I DID buy a house with

[MonteStory]

Really enjoying reading the ‘I would NEVER buy a house with’ thread and all the different perspectives on objectively tricky situations as well as odd picky requirements people have.

So, which no-nos have you embraced or even actively chosen?

Our new house is:
off mains gas
has solar panels
on a private road (which we own)
has lots of trees
no shops etc in walking distance

We’re so excited to move in☺️

Previously bought houses with

• asbestos
• no central heating
• conservatory
• open plan
• fully paved garden (restoring that to grass was probably my favourite project)
• staircase in the living area
• private road

Sounds like heaven to me but I’m sure someone will come along and say otherwise 😂 I just need water, heat, electricity and internet. And preferably no neighbours!

No parking.

It wasn't such a problem until I had a couple more dc and have to walk a couple of roads to get to my car in the rain with multiple kids and a dog... but it did get us the house we wanted in the area we wanted. Next time I want parking though!

South facing garden which I absolutely love
It is in walking distance to the closest family
It has a large-ish kitchen with plenty space for dining table which can be extended when needed
It has a small downstairs toilet
And it is cosy, dry and warm

I DID buy a house with:

...out viewing it
No mains gas
No mains sewer
No neighbours within 200m
No shop within walking distance
No food/takeaway deliveries

@eone I don't think you read the brief 😀

Did you not like the open plan? I'm thinking of doing it in mine but not 100% convinced

No mains gas.
Was in the street but not connected to the house. Lived there for over 20yes before we had it connected. All electric on the E10 tariff, was actually very good being effective, controllable & affordable. When we had an extension built we changed over to gas.

Private road.
New house is on a small, private road. No problems so far, will have to see how it pans out long term.
We could afford any necessary repairs but it would be annoying if our neighbour refused and we ended up paying for the whole thing.

In a town.
Having always lived in villages, we realised that we would never want to move again so decided to be better connected and move to a market town for the better facilities & transport links.
Live on the edge so still have easy access to the countryside for Ddogs.

• Only one toilet
• Small bedrooms
• No side access
• No driveway
• No bath
• Open plan

I’m very happy in it! Don’t miss the Victorian houses I used to live in at all, the ceilings were so hard to keep cobweb free and very cold in winter

Shared driveway/private road, only had one problem in ten years caused by a tradesman at the neighbours.

It is great at the end of a cul de sac and end of the drive so nobody walking or driving past and everyone has their own actual driveway.

Bought in peak chaos of 2022 after divorce and needed something in budget which would accommodate four adults (3 late teen DC). I looked at everything within an hour of my old place in London! My wish list had to be scrapped.

So. The literal only place which worked has no gas, is on a modern estate with annual service charge, north facing very dark garden overlooked by neighbours over our three foot fences! Traffic noise, zero character.
I love it! We are very happy here.

No gas means no radiators so no issues with placing furniture. The estate is beautifully kept with planting and communal grassy areas. It’s dark at the back but sunny at the front, the neighbours are quiet and lovely, We don’t hear the traffic now. No character means blank slate and its modern so lovely plain walls and no dusty architraves or ceiling roses.
I will be very open minded if I ever move again.

North facing garden.

And it’s totally fine.

In the summer there is literally no shade in the garden anywhere so have had to erect a little canopy.

In the winter it is admittedly a bit damp and unpleasant but most gardens in this country are.

Our house is a bungalow though and the garden slopes upwards away from the house, so the house casts very little shadow over the garden.

Our previous house had stairs in the living room and it didn’t bother me. Handy when the kids were young as easy to hear them and keep tabs on them.

I bought a flat with no garden.

A 'soulless' new build. So much more comfortable and convenient to live in than the character full cottage we part exchanged. Don't regret it at all but looking forward to the estate being finished.

Very small bedrooms in the roof ( its a chalet house)
Quite strange electrics ( 2 fuseboards in different parts of the house ) and very few plug sockets and most of those about a foot up the wall rather than on skirting boards.
Garage incorporated to make a 3rd ( small) bedroom years before (with no building control cert)
Small utility extension also no building cert

Replacement (and old when we bought it! ) wooden garage tacked onto side of house
One bathroom with only a shower tap in the bath

Open plan with open stairs ( only a wall.rail, no banister) going through centre of house

Love it ... ( It does have a huge S garden but that might also be a problem for some )

A leasehold flat with a shitty freehold and notoriously dodgy managing agent.

I still love it 6 years later.

God, loads!

Stairs in the sitting room. Opens on to the street. No garden. No parking. Incomprehensible partial ownership of next door plus a restricted convenant with lost deeds. A really loud pub across the road. Flood risk. A mysterious tunnel.

I absolutely love my house!

We moved from a tiny new build with a drive on an estate, to a bigger Victorian semi with no parking on a tree-lined street.

It’s taught us that we prefer older houses but next time we’re definitely getting somewhere with parking, preferably away from trees. The sap is insane in the summer.

We have no carpets anywhere (sanded floorboards, or tiles in the kitchen and bathroom) and that works well with cats that would definitely puke on it. It’s not cold, in my experience. Maybe I’m just hot.

I love my en-suite and would want one again next time. Surprised at that anti-en-suite sentiment!

Shared private road. We were lucky and the neighbour currently with the biggest share is a builder who's good about maintaining it. It's a potential problem still looming though.

Open plan kitchen/ diner twice, and one time with stairs off dining area. Yes it reduces the number of separate spaces where you can make noise, but on balance it feels so much lighter and more open. We just have to plan our noise a bit, though we have a separate study.

No driveway and a downstairs bathroom.

To be honest I was just so glad to be able to buy a house in the exact place I wanted (it was three doors down from where I'd lived for 30 years) that it could have had no roof and asbestos leaking out of every orifice.

It's in a small village, so if I can't park outside I can park less than ten metres away always. And I have to let the dog out in the night for several wees, so would have to go downstairs anyway. The only thing with the downstairs bathroom was having to leave a light on at night (the stairs are VERY steep, it's a tiny and very old cottage) and there's another step down to the bathroom, but I put a plug-in light in the shaver socket and leave that on 24/7 so it's sorted.

I DID buy a house with:
.No bath
.Ancient heating system
.Tiny kitchen
.A lot of decorative work needed

We rented a place for 10 years with no bath and I was adamant when we bought, it would need to have a bath. Bathroom is big enough to install one later down the line but don't actually mind it too much. We replaced the old boiler. I'm always cold so need a decent heating system! Kitchen was tiny when we moved in. We blocked up an additional door and removed radiator so we could add more worktops and cabinets. Much bigger now! Every room in the house needed decorating and new carpets. Always said I couldn't live in a place while doing it up. I hate mess. Its actually not too bad (apart from the cost). We are decorating it to our taste anyway so 🤷‍♀️

Oh yes, and the front door opens right into the living room, but I've made a 'fake hallway' with cupboards and there's quite a large front garden between me and the road, so that's all right.

Soulless new build for me too! Insulation so thick I've spent no more than £65 a month on the winter on gas. Open plan too, love it as person in kitchen never isolated and we have room for a big dining table.

And house in a village with no mains gas. We had oil fired central heating so it was a bit expensive (and let's not think too hard about the environmental impact 😕) but practically it worked fine. An enormous tanker turned up from time to time which was a highlight of living there for my DS.

A terraced house with:
*Damp,
*Asbestos,
*No planning permission or building regs for work undertaken by previous owners,
*Japanese style sliding doors (as opposed to in/out opening ones)