To hate new builds?

[Sello]

This will likely be controversial, but my brother and his partner moved into a new build and now my parents are also moving into one.

I find there is something soulless about them.

The one my parents are moving into is in the process of being built and so they’ve put an offer in and been accepted, even though they’ve never seen it, only the plans.

Our house is Victorian and although it does have some problems with damp and insulation, I loved the character as soon as we walked in.
My in laws house is around 500 years old, it’s an old farmhouse and it has so much charm and character.

I know it’s each to their own, but I just feel like they’re uninviting, like Lego houses and like a hotel or something.

A lot are sadly, but I don’t think they have to be, it’s just crappy architecture/building.

I only lived in them growing up, so much prefer my chilly Victorian terrace!

I don’t like them either.

Some of them are part ownership which feels like SUCH a scam. A colleague is paying more than 1K a month for her three bed.

I follow a professional snagger on TT and some of them are not only shocking, they’re dangerous.

I think it depends on the build. I would have agreed wholeheartedly a few years ago and then a couple of friends of mine built theirs a few years ago and it's the most beautiful house I've ever seen.
I don't like the tiny rooms and paper thin walls that I see in a lot of new properties.

I don’t like them either, so I don’t live in one.

YANBU to have your preferences but YABU to create another thread sneering at new builds. Just don't live in one.

I find them very small. My DS has just bought one, and whilst they think it's great I find myself thinking how much more space they could have got for the money (particularly outdoor space) if they'd bought, say, a 1930s house with a decent sized garden!

Their entire house appears to be grey and white and just feels cold to me. Like you, we live in a Victorian house, and I much prefer it.

Well if you don't like them, don't buy one, job done. Meanwhile they are necessary to maintain supply levels and plenty of people do prefer them to chilly Victorian terraces.

I'm not sure what your point is. No ones saying you have to like them personally.

It depends. I'm in a Georgian flat which is chilly and has its fair share of problems.
Previous house was a new build, but an excellent example of one. Local housebuilder, set of 9 houses, with a super high spec (under floor heating and granite work surfaces as standard).
It was hassle free and my kids really miss it. Never mind that we're in a better location now!

Don’t buy one then 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m in my second one, I love the clean lines, blank canvas to do what I want, the insulation is great and all the energy is efficient so my bills are low. Also wall sockets o have tins in each room, in any older home there were mover enough. My living room has 10 wall sockets. My bedroom has 8!

Some of us don't have much choice. Yes it's new build, small, crappy workmanship, no character, shared ownership - but it's all I can afford. Don't assume that people who live in them automatically think they're amazing or that it's a style they would otherwise have chosen.

I dislike them with a passion. I've been in loads, loads of people I know have one, and my bil and 3 of Dh's friends are builders. They are poorly built, I find them small and soulless.

Don't buy one then.

If you don't like them or want to live in one - fine, whatever. But don't start a goady sneery thread looking down on people who do.

Not liking new builds isn't unusual. I'd never express it - people buy them for many valid reasons.

It’s not goady or sneering.

My parents sold their decent sized 1950s house with a big garden and lovely extension in the South East.
They could have bought a similar house for the money they made from it in the area they’ve decided to move to.
But for some reason they’ve gone for this new build.
I can’t understand how you can buy a house that you’ve never even been inside because it doesn’t exist yet.

I am the same but some people definitely like them. Where I live, they sell better than older, bigger houses....yet they are more expensive! I guess they are less likely to need repairs etc.

I think there are pros and cons but unless it was a bespoke new build I couldn’t.

My best friend lives in a really, really posh development of apartments which are done to the absolute highest spec but I can’t get my head round knowing that all my neighbours have the same kitchens, bathrooms and general look. It sort of creeps me out.

obviously all properties were new build at some point 😊

I grew up in an 80s house and it was lovely, all the plots were spaced out and cul de sacs so not much traffic. We had a big back garden and front garden wrapping all the way round. It was insanely warm! My parents and siblings all have new builds, again they picked well designed estates with generous plots. Their houses all have a very clean well finished feel to them. I have a 1930s semi and I love it but I do like the idea of a new build where you don't have to think about the roof and stuff like that! Where I live we do have more amenities nearby like a bakery, corner shop, supermarket all round the corner whereas the new builds don't have that.

I know it’s each to their own, but I just feel like they’re uninviting, like Lego houses and like a hotel or something.

Thats not goady or sneering?

But for some reason they’ve gone for this new build.

because they're grown adults and can make their own decisions. They have a different opinion to you, what's so mind blowing about that?

@Sello maybe they don’t want much work to do? maybe they don’t want to buy a house that may have damp, rotting timbers, single glazed windows, shot plaster?

It doesn’t affect you in anyway so YABU.
Victorian houses are known for their issues too so maybe that’s what they’re hoping to avoid.
They both have their flaws.

It’s taken you this many years to realize we all have different tastes?

My first house was a new build , it was all I could afford . I cried when I moved in it was so horrible . Tiny rooms , postage stamp garden , stairs cutting half the lounge off , paper thin walls hearing the neighbours as if they were in the room too. No wonder living on top of each other creates social problems .

More than that what legacy do we leave ? We have Tudor , Edwardian, Victorian etc etc what will our generation leave , the bloody Barrett house although to be fair they'll fall down in 100 yrs so maybe not such a problem .

I used to live in a Lego house new build. I loved the house. It had loads of space. The location was less convenient though.

maintenance and energy bills were definitely easier than they are in my current Edwardian terrace. OTOH you get rinsed on council tax on new builds.

I live in an old 'character' house and I dream of living somewhere clean, white, and undemanding once the kids are grown up.

I loved our newbuilds, our first home was a 2 bed flat, then we had a townhouse, both were great in different ways. I also love the old cottage we now live in. I think it just depends what you can afford, need and want at a particular time.

There are positives and negatives to both and right now I wouldn't change back for anything. I particularly didn't like the service charge that often comes with newbuilds (though jot high in our case) as I always worried about big sudden increases.

I hate them. They're usually souless, shoddily made, with tiny rooms and gardens. We live in a 3 bed Victorian house and it has a larger footprint than the 5 bed new builds up the road. And they're nearly 3 times the price of our house!