I would NEVER buy a house with…

[Wyr]

• solar panels

• a ‘garden house’ IE a lockdown special outdoor wooden shed dressed up as an office - usually taking up half the garden and completely pointless

• a neighbour who has a load of cars / shit in their yard - hoarder vibes

who’s next? 3 things that would make you not buy a house…

Yes of course. Let's get triple glazing and a heat pump too! Adding an extra 7-10 years onto the 10-15 years it takes people to pay off solar panels. So roughly 20 years before most people start making any money back!

Do you actually know how heat pumps cost?! All this 'they have this and that and the other' to cut on electric bills trope people are spouting, never comes with the FACT that they are probably shelling out £20,000 or more for all the things that are 'saving' them money on electric! (If we're talking triple glazing as well!)

For most people it will be 2 decades before the solar panels and heat pump and triple glazing (that are meant to 'save money,') actually pay for themselves. (If you had all 3!) Even the solar panels alone could take 10-12 years or more to 'pay for themselves.' The 'I'm making money on my electric, and the solar panels have already paid for themselves after 2 years' type of scenario is very rare. Most people will wait many years before they start to pay for themselves.

I wouldn't have solar panels OR a heat pump personally. Not in a million years.

.

So pretty much if you are over 60, you are not going to save anything.

Ground rent/service charge.
A right-of-way over the property.
If it was listed.

But a gas cooker, I used to love baking until I moved somewhere where it was all electric. It changes all the time sometimes a tempreture will burn something sometimes leave it raw sometimes both, for the same item same place in the oven same cooking time it all depends on what it feels like doing. Gas is either on or its not it doesn't mess you around.

Not to derail the thread, but have you tried getting someone in to look at the oven? Because that's the exact opposite of how it should work. Electric ovens are specifically known for maintaining consistent temperatures and even heat.

It’s a lot of hassle though. Friend of mine took had that view, bought the house and replaced the garden. but now she says never again!! First you have to rip up the plastic, which surprising bulky. Then you need to dispose of it - some can be recycled but most ends up in landfill. You’ll need a skip for it because there’s a lot of wasted. You then need to remove the sub base, which is usually sand, and weed blocking membrane…again more waste. The whole garden then needs digging or rotavating. You might need more topsoil if the installers scraped a layer off to level the garden when they installed the plastic. Once it’s been raked level you can either sow grass seed or re-lay turf. In the case of seed your garden is out of action for at least 8 weeks, and if you want children to be able to play on it then you are looking at 3 or 4 months. Turf will save a few weeks, but cost more. And for both you have to make sure they are properly watered. You can’t really do it in the inter, so your choices are spring and lose the use of the garden for most of the summer, or mid to late summer in which case you lose the use of the garden into autumn. Either way, it’s the best part of a whole summer with no garden.

It's probably similar to getting rid of gravel and slabs that some cover their garden with.

You make a good point. In order of payback, solar beats heat pumps beat double glazing. The reality is that the payback on a heat pump is at least 25 years, and it won’t last that long. The payback on double glazing a whole house is nearer 40 years, and it wont’t last that long. The pay back on a solar install is 7 to 10 years and it will at least last that long :)

Yes, that’s probably right. Although gravel and slabs are more recyclable than plastic, albeit much heavier!!

whats wrong with solar panels

gravel and slabs can be done more with though....you can lift patches or dig holes in the gravel and part plant

Solar panels are great.
Having a well insulated house with double/triple glazing, modern underfloor heating is absoutley lovely. Consistent temperature, it's never too cold, no hot spots and you don't get that stuffy heat you get with radiators.
It is costly to get to that standard. But you are living in a very pleasant home during the time you are making your money back.

I don't recognise the "stuffy heat with radiators" thing?

@godmum56

Underfloor heating is generally less stuffy than radiators because it warms the floor and objects directly, maintaining natural humidity.
It uses radiant heat, which warms objects directly without heating the air. This results in a more even temperature distribution and better humidity control.
Radiators rely on convection, where hot air rises and circulates leading to drafts and dry air and creates a stuffy atmosphere.

Since moving to a house with underfloor I have noticed a huge difference.

A good idea to buy a house that already has them installed though? Although I would imagine people installing them intend to never move.

my sister had underfloor quite a few years ago. I think it must have improved a lot because the house was never warm and her bill was eyewatering.

Yep, that's why I said modern underfloor heating in my post. It think it has improved a lot. My house is a lovely consistent temperature. My bills are not high but house is very well insulated and solar panels used a lot so that helps.

I was a bit unsure before we got it but I honestly love it and notice a huge difference.

Thatch (done that, never again)
Busy road
No fireplaces
UPVC windows & doors
History of flooding

I probably wouldn't buy a house that appeared to be below market value- there's always a reason they seem too good to be true.

For me it's -
Solar panels
Artificial grass
No neighbours Right of Way over my garden

We've also previously owned a thatched house and one on a busy (A) road and agree with @FairlyFarleigh, never again!

We recently downsized to a seaside period cottage and it has quite a few things that are on other posters' lists, most notably -

Front door opens into a living space (although it's not the living room but the dining end of the kitchen) - we call it the dining hall, lol!

It's grade 2 listed.

Yep, well aware - I live in an eco home. 😁

We have full house UFH and it's amazing. Radiators create an ugly aesthetic.

Is that based on the incremental cost, or the absolute cost?

If you’re at the point of needing to replace windows then the incremental cost isn’t significant - and you would need to replace with double glazed in most cases (notwithstanding listed homes) to comply with building regulation.

There is a bigger cost associated with a heat pump depending on the age of your property, but again, if you’re substantially renovating anyway it’s a different proposition.

Would never live on the same street as a shop/school/pub. Nor a house with a north facing garden, had one before and it was joyless!

It's not based on anything. Calculations done on a specific property using accurate data for the actual models you want to install are the only way to know. The variation between them is huge, as is the difference in purchase and installation costs.

We have had experience with electric under the floor heating, and not only has it cost a bomb, but proved useless, and no where near as good as radiators. I would love water based under the floor heating only.