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/

@FluffyWuffy100 the plots are tiny in an attempt to reign in urban sprawl. We almost exclusively 88% live in the suburbs of massive cities that are hours from one another. No popping out to the next village to see some National Trust treasures. Oh no. Miles and miles of boring suburbs, then cornfields, then wilderness. So much land, tiny residential plots 30 feet wide... so much land and we all live on top of one another in massive cities. My husband misses English villages... even ex council houses have nice gardens. Houses from the 30s.... we don't have that here.

sorry, rein in, not "reign" in

Sorry op both myself and OH would find that soul destroying. I've just stayed in very similar on holiday and genuinely found it quite depressing being there (easily fixed on holiday of course, we just stayed out!).

I'm one of those who loves big old houses in the hills, views and draughts and home. In reality I can afford a Victorian 3 bed - but it creaks and groans and has life so I love it!

Yep that is hideous and beige, and poorly furnished with no imagination or flair, but if you want character, with that tends to come high maintenance and big fuel bills.

You can get a decent property in Shropshire/Herefordshire/Welsh borders for £350,000. Heres one I've been admiring

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53475408.html

And in answer to your question, yes that house is dull as ditch water and looks just like every other Canadian home I've visited.

Well when you put it like that I think it is the location that is the problem rather than the house. I agree that sounds dreadful - I would hate it - I don’t see much to object to in the house itsel.

Another one in Shropshire that I like

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64596832.html

Now that is much better Reinette.

Both of those in fact. Looks like Shropshire might be the way to go Lillipudlian.

I live on the welsh / shropshire border. There are lots of identikit new build blah blah houses here too....but there are some really interesting and unusual properties full of character that I dont think you'd find in a Canadian suburb....

We moved here two years ago and for 500k budget, so a lot less than you would have, we looked at a converted chapel with the original carved wooden gilt inlaid ceiling in the bedrooms, a 4 story millhouse with the millpond converted to a solar heated outdoor swimming pool, and a converted stable block on an old country house estate with 6 acres of land. In the end we chose a fourth propety which is equally unusual.

One thing though, you dont get 6 months of snow like canada but you do get 6 months of rain. I'm from london and I didn't know it could rain this heavily in the uk until I moved here.

Sounds like it’s the Canadian lifestyle and the area itself that is soul destroying, The house is very typical of what I see on American/Canadian property programmes, very large but not at all homely, those huge houses need rooms with actual doors so you can shut yourself in and get cosy, vast open space actually makes me feel very uncomfortable and uneasy, the lack of privacy would also drive me insane! if someone came to the front door they can see everything! It needs a proper hallway it looks just like a waiting room. Having said all that your soul might be destroyed when you see the size of the houses in a desirable location in the uk for that price!

I have to say, it seems quite odd to be considering uprooting and moving to another country simply because you don't like the architecture.

@ReinettePompadour yes, exactly.... these homes are his argument, exactly!

Chrys2017 we are just on the cusp of either purchasing here or there. Husband was born in Yorkshire, there is much more he hates here than the architecture, I can assure you. That's a whole other series of posts that would bore you to death....

@ReinettePompadour looks like you are a woman after my own heart. That's exactly what we don't have here... character, history, gardens.... drooling over that Shropshire listing. Now I suppose the schools would be full of heathens, drugs, crime?? What is the catch?? Looks a million times nicer than here, but people keep moving to Canada so they can have a big house with pool... and drive everywhere....

p.s. I have read all your responses with great interest, thank you for your replies. @GuildedLily, @LillianGish, others

@DevilsDoorbell at this point my husband has convinced me that the streets of Slough are paved with gold, it never rains and that the Queen will live next door.

Seventeen years of rose tinted rearview mirror now.

The expat curse.... he has a very bad case of homesickness possibly mixed with delusional thinking. I have citizenship through my mother and have only visited as a tourist... so am a bit more cautious!

We will probably do a year abroad this year to test the waters. Four small children in tow.

I think if you don’t need to live in London or the SE then you can have a lovely house in the UK. Knowing the full facts I’d say your husband is absolutely right and I’m not surprised he is feeling the pull of home.

Just to be clear though, you wouldn’t get much for your money in Slough - even the less desirable parts of the SE come with a huge price tag.

@LillianGish thank you, yes, Slough too commutable. We are M4 corridor worst case, he might get a remote option, best case scenario.

The great thing about the uk even if you don’t live in a historical house is that we are surrounded by history, historical buildings cities, towns, villages all so easily accessible to everyone, so very easy to get that historical/character fix wherever you are. One of the major reasons I could never live in Australia is I can’t imagine ever living somewhere where I can’t visit a country pub for lunch with old beams and a roaring log fire, or wandering round a Cotswolds village and having a cream tea in a ye olde tea shop!

I think that house is gorgeous and I wish they built houses like that here. Where I live in Scotland £350,000 will buy you a 4 or 5 bedroom detached house.

They do build them her linnet but not At Canadian prices though! what the OP has attached is probably a typical Canadian home, a UK typical average house is probably a 3 bed 1930’s semi.

I love that house. Not soul destroying at all. The decor is dull and sterile but that's easily resolved. I'd buy it. It's more than you would get for 350k in much of the UK.

I've never seen that style of house construction in the UK but it's quite common with new-builds in Canada and the US—normally a dug-out basement/cellar with a poured cement foundation, and a timber frame on top, covered with that particular type of cladding (I think it's often made from aluminium), and asphalt roof shingles (or again an aluminium roof).

Or you get traditional log houses, which are very very rare in the UK.

There are a lot of brick houses too, but those are mostly the older ones from what I've seen.