To think 'character' properties aren't all they're cracked up to be?

[LellyGreen]

We live in a Victorian house. Its cold and drafty, we've had various issues with damp and leaks, the ceiling on the landing collapsed three years ago, we got it fixed for it to happen again last year and we had to have the whole roof replaced. There are weird alcoves in the lounge on every wall that has stopped us from being able to hang the TV on the wall like we wanted to. Solid wood floors in every room that haven't been maintained well by previous owners and dons hard hat I've wanted several times to tear up and chuck carpet down because they're in such bad state. The room sizes are very generous, but they're too big and apart from a few more sensibly sized rooms they feel cold and empty. Our hallway is 5mx5.5m!! Who needs a hallway that big? It just looks like a big empty room. Anyway.. it's just been so much hassle. We go to do one small job and it turns out it's actually a huge job, every time. I've always vowed to never buy a new build because "they have no character" but I've done it. I've gone to the dark side. I have bought a new shiny new build and I couldn't give a toss about the character I'm losing and I can't wait to be in a house that is warm, and doesn't feel empty all the time! I get a lot of it is down to developers, I've heard the persimmon horror stories of paper thin walls and box rooms.. but I'm firmly in the new build camp now. Pick a good developer (ideally a small/local one) with a good build quality and generous room dimensions and don't look back!! Character is a pain in the ass and over hyped. You can add character to your beautiful new house that isn't full of hidden problems.

AIBU? If you're avoiding new builds purely because of these reasons everyone goes on about.. I highly recommend viewing one for yourself. You may be pleasantly surprised

I'd hate a new build - boxy little rooms, neigbours all around, give me an old cottage miles from nowhere with wonky walls and draughty windows any day

The place I lived in before our new build was a lot smaller & darker, it was a farmhouse/dairy that had been made into 3 homes, we had 1 double bed pushed against the wall and just enough room for a cot in the other room.
I don't think I have ever been so cold.

Now we have floor to ceiling windows to maximise light, triple glazing, and solar panels included from day 1.

Not all new builds are boxy & small, but our garden is!

Like PP have said, any age house can be small, big, falling apart, pristine, warm, or cold it just depends.

Now we have double bedrooms

I want a new house. My brother's house built 2019 and it is to die for. Solid. Insulated. Luxurious. So well laid out. It is only a bit bigger than my house but the use of space much cleverer

I'm in a house built in 1882. It's a detached 4 bedroom 3 reception room house. It is beautiful with the most stunning climbing roses at front. We are renting and for a modern family it really doesn't work. There are just two single (!!) Wall plugs in each room. We have so many extension cables. The four of us work from home we each have at least 3 devices. Internet is a pain. Boosters extenders everywhere. Thick walls poor signal. Shit WiFi speeds as we are too remote for fibre. Single glazed windows with a humidifier on 24/7 otherwise we get mould. Our utility bills top £300 a month. More in winter. Heating Oil is expensive and inefficient. Thermostats don't work. And our garden needs 5 hours just to cut the grass. The damn climbing rose took 4 hours to trim alone. That is just one side of the house and we are in the middle of a quadrant garden. The garden is feckin an ordeal. I think these kind of houses need a lot of time and care. And money. We have put a deposit on a swanky new build with the very latest eco energy technologies and shall garden. We are going to buy a Tesla. Can't wait.

My new build is 2500 sq ft with huge floor to ceiling windows, concertina doors, parquet flooring. House made from locally sourced stone. Not all new builds are small or characterless but I appreciate we are at top end of builds.

I don't think they're all overpriced. Ours is £255k which we are more than happy to pay for 4 double bedrooms, downstairs loo, family bathroom, en-suite, kitchen/diner, living room and a separate reception room which will be a play room. Detached with a garage and a 42x50ft garden.

Yes we could get an older house with a bigger garden for less but once you factor in work, new kitchens, bathrooms, flooring etc you'd be looking at the same. I think that's part of the reason they're more expensive, older houses have to sell for slightly less than new ones as they're accounting for work, modernisation or atleast re-decorating for most of them. I doubt they work out too different all things considered, especially long term.

Oh yeah, wallpaper horrors here too - sometimes go to pull some off only to reveal a crumbling hole lurking beneath. Tend to stick some bits back down and pretend it didn't happen!

I can understand and almost forgive our previous owners' love of woodchip which hid a multitude of sins.

How I envy those in newer houses who can decorate a room in a day just by opening a tin of paint.

I’ve lived in a new property for the last 6 years and I wouldn’t live in an older one again. Our last house was a 1930s one so not that old but if, for example you took a radiator off to decorate the wall would come down.
My newer house doesn’t need much heating and it’s just so lovely and convenient 3 bathrooms. I honestly would struggle to live in an older house now, I think I’d find it depressing

I loved my beautiful Victorian house but it was cold , damp and a complete money pit. With sloping ceilings upstairs that made it difficult to fit any bedroom furniture in.
My new build is brighter, cheaper to run, much warmer. The room sizes are as big as in our old house, but we have built in wardrobes and lots of storage space. And no sharing of bathrooms.
I do agree that older houses are more lovely, but new houses are more comfortable and easier to live in imo

Small developers are pretty much always better but generally I hate new builds for how soulless they are and everyone has the same but different. Give me damp and character any day! I did have a wobble 6 months ago though and almost considered the dark side too!

Yes we could get an older house with a bigger garden for less but once you factor in work, new kitchens, bathrooms, flooring etc you'd be looking at the same. I think that's part of the reason they're more expensive, older houses have to sell for slightly less than new ones as they're accounting for work, modernisation or atleast re-decorating for most of them

That’s unusual that none of the older ones are done, or maybe that’s all that comes up cor sale?. I live in a very old little village, most of the houses are listed or period. Most of them are “done”

There are a few smaller cottages that come on where someone has lived for a long time and they need some work as the elderly owner has not done anything dor a long time, swirly carpets, and an ancient kitchen kind of thing, the price for those “undone” period houses are equivalent to the small development of half a dozen new builds there is.

The done cottages go for much, much more. Predominantly though it’s much bigger multiple seven figures properties and arguably they are all done, even if it was done twenty years ago, due to the standard.

To be fair though, the new builds are lovely, it’s a very small developer, half a dozen houses in keeping with the village, but still very boxy inside with small gardens.

It’s curious though that everyone who buys from a developer apparently does so from a small one, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone say I bought from persimmon or bellway or whomever 😄

@Bluntness100

Yes we could get an older house with a bigger garden for less but once you factor in work, new kitchens, bathrooms, flooring etc you'd be looking at the same. I think that's part of the reason they're more expensive, older houses have to sell for slightly less than new ones as they're accounting for work, modernisation or atleast re-decorating for most of them

That’s unusual that none of the older ones are done, or maybe that’s all that comes up cor sale?. I live in a very old little village, most of the houses are listed or period. Most of them are “done”

There are a few smaller cottages that come on where someone has lived for a long time and they need some work as the elderly owner has not done anything dor a long time, swirly carpets, and an ancient kitchen kind of thing, the price for those “undone” period houses are equivalent to the small development of half a dozen new builds there is.

The done cottages go for much, much more. Predominantly though it’s much bigger multiple seven figures properties and arguably they are all done, even if it was done twenty years ago, due to the standard.

To be fair though, the new builds are lovely, it’s a very small developer, half a dozen houses in keeping with the village, but still very boxy inside with small gardens.

It’s curious though that everyone who buys from a developer apparently does so from a small one, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone say I bought from persimmon or bellway or whomever 😄

None that we wouldn't want/need to make fairly large changes too, and mainly we just aren't interested in doing so anyway to be honest. I love the idea of it all just being done, to our choices, ready and waiting for us.

Someone downthread posted about how happy they are in their Persimmon. The closest Persimmon to us is over an hour away but I know a few people living there, some with issues, some without. They can't all be that bad or no one would buy them I suppose. We live too far away from any major town/city for any of the big names to build here, but local builders do.

Bluntness100

I will name and shame

Mine was from Linden Homes, £152,000 for a 2 bed in Cornwall.

Did I mention the tiny garden

@LellyGreen

I don't think they're all overpriced. Ours is £255k which we are more than happy to pay for 4 double bedrooms, downstairs loo, family bathroom, en-suite, kitchen/diner, living room and a separate reception room which will be a play room. Detached with a garage and a 42x50ft garden.

Yes we could get an older house with a bigger garden for less but once you factor in work, new kitchens, bathrooms, flooring etc you'd be looking at the same. I think that's part of the reason they're more expensive, older houses have to sell for slightly less than new ones as they're accounting for work, modernisation or atleast re-decorating for most of them. I doubt they work out too different all things considered, especially long term.

That's pretty much the spec we were looking for. We could have got it at that price in the mining village we used to live in but would have been 450k on the new development near where I live, now, just a few miles away. We didn't want to be out in the sticks any more, though, and needed to be closer to ds2's special school.

I was fully aware of the pitfalls of buying an old property before I put in an offer. I'm not sure how problem free a 280 year old house (mine) would be?

It requires regular 'boring' upkeep but it's the sacrifice I have made. It tells a thousand stories and I absolutely adore all its crooked floors, uneven (but some beautifully curved) walls, drafts and damp bits.

@CuriousaboutSamphire

Not all of them are that bad.

Ours is about 600 years old and just needs some decorating!

What's the history? I am OBSESSED!

I've recently moved into a 280 year old Weaver's Cottage, found an old loom tool in the loft and have become a qualified historian 😜

New build house very frequently seem to be overvalued. When we bought our last house, people were just moving into a small development of 5 houses just in front of ours. Ours was a chocolate box period farmhouse. We all paid around the same.

14 years later the houses in that development sold for less than they were bought for.

We made £150k+ and had just tarted it up. Had painted the kitchen doors rather than put in a new one. New bathroom too, but that cost us £1500 at mate's rates.

Linton 😃

I think op you kinda nailed it. If you’re looking to move into everything done, as you are, then a new build is the most cost effective and efficient way to achieve this.

A period property and I mean specifically a listed building is a Labour of love. You really, really don’t want to buy one if you’re not willing to spend time and money on it. It’s really not something you go into lightly.

A period property less so, I had a Victorian house and we lived there over a decade and did nothing to it other than a new boiler ans replace the bathroom, and the heating was very, very efficient as it had double glazing etc,

It all really depends on what you want I think and often about your stage of life, finances, and really if you want it done or willing to have it done.

I live in a National Trust village which of course ensures that the properties are protected for posterity. Some of the properties were bought for the nation and are rented to particular tenants but most are owned.

Old houses are to look at on ‘Escape to the country’, new houses are to live in (not those built by large developers though).

A period property and I mean specifically a listed building is a Labour of love.

Ours is listed and yes, absolutely, you should look after it whilst not being slavish in your adherence to its period. That is a mistake. As are the bifold doored clones and the mega television sets stuck to a prominent wall.

Yeah, we're TV in the corner people. TV is getting to be a bit of an antique, too. Slow but sturdy.

They are fine if you can afford constant repairs. It's not much fun living with drafts, cracks and noisy plumbing, nor always having workmen around.

We lived in two older homes, one flat conversion in a huge 1860’s house and one from 1910. Both had issues with heating, damp and rodents.

Also expensive to maintain and not really suited to the our lifestyle. For example tiny kitchens/ bathrooms and huge dining rooms. We moved to a 1960’s centre hall plan home and I love it! You need to add the character yourself but it’s such a pleasant space to live in. And very few hidden surprises.

I think it also helps if you're quite handy. The previous owners of our house couldn't change a light bulb without damaging the fitting. They left it in quite a state despite having been renovated just a decade previously. Within days of moving in, we got the knackered central heating working - all that was needed was a capacitor replacing in the controller and dh is pretty adept with electronics. Bent oven door fixed. Broken light fittings replaced like for like and so on. We still have bath taps that we hate though as we know the limits of our collective patience and they're not particularly accessible!