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.

Haha! I can see where you're coming from. Ours is a very old miner's cottage, but I purposely set the heating to come on just before getting up time so that I don't get the shock of the cold when I go down to the loo!

There's nothing wrong with it per se, it's just one more thing to have to think about. You need to have a permit for the water discharge and then it needs servicing and de-sludging annually.

If you go ahead, check with the vendors that they have had it serviced regularly and how old the motor is ( I had to replace a motor and it was about £800 over 15 years ago). Make sure you get them to desludge before you complete and when you move in, make sure it's on.

Ultimate brat request but: I don’t want a non-SW facing garden! Maybe any garden is just as delightful, but I moved from a basement flat to a house with a SW facing garden last year and it’s almost the love of my life. The light, the sunsets. I sometimes WFH in my kitchen just so that I can look out and be like, oh hi garden.

Also, I acknowledge I’m very spoilt, but I’m going to say that I love having side access to the house. It’s not a utility but a kind of covered lean-to, and means the hallway is always neat and not full of coats and shoes.

We did inherit a silly added-on windowless en suite though, which I would happily do without. Have made it the spare room as I don’t want a poo-related divorce. Nobody is allowed to shower in there 😂.

It kills the ecosystem in the tank which breaks down the waste so won't work properly basically and more likely to break/get full quickly

There's a door though!

And there are many semis or terraces up down the country where you're closer to next doors toilet than the one in that setup.

(If you don't like them then fine😀 - I was actually responding to the poster who said she'd never seen an ensuite with a window and I was just showing an example of how properly designed ones are often laid out).

Thanks, that's helpful; nothing I didn't know really, but confirming things, and from someone with experience. Much appreciated.

Decking. As others have mentioned, upkeep is a pain, and it really doesn’t last. Also, rats love decking. Our place had it when we moved in, luckily it was obviously knackered, so we’d factored in tearing it down and replacing with a patio.

I would never live in a place at or near a junction. Some years ago, we had temporary traffic lights outside, and the number of people who waited at the lights with their music booming and/or their engines revving was beyond belief. Passing by, fine. Directly outside for minutes at a time, nope.

Huge house with land, enjoyed it for many years then couldn't wait to downsize. We are now in a small 3 bedroom flat with balcony which I absolutely love. It's cosy,easy to clean,always warm & feels more protective. I'd never go back to a huge house especially now children have left home.

I'd happily pass up the electric socket in the shower cubicle (not in UK)!

Not related but thought I would add
If there is less than 3 people in the home then do not get an American fridge/freezer
Just get a chest freezer and place it in the garage for extra freezer space.

I hate:
north-facing gardens
upvc windows and front doors
ensuites
islands in kitchens

I’ve noticed a few people have said flat roofs and I was wondering why? Is it because of maintenance? I’ll be moving next year and this thread is very helpful!

What a weird thing to worry about. Put the bed on the other side of the room or close the door if you are offended by the sight of a toilet.

I will never live in a Victorian terraced house with it's useless narrow hallway and long narrow shape again.

Any house with trees under TPOs anywhere near.

We have a house with four gigantic Scots Pine trees a few feet the other side of our fence on council land. They're at least twice the height of our house and the four of them take the entire width of the back of our garden. The spread of the branches/limbs come right over our garden, at least half way to our house. The roots come up through our lawn.

We have the estate agent brochure from when we bought it 30 years ago showing they used to be about half that height and nowhere near the spread, so they've grown enormously over that time.

Trouble is we're not allowed to do a thing with them. Council won't maintain them - they only come out when a huge limb falls off. That's happened 3 or 4 times, and they've damaged our fence, shed etc when they come down. Even then the council only come out to remove the broken limbs and tell us to claim on our own insurance for the damage!

We've tried a few times to apply for planning permission to have them trimmed, crowned, tidied, etc (at our cost), but it's always a blanket refusal citing the TPO.

Our garden barely gets any light and every time there's even the slightest gust of wind, the garden is covered in pine needles, pine cones, small branches, etc.

Never, never again!

Roof (Velux) windows in the roof of a bedroom or main living area.
They make it so loud when its raining. Lost count of the amount of times rain woke me int he night - and also turning up the volume on the TV to hear it over the rain. Thankfully dont live in that house anymore.

Why don't you like this, I think it would be lovely not to be overlooked

It depends on the space. We back onto a park. It’s lovely and I know it will never be built on. But it’s a quiet park with no problems.

Ours is a 1960's build intended to be open plan, and there's not much we could do about the layout unfortunately.

"You clearly haven't been in many houses then!"

What would lead you to think that? I've never owned a house that had an ensuite, but I have certainly lived in a number of different houses in London, Bristol, Manchester and now Cambridgeshire.

I have seen some houses with an ensuite without windows but we didn't purchase one of them.

"I've seen a few without windows, but definitely in the minority"

Perhaps you and I are attracted to different types of property? I think the newest house we've ever owned was built in the 1970s.

We literally have everything on this list that people are saying they would avoid 😂

Victorian property (1840s), 4 floors, high ceilings, dado rails and ceiling roses (is that what they're called?) in all rooms, window-less bathroom, huge trees in the garden which block loads of light, damp cellar, no parking due to it being a mid-terrace...

Oh well it has character and we love it (thankfully) 😂

Being semi detached with no soundproofing!

Sorry, just to add, when we lived in Manchester we lived very close to these houses currently for sale. If you have a look at them you will notice that none of them have ensuites

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/154719023#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/154893902#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/155216315#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/152281805#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150556091#/?channel=RES_BUY

@MarkingBad

Council tax isn't calculated on the number of bedrooms. It's calculated on the value of the property at some set point in the past (off the top of my head I think 1991).

Tiled floor in the kitchen and bathroom. They seem like a really good idea: easy to clean, waterproof... In one case you can simply say "goodbye" to anything you drop, including two kitchen knives so far, and in the other it's a slipping hazard I could well do without.