Kitchen at the front?

[BridgetCleaver]

Our house has been back on the market since the first week of Jan after our sale fell through. We've had plenty of viewings in that time, but at least 4 viewers have said the reason they didn't offer was because the kitchen is at the front of the house? It's an 8 year old new build with a large kitchen/diner. During our last batch of viewings before the failed sale, not one person ever mentioned this. The houses on this estate are different sizes but all of a very similar layout, all of them have the kitchen at the front and plenty of others have sold. I'm finding it quite bizarre to keep repeatedly coming up, has anyone else found that a lot of people hate a kitchen at the front for some reason?

It's different and some people don't like different. It makes sense in that you can sit in the living room and look out at your back garden but then some people want to wash up looking out at the garden.

Also people often come up with random reasons for not liking a house just for something to say when the estate agent asks. There could be varying reasons they didn't like it but this is the easiest thing to say. After all if it was a hard no for them they wouldn't even be coming to view as they can tell where the kitchen is from the floor plan.

Yeah that's the other baffling thing, it's clear on the floor plan where the kitchen is! It's hard not having any feedback we can actually do anything about!

Kitchens often used to be at the front of houses with the living areas at the back. However now everyone is supposedly into “entertaining” and such, people seem to want to have a big open plan kitchen living space that opens up onto the garden. This is probably also true for people with younger kids who want to be able to get on with stuff in the kitchen whilst also keeping an eye on the kids in the back garden (kids used to play “out the front” with neighbours but now mainly play in their back gardens away from the roads).

I don't like the kitchen at the front, no, but I don't hate it, and this is the third house I have bought with a kitchen at the front. It's one of those "compromise" things for me - I have many other essential requirements from a home, so will compromise on the kitchen location, and I'd sooner the kitchen be at the front and near to where it's needed, as opposed to right out the back and having to carry plates of food through other rooms & hallways to get to the dining table.

A kitchen on the front is also to be expected in homes later than 1960, so it's not surprising to see one on a new build - what were people thinking when they said this to you? They must have known that it was a new build, on an estate of houses all like it.

Never thought about it explicitly to be honest, but we do like to eat outdoors in the summer and to entertain, so kitchen at the front would be inconvenient. I’m sure there are other people who won’t care though!

Have you got a floor plan so that people know what they're ocming to see?

I wouldnt have a problem with a kitchen at the front, I would like to sit at the back, however I would want a way out to the garden that doesnt involve going through a living room or 'clean' area

I know kitchens are clean but they tend to be more 'utility' so it doesnt matter if you come in and have dirty shoes, its not the same as walking into a living area.

If you have kids or dogs then it makes sense to have the kitchen/utility door leading to the back garden. Also when you come into the hall I think it's nicer to not be funnelled instantly into or near the kitchen.

Our kitchen is at the front.
I can't it's ever bothered me or I've stopped much to think about it!

I think people are meaning that considering your price and state of the house they are not prepared to put up with this unusual layout.

Im not saying that anything is wrong with your house and price. But Im sure if you drop 25% off, there will be a lot of people who love having kitchen at the front. 🙂

For me, having a kitchen at the front just doesn't flow nicely. My SIL has one and it always seems so awkward. It wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me but I'd probably be viewing to see if the rest of the house made up for it or not.

Lots of 80s/90s houses have kitchens at the front, as it was cheaper to run the drains down the drive.

Older houses often have drain running along the back, shared between a run of houses, so kitchens were at the back.

Agree, buyers are aware from the plans beforehand, but people will come up with any excuse tbh.

A family member is looking to move in the next year and will only look at houses with the kitchen at the back. They have a young child that they want to be able to watch out in the garden. However there are lots of people who wouldn’t mind where the kitchen is so I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s nic3 to look put onto the garden from the lounge,

We have a kitchen at the front and living room at the back and that’s a better layout in my opinion. Still, everyone’s different and you can never please everyone. I wouldn’t worry about it, though it is odd that the last 4 buyers all said the same thing, especially when it’s clear from the floor plan!

My kitchen is at the front, it’s a new-build house and this is a pretty standard layout for this type of house.

I would actually like to change the layout, but only because I’d like to have the kitchen and living areas upstairs and the bedrooms downstairs (I’m in NZ where that layout is fairly common, I think it would probably be unusual in the UK). But if I did that, the kitchen would still be facing the same direction at the front of the house, although you wouldn’t be immediately in it as you enter the house.

Last time I bought a house I wanted a livingroom at the back overlooking the garden and wasn't bothered if the kitchen was at the front. Sadly didn't manage to find my dream house and had to buy a compromise where livingroom is at front (overlooked from pavement) and kitchen at back.

It was surprisingly difficult to find 'the right house'. Loads of new builds had no hallway. As in you had to go through the livingroom to get to the kitchen from the front of house. Maybe they never do that and just go in the side kitchen door but surely when they come downstairs and want to go to the kitchen, having to go through the livingroom first is really annoying.

Also stairs in the livingroom. No, just no. I've actually had it once before and they were tucked away at the back of room and so they looked quite nice but it was really hard to heat the room and just too much noise could travel upstairs. Worst were the houses that had stairs straight in front of you going straight up and people had sofas and stuff under the stairs to sit on.

House buying and selling is a flippin nightmare.

I'd buy your house OP and someone else will too. It's frustrating as hell though when they come to view (waste your time) then say they don't like where the kitchen is (or some other obvious reason).

I kind of have both as kitchen runs along the side of the house and can be accessed by front and back doors and has windows looking to front and back.

I like the access from the front as I can get my food shop in easily (delivery) and I can see who is coming to the house when I’m busy. I like the access to the back as its
easier to wash if I’ve been doing something in the garden and I can contain muddy or wet dogs on easy clean floors. I’m not sure I’d only want access into the garden from the lounge area.