Why do German people seem to prefer new built houses?

[Nighbynight]

Is it just a cultural thing?
where we live, new houses are really expensive, but older houses much cheaper. Is it just preference, or is there some secret that I don't know about (for example, that the Rathaus gives you a huge bill for compulsory restoration after you buy an old house)?

Because period houses are shit.

They're freezing cold, have damp and other problems, never have enough bathrooms, not much cupboard space (wardrobes, yuk!) and often have heavy windows.

Hopefully our next home will be a modern one.

It's a belgian thing as well. There's a flemish expression 'born with a brick in your stomach'- meaning a desire to build. It's part of the 'belgian dream' to build your own individually designed villa type detached house, four or five bedrooms, cellar, converted loft, with a big garden, outside of town. Hence Belgium is full of individual looking houses built higgledy- piggledy every where - and helped by the fact that planning laws and planning permission used to be virtually non -existant.

Of course now there is less space to build, and it's becoming more unusual to buy land and build on it - but I do know a few couples of my generation who have done this.

Now it's more common to buy an old house and renovate it extensively, as we have done.

Anyway, I know your asking about Germany, but thought I'd tell you about Belgium

I think there is not the same culture of buying and doing up over here in Germany. Germans tend to buy houses to live in them long-term rather than to live in for a few years and then sell and move on, so I suppose the newer the better in that scenario.

And as you say, if you buy an old house here you have to restore it to a certain spec wrt energy efficiency etc. which can be really expensive in an Altbau.

Also, what expat said

thank you!
franke - do you HAVE to restore though? is it a legal necessity?
Do not want Rathaus buildings dept after us. Have enough crap from the JA as it is.

expat - I love old houses! Grew up in a medeival one with all that you mention, but loved it.

'expat - I love old houses! Grew up in a medeival one with all that you mention, but loved it. '

Well, you're welcome to our gas bills .

I grew up in a 1950s bungalow that had been remodelled with all the mod cons. Then I bought a new build. It was bliss: BIG eat-in kitchen with room for appliances to make cooking easy, two full bathrooms and a WC downstairs, power showers, attached garage and paved driveway, walk-in cupboards and plenty of storage space, double-glazed windows, well-insulated with energy efficient heating system, fully wired for modern technology, remote-controlled gas fireplace, sturdy roof.

Then I lived in a modern flat. Hurray!

Any delusions we had about period houses went out the window after just one winter of living in one.

Message withdrawn

no doubt, cod!

I think in countries where there is plenty of space/land available for building, and reasonable planning laws, people often prefer new build houses so that they can have their house the way they want.

In England it is extremely difficult to find a decent plot of land for a house to one's own design. Developers can get permission to build estates, but individuals have a really hard time getting permission to build to their own specification.

yes, thats true, and of course Id love to have a free hand to design my own house. But I really dont want to pay a premium for a new build that was built by a developer.

I have spent winter in a farmhouse in france without any insulation at all - constant battle to keep the pipes from freezing up.

my parents dont have the gas bill problem, expat - they simply have no heating. Neat eh? (they are almost certifiable though)

Didn't a british politician recently suggest wearing two jumpers to save on heating bills? We do that in the winter, as we have an old house, which is cold during the winter despite having double glazing and a good roof.

But it's lovely and fresh in the summer.

NN - it's probably only a legal necessity when you come to sell it (I'm guessing).

I love old houses, lived in Victorian buildings for years in London. However there was something strangely satisfying about moving into a flat here when we arrived 4 years ago and finding that all our furniture did indeed stand up straight against the walls rather than leaning at a jaunty angle near to the walls.

Also if you're buying a newbuild here, you can often bypass the Makler fee.

I will ask about the conditions on selling, as do not want to get lumbered with an unsaleable house either - blood runs cold.

The premium is really huge, though. I would be stretched to afford 3 bedrooms with a newbuild, but could afford an older, traditional style one with 8 rooms, especially if we got one that was heated by a kamin instead of (expensive oil fired) central heating.

hey - if no odd shaped gaps, where do your spiders live???

belgo - think Ive got a brick and an eco heating system in my tum! Would love to install one of those fridge things that air conditions in summer. Or a windmill, but they dont seem popular here, I havent seen any in peoples gardens.

We do two jumpers and I've usually got a wool shawl on top of those.

Heating bills still extortionate.

I don't find it 'neat', though, because the girls get a cough that just doesn't truly go away till spring.

It's not double-glazed, it has secondary glazing.

It's a rental house, so we'll be moving next year.

Nighbynight - it sounds like the German second-hand house market might be a fantastic opportunity to purchase a large house...

I was being sarcastic, actually, about my parents incredible stinginess.
do you know where you are going? tempted to move overseas yet?

the 'they're certifiable' line pretty much pointed that out to me, Nigh .

i'd love to move to continental Europe, but DH is a bit apprehensive.

the windows are lovely in this house - the top halves are stained glass. but the place is cold as a witch's tit.

there is a fairly large english speaking job market in germany. I came here via an english speaking workplace. It is a bit dependent on speciality though - lots of work in the car industry and telcoms, practically zilch in the oil industry for example.

anna, Ive got my eye on one of those traditional, Swiss chalet type houses - am only running shy while I try to figure out why they are so cheap!

Not scared of heating bills if it has got a woodstove.

wood stoves are brilliant!

Sounds lovely . But I agree, try to find out what the catch is first.

I remember a conversation I had with a swiss woman - her: "well we are not sure about buying the flat as its very old" Me: "how old is it?" her: "20 years" me: stunned silence.

Tis a mystery.

i went on an exchange visit to germany when i was about 13, stayed with my german (actually, she was austrian i think) pen friend. her dad was an architect and their house was pretty cool. he designed it, looked like a bungalow from the outside, but inside, there were stairs going both up and down. there was a lower level with the master bedroom and a sauna. ground level was all open plan with a big central fireplace. i remember, they has no curtains, but had some sort of pully system which moved shutters down over the windows at night.

our house is circa 1968 and we seem to have spent the last 2 years getting no further forward with doing it up as so much just needs stripping back to the bear bones and starting from scratch. nothing worse than inheriting another persons dodgy diy!

I read an article about the property market in Japan recently - second hand homes have no resale value there as everyone wants a new home. This is beginning to cause all kinds of economic issues.