do you prefer older properties to new builds?

[iWantChampagneOnColaBudget]

was wondering how people felt about the sizes, structure etc of the houses being made now as opposed to before and wether they're preferable to older houses?

thought pls

OLD
Pros: character, bigger gardens, established communities
Cons: more maintenance, smaller rooms, poor insulation, often no offstreet parking

NEW:
Pros: good insulation, better lay out, much easier maintenance
Cons: Small gardens, front garden is all for the car, less community feel

I grew up in old houses and lived in them until 9 yrs ago; definitely a convert to Newer houses. Mind, we are lucky to have a good size garden.

Definitely old
Currently live in a new build and it's shite.
The walls are rubbish as you cannot put a screw or nail in the walks as they are paper thin with a huge gap between inner and outer wall.
All the curtain poles are cusing the walls to cave in.
When you accidentally open a door too hard the door handle makes a bloody great hole in the wall.
Give me a Victorian semi any day.

in betweeny for us. we have just bought a large 80s house and moved from a lovely Victorian terrace. while the old one was great this is a hundred times more practical and we have got a pile of space now. I'm hoping it will be well insulated come winter.

Definately old.

New builds all tend to be boring square or oblong rooms.

Give me something quirky with nooks and crannies every time.

I prefer older houses. Have lived in 18 homes in my life and have preferred the older ones.

Older do tend to be harder to heat, seem to need more maintenance but also seem more solid, more soundproofed, have quirks (that generally I love), have character, larger gardens, more green space in general on older housing estates with pavements outside. Old houses that come with garages have garages that are actually big enough to pout a car in without having to climb out of the sunroof.

Modern: Are lovely in alot of ways imo its just a shame they cram so many ontop of each other onto all these new estates, some have gardens that are very very small. I often wonder why anyone would want a 4 or 5 bed home with a garden only big enough for a rotary clothes line and a couple of deckchairs?? I say that as someone who hates gardening. I also think that its wrong that they build housing estates with "family homes" withou pavements - thats how tight the space seems to be. We looked at a lovely house a few weeks back that I adored - its 18 months old and been decorated to a very high spec. Me and DH loved it but the weird shared driveway carryon and no pavements on the estate just put me off. if I could lift that house and put it where my current 1950s house is I would be happy. In the few new build houses we have lived in we have found soundproofing a real let down. Its a bit embarrassing listening to someone (a guest) peeing and farting in the loo 2 rooms away. Great if you need to keep an ear out for younger kids though. We also think rooms are getting smaller. We have big furniture anyway and because we move from army house to army house we now wont replace it until we buy our own home (later this year hopefully) we have made it fit all these years but in our experience - we have fitted in OK into older houses. The most modern house we had meant 1 sofa and 2 dining chairs a chest of drawers and 2 bedside tables spent 18 months in the garage. Modern houses for sure are better insulated against the element and cheaper to heat. I dont like the fact new builds are now water metered as standard either but then we are still a family with teens (lots of hair washing in this house!!) my view on that may change in 10 years.

I prefer older houses. Have lived in 18 homes in my life and have preferred the older ones.

Older do tend to be harder to heat, seem to need more maintenance but also seem more solid, more soundproofed, have quirks (that generally I love), have character, larger gardens, more green space in general on older housing estates with pavements outside. Old houses that come with garages have garages that are actually big enough to pout a car in without having to climb out of the sunroof.

Modern: Are lovely in alot of ways imo its just a shame they cram so many ontop of each other onto all these new estates, some have gardens that are very very small. I often wonder why anyone would want a 4 or 5 bed home with a garden only big enough for a rotary clothes line and a couple of deckchairs?? I say that as someone who hates gardening. I also think that its wrong that they build housing estates with "family homes" withou pavements - thats how tight the space seems to be. We looked at a lovely house a few weeks back that I adored - its 18 months old and been decorated to a very high spec. Me and DH loved it but the weird shared driveway carryon and no pavements on the estate just put me off. if I could lift that house and put it where my current 1950s house is I would be happy. In the few new build houses we have lived in we have found soundproofing a real let down. Its a bit embarrassing listening to someone (a guest) peeing and farting in the loo 2 rooms away. Great if you need to keep an ear out for younger kids though. We also think rooms are getting smaller. We have big furniture anyway and because we move from army house to army house we now wont replace it until we buy our own home (later this year hopefully) we have made it fit all these years but in our experience - we have fitted in OK into older houses. The most modern house we had meant 1 sofa and 2 dining chairs a chest of drawers and 2 bedside tables spent 18 months in the garage. Modern houses for sure are better insulated against the element and cheaper to heat. I dont like the fact new builds are now water metered as standard either but then we are still a family with teens (lots of hair washing in this house!!) my view on that may change in 10 years.

older (usually) better for space and layout.
newer (usually) usually for enegry effiency.
we are living in a victorian terrace which is brilliant for space but trying everything to make it more energy efficient without losing charme.

in an ideal world we would have built our own house but with prices atm that was not an option.

We live in a very, very old house. It is lovely but has all the pitfalls of being drafty and frustratingly wonky and our ceilings in some rooms are barely 6ft. I like new builds too, as long as they're not 'Barratt' type developments.

The worst looking type of house imo is 1950/60/70s.

I'd never buy a newbuild - they don't feel robust or built to last, they have terrible sound insulation between rooms and interior wallas are very flimsy.

Older properties have their own problems. I think the best quality is 1930s or 1950s - when things were still built to last and it's recent enough for them not to be crumbling to bits yet.

(obviously yes 1930s/50s are not necessarily the most beautiful from the outside, but that's not the biggest issue for me...)

Ha ha - thats true about some older houses not being very pretty. I have only lived in one pretty house - our first home which was a modern bungalow. Built and designed by a builder for his family and we bought it 4 years later. Was fabulously insulated and warm triple glazed (North Scotland) but some of the internal walls were paper thin - we used to call it our papermache house! LOL - It looked good from the outside though.

Having since lived in army housing none of our other houses have been anywhere near pretty just very utilitarian but I do personally like stained glass in some early 1950's houses. 1970's houses are darn ugly (grew up in one)but recently I have seen some have a very contemporary overhaul (on the outside) and they look fab.

For me though in this country where we spend so much time inside our homes I think I would prefer an uglier on the outside house with the space,quirks and character I like over something with kerb appeal that feels cramped.

Think I have just realised I want to live in an older house. Off for another search on rightmove now .

We live in a new build, it is a bit quirky , we have acres of land and are in the edge of a village - so part of an established community .

I just like a nice house, that can be old or new.

I love new one off contemporary houses and some older houses.
I like the ceiling height of Victorian / Edwardian houses, large windows and well proportioned rooms.
I like some period features & generous plots.
It's hard going getting them more energy efficient and quite often you need to do work to them.
We've just moved into a Victorian house which requires work on the electrics, plumbing, heating etc
When we've finished it will be stunning but it does take a lot of effort to get there.... Many don't want to or have the time or money to make that effort.
I love lots of contemporary homes (i'm an architect & some of my friends have designed stunning houses) just not the cookie cutter Barrett type estates that spring up everywhere looking the same - tiny, expensive and poorly made.
All houses need maintenance something that most people forget old and new.

I prefer Georgian or modern architect/ designed.

Georgian - great square big rooms, big windows and good light. Skirting and cornices etc

Modern designed - glass, light and good wood. Good spaces.

Modern.

If I won the lottery, I think I'd like a barn conversion or something.

However, on a modest budget my preference is for 1930s houses.

Dislike Victorian terraces the most - in my opinion they so often do not have character, you find row after row of identical houses - there's nothing distinctive or characterful, when they're all the same. Furthermore, I really dislike the layout of most Victorian houses (unless they've been heavily updated!) the narrow galley kitchens, the bathroom at the back of the kitchen, the over large dining rooms and comparatively small living rooms, the one massive bedroom and then the tiny box room and they never have straight walls, clean lines and are expensive to heat (unless someone has spent a lot of money modernising them). They're pretty but just so impractical. I also dislike the straight roads of Victorian houses, with loads of cars outside. They're not conducive to children playing outside and so lack a bit of community.

However, I equally dislike the really modern house (built this century). Those really have tiny gardens, lack of decent parking, small rooms and the modern estates are so imposing with no front gardens, and all the houses built straight onto the street. I also dislike the modern trend for all the houses looking different to each other, it looks kind of odd.

My house is a compromise house - it was built in 1990, old enough to have a decent sized back garden, rooms are big enough, internal walls are mostly brick, but it is on a very nice road, where the children can go out to play, cars are off the road, it's a bendy road so cars drive slowly and it is safe. The estate is pretty to look at (all built in Cotswold stone) where everyone has got gardens and the houses face in different directions, so it is not all overlooked. I like the fact that the rooms are all decent (kitchen diner and large living room) and it services our needs.

If I could buy any modest house, I think I would buy 1930s (the type with the bay windows). To me, that has the best compromise between practicality, individuality and nice features.

I love Victorian and Edwardian houses. I live in a terrace I'd out at about 1900. Brilliant sound proofing. Good sized rooms for a relatively modest house. Loads of storage. Big windows. High ceilings.

A modern architect designed one off with every mod con -yes please. But a Barrett box in which they try to convince you that a room 12 x 12 is a "lounge/diner" - no ta.

I like old properties for the room sizes and ceiling heights etc, quite like some of the old features but I do find them cold and high maintenance.

recent new builds I don't like, the quality seems a lot lower, the rooms are often pokey, gardens tiny, ceilings lower etc. they often feel a bit more MDF like if that makes sense.

However I do think there were some nice houses built in between, I suppose older new builds. I was brought up in a house built in the late 60s, nice ceiling heights, lovely fitted cupboards, decent dimensions and walls weren't paper thin etc.

we own a 1930s house which is lovely, wish we could afford to do it up properly and heat it as well as I would like to but one day we will, we have original stained glass windows, original fireplaces too.

I can't stand modern new builds. Small square rooms with low ceilings. I like the nooks, crannies and lack of right angles in older houses. I like solid internal walls and character.

I like old properties. We have an old Victorian property, good room sizes and layout. Decent size back garden.

It is badly insulated though.

I have seen the odd poster (think only one on this thread) saying new builds have larger rooms. I have only been in two properties that had decent room sizes, they both cost over £600,000 (and they are north of Birmingham). I think a decently sized new property is doable but only if you are minted.

I prefer older houses. I've twice owned houses built in the late 1920-30s but really like Victorian houses and Georgian too. The most modern place I've ever lived in is probably a 1960s flat. I love the internal features of older houses, like fire places and dado rails.

What puts me off modern houses is small rooms, small gardens, and poor quality so maybe poor sound proofing.

We have just had a week in a converted barn in Cornwall.

It was stunning to look at, open plan, glass sided stairs up the middle, big wood burner in the centre of the living space... So lofty on the first floor with windows so deep we could all sit in them. It looked like something out of an interiors magazine.

But having sleeping accommodation on the ground floor, with wooden floors throughout was just a pita. It was so blimmin noisy everywhere, unless everyone was asleep.

Ladylech, makes an interesting point about the trend for estates of new builds to look different, therefore odd. I live in Australia, where nearly all houses are different from each other. Quite tiring on the eye. You do get some Federation terraces that are either lovely and spacious, or workers' cottages, but mostly detached.

This thread makes me laugh because I live in a deeply unfashionable late 70s-early 80s timber house, yet still regarded as old build. There aren't many like it, and I like to think that as a style it may come back.:o

The trend here is to bulldoze a house after sale and re-build, mostly some horrid Mcmansion with no garden, and no better standards of insulation/cooling, often worse. So, to answer the question, I like older properties, usually built with good passive cooling, though heating is shite because it never gets cold in Australia, you know.

You will never get me living in a new build!!! We have on occasion gone to view new build show houses just for entertainment!! They have no storage!! We walk in and think 'where do you put the Hoover?' We also laugh at the miniaturised furniture they use!! We have a 300 year old cottage, street parking but I have never not been able to park right outside my house. It's only a two bedroom but in terms of square footage it's much bigger than a 3 bed new build. Yes it costs more in maintenance etc but we have got a huge quirky garden complete with mahoosive oak tree and stone built pig stys (they look like normal outhouses). In every room we have sooo much storage.... I have a big pantry, a walk in wardrobe etc etc. in terms of cost our 2 bed cottage is the same as a 3 bed new build in the same area.
I really hate the way new builds are cramped in estates now as well!!
On the downside of an old cottage.... People are always wanting to look around it!! If we are out the front of our house and see some people walking towards us (usually of the older generation) we hide as we frequently get "oh we would love to have a look around your house" so people will try and look through the windows (even with net curtains!! We can be sat watching tv and someone's face will be pushed up against the window!!) also have a wood burner - lush!!!

Why would you go and view a show house for entertainment? Is it funny to go and laugh at houses that others have saved for years to buy and are probably very pleased with .

We have a new build with a acres of land , including an orchard full of trees where our chickens live and space for pigs and other animals . Thee is plenty of storage , even a pantry .

I have a detached 1961 house. What I hanker after is a detached Victorian house with fireplaces in the bedrooms and deep sash windows.

However, in reality I look at them on Rightmove and think, yes, I could swap my house for that one but I would be trading my huge garden, driveway for six cars, double garage and abundance of natural light (massive windows, PITA to buy curtains but the house is so sunny). I'm not sure it's really worth the swap.

IMO sixties houses have the best of everything. My colleague has just bought a new build and I can honestly say that the whole house would fit into my garage and utility room. I recognise there is a difference in the price of the two houses but I can't believe that developers are allowed to call these tiny spaces 'a family home.' On entering the house, one of us had to stand in the downstairs loo in order to let the other person in the front door. There is literally no wardrobe space. You'd be fine living there alone with no 'stuff!'