Going from 1930s house to newbuild

[AndWhat]

Would we be crazy to move out of our 1930s extended semi with solid brick walls for a newbuild?
Pros- less renovations
-cheaper energy bills
-bigger kitchen with utility room
-garage
Cons- smaller rooms
-less living space

• thinner walls
• don't know the neighbours

I'm so confused I'm so fed up of spending out money on our house and it will never be finished to a standard I would like as we just can't justify spending it with the ceiling prices in our area.

Completely with you regarding energy bills and never being finished, but I'd never want to move to a soulless new build.
You can meet the neighbours :-)

I love my new build (it's not new now, I've had it 15 years). Its so easy to look after and warm. My 1930's terrace was freezing with a tiny kitchen and I could hear the neighbours shagging all the bastard time.
I don't understand the 'soulless' thing though. I never have. My 1930's house and my victorian terrace I had before that were identikit boxes.

We moved from a new build to our old converted school house (1800,s)and we have never looked back. .

Sitting here with chilly feet with the raindrops seeping through the old sash windows as I text!! But it's home and full of history and feeling!!

We have a new build, the rooms are a good size, it is well insulated, the internal fixtures and fittings are guaranteed for five years. We won't live here forever as it is not our forever house but it is cheap and not all bad. It depends on the house builder and area. There is a snobbish attitude here on .Mumsnet about new builds but it depends on your circumstances. Ours is a detached house and extremely quiet as everyone else around here is retired! Yep the garden is not huge but there is large field and play are in front of our house and the children keep themselves amused there(I do not have to maintain it which is an added bonus).

No one wanted these houses built when it went to planning but all 250 of them sold with minimal difficulty so they cannot be all bad!

I bought a newbuild a while ago and hated everything about it. The parking was a nightmare for visitors, the "easy to maintain" garden was full of rubble and nothing else, it felt flimsy and poorly finished and sorry, I prefer a little more character in a home. I would never have one again.

It's up to you. One nice neighbourhood isn't anymore soulless than another, be it new or old. I moved a few years back. We'd been in an 1840's house that was built on the cheap for workers in the area. Walls were made of whatever they could throw in them and were crumbly and couldn't hold things like coat hooks, the house was damp and cold such that I'd run the heat mid summer at times just to keep the damp at bay. It was also terraced. Moved from that to a 1930's detached. It's warm, dry, the brick inner walls mean that you have real privacy between rooms. It's solid and feels it. We did look at a few new builds but often found (where we looked) that corners had been cut or weird things had been done with layout (entrance to one home was a stairway up to first floor as the ground floor was "indoor" parking garage, etc). I wouldn't have said no to a new build that had been properly built but it just wasn't available in our search area.

Thanks for the input we have a local option with Morris homes which would be a detached home with separate garage or one further afield with Countryside with an integral garage which would mean DS moving schools during his first year.
Both would mean an increase in mortgage and we'd have to sell ours and possibly move to a rental before the new house is built

Have you considered moving costs and even the cost of storage and renting in between houses? Perhaps you could stay put and spend the money on making your house the way you want to. It will save you thousands in mortgage interest over the next decade or two. It might help to view your home as home rather than investment. Invest elsewhere.

We made a similar move recently and are very happy with our new house. Our electricity and gas bills have more than halved and we are much warmer. Everything is lovely and new instead of old and tired looking. Nothing needs replaced or fixed. We have much more room than we had in our older house. The rooms are all a lot bigger and there are more of them. If you are thinking of moving to a smaller house than you presently have then you should consider how important that extra space you have now is to you. If you need it it wouldn't be a good idea to move somewhere smaller. Not all new houses are small just as not all old houses are big. Ours also has lovely fireplaces and great window features so not all new houses have no soul. I agree with the pp who mentioned the Mn attitude about new houses. As far as I can see the only constant difference between new houses and old houses is the age of the properties.

I live in a 1990's modern terrace. Loved it up until the summer when new neighbours moved in and the thinness of the walls became glaringly apparent. We hear every footstep, door slam and shout and I'm desperate to leave. I'd give anything to be able to move to a more solidly built house but because of the recession, house prices dropped so much that only now 10 years on is our house worth exactly what we paid, so no equity.

Decision wise for you I'd say it's worth considering whether m, of the house was done up to the standard you want, would you be happy to live there indefinitely? If so, the costs of the work is worth it.

If you're looking to use any improvements to gain equity for a house move, then not worth it if you see what I mean?

It'd also really depend on the type, layout and area of the new build. All of the new developments near to me are 'executive homes', which is wanky-speak for small and overpriced imo and the developments are enormous, multi-staged developments with 10 year build plans and the houses are crammed together and all overlooked with tiny gardens. My idea of hell.

Mungo if you've paid a mortgage for so long there will be equity as you'd have difference between selling price and mortgage as cash. I am in my 2nd newbiikd and love it, everything is our choice it has an attic room for character and a lovely porch. I don't understand what 'soulless'means as it's a building it doesn't have a soul.

I think you are right mungo that is the main decision. We could easily stay living in our current house for life if we spend quite a bit of money and extend.
The new builds we've seen are lovely but after speaking to an advisor I'm a bit worried about buying off plan.
It would mean we have to have an offer accepted on our house before we could even reserve a plot and I would hate to be in a position where we could be having to wait a long time/ problems with a new mortgage etc before completion is possible.

We have made an offer on a 1930s house. The house seems to be in good condition. However the building survey highlighted some external cracks which could be due to faulty drainage. We are now not sure if we want to progress with the purchase. Has anyone had experience with external cracks in 1930s house?
Thanks

I’ve never lived in a 1930’s house but I’ve always preferred newer builds. Personal preference and I know some hate the idea of a new build. The house we’ve lived in for the last 19 years was always a compromise as it’s what we could afford at the time. It’s a 1960’s link detached and it’s a very boring souless exterior (IMO).

I love the look of the newer build we are (hopefully) moving to soon which is a townhouse but I think definitely more appealing from the outside . Smaller garden but extra bedroom space and bathrooms - in fact all the rooms are bigger than what we have now but we are hoping the energy bills will be less as better windows, insulation etc.

You can have good or bad neighbours wherever you go. We’ve had the same (good) neighbors for the whole time we’ve lived here. No idea what our new neighbours will be like.

Good advice from mungo. Is the current house in an ideal location for you or would the new builds be equally good? Work out the cost of moving - stamp duty etc - as a budget for renovation as it is a sunk cost