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.

I was referring to the photos that were in the post I quoted - not to any particular poster. I think it’s fair to comment if you’ve lived in both (as you have) but I think a lot of people sneering at new builds here haven’t lived in one

I think the PP meant you are insufferable not your house. I'd agree with her.

That poster is insufferable in being do damn sensitive! In her HUGE. New build with her A+++++++++++ whatever

Just leaving this here…..

I cant seem to read it, whats the gist?

This!!!
we live in a new build as there is no way we could afford a Victorian house on any of the streets around where we are.

I love my spacious 60s house - big garden - long driveway - plenty of garden
But I would love a new build as I can’t afford a new kitchen and bathroom, it needs rewiring and a new roof - some ceilings need replastering and there’s no en suite or utility room
i might downsize further to somewhere older when I retire so that I can afford to have it just how I want it

That was supposed to say plenty of parking not garden twice!

A stereotypical view of 'all' new builds.
My cousin moved into his, last year, on inherited land, managed to get planning permission to have built a house 70 percent glass, in woodland, it is stunningly beautiful, large rooms, high ceilings, indoor pool.
But even the typical new builds are someone's house, each to their own.

Exactly, your averageJoe doesn’t tend to live in a detached Victorian rectory with a sweeping driveway and an acre of garden, a lot of British housing stock is row upon row of cheek by jowl terraced houses in narrow streets with no parking.

It's horses for courses. I bought a newbuild as my last ever purchase, as I wanted no big maintenance jobs (roof, rewiring, new boiler etc). With a new build I've got the house warranty and peace of mind. I love high ceilings, cornices, random cupboards etc of old properties, but that's all behind me now.

If houses are not energy efficient they could become un mortgageable is the general gist of the article.

My 2 bed Victorian semi is way cheaper than any of the new builds where I am!

I used to dislike new builds and as such we bought an older house. Our house has tonnes of character but it also has 100 years of other people’s DIY. An old house with character is great if it’s been maintained and hasn’t been inhabited by people who bodge the work. We’ve been in our house for 5 years and it’s cost us about £30,000 to not actually add value to the house (house has only risen in price due to the market). We still have the kitchen to do, the bathroom to do, the conservatory room sort out (new floor and new roof or tear it down completely and make good), new driveway, new roof, new garage, repointing and rendering or repainting the outside, garden needs landscaping. It costs so much to maintain and do up an old house. It’s never ending and you’re constantly fixing previous people’s mistakes. I’ve said “fuck this fucking house” on numerous occasions and every single tradesperson that has come to our house has said “well I’ve never seen that before”.

Aside from maintaining the house, our garden is massive and too big for us to manage. There isn’t a single even floor on the ground floor so when DD learns to walk she’s going to be tripping over the slight steps up and down. The ceilings downstairs are low and DH hits his head constantly. It gets really cold in winter and really hot in summer.

As such, it’s likely that our next house will be a new build. We don’t need to put in a new kitchen or bathroom or a new roof. The floor plans work for the life we have at the moment. The house will be on an estate versus a busy road now so safe for DD and our dogs. Yes, the new build will lack the character that this house has but it’s going to make a better family home for us, safer and more practical.

Generally I’m not keen at all but we’ve just swapped a full of character but draughty 1926 house (great house but lousy location) for a 2007 property, so not newbuild. It was built as part of a very small development, all the houses are unique, it’s well insulted and spacious and we love it.

I know people who are so obsessed with new builds they deliberately move to a new one every 4-5 years or so so they can have that brand new feeling over and over again. I really don’t get that at all.

Haha, I live in one of these! It's bloody falling to bits. Just had to replace the boiler, roof tiles need doing, bathroom needs updating, the front door is stiff and you have to yank it open, the walls are uneven and need skimming. I'd much sooner live in a new build where I don't need to do any of that.

I LOVE my new build. It’s huge. Sunny, bright and clean. Much prefer it to my last house that was hundreds of years old and chock full of ‘soul’ and problems!
I actually also find that looking out and seeing lots of similar houses helps my anxiety. Feels safer somehow.

I dont like them either, although I bet theyre practical and easier to heat. Im a real sucker for impractical draughty character houses

You just put the soul in them by being there. 🙂

I live in one. The garden is 40 ft, 5 mins walk from the town and there are bus stops at the bottom of my street. We have a huge living room, a large kitchen diner, and another living decent sized living room.

I don't like Victorian houses, each to their own.

Love mine. I hate chilly, drafty houses and a lot of old houses are like that. Mine is amazingly insulated and I don’t need the heating on.

I havent seen new builds with 'plenty of parking', they normally come with garages that you cant fit a car in, which necessitates parking on the small drive or the road which isnt big enough to get past in cars but some do have 'allocated' parking which would also drive me mad

Who describes a house with an unusable garage, a “small” drive and no street parking as “plenty of parking”? I have “plenty of parking” which equals a double garage (can only get one car in due to junk, not due to size of garage), a 4/5 car drive and easily room for 3 cars in the road before I’m over someone else’s front garden. It’s more parking than the “park in the next road if you are lucky” 1930s house I had, or the down a footpath Victorian “cottage” or the “allocated” space in my Georgian flat conversion, or my parents Victorian terrace where I lived when I got my first car, but admittedly less than the Edwardian farmhouse I grew up in. It’s due to the amount of land with the property, not the age of the house.

That’s all well and good, but there just aren’t enough established builds to go around. I would rather an older property, but there aren’t many around and when there is they cost the same as a new build, but require a ton of work which we cannot afford despite already being on the property ladder and a household income of 110k.

I wouldn't mind a new build with plenty of space around it in a small development but these red brick estates with tiny-windowed houses on top of each other with cars everywhere as there's not enough drive space? No ta. Makes me think if that little boxes song. BUT, each to their own innit, they'd absolutely hate my house