New built or older property as a middle-aged buyer...

[Greenfairydust]

I am looking to buy a 2 bed in the South East where I will be semi-retiring which is likely to be my home for the next 20s (I am in my early 50s).

The housing stock in the seaside towns I am looking at are either cottages, new-built-ish estates or victorian houses.

The cottages I have seen are just too small, dark inside due to small windows had roofs that would potentially need expensive work at some point & all made me feel a bit claustrophobic. So I am left with new-ish estates or victorian houses as options.

I am due to view various houses built in the late 90s - 2008 on small estates this weekend. I know new-builds are not always popular on this forum but the Victorian houses in my budget I have seen so far either look like they would need work to update and maintain or are just not on great roads. The nicer ones are usually much bigger homes (so higher heating/maintenance/council tax bills) and often out of my budget.

The newer estates though are in better locations and I assume would be easier to heat/maintain but at the same time they don't have much character and I know that the construction standards are not always great.

But as I am getting older and will live by myself I am not quite sure it is wise to consider a Victorian house.

Has anyone had a good experience with buying a house built in the late 90s to mid 00s? is that more sensible if you are looking for a place where you will be living in retirement or should I give Victorian houses a chance as they were built to last?

Just the energy bill advantages alone would push me towards the newer houses in your situation.

I wouldn't consider a house built late 90s as a 'new build' necessarily, my parents bought a (then new build) house in 1995 and are still there, absolutely no issues. It seems to have been well-built, reasonable sized rooms etc. I think it comes down to priorities and practicalities. I'm early 30s and would love a Victorian property, but due to budget, CoL, heating bills and having no tradesman family or friends we've gone for a new build. It was a head over heart decision.

I dont know about construction standards. But character is a funny one. All the victorian properties have the same character! I am sure you can create your own character in any home, but a more modern one might be more suited to modern living.

New build any day of the week. I wouldn’t say that 90’s/early00’s would be classed as a new build though… they are 20-30 years now…
Older properties have more subsidence and generally more maintenance required.

New build. 20 years from your early 50s means you might be there in your early 70s. Honestly give the stress (and cold) of an older property a miss.

Look out for subsidence in whichever house you buy due to clay ground in South east
If you go for new build investigate what was there beforehand

We live in a late 90s house, after previously living in a Victorian one. We find our current house very cold (much colder than our Victorian home), and it has some real insulation issues, which we're gradually trying to fix. If I were you I would look at the EPC quite carefully, you can download them for free here: www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate
Don't just look at the rating given, look at the sections in the report and it will mention any red flags you should be aware of. With the benefit of hindsight I wouldn't look at anything that was less than a C rating. Also be aware that regulations regarding sound proofing last changed in 2010, anything prior to that might have issues, particularly for mid terrace houses.
We've found our newer house has a similar level of maintenance to our Victorian house if I'm honest- bear in mind things like UPVC windows are marketed as having an average lifespan of 20 years, meaning you're as likely to have to replace the windows in a 25 year old house as a 125 year old one. Our new house has much more practical space (and things like doors/staircases that you can actually move large furniture through), but our old house had gorgeous character which I really miss and I can't really replicate in our current home.

Of course there are great and terrible houses from both periods, but if houses on a certain road or estate come up for sale fairly regularly I'd be a tiny bit wary, they might have an ongoing issue that is tricky to fix. Houses on our old street came up for sale fairly frequently, on moving in we realised there was terrible sound proofing between the houses that was tricky and expensive to fix.

My parents moved from a Victorian house to a brand new house in the late 1980s. They are still there.

In contrast, DH and I have an Edwardian house.

My parents’ house is really well insulated, relatively low maintenance and the walls are straight with corners at right angles.

Our house, on the other hand, coats an absolutely fortune to heat (despite having brand new windows, blocked fireplaces and me constantly closing internal doors), replacing anything like windows and doors costs more as nothing is straight, and pretty much everything has in turn needed work.

Take a look at the EPC rating for each of the properties, and look at what would need to be replaced, and the likely cost of that.

I’d go newer. Should be cheaper to heat, and easier to maintain.

It all depends on the specific hpuse. I lived for 3 years in an early 2000s Barratts 3 bed terrace, and there were some aspects that I liked, but overall I much preferred living in all the other properties I lived throughout life (1960s, Victorian, 1600s cottage, Edwardian, interwar, Queen Anne)was freezing cold. That had mainly to do with the Barratts box being so freezing, the reason for which was that it was just too small to put any radiators in, so the entrance hall, staircase, landing, downstairs loo, kitchen and bathroom had been designed and built with no radiators at all (bathroom had only a flimsy electric towel rail), and there was no way to get a sofa and TV into the living/dining room without covering up the larger of the 2 radiators there. Then all the pvc windows had rattling, non closing trickle vents. The dividing walls to next property were just stud walls. At 3 years old, the PVC door and windows started already to grey and discolour, and if a cat/dog scratched it or they got stained by bird poo, there was nothing you can do make it look better again, as if it was wood, you could sand and repaint, so ultimately at some point you'll have to replace upvc windows and front door. But living on a newbury estate can be easier than living in a Victorian terrace, often small terraces don't have off street parking and can be on busy roads. So it really depends. Underfloor heating and upgrading with composite or aluminium windows and door would have solved most of my regrets about the Barrat box.

newbury= new built! It autocorrects to newbury, how weird!

houses built in the late 90s - 2008 are not new builds.
An old property tends to mean more likelihood of repairs.
How likely is it to end up your home for the rest of your days?

We are looking to buy a new house, after living in a victorian cottage for some years. We do NOT want an older house anymore, newer the better! There are downsides of course, tiny rooms, cramped developments, but the lower bills and not having endless maintenance to do is fair compensation I think.

I would go for a newer house every time. More modern homes are much more practical in every way as they are better insulated and generally more up to date in fixtures and fittings. You can always add your style and character inside. We have lived in our eighties house for over 25 years and are moving soon to another eighties/nineties house.

I'd go for older or proper newbuild, houses of the age you are talking about may not be well built. They will tick epc boxes, but many actually have other problems which occur. Also at that age things start needing to be replaced - windows etc and will be out of warranty. Boiler will also likely need replacing in not long as they were not well done at that time. EPCs are often inaccurate and not a true reflection of the property so I would use those with caution. Our previous home was a newbuild and our bills were basically the same as in our current older house, even though the newbuild epc is far better on paper. Here we also have more options to warm the home in different ways if needed. The main thing is to get a decent survey on whatever you choose. Brand new homes will have lots of warranties meaning things that go wrong will be fixed.

My main issues with newer builds are room and garden sizes and I don't like the estates many of them are on, all winding roads that seem to end in dead ends. If I found one without these issues, I'd definitely consider it, despite preferring older houses.

You can investigate the builder, as some are obviously notorious for rubbish builds and others not so bad.

Thank you everyone for all the helpful comments and really good advice.

I actually had a new modern flat until a couple of months ago(built in 2010) and the utility bills were incredibly low, even with the current increase. The size of the flat was actually very decent.

But the material used were rather on the cheap side and there were a lot of small issues. So I was curious to hear about people experience with houses built in the past 20/30 years.

Some mixed replies it seems :)! I won't discard anything outright and will just continue to view various types with an open mind I think and keep an eye for all the potential issues that people have listed.

@Greenfairydust Im in pretty much the same situation as you. Sold my Edwardian house last June and am now trying to find something, I would never ever have considered a newer house. But the more I look at them the more I feel maybe I could, I still don't really like the idea of living on an estate as opposed to a street. Im in the SW so lots of small character places which as you say tend to be dark and a bit cramped.

@Greenfairydust I'm the same age as you, and I bought my (small Georgian listed) house about five years ago. I wouldn't have considered a new build for a single second. I love my house - I love its quirks and its unevennesses and its crooked doorways. I just love looking at it, and I feel lucky to live in it. I see the maintenance as part of the fun. I wouldn't set any store by EPCs. Given the choice, I wouldn't entertain living on any kind of estate, either. The only thing I would say is that old houses are not warm, so if you like to be warm (fortunately, I don't), it might not be for you.

Im in my 40’s and DH in his 50’s and we’ve had our 1970’s house for 20 years. Huge driveway and garden but bedrooms are tiny and it’s cold (huge windows). We are moving soon to a newer build (2006) and looking forward to a smaller garden (we aren’t keen gardeners) and lower heating bills and we gain 2 extra bathrooms and bigger bedrooms (much needed for our teens)
I love period properties but a lot of the ones locally have no off road parking or need renovation which didn’t appeal
to us

The only issue I can see with the newer houses is that you have thinner walls so if you are going for a semi or terrace you may well get neighbour noise .

I'm overseas and currently renting my two bed stone Victorian cottage. I've had it since 2016 and the only repair has been the original tiles we're breaking apart and I had to put concrete down to level the flooring and put some new lino on top in the kitchen.

The only downside is the EPC which is a D.

I wouldn't live in an estate or a new build for the reasons already mentioned. I love a house with character.

I think in your situation I would buy a more modern house.
Im someone who wouldn’t buy a new build for fear of the price falling as soon as it’s not new anymore, but the houses you are looking at are not brand new anyway. I think there is likely to be more maintenance issues In Victorian houses plus I’m only really interested in them if they are on good roads.

I’d go for one of the Houses built in the 90s / early 00s in your position.

We nearly didn't buy our lovely newbuild house because of newbuild snobbery. I love it. Everything in it works and it's really warm in winter. There is a lot to be said for straightforward rooms that don't require you to focus your furniture round a chimney breast or work round nooks and crannies. Your home will have character because it's yours, not because it has a fireplace and ceiling roses.