Old or new build house??

[Twinkletron]

We currently own a beautiful (but small) cottage with shed loads of country charm on the edge of dartmoor. Many peoples idea of heaven. But.... Its a 2 bed and we've just had a baby and plan to have another soon so ideally need to move in.... Well....we have a 5 year plan to give us chance to save. The question is (need something to aspire to, to help us save) do we stick with old, period, characterful property (which we love) or go for a more modern property. Our cottage has a damp/mould issue.... We've spent thousands on damp proofing etc but I think its just that that's how these houses are (ie lack of ventilation etc) our 2 previous places also had these issues. New (er) build places are much much bigger for the money and don't have the huge money eating problems but severely lack character.

Has anyone gone from old to new and regretted it??

I started new - hated it.

Then old - loved it but constant maintenance.

We now live in a house built in 1972. Total fugliness from the outside but big, warm and easy to maintain. The biggest plus point is location.

I absolutely love this house.

I know that I couldn't live in a new build estate.

New. Preferably straight from the builders with 10 year NHBC guarantee.

Old all the way.

Possibly new if I had the budget to buy an amazing plot and build a house I designed.

Old and take advice from someone who knows how old houses work and definitely doesn't try to get you to put a DPC in!

When I say 'new' what I actually mean is 1970/80 type houses where they still have garage/driveway/decent size garden. I could NEVER live in a new build with postage stamp garden and parking for only one car. Those estates are going up everywhere around here and the rooms are tiny even in the 5 bed 'family' homes.
Our previous homes were Victorian terrace but still had the damp/condensation issues. I just want to live somewhere that doesn't grow mould behind the furniture!!

I'm trying to convince myself that you can create character with decoration?

When we last moved house we had to decide between small old house with tons of character and huge garden, but needing loads of work, or fugly 1960s large house with no maintenance issues, double glazing, damp proof etc. We went for 1960s house and I have honestly never regretted it. Its in a fab location -pretty lane in pretty village, but not too far from great city.

You can make a fugly house look great inside and add character through decorating and furnishings. I love the fact that our house is solidly built and well insulated, and that we have had to spend very little on maintenance.

I think you can create character in a 70's house. We started Victorian and have ended up 70's. maybe you could look at house interiors for inspiration?

60s and 70s houses can be very nice. I don't think they need lack character.

60s and 70s houses are great. They are period, we are talking 50 years old now! You can fill them with mid century furniture and they look cool.houses uk

Not sure link worked but google images. Orla keily type stuff looks good in them too.

I dont like old houses. My family has enough 'character'(grin) !

Imo every house is unique and character once you move in and you fill it with your own stuff, especially if you have some old family stuff, photos etc, or stuff from your travel.

We have a new house (well we've been here 10 years but it was new build to us). It's double fronted and a nice looking house. It has 5 good size bedrooms (4 doubles and one single) and it has a huge garden. Maybe that's not the norm, but it does show that not all developers build bad houses.

Personally I love rooms with large windows and high ceilings. Low ceilings make me claustrophobic. So we've gone for Victorian or Edwardian properties although I had a 1930's house that was also quite airy.
1960's can have exceptionally dodgy build quality if you are not careful as can the 1970's
I would look at each property on it's own merits rather than going for a particular type. It might mean you look at a wider range if properties and you may be surprised at what catches your eye.
Old properties can have problems but so can new ones.
Old properties can be solidly built and if they've been well maintained and sympathetically renovated can provide amazing homes. New properties can have better layouts but if not looked after can have just as many albeit different problems (thin construction, flat roofs, leaky windows)
Brand new houses often have huge snagging lists and massive build quality problems (i work in construction and hear about it a lot) which is why I always laugh when I hear that people are buying new for a hassle free property.
If you are unsure go and look at all properties that tick the boxes for your essentials, check out build quality, problems, things that need maintenance (all houses need maintenance, which is a trap many people fall into) and then see what grabs you.

Also don't fall into the trap of assuming no of beds = size of house.
We live in a 5 bed house and so does my mother. Her new build could fit all 5 bedrooms into 2 of our Victorian ones.

Have you thought about an old property that's been recently converted?

We live in a barn conversion which was completed about a year ago. The interior gives us open plan space, mezzanines and high ceilings with all the usual trappings of a new build, double height windows, under floor heating throughout etc. But we also have lots of charm and character, exposed beams, vaulted ceilings etc. the exterior is about 200 years old. Best of both worlds IMO.

The new builds that we looked at were ok on paper but in reality the rooms were very small as was the living spaces. Very small gardens, no garage and neighbours within spitting distance and all the issues that that brings.

YY on the HUGE snagging list. We're still pushing the developer to complete ours 8 months on.

The Georgians were cowboy builders, according to a builder I used to know who specialised in historic houses. It was a period when there was a lot of throwing things up as fast as you could to make a quick profit.

We have a house that's less than twenty years old, one of the main attractions when we viewed was the generous bedroom sizes (all doubles). It does suffer from a dispoportionately smaller kitchen (and thegarden isn't big enough to extend it) , but its major attraction is it doesn't "feel" new IYSWIM. We didn't plan to buy a newer place, There just wasn't anything period in the area we wanted to buy. No regrets so far, it's still "ours" and as we maintain it we'll do things in our own style anyway. I don't think there's much difference in maintaining a hoise whatever the age, there will always be things touched by entropy!

Lamb, a converted old property would be our ideal place but living on Dartmoor the prices of such a place are through the roof and way out of our price range. I love Victorian/edwardian terrace properties but don't want to move back to the city to have one. New build is a def no no so I think my plan is to get my head around a 'newer' house I.e 70/80/90's and use the time during my 5 year plan to compile a scrap book of interior design ideas to create a bit of character. They are building an ikea here next year hurrah!!! :D

I had a Victorian flat which was freezing. We swapped for a 1931 semi which was lovely but needed a roof and some damp-proofing.

We now have a huge 1961 detached. Ugly really but so nice to live in!

We also considered a detached 1960's house which had a very ugly exterior but good living space inside. The vendors wanted quite a lot for the house which was somewhat dilapidated so we didn't go for it in the end. Our plan was to do an exterior renovation and an extension to the rear.

www.channel4.com/4homes/build-renovate/building-renovating-advice/exterior-facelifts-gallery

What does fugly mean?

We are buying a 70s detached house. My husband is an architect and likes the space and build quality