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…

I love open plan. Mine are
galley kitchen
downstairs bathroom
small garden

My neighbour has a massive flag pole with an English flag (sometimes the union flag) and he’s a racist xenophobe… Why does anyone have to ‘show’ patriotism anyway?

Love my solar panels, you can't really see them and this month our electricity bill was £75 for a 4 bed house full of family, including an electric car being charged and our annexe which we run as an air bnb including the air bnb hot tub going 24/7. Absolute gems

My parents house has them and is still on the old government subsidised FIT payments, for the whole life of their house the solar panels will give the home owner £2000 ish a year - they think it's a major selling point of their home (I'm going to show them this thread to stop them pushing the panels at every person on a viewing!!!!)

Neighbours. Never again.
If I ever move again I want to be miles from a single soul.

Oh and artificial grass. No thanks

We are still on the old government feed in tariff and have paid less in energy bills than have received in FIT so far this year thanks to a sunny spring.

The caveat about solar panels is where the roof has been leased to a solar-power company. Many mortgage companies will be reluctant to lend a potential buyer the money if this is the case. We own our solar panels outright and the consensus is that if the panels have been paid for they are an asset. Studies indicate that homes with solar panels may even sell faster and at a premium compared to similar homes without them.

So, if your parents paid for their panels it will be a selling point. Although I suspect the buyers won't enjoy the same feed in tariff that your parents do.

'Why does anyone have to 'show' patriotism?'

Because they want to. Because it makes them happy. Because it's their country and they love it, and they want to show their flag. Why does it bother you so much?

Do you get so het up over people in other countries flying their own flag? Scotland? Wales? America?

No. No you don't. It's only the ENGLISH flag you have a problem with. And I will bet my house that you're English/British born/living in England. 😎

Why should we be ashamed to be English or British?
At the border with England and Scotland there is a huge Scottish flag with Welcome to Scotland above it. Coming into England from Scotland there is a much smaller England flag next to Welcome To England. It's as if we are ashamed to be English.

No other country in the world is like this.

Who’s getting het up? Think I’ve missed something here 😂

I know it’s like a form of national self harm. It’s particularly annoying as it’s such a truly incredible country.

Shared driveway/parking
Private drainage

Unfortunately, the fact is if a house has a load of England flags flying, the chances of them being a racist meatheads are much higher than the chances of them being a Falklands veteran. People are right to be wary.

No parking
in a retirement block with management charges and no “get out” if I die (I’ve seen people loss their entire inheritance trying to pay these, in addition to double council tax, as they can be really difficult to sell on - do your research)
period property, no matter how “pretty” it is

I’ve lived in central Lomdon and very rurally and I have different requirements for each.

Town- I’d never buy a place with-

No space for a bath
Council as freeholder
Above a pub, restaurant or nail bar

Country- I’d never buy a house-

Near a pig farm
Near a campsite
Where I couldn’t have a real fire

Both- BAD NEIGHBOURS

Can't see our solar panels at all - they're on the sideways roof bit so not visible from the front or back of the house and they're bought outright by us so not on one of the dodgy rent a roof type setups. I'm indifferent to them but it keeps DH happy for hours looking at his pretty power generation graphs.

My one real non negotiable is not near a school - school run parking is that ridiculous around here. Most other stuff I can live with... oh and no more wood chip after stripping a house full of of the stuff in our old house.

I agree about the "period property" and "character property" in particular. My garden requirements would be different but for the house itself, practicality over pretty every single time.

@torturedparentsdepartment my DH is the same. Watching the monitors/screens, whatever they are, of power input and consumption keeps him happy for hours!

Why no period property?
I have lived in a new build (under 10 years old) and an older property (about 120 years old so not very old) and the new build had just as much maintenance/repairing required as the older property.

I keep seeing UPVC windows come up. How can you tell the difference between those or aluminium (I've just googled them as they were mentioned didn't even know it was a thing lol 🙈). We have a lot of the pros listed but I do love our bifold doors 🤭.

Funny- I have never considered a house that wasn't old. It's not so much about prettiness as patina. A modern copy of an old building could have same aesthetic but it wouldn't feel right to me. I wouldn't want a barn conversion either, irrespective of age and beauty as a barn, because inside they always seem new.
Diff'rent strokes I guess!

We are seriously considering it - came up in conversation the other day. Our fuel bills are crazy - we’re rural, no gas so we have mostly oil heating/water and also electric under-floor heating in the v large kitchen diner.

"Never" is a bit strong for point 5 surely. Once your kids are past school age, catchment areas/walking distance won't matter?

I get this. There are loads of beautiful conversions out there - barns, chapels, schools etc, but I couldn't live in a place that wasn't built as a domestic home. There's just something a bit wrong feeling for me about conversions.

They're creepy aren't they?!😱

Anywhere with a large space near it where a huge warehouse or housing estate could be built.

Some posters mention a galley kitchen. I actually love a galley kitchen. We moved from a house with a huge dining kitchen to a place with a galley kitchen & separate utility room.I love the feeling of long work spaces with high low units on either side. I feel like an octopus standing at the cooker within arms reach of everything rather than constantly walking loads of steps travelling to the fridge etc for items required & not at hand. It's far less exhausting & easier to keep clean.