New build or older house?

[NorthAngel]

I have to look at buying another house soon (marriage breakdown). Aside from wondering about getting another mortgage (currently mortgage free but will have to give stbx his share) I’m wondering what sort of house I should be looking for. Family home is 4 bed detached house built in 2000. Two bedrooms are empty and I have to pay a gardener to keep on top of the garden and front (large bush/large driveway). I also pay £100 a month for my daughter’s bus pass for school (Catholic school across the other side of town).

So, living in a bigger house with all of the bills associated with it means I’d probably be best downsizing to a 3 bed. Son stays here too sometimes so I would need a 3rd bedroom.

I love older houses as they have more character and charm. I look at new builds and find them lacking in character and they look as if they’ve just been thrown together at speed. I also hate how new builds sit in an estate with gardens having each other and no privacy. However, with the cost of living ever increasing, I am conscious that an older house will be ££££ to run.

Would it be a better move to get a new build?

• gardens backing on to each other

I live in a 200yr old cottage and yes, it has its challenges sometimes. I've also lived in a brand new house and hated its lack of character.

Personally, give me an older house all day long!

I personally hate new builds (my last house was one). They tend to be more economical to heat, but the standard of build isn’t always the best, and the rooms are either small or open plan - which defeats the “heating” argument. I personally think you get more for your money, in an ex council house.
A character property will be expensive to buy, and expensive to maintain and heat.

Totally depends - sounds like you would be better off choosing an area that works for you and then seeing what is available. As long as the house isn't listed you can get double/triple/quadruple glazing - they don't all cost a fortune to heat. We had an old Victorian 2 up 2 down (with the loft done) so 3 beds and because it was mid terrace it was incredibly cheap to heat as it retained all the heat from neighbouring houses too.

So it really does depend on the house...

i live in a beautiful semi detached new build. Its warm, spacious, retains its heat so we barely need to turn the heating on. My estate is well spaced out and my garden is private - only my attached neighbour can see in, and even then that’s only the very end of it.

you’ll get loads of snobs saying how awful new builds are but they aren’t all like that.

There are ups and downs of any houses. If you have had any detached before getting a semi detached will be an adjustment. Same as location. Its finding somewhere tou like.

I’d like a village tbh. I’m at an age now (50) where so find the town a bit much and want to escape to a close location to nice walks/river. I have seen a cottage I could afford. It is 2 bed but the attic has been converted to a 3rd bedroom. I’m just a bit concerned over heating costs. These types of places appeal to me though as they’re filled with character.

I grew up in a house built in the 20s. My parents still live there. It is solid, beautiful, and well-proportioned. It is also a bugger to heat and to insulate. Any work is complicated and messy because of the plaster and lathe walls and ceilings.

When dh and I were house-hunting he loved the idea of modern buildings, but they were flimsy. Plenty of thermal insulation on exterior walls, but no sound-insulation on interior walls. You could hear everything everywhere. The build quality seemed so flimsy. Nothing felt solid or robust. Everything under about 10y old has massive 'snagging' issues that you had to pester the builders to resolve. Gardens were dull, with a thin layer of topsoil covering builders' rubble, so nothing substantial could take root unless you relandscaped.

We ended up buying a house built in the 70s and extended in the 80s. It has the solidity of the pre-War house, with modern building technology such as cavity walls and plasterboarding. It is as easy to live in and to improve as the new-build houses, but all the snagging and relandscaping was done decades ago. It is not as beautiful as pre-War houses, but that's a compromise we can live with.

I would never buy a new build.

If I had LOADS of money for future upkeep I would buy a Victorian or Edwardian or pre-WW2 house!

I'd go for the new build. Just for the ease of it all. It doesn't have to be forever. But the easy house gives you the space to adjust to your new life, focus on the kids, do stuff for yourself with the money you'll save on energy. See it as a stepping stone.

I love both but bought a new build 2 years ago and really love it. I know new builds do get bad press but there is also alot of plus points. We had an older house previously that was costing us quite a bit of money to fix. With a young baby and going back to work I didn’t have the time to get done what I wanted and thought a new build is at least maintenance free for a while. This house has had a few issues but our developer gives us 2 years to flag up any issues, anything we have reported has always been fixed. I know each developer and even site varies so it’s worth looking at local Facebook pages for a site you are interested in. The pages have people on who live in the homes and they will give you honest feedback of how they find the houses, area, customer services of the developer etc. I do find this house alot cheaper to run despite it being twice the size of our last house it is cheaper. You can heat just downstairs or just upstairs (or both). We have solar panels too which do help. Our house is a large 4 bed, with 4 double bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and 4 large rooms downstairs and we pay £83 per month for both gas and electric. It holds heat well but I do think the panels help. We are overlooked by just one house but we are on the outside of the estate. Corner plots and houses on the outside of the estate may be better for privacy? I do love older houses too and would love one in the future when I have the time and finances to do it up how I’d like but this house is easy, easy to run, doesn’t get too dusty, nothing needs repairing or changing for a while etc

Can you get an older house, but spend some money on solar panels, insulation and an efficient pellet heater?

Don't restrict yourself to a type of house.
Some new builds are terrible quality and some old houses are money pits however that's a very broad brush and not always applicable.
Look at lots of houses and visit them and see what works for you.
I live in a house from 1869 and it's insulated, has a new boiler, double glazing, smart heating and solar panels, our semi detached neighbour doesn't. Although the houses look similar and were built at the same time they are actually very different.
My mums new build house was a money pit, everything came to the end of its life at about 10yrs and was falling apart, however my friend has a lovely new build the same age.

We've recently moved to be nearer family. We previously had a mill cottage in woodland, it had fireplaces and bags of character. Loved it, especially at Christmas. To be fair, it wasn't very expensive to heat (thick stone walls) and it was very cool in the summer.

We've moved to an - almost - new build. It's on the very edge of a large new estate which would previously have filled me with horror. But... It's easy to keep clean, light, very cheap to run and has lots of private parking plus a garage. It's also future proof as we can walk /bus into a lovely small town, and it has wider doors and staircases if walking becomes an issue when we're elderly. There's noone behind us, just hills and distant mountains. I couldn't live in a new build without being on the edge and with a great view. It doesn't make my heart sing like our cottage did, but it has enough good points to make it the best choice now.

Sorry, that's probably no help whatsoever!