What property features would you never have again?

[AnxiousRose]

What features from your current or previous property would you avoid if you were househunting again?

For me, it is three storeys. I had this in my last house and did not expect to dislike it as much as I did. My bedroom was on the top floor and I hated all the stairs especially with young kids. Three storeys usually means the downstairs space is small for the number of bedrooms.

Huh? Old houses may not have en-suite windows, but surely if you are buying a new build, you make sure it has one?

I'm surprised that a lot of people dislike 3 story houses. Ours is 3 stories and that's the only perk of the property, although my knees are shot after running up and down two flights of stairs every day so maybe I can kind of understand the hatred.

I often wonder when I'm watching things like Love It Or List It and they are drooling about an enormous kitchen/dining/living area with wall of glass sliding doors etc., all I can think is heat and window cleaning!

on my third house now and everyone of them has had a window in their eunsuite. even my parents had an ensuite growing up in the late 80s had one with a window. we weren't allowed to use it 😀
as someone who wakes up numerous times a night to pee am grateful I can walk quickly to the loo

Jesus my solar panels are a godsend. might not look great on the roof but tje amount of hot water they generate is unreal even on shady days. has reduced my bills considerably

Conservatory- fecking freezing in the winter, too hot in summer, bugger to clean.

Decking- slippery when wet, needs deep cleaning to get rid of the green growth every year and costs a bomb to re varnish/oil whatever.

Neighbours. I will live in a caravan or a tent before I take that risk again. Shudder.

@Wexone I've never had an en-suite without a window either. I love mine. My son can go and do his spectacular dumps in the bathroom and it doesn't affect me. My en-suite is for me!

Gravel, have a lot in the front garden put there by previous owners and i'm desperate to get rid and re do the space, the damned stones get everywhere meaning pressure washing the paths around them is dangerous!
Front door straight into the living room, had it with 2 previous houses and the carpet got grubby even with a mat.
Love my decking but it's fairly new so maybe i'm not fed up of it yet, also love my

We aren't talking about solely new build houses here. This thread is about property features generally.

Also, don't forget that around 40% of houses were built before 1946 and 75% before 1980.

Maybe I should clarify that not ALL ensuites are created equally and I'm kind of referring to after market add-ons. From what little experience I've had, US ensuites are a whole different calibre, windows, light, the ability to open your arms fully without touching both sides of the room etc...

Here in the UK they're often shoehorned into a tiny space, where you sit on the loo and you get a shock when your thigh touches the ice cold sink squeezed in next to you 😅

I've been to houses where they've carved off a corner of a bedroom with a stud wall, stuck a freestanding shower in and hoped for the best. When being shown around our current house the owner proudly exclaimed "we were told we shouldn't do it but we were determined to get an ensuite put in". They hadn't figured out how to fit a bloody door into the design, so from the bedroom the loo was framed perfectly in the open doorway. A prime example of just because you CAN, doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Our previous house had a lawn that was about 2.5 feet above the path then the flower area was like the north face of the Eiger! Apart from the inconvenience of gardening once we had a mobile grandchild we were nervous of her using the steps to the lawn and when it rained hard the path was usually flooded as the water had nowhere to go! A flat garden was one of our main points when moving.
Never had one but a 'utility room' which is just a part of the kitchen divided off to hold a washing machine was never on my wish list, my daughter has a huge utility room, bigger than some modern kitchen, which is great.

It depends how it's set up. We have wet underfloor heating powered by an ASHP and it's wonderful. Cheaper than radiators and gas boiler and house is lovely and warm throughout the day.

Electric underfloor heating, which is sometimes installed in just a kitchen or bathroom, is expensive to run.

Well never say never, but I'd certainly try to avoid:

• Tiny landings and narrow hallways. We've had both and I've discovered I'd rather have smaller rooms and more circulation space.

• No enclosed porch (or a large boot room that can be left unlocked on the outside). Now I've had one I think I'd struggle to be without. Particularly helpful for deliveries, pushchairs and wet dogs!

• Single-aspect sitting rooms

• Extra deep steps that cannot be taken one foot after another so you end up having to either take extra little steps or do comedy lunges to walk up/down them. We have a house with a long row of these these outside and I'd much rather have a bank of normal steps followed by a flat section followed by more normal steps. We've been quoted the equivalent of £28,500 to change them, so I'm stuck with them at the moment :(

However, I'm fairly chill about off-grid heating and sewage, small kitchens and a host of other things most people would hate.

Minuscule hallway with no proper space to hang coats or store shoes. Absolutely the worst thing about my house, and not one that we even thought twice about when we moved in!

Like others, conservatories. Some look so dated!

I wouldn’t buy near a main road again.

We love our conservatory!
We sit in it in the daytime when it's too cold outside and feel like we are in the garden, it is so much nicer than sitting fully indoors, e.g. in our living room which has french doors to the garden. The light is lovely.

We do have other areas to sit in so are not dependent on the conservatory when it is too hot or cold, I think this is the key to enjoying its benefits and not being adversely affected by its disadvantages.

No, it was a family bathroom but the floor and full walls were tiled. There was also a UPVC/panelled ceiling. The bathroom was like this when we bought the house and it looked great had been newly renovated and was very clean and modern but in terms of functionality it was horrendous.

I had it once in a holiday flat. Took days to warm up and then days to cool down.

I've never seen an en-suite with a window in my life, but then I have never seen one in a private house, only in hotels.

I have a house built by Redrow with two en-suites, both have a window.

I'm taking note of that technique.
I'm not a fan of mowing the lawn and DH isn't either.

it's not suppose to be switched off. its suppse to remain at a constant temperature and then heats slightly when thermostat kicks in. people constantly make that mistake. I have lived with it for 20 years now nearly. lived in a rental period in-between with rads and they drove me mad. forgot how much space they take up