Old house versus new?

[Wineiscooling]

So, I know only I can decide but I'm interested in opinions. We bought our house 17 years a go. It is 120 years old, typical Victorian semi detached and in a massive state when we bought. We spent a lot of time, effort and money on rewiring, plastering, new bathrooms, floors, knocking false ceilings down, putting up new, coving, skirting etc, etc. But ultimately we ran out of money, had kids and spent our cash the last 10 years on holidays and making memories.
We have let the house go, it needs a lot still doing on it we didn't get round to and the stuff we originally did needs updating. We have had plans drawn up for an extension/kitchen to make some open plan living. Ultimately we will need to remortgage to about another 80.000 to have the house we would like plus endure a few months of chaos, building and dust!
Or we remortgage to about another 120.000 to buy a brand new detached house currently being built about a mile from where we live on a massive new estate and actually potentially have less space overall but better lay out, new house, en suite etc.
I'm really torn. Part of me is so done with this house, it's a wreck now and I've never truly fell in love with it. But maybe done I could. I just not sure I can deal with the hassle of building. However, bigger mortgage for a "souless" new build?
Someone make my decision for me....

Well, much as I wouldn't want to spend months living in a building site, I've looked at 'naice' newbuilds on several sites around here over the last 8 or 10 years, and when I start comparing what we have in our current (Victoran semi) house, we'd just lose so much.
Mainly, what puts me off though, is the lack of space on the estates. The roads are always too narrow - if someone has a car parked on the road (not always possible because of the drive lay out), then there wouldn't be room for anyone else to park there. Surely, at some point, everyone has a 'gathering' of some sort in their house, even if it is just for Granny's birthday ? It strikes me if there were a van parked there (and again, everyone needs the boiler servicing or a delivery arriving or some work done in the garden now and then) I seriously don't think a Fire Engine would be able to get through.
So, although I'd quite like to move - family needs change as the dc grow - and I've seen some nice houses, the layout of the new developments has been dire in every one of the several houses I've looked at. No community space, no corner shop, no greenery, nowhere to walk to (all having to drive off the estate to get anywhere or fetch anything or attend anything), and the narrowness of the roads really puts me off the new builds, despite the actual house designs being nice in some of the cases.

I wouldn't touch a new for the build quality. They always dress them up to look nice internally but these days they take every short-cut going in the structure. Then there's the snagging & settling, plus everything mentioned above. I'd take old any day.

Your house deserves to be loved and maintained.

Personally I prefer old. And you don't face the hassle and expense of selling and buying.

Stay with the old and make it into a home you love.

Most new builds are soulless and quality-wise poor. Costs of moving emotionally and financially are not worth it.

You could ask to go on Love It or List It with Phil and Kirsty though?

We had to live in a 5-bed period semi and loved the charm but not the practicalities (drafty, the layout trickier etc). A friend lives in a new build and I love it. The garden is small but the layout is modern and they actually built her semi with 10ft ceilings, sash windows, lots of bathrooms and it's very energy efficient and has tasteful fixtures and fittings.

Have you seen the houses on the estate? I'd have a look around to see what they're like before deciding.

Difficult one. Depends how old your DCs are and what will work best for your family over the next 5-10 years etc.
We are sort of similar in that a lot of the work we did in our Victorian cottage 20 yrs ago needs re-doing. We have made a start and are currently mid bathroom refurb. If we wanted to move to a modern house (not necessarily a new build), which appeals for many reasons (lower maintenance, improved energy efficiency etc) we would need to sort out the kitchen and bathroom to max the valuation. So maybe you need to do the work before you decide? Post tart-up, your current home valuation will likely be higher which may make your mortgage situation for the new build more pallatable.... HTH

New builds often depreciate slightly so they are poor investments
The build quality is often rotten too

If you like your present location, then I think you'd do better financially to fix it, even if it means several months of builders' mess. A new-build would not be my preference for all the reasons cited above.

I also think it might be sensible to talk to an architect for some professional input. Their bread and butter work comes from re-envisaging houses and some are really good at it. Ask around, at work and anywhere else, to get an idea of who is the best locally on similar projects, and as important, whose work has come in on or around your budget. Improving an older solidly built house seems to hold its value better too.

Thank you for the replies, it's interesting and useful to hear different opinions. We went and looked at a few of the houses on the new estate. Ultimately, the only house I fell in love with would be a stretch too far on our finances. The others we looked at which are more in our price range we would be actually losing space for a bigger mortgage so I guess just doesn't make sense. We haven't completely decided yet. If I could afford the bigger new build I would buy it tomorrow. But I doubt we can.
The thing about old houses is the layout doesn't always work and every job seems to end up a lot more complicated and expensive than anticipated. We were so naive when we bought this house thinking we would have dream home in a few years. I can't believe 17 years later we haven't. Although at least now we have just 11 years left on mortgage and our house has a good bit of equity in it. We are hopefully finally in a position to do it with a remortgage but I just don't know if I have it in me now to do 🙄

Xingming we have paid an architect to do our plans for extension, they've done a fantastic job and it does look fab but their quote on actually getting the work done was a lot higher than we anticipated. We have submitted for planning permission and I'm going to get other quotes. Still so torn though. Although overall, financially it's going to work out cheaper to stay put and do the work. Also, as someone else said, our house probably isn't very sellable at present so we would probably have to spend money on it to sell. Although the new estate do offer part exchange .

I'd stay with old house if you like the location.
Friend bought a new build for £500k & shower leaked into dining area in first month. Snagging went on for 6 months. It's rarely the smooth picture the builders try to sell.

@Wine, if you know a good builder, is it worth getting the plans your architect has done independently costed? Or do you know a young man going it on his own who has good skills? we've used a guy changing careers recently who is inexperienced in the project side but learning fast and who will very soon be charging above our price range. Also, be prepared to wait for the right tradesmen; reputable ones will have worked queued up.

As neither of the houses you’re posting about seem perfect, can’t you look for another house in the same area?

@Lizzie we've been keeping an eye out and it seems the houses in our price range still need work doing or have the work done but not how we want/not as good as the plans we've had drawn up so would all need money spending on them.
@Xingming I'm going to take our plans to other builders and see what they come up with. The company that did our plans have a reputation for doing an excellent job but are pricey.
To be honest, it's been great chatting on here, I feel it's helping me and I'm leaning towards getting the work done here. It's going to be chaos but hopefully by next summer I'll fall back in love with my house.

Good wishes for a great project on time and budget.

We've just moved from old to new. It's so much less hassle now. Only thing that bothers me is that the garden is quite small but otherwise we have no regrets.

@imamearcat that's exactly what I'm thinking! All the gardens are smaller, which I don't mind as I'm not very good at maintaining a beautiful garden. And less hassle! But...... I suppose what it comes down to is the more money for less! That grates on me a lot!

Where I live, a lovely Victorian semi would sell for more than a smaller new detached. Unless the detached was high spec on a very small development.

The comment up thread about the width of roads is all about slowing traffic down. It’s safer for children if drivers have to go slowly through twisty sections and cannot do 30 plus anywhere. It also is less emissions than speed humps. Fires on new estates are very very rare.

Old all day everyday!

I’m another fan of old, apart from the character and any original features, you do have to expect maintenance.
With a new build, when things go wrong after a short while, it’s a huge disappointment.
It’s a personal thing, but I couldn’t live on a huge estate.