroom?

I would never go for a new build. Everyone I know who work in construction law always advise against them as they're generally built to last their warranty period tend to look superficially nice but don't have great quality kitchens or bathrooms and tend to be over priced for what they are. Essentially they're built for nervous or inexperienced buyers who are under the illusion that because they're new they won't require work. This tends to be a false economy since they may well need work if you're there more than 5 years and will lose alot of value once they're no longer new.

New. It'll be a family home, you can make the garden lovely. It'll be very easy to sell on when you decide to move back to a period property!

@Curiosity101 I think moving forward we would definitely make one of the bedrooms or the attic a playroom - it’s a great space for kids but we would probably keep the sitting room as it is as I love it!

Not a fan of new builds which was confirmed why I hate them when we stayed in an Airbnb one last year.

A lot seem strangely laid out, with little thought to where things like the radiators are placed.

Having said that I think where you are living is impractical.

I would look on this move as just a stepping stone.
I wouldn’t dismiss a 70s build. I would take a 70s build over an average new build any day.

They seem to have bigger gardens and have bigger rooms and more storage

I think they do tend to be really ugly houses but once inside they are a lot more sensibly laid out.

whycantithinkofagoodone I think that’s wrong. New builds have to be built to a much higher spec than old houses. They need to met strict energy guidelines, and (in Scotland at least), they almost all require solar panels to met these guidelines, which means your electricity can be as low as £100 a year. All windows and doors have to exceed certain standards for efficiency, and everything is fire proof.

Where things can go wrong is that there’s fair chance that there has been a mistake or oversight in fitting which is why builders offer the 10 year guarentee and most will complete a snagging list after the first year.

Kitchens and bathrooms date, and many people will replace a dated kitchen despite there being nothing structurally wrong with it.

Yes, they do tend to lose a bit of value initially, but only until the builder had stopped building the same house in the same area.
(why would you not buy from the builder instead on ‘second hand’ ).

Modern estates are great for families with small children, less traffic, more parking and generally neighbours with children of similar ages to play with.

Thinking about it - in your case, unless you can get it for a very good price, a newbuild might not be good plan if you're planning for it to be a stop-gap house. If you and your DH are only considering it as a stepping stone then I wouldn't rule out all the other houses that fit your requirements but aren't period properties.

The new build. And I love period properties too. But this is a stage in your lives when the kids take over every aspect. Make life easy for yourself with the new house. Street parking with 2 young kids is tough. As said, this is a stage, when they're about 10 you can look to go somewhere new that's period.
BTW have you looked at school catchment areas? For primary and secondary?