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

Having spent every last penny to the point of massive debts on this current house ( other factors too - disability, stupidness) I would go new every time. We moved in with a survey done ( proper one) but had to change the kitchen, the wc, the boiler, the bathroom, the wiring, the banisters, etc etc. it's on the market. The next people will get to so the fun stuff

Like others I much prefer 'older' houses for the character etc but for ease of living, if you aren't into maintenance etc living in a newish build is great. Our house is about six years old, plenty of room (but not enough built in cupboards), double garage, large driveway, reasonable garden (we hate gardening ), so although it is not perfect it suits us. Our first home together was an Edwardian semi - I loved it and have very many happy memories, but something was always going wrong and it needed a lot of money continually spending on it. No parking either which was a real pain.

Ah we'll that's the advantage of he new build. Like you, we spent £££ on this house to bring it up to standard (stripped it back to brick, rewired, replumbed etc) and it is now effectively a new house but yes, it cost a lot and we have a mortgage on that.

The thing about doing it yourself is that you have some control over the quality of these things. Some new builds have plastic pipes instead of copper ones for the plumbing - these things will eventually need replacing. The boiler may be a cheap model, the wiring won't necessarily give you the number of plug sockets or tv aerials that you actually find you need as your family grows (we installed aerials and cat 5 cables in all the bedrooms, though the DC have no Idea yet they are there - our playroom has a tv aerial for when it later becomes a teenage hangout).

My colleague's house has all new appliances but they are cheap brands that I know from bitter experience will quickly go wrong. If I was buying a new build I'd probably pay the difference for better appliances.

(We had a 1931 semi previously and I agree there was always something going wrong. I used to eye the roof, which was sagging. We'd had it looked at and strengthened - it was perfectly fine but I knew we would end up replacing it one day).

I love old period properties
I feel new houses have no 'character' to me.
We bought a cottage built in 1870 and I'm really excited to be renovating although it is going to be a lot of work.

Old.

I live in an Edwardian semi and love it. Massive garden, bay windows, solid walls.

I do like 70s houses though as well.

If we had endless funds this would be fine. House was built thirty years ago and we are now seeing the need to change whereas earlier owners didn't do much maintenance it seems or updating. So kitchen cupboard fell off, gas fire condemned, new fuse box etc. next it will be the roof and tbh I want to pay off the debt. So we are downsizing, buying new, and will have ten years ( nhbc) to recoup something.

Old every time. We live in a modern (1980s) box for reasons of finance and location, and I hate it. We moved from a flat in a converted Edwardian semi, and it just felt so spacious by comparison - big rooms and high ceilings. Yes, expensive on maintenance, but so is this one - we've spent about £80K on work to this one since we moved in.

Old ones that have been modernised for better insulation and wiring/plumbing.

My first house was old. Very cute and lovely view of a church. And not well built. I used to lie awake worrying about it falling down. I could also hear EVERYTHING next door, even the sound of a teaspoon stirring a cuppa, had to go to bed early so I would be asleep before next door's snoring began. My garden was an odd narrow shape and next door had right of way over it. Real parking issues. Oh, and really bad damp.

My current house is 1990s and far more practical, a little lacking in character I admit, but not ugly and far more practical. Zero storage though.

Next house (fingers crossed) is a NEW BUILD yippeeee. All the space we need with a good layout, attractive house, loads of storage, HUGE garden, nice outlook, can park 3 cars (if we wanted) plus one in the garage. I'm not talking mega bucks either, and it is far more space than we would get for the same money for an old house.

I live in a really old cottage - it was virtually derelict when we bought it 10 years ago - but now it's refurbed to suit our family perfectly - best of both worlds - as in new fittings and insulated etc but with all the old charm and quirkiness ! and in a charming village setting too - we were just lucky to find it - as was in the 'odd box ' in the estate agents - and we could see the potential ! we put in a ridiculously low offer - and they accepted !!

morale of this story - look at all the properties - even the crazy ones - you too might find a gem that just needs a re polish !!! good luck !! :-)

In theory I prefer older houses but in practice they tend to have small kitchens, inadequate numbers of loos and be expensive to heat. After reluctantly moving to a new house 16 years ago because it was the only vaguely suitable place we looked at I wouldn't go back to an old one.