Estate vs Non Estate

[estatenonestate]

Currently getting our house ready to put on the market (we are not crazy - we have done a lot of work to the house and even if price dips slightly, we are still in a good position).

We want to stay in the same area. Current house is 1980s house in what can only be described as bungalow- ville. We are on a culdesac. Looking at a house on a new build estate that is 3 years old. Kids school friends are all there, good location. House is big and spacious with decent garden, play area at end of the road.

Other houses in the area are all older bungalows or older style chalets on main roads. But they are all advertised as being Non- Estate houses. Why is this seen as a good thing? They are all family homes but kids won't be able to play in the street or knock for their friends. Are we going to regret moving onto an estate? I want the kids to be able to hang out with friends, cycle their bikes up and down etc. The non estate house feels like something we might want once tbe kids are at university. But surely easier to be on an estate with friends when they are young?

I have moved from a non estate house to an estate house. This was very much something we did for the kids.

They can play out and the sense of community and friendship between neighbours is lovely. I really like my neighbours which we never had previously.

If we were to move again right now I'd look on an estate. For a family friendly feel you cant beat it. Non estates tend to be older people or couples without children in my experience.

I'd prefer the sound of kids playing out to cars going up and down the road any day.

I love non estate and I will be honest sometimes I think it would be really nice to live in an estate where the kids can play outside like I did but then I speak to parents who live in estates and they don't let the kids play out much because of all the cars plus kids actually play out less than they did in my day as they all have their x boxes etc ! There are pros and cons to both but to be honest their good friends from school live all over the place so even if we were on an estate now I think they'd still be wanting lifts somewhere different. My biggest bug bear though is no footpaths and the country road we live down has cars speeding really fast so they can't even cycle to their friends now they are at that age. So in short I wouldn't worry about an estate but I would make sure that when old enough the kids can walk or cycle somewhere If they want

@Samtsirch same here. My parents bought a new build in the 90s - my mum referred to it as a 'development' not an estate. House was excellent quAlity as well.

Ps I like the first one best and the last house as a pp said will get really hot in summer plus the ceilings will be low. We used to live in a chalet bugalow like that - wouldn't choose to again

The non-estate houses you've shown aren't really in "needing lift" distance from the estate, or from the local schools or shops (I know this village although haven't been back there for about 20 years).

We live in a similar location in a non-estate road. My DCs are teens now and had plenty of friends both on and off the local estate when they were at primary school, I am friends with lots of the mums on the estate. While there were some social advantages to living on the estate they also complained of other people's kids calling all day every day, everyone knowing everyone else's business (I hear a lot of estate gossip and I don't even live there), cliques, fallings out amongst the adults. Also parking problems, poor quality building issues, tiny gardens. Off the estate it was very easy to walk the DC round to friend's houses when they were younger and they could go by themselves (about half a mile) by the time they were about 10.

I live close by but further north than you (just before the tunnel). I also worked for a significant period of time covering Clanfield for planning purposes. It’s changed a lot since I moved jobs but it is a lovely area and well connected if you have a car.

The estate home is 3 years old, if you go with it check service fees and charges and what you get for them. These will only ever go up. I’d also get a really thorough survey done as the house is out of its snagging period and NHBC isn’t all it is cracked up to be. New estates are normally quite packed in so overlooking maybe an issue compared to non estate older properties.

The two houses I think are within walking distance of each other, but new road has got much busier since the massive new build estate.

Personally I’d go for new road over the new build. Why? Storage. New builds, even the larger houses are tight for storage, compare sq metres rather than number of bedrooms and also the size of the garden. All these elements tend to be more generous on non estate properties.

The positive to that age estate house is that it should be very efficient. This may mean (as others have said) that it can get really hot, especially in the top floor.

It’s a personal preference. To me, with my background I’d go older non estate property.

Non estate for me:
I don’t really crave my child to roam about with the neighbourhood children.
Like people have pointed out that you may not like the kids/ families etc.
Estate houses seem to be very quickly erected, and seemingly have more problems
Don’t estate houses come with limited parking

The second house is lovely. I wouldn't want to live on an estate. My dsis does and when we visit there are constant knocks on the door to see if dc are going out etc/ requests by dc for their friends to come in. Would do my head in.

@FrankRattlesnake waving from Clanfield 😂
our current house is a bit of a peculiar lay out so we are almost craving something more conventional.

This estate house has a double garage and almost like its own mini culdesac in front. I know it well as we know people further down the road. But where we are now, on an older 1970s style estate is much quieter but it is a lot of retired people so that is obviously why.

new road house has a strange layout as well. Even before Covid there were very few houses on the market. People just don't move!

@Mummyshark2018 I don't know if that would bother me. We lived in an estate until I was 11 years old and I have such wonderful memories of playing out and in our back garden and round my friends house. I don't remember it ever being an issue having people knock for you.

We are currently on a culdesac as well and we can take tbe kids out the front and they can practice on bikes and scooters. I don't want to lose that

localish to you - that's a nice area. If the estate houses have been "broken in" and there will be other children around, that'd be lovely. But FrankRattlesnake has good points about new build. And other children won't be far way

Estate houses tend to have smaller gardens.
The "estate" there is pretty huge, ut those "non-estate" aren't that much non-estate to me, I'd be more looking for the country houses nearby. I know the area quite well...

House 2's garden is like a dream. Gorgeous. House 3 also has a nice garden. Lovely views too.

House 1 is a great house but the garden is grim.

@Awrite if all the bedrooms or most were upstairs house 2 would be much more suitable. Garden is awesome.

I live up north in a bog standard Manchester Victorian terrace after growing up in something a bit like the non-estate chalet style houses (1950s built with massive garden) and I much prefer living closer to my neighbours in a more sociable type layout.

My youngest plays out on the street (street doesn’t lead anywhere so no through traffic) and neighbours share and lend stuff and we all do stuff like put our Xmas lights on on the same day. I wouldn’t go back in a hurry.

Lower crime rate too because someone is always around and we all know who lives in which house!

You have really good, logical reasons for making the move, I’m sure others doing the reverse also have logical reasons (retirement, wanting a quieter life etc).

The estate house is so overlooked. I can see nearby properties out of every window in the photographs. You'd be sacrificing privacy and outside space for your children's friendships. You just need to work out your own priorities.

I’m afraid that estate house would be a nightmare for me.

Local to you waves I wonder if it is a local thing....the nearby biggest council estate in the UK looked down upon by some?
I've also read threads on here whrre people don"t like being on the same development as social housing.

Or something to do.with estate charges?

I'm nearer the other big town on a small development we still all call it an estate.

I distinctly remember a pang of regret when moving here...Dd was too old really to do the playing out thing with neighbours

House no 2 is my favourite. The garden is amazing and there’s so much space/ privacy. I also like the interior, though would change some things.

No offence but house no 1 is just another soulless, characterless new build. You can see in the photos, it’s so overlooked by all the neighbours. You’d look out every morning at your neighbours windows.

6 months ago we moved from a very similar property to no 1, on a v big new build estate, with an overlooked, postage stamp garden, noisy neighbours, terrible parking to our dream house in the countryside. We have SPACE between us and our neighbours, a big garden with countryside views (so lovely In the mornings, watching the sunrise (or set in the evenings) across the fields) we have plenty of indoor and outdoor storage, something which the old, estate house lacked. We also have room for 8 cars on our drive so we never have to worry about parking again if we have a party or whatever We have lovely neighbours, both sides have young children and it’s a very small, but friendly village. But the houses are spaced out so you’re not all on top of each other, in each other’s face. We have a lovey little post office and pub. It’s picture postcard perfect and absolutely where I’d rather bring my children up.

But what I like/ value / want in life isn’t what everyone wants and I get that, but I would think carefully before moving onto an estate.

Just looked at your budget...you could get lots for your money in the area or a bit wider..
A bit further north perhaps? Not too far though as noticed the commuter effect taking hold.

Noone talks to each other where I am so don't bank on it !

Also feel need to add at secondary school there tends to be a lot movement. Dd has just left but from her class alone there were about 8 different secondary schools they all went off too. Mix of private and state etc. Naturally friendship dynamics changed. Its great it's hampshire you can choose the.school that suits but remember the catchment areas are wide and very local friends may not be the reality in anycase.

@OrangeCinnamon houses in tbe next town up are more expensive- train station and 1 hr to London but we have considered it. I am not as keen on moving south towards Waterlooville - first my parents in law live there and they are close as it is. And I don't like the area - town centre is awful.

There are some other smaller villages as well but it would mean changing schools or not being able to walk to school.

We have appointments at both houses this week. See we shall see.

Something are non negotiable though. I need an office as wfh full time, need 4 bedrooms as my mum lives very far and stays for 1-2 weeks at a time. Want a utility room. Don't have one now. Miss it. And we currently have an extra room which is used as a play room. I want to have that again. It works really well.

A lot of the families I know who lived on the estate (not that one but similar) moved on once their DCs hit secondary school age and were able to walk places independently. They were tired of living in a goldfish bowl by then, tired of the tiny gardens and parking problems. Even if you have parking for your family cars there might be smaller houses nearby that don't, it's worth going and looking in the evening when everyone is home from work, in our local estate it all looks fine in daytime but by the evening there are cars on every pavement, you have to weave in and out to get through to the houses at the far end and it feels very cluttered.

I'm in NI and estate is very much a council estate. We say 'development' for what everyone else is describing. I don't quite understand though why children can't play out on a non-estate? Perhaps we don't have this concept here, but are estates pedestrian only? I live on a street (not a development) and some children do play outside still.

FWIW the thought of neighbours popping in for coffees and children playing everywhere gives me the shudders, so i'm very much of the non-estate ilk.

You sound very keen on the estate idea. That's fine. However, realise that not all non-estate houses are on main roads. Also realise that the phase of children playing out with friends is fairly short lived. Try to take a longer term view of pros and cons.

Personally I don't like new build estates. They are usually designed for cars not to be parked on the roads and so have narrow roads, but people park on them anyway and so they are often very congested. Gardens are often small and over-looked and obviously not well-established, plus room sizes can be small and storage poor. There often isn't much scope to develop them further.

That said, some people value highly having shiny and new and are terrified by the prospect of any DIY or the thought of spending money on a house. Often people with very limited savings seem to fear things like needing a new boiler or roof (both infrequent) and so decide new build is the way forward. Totally new build is often over-priced and a bit like buying a new car in finance....you always pay more in some format....but people who don't have the savings or confidence to manage finances for big future expenditures would rather pay more over time than face that bit of uncertainty.

Ther can be snobbishness about new builds. They can be seen as a bit nouveau and lack character, but there can be good communities of children. They aren't always near the best schools which are often int he more established upmarket areas of town.

You sound like you're decided on an estate house really, but you're right that the fact 'non-estate' is a selling point tells you something about the perception. It's often used as a selling point in areas where there are loads of new builds. The more affluent buyers often go for the non -estate.

If it's all about having lots of rooms and ensuites,utilities and studies, then a newish house probably works for you. You can often get all their things for a reasonable price,nowhere as a non-estate house with all those things would usually be very large and expensive.

Personally I'd rather have the non estate house with fewer big bedrooms and big reception rooms and put up with not all rooms being ensuite and a lack of utility room, in order to be in the really good neighbourhood with the great local school. Location is very important to me and with estate houses, location usually is less desirable - often on edges if towns or further from rail links etc. These things might not matter to you but do affect desirability and price.