What type of housing would you not want to live?

[WomenHour]

House , Flat Penthouse , Caravan etc

I would probably not want to live on the top floor of a massive block of flats, couldn't be bothered.

I grew up in a bungalow which was lovely but I'd be scared now which makes no sense as a burglar could get into my house on the ground floor.

Anything attached

I wonder if it's normal to want more peace and isolation as you get older?

I’m not sure that isolation is really good for mental health as you become elderly though. My mother lived in a detached house at the end of a culdesac in a quiet area on the outskirts of town. When she decided she no longer wanted to drive she was really quite isolated and got depressed and got dementia in the end. Made me feel that I never wanted to live anywhere without places I could walk to to feel socially connected.

Anything really small - caravan /houseboat

Anything with attached neighbours

New build - unless I designed it

Anything on an estate/suburban

A flat, or those boxy new build " detached" houses on an estate that you could hardly get a credit card in between. Tiny rooms mostly.

I don’t want to live on an estate again, our last house was on a new build estate and there were so many problems with theft and break ins.

Our current house is another new build (with zero storage and a ridiculously small kitchen!) but in a very rural area. I’d love the area more if we weren’t in the bush with a massive fire risk.

As with most houses out here we’re single storey, detached which suits us as I’m sure our dogs would wind up the neighbours if they were close enough to hear and I doubt their legs are long enough for stairs!!

I wonder if it's normal to want more peace and isolation as you get older?

Not for me. I love where we live, but if we want to go out for a meal it means always having to drive. Taxis are just too expensive. I would love to live a little bit closer to more amenities now.

ground floor - mice/rats potentially
above 7th floor - imagine the lif being broken after doing your weekly shopping

I don’t want to live anywhere but here.
Big late Victorian house, pleasant garden, parking on the drive plus a garage, views of our local castle such as ir is, and, if you squint from upstairs, the river. Nice quiet neighbours, almshouses full of very affable pensioners, smart flats on the other side. Easy walking into the town centre. DS2 plus his three kids few minutes away.
Perfect.

I couldn’t live in a modern house or a flat with questionable neighbours.

New housing estate or a flat of any kind.

I wouldn't like to live in:
Anything with low ceilings.
A very large house.
A high rise or anywhere with multiple households that I did not know.
Buildings with thatch roofs.
Anywhere with small windows, beams and rooms under 8 x 10.
Anywhere too near a pylon, substation, sewage works, nuclear works, railway line or busy road.
Not super isolated, not near to the edge of anywhere, ie cliff, woodland, beach, hill, mountain.

I don't think talking about dislikes is entitled. I was very poor for a very long time; I was still allowed an opinion on things I did and didn't like. And I still had aims and ambitions and wants.

Exactly this.
And talking about what you like or dislike is not bragging, I hate this attitude. How is it bragging as you may not live in anything like that, as when did liking something also mean that you have/live in that same thing?

Exactly, and while some things are universal (no one wants to live in a shithole).

I adore my home, and yes it is very expensive and “luxury” or whatever, but plenty of pp have said they’d hate it. So it’s not a straight forward more expensive=more desirable. Horses for courses.

Northern housing

Tower block flats 😱 would hate that

A flat or anything without outside space. Or anything at all in a town or city, I’m a country person.

Northern housing

Is that the name of a housing company or you don't want to love in the North?

@BubblyBarbara

Northern housing

What do you mean by 'northern housing'??

Depends where I am in my life. Right now I couldn't live without a garden, as we have three young children. I wouldn't want to live in a flat, or in a city. I like peace and fresh air.

When we are old and grey and the kids have moved on then a lovely apartment somewhere would suit me.

Anything in a soulless suburb more than a short walk to a nice park or cafe. Absolutely hate a lot of new build housing estates for that reason.
Anything too far from a city/large and interesting town. I spent too many teen years in a tiny rural village and it put me off. I find them so dull and stagnant!

I used to think I could never live in a new build, or a high rise (we live in a period flat conversion). Then we moved to Canada, and lived in a 12th floor condo (fairly low down, it was a 36-floor tower).

It was great! Really spacious by UK standards, forced air heating/aircon, really well insulated and soundproofed, gym/pool in building, concierge to take parcels, parking in basement. Anything that went wrong was fixed by the condo maintenance team. It was like living in a really nice hotel. My family stayed in an Airbnb in a different block when they visited and it was the same, really nice inside.

I think people are just turning their nose up because in the UK, houses are just really badly built in a lot of cases. Cheap, flimsy, bad workmanship (leaning walls, cracks, etc).

My brother moved into a new build and the list of snags was enormous (and included stuff like “kitchen sink not actually plumbed in”). Like fuck would that ever get past a Canadian, they are ferocious.

It was great! Really spacious by UK standards, forced air heating/aircon, really well insulated and soundproofed, gym/pool in building, concierge to take parcels, parking in basement. Anything that went wrong was fixed by the condo maintenance team. It was like living in a really nice hotel.

Agreed. That’s exactly like what my building is like. Not suitable for people who like gardens or more rural living but not the stereotype of a tower block.

@ChristmasCarcass I like the sound of that! Always fancied Frasier’s apartment too.

I’d hate to live anywhere where I couldn’t walk to shops, restaurants, parks etc. The idea of having to get in a car every time you leave the house really doesn’t appeal!

I visited some friends recently who had a lovely big house and garden but the fact you had to drive to get anywhere just felt really unnatural and isolated to me.

I wouldn't want to live in a terrace/flat, as I am very paranoid about noise disturbing neighbours - and I'm a singer. I would also hate to live in the sticks, where I'd feel isolated, or right in the middle of a town where noise/pollution would be an issue. I'm definitely a Suburban Susan :-)

I wouldn't like anywhere huge or remote or with lots of land. A normal sized house (ie enough bedrooms for my family) with a small garden is fine for me, and with nearby public transport into a city centre. I could happily live in a flat, though anything above 5th floor would make me feel nervous. I don't really care what it looks like from outside - modern, old, attractive area, etc, as long as it's relatively safe to walk around and has a park or a bit of greenery nearby. I have mostly lived in city centres or suburbs, so my one short experience of living in the countryside was unnerving - I didn't enjoy the lack of anonymity and the quietness of the area, but I suppose that's just because it wasn't what I was used to.