Soul Destroying House? Is this one?

[Lillipuddlian]

Hello, apologies in advance if this irritates anyone. My husband and I are dual Canadian/ British citizens. We currently live in Canada but are considered moving to the UK. The big push is climate and what my husband describes as "soul destroying houses with no character and no garden." Below is an example of the homes in our price range (350,000 UK)... this is very, very typical of housing near our jobs. Tell me your opinion, please! Are we picky, or is my husband right, these houses are soul destroying... (not an advertisement!)

premierottawa.ca/property/651-birchland-crescent/

I lòve that house, the staircase :)

I'm confused. Where in the UK are you planning to move to?

if it is just London then it will be crap, sorry. but there are plenty of other places.

Is OP trying to show us what she can get in Canada as opposed to what she would be able to afford in the UK?

The house is bland, soulless and looks hard to heat. It has no aspect. I'd struggle to live there.

I can understand that a long Canadian winter might be tedious, but UK weather is not great either.

It's big and bland, but quite nicely done. With some colour it would look completely different.

Is this a stealth boast?

Where are you thinking of moving to in the UK? I think your DH is in for a shock.

It looks fine to me, very much like the houses that surronded us when we lived in the US, onky those were cheaper.
Where we are now in UK for 350 you get something like this one. Which I don't really like, only the views.
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66301241.html

I’m with your husband. That house wouldn’t make me happy either. I love age and history and quirkiness .... but unless you have pots of money, in the UK these tend to come with small, dark rooms and be crammed in alongside the neighbours.
It rather depends where you plan to move to. The price difference between Canada and SE England in particular is stark. For £350k, you would struggle to find even a two-bed terrace in any reasonable area in London.

It would destroy what is left of my soul, it is bland and empty of any warmth. It is like the modernisation of the character houses here, all the good features gone, no little quirks to make it interesting, no 'life'. Stone cladding, why, just why? And that horrid dark wood. No warmth, no soul, no heart. Just for show.

It is the kind of house I would rent only if there was nothing else but never buy, an operating theatre would be less sterile and boring.

It depends what you look for in a house - it's not too different in feel from any new build estate in the UK if it's the sterility of the environment he's talking about.

I think people shocked at anyone moving from Canada to the UK for the climate haven't experienced six months of winter.

They have to wait to bury their dead until the spring-time, that is how cold it is in Canada for half the year.

I assume your husbands issue is the suburban, identikit houses and it isn't a lifestyle I would like (though plenty love it). But to be fair, a) its not the only one in Canada (might be in Ottawa, I've heard mixed things from Canadian friends....) and I've recently visited someone in the most beautiful wooden house in Toronto I've never seen the like of in the UK.

Personally, if given the choice of that or a converted ground floor Victorian in London/Brighton, I would choose the flat. But these days 350 wouldn't get you a converted Victorian flat in London. Ultimately, different people like different things - the question is whether you and your husband are on the same page.

I'd like to have my soul in that house and see what happens!! Have you actually looked at what you'd get for £350k in UK? I can't believe anyone would leave Canada to come back here

A lot of the houses in the States and Canada are fairly new. They are lacking in character and although they might be big, they're just not that interesting when compared with older properties. Is that what your DH means?

£350k near to Glasgow would get you this: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51130194.html

Which most definitely has warmth and character.

I found the identikit & masses of beige houses in the States miserable. Your house looks lovely, but I suspect everything on the estate is a similar colour & style. The sameness is what gets depressing as we have so many varied materials/styles etc in the UK. I lived in a suburb of California and used to have to visit San Fran or downtown Napa to cheer me up. It's hard to grasp unless you live there

I wouldn’t mind the house, but I think I’d struggle with the swathes of suburbs with houses like it.

Have you looked at where you’d be buying in the UK to compare properly? And as mentioned above, would you consider a less cold part of Canada?

Here's what you'll typically get where I live for £350k!
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64233043.html

Having lived in both Canada and the UK, I would say in general (assuming the same spend):
Your back garden will be a lot (lot) smaller.
You will probably have a very poky entrance hallway—these are quite common, especially with older Victorian houses.
You will likely live in a terraced house, or if you get very lucky, a semi.
You might not have any front garden at all, or if you do there might be a car parking space in it.
You will have lots of fireplaces, but many of them won't be in working order.
Your loo might be downstairs, tucked on to the back of the house.

And yes, the climate is much milder (no extremes; no autumn colours; it very rarely snows or is very hot).

That house in Vancouver would set you back about 3 million dollars.

@Lillipuddlian that house is certainly NOT practical

In Canadian homes (in Ontario) homeowners and visitors alike take off their shoes/boots every time they come into a house

Coats, hats, gloves as well need to be put away - there are no cupboards or storage by either doorway

It doesn't look like there are double doors either on them either

Living area off front door - completely open plan, without doorways - daft IMHO and IME

Totally impractical to live in or visit

Can you give us an example of the kind of soul enhancing property your DH has set his heart on for £350,000 in the U.K.? That money would get you a one-bedroom flat in Ealing for instance. Have a look on Right Move and tell us what takes his fancy.

@LillianGish exactly! But he says a smaller home with bigger garden, for more $ would be preferable. I have seen rightmove properties that would suit us, less flashy, obviously... more money, too. Budget up to $600k your money, would buy a mansion here, a regular home there, outside the southwest and east. :-(

Canadian suburbs are really, really grim. Miles and miles of identikit houses in taupe and grey on TINY plots (why, why so small plots???)

No character.

Especially bad e.g. Calgary where it is plains and so not even any trees to break up the monotony.

It wouldn’t get you a big garden in the South East (or even any garden if all it buys is a flat). Where would you live in the U.K?

@Chickoletta, no, not a boast post.... these homes are all bling inside, with six months of winter outside, soul destroying. @reddressblueshoes was right about climate.

Here, you get house, but no character, no lifestyle. Sure, downtown Toronto or Vancouver, but then you are in British house prices anyway.

FYI we would avoid London, looking Welsh borders, possibly Yorkshire. Budget would be higher, but I appreciate housing in UK still very, very expensive. He doesn't realize.

Long story short, homesickness is a terrible thing, many would rather live in a quirky, small and expensive home or flat than a great big shiny box.

Sorry, babbling a bit.

I clicked on this thread hoping for tips to stop toddler induced mayhem making things worse when I take my eyes off her for a few minutes to try to do some cleaning. That's soul destroying to me. Blank canvas is just that, you can make whatever of it you want to.