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.

The tiles aren't the problem - you need epoxy not standard grout then your problem's solved

Don't all stairs lead to the front door? Why a downstairs bathroom?

We've had no problems in any of our houses and we also have a much hated on MN air source heat pump. We've never retrofitted though which I know can be a source of problems.

My parents had a huge huge kitchen.
I mean like 10m by 5m.
And the cleaning was a nightmare. Plus it's very hard to warn up and at the end of a working day I want to be in and out of the kitchen as fast as possible.
The current kitchen now is 12ft by 7ft and I wouldn't change it for the world.
Everything is within hand reach and clean within 5 mins..

Loved the en-suite in our old house, it was a decent size, big window, warm and with a proper door and far enough away from the bed that it didn't feel like an en suite.

New house I don't like it, it's too small, too near the bed and I can bloody hear everything.

So they can be great.

@Harshtruth1111 my kitchen is huge with a stone floor. We love it in the summer, hardly use it in the winter. I keep thinking about buying one of those everhot stoves with a little oven for the far end of it. The radiators are big in there but it is such a big room with two big windows, French doors and high ceilings. All brushes on the sashes are great etc., etc.. It is just impossible to keep warm and much too expensive to replace the units.

Tiny hallway - current house has a big one, and though mess accumulates, it's great. There's a cupboard for coats, shoe rack and another cupboard for bags / umbrellas etc.

Open plan. At our previous house we knocked through the living room and kitchen - convenient but very annoying. My DH wanted to do the same at our current house but I refused. In any case, the rooms are all a decent size, so why? (Just looks good on estate agent photos!)

I like an en suite, particularly in the spare room. It means guests have their own, private space and don't have to try to squeeze into a shared bathroom around everyone else's routines.

I would never buy another house with a shared driveway.

So many things we have and like!
The advantage for us of a private road is a gorgeous period terrace but a place to park for each house. Plus we get to be all irate when other people's guests park in our space.
I've only ever lived in period terraces except overseas, and never had a drive in the UK.

We have toilet and next door to that is bath/shower/sink and it is excellent for the children needing the loo while you're in the bath.

We potty trained DS in a house with a downstairs loo and I'd have liked that in our current house for DD.

We are in our last year with a DC at the very nearby school. It's a busy area and near enough to walk to town so it's not made busier by the school but I think the very mouthy HT amplified for sports day might get old but it's only once a year.

Open plan.

Staircase in lounge.

Front door opening into lounge.

Me neither, what sort of cork floor @user1492757084 ? Ours was ruined when there was a leak and water got under it and it swoll

Hi Op Having moved 10 plus times these are items I would completely and would not recommend.
An outdoor swimming pool, costly to maintain and requires maintenance

A shared driveway people always blocking your half.

A townhouse 3 storeys especially newer ones that have doors with chains, fire safety regs, you can hear the doors lamming through the walls.

Neighbours that have high conifers or hedges.

Next door neighbours that have unkempt gardens.

In fact what I would recommend if ever buying a house again or even before putting in an offer would be to speak to the neighbours and find out about them the area.

Fence panels falling down, who is responsible

Conservatories in a poor state of repair.

Beams, lowered ceilings, wood on ceiling and walls so it looks like a sauna. Basically anything my parents loved! Decking- even my parents drew the line there!!

So ok perhaps shouldn't comment as only lived in one room, shared facilities, but am going on what my parents loved when moving homes.

Front door opening straight onto the street.

Downstairs only bathroom.

Flat roof on any part of the house.

Front door straight into living room.

"Next door neighbours that have unkempt gardens."

Absolutely!! I have owned 3 houses with gardens and suffered from this in all. Though technically in our last house the nuisance was a shared alleyway at the end of the garden. We never used it and nor did anyone else, but did end up clearing our section which took many hours and trips to the dump.

A private road - ours is basically a poorly maintained track with loads of houses along it (which complicates maintenance). Public road potholes are nothing compared to this assault course.

I love our conservatory though.
Come March I can leave the door open and it heats the house, at Christmas I can use it like a giant fridge extension. Winner!

A narrow hallway. I lived in a house with a square hallway years ago. OMG! It was so much easier to get furniture in the house. I can't even explain how easy. And prams, pushchairs could be left in the hallway and not block the way.

Chap wood flooring. We have wooden floors in the through lounge and hallway. My late husband chose cheap stuff and it's awful.

Living on a main road. The traffic can be awful and no bugger stops to let you out your drive. To compound matters, we have a bus stop outside and you can bet your life that just as you get in your car to go anywhere, a bloody bus will pull up outside and block you in. Mostly they only sit there for a minute, but we're close to the bus garage and if the bus is ahead of time, they'll sometimes waste time at this stop and I end up getting out to ask them to move [rant over!]

I had this in my previous house and didn’t do it again when renovating.

Air source heating! Even on an exceptionally well insulated modern house it has proven to be ineffective. Give me oil or gas heating any day!

I pretty sure that she means outside the house not inside. As in stairs to get to the front door, not stairs internally.

Lack of storage. Hate storing stuff under beds and on top of wardrobes. I want these spaces clear so I can hoover there without moving things and it makes the room feel more airy

@MarkingBad

Tiny box room bedroom number 3 waste of time and space if no baby

I don't have a baby but I have a 14 year old that sleeps in there. I wouldn't call her bedroom a waste of space.

Things I hate about other people’s houses -

Our friends’ guest bedroom is in the loft conversion. We have cracked our heads on those frigging sloping ceiling more times than I care to mention.

Bathrooms that are too small for a modern sized shower. I’m not a fan of a skinny cubicle.

Front doors that lead straight into the sitting room.

Open plan kitchen/diner, hated it with a passion. I like separate, cosy rooms. Conservatory with a traditional roof, we took ours off and had a proper tiled roof fitted, now we use it everyday, whatever the weather-it’s more of a big “snug” now. Also any pine, at all 🤣