Views on this house

[PhilandKirst]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/164944097

DD is keen on this house. She’s asked me for my views- I wondered if anyone knew the area or had any thoughts. House doesn’t have much character at present but I think it could be given a lot more.

Apart from the weirdly sited radiator, which i can only assume is AI, I agree that it's top heavy with way too little living space/too small a kitchen for the number of bedrooms.

I wouldn't buy a 'new' build house, but if I wanted one, I'd expect it to have either a kitchen diner or - if the kitchen is as small as that one - and adjacent dining room that could be knocked through.

The number of toilets isn't necessarily a no for me (we once owned a house with four, although it was a much larger house and better proportioned overall), but I'm not a fan of the way they are crammed into new builds.

I'm not a fan of the staircase location either. The cottage we purchased last year had stairs in the living/dining room, which wasn't ideal. But we swapped the living room and kitchen so the former is now tucked away behind a door at the rear of the cottage whilst the stairs are in the dining end of the kitchen which works better imo.

I don’t like when they build what they clearly want to sell as family homes (four bedrooms, two en suites) but there is only one living space downstairs.

Bland, boxy and the garden is tiny.

If you didn't need four bedrooms, bedroom two would make a reasonable second living area - doesn't seem to have fitted wardrobes or an ensuite. You could put a sofa bed in there so it could double as an occasional guest room.

House might be ok, also in a fairly good area, but hate identikit estates, also not so cheap being outside London. Actually much prefer a period property myself.

Interesting crime statistics

https://www.streetcheck.co.uk/crime/tn110fp

Tiny living space for a four bed house.

Eye watering price for such tiny living space.

A couple of people here have said it's in a good location and close to shops. Isn't it just by the industrial estate?

The bedroom layout would make it a no from me, it’s not set up for families with children, despite being 4 beds.

Assuming your daughter would be in the master bedroom, that’s an awful lot of up and down the stairs to children’s bedrooms.

If not, she would have to give said children the upstairs room, with access to a bathroom where there are obviously hot taps etc.

I think the house is quite pretty from the outside, and the interior is soulless but still pleasant. The small kitchen is the biggest turn off to me. I also don’t like the garden and I think it’s very overlooked.

At first glance quite plain in comparison, on second glance a better place in almost every way, imo !

Omg that would cost £250k where I live so hard to say if it’s a good buy or not .
Ignore comments on decor- that can be changed . Layout is good imo.

I prefer the first one. Other than having a better kitchen, that semi feels poky by comparison. Also it's a 30s-built house - in my experience they don't have great noise insulation from the abutting walls. I've lived in two houses of that age, we could hear all the neighbours' daily noise.

It’s ugly, soulless but very practical.

Edit. Even the second semi's on a crummy estate by the looks of it.

Painfully bland and that lawn is so bad it would make me question if the garden is destined to be a wasteland forever.

It's all fine. Certainly a blank canvas to do whatever she wants with it. I prefer eat in kitchens, but then we also rarely eat in our kitchen, so it's all doable. There might be opportunity to convert the garage if she wants more downstairs space.

@squashpenguin is right about the lawn. Mine was built c.20 years ago and the soil/lawn are bad condition due to all the building rubble under

Hi OP, our first house was a near identical footprint when we bought it 12 years ago (but in Wales so less than half the price of what this one is up for now!) Can I ask my how old your DD is and whether the house is just for her or her with partner and potential future children?

I ask as we bought ours as our first home, and for that purpose it was lovely. 😊 But as soon as we had our first child the impracticalites of the layout really came through, e.g. nowhere to have as a separate playroom so we lost our adult space, baby-proofing was really hard as again, no way to separate the spaces. Having to go downstairs in the night after DS moved out of our room and into one of the middle floor rooms. Honestly if it was just me and DH I think we'd have stayed a lot longer but we craved a bigger garden and more living space - as others have said it's very inequitable in a lot of new builds!

They purchased the sofa and it didn't fit in the gap due to the radiator - so they moved the radiator further up the wall - it can be seen on the wall half way up in other photos and the sofa only just fits in the gap

the stairs could very easily be boxed in, and access directly from the front door as you come into the house - if that is something they wanted to change

the kitchen does have a table in the window, so it is a breakfast kitchen

the lounge seems quite big

have other houses in the street changed the garage into a different room?

Don’t know the area beyond knowing that Tonbridge is nice ( & expensive).

Bedroom 4 is tiny so only really suitable as a nursery or study. For that reason I would say the house is fine for a family of 4 but would prefer a bigger 4th bedroom if for a bigger family. Handy to have a dedicated room for a study though if anyone works from home.

The garden is without charm and quite overlooked. May be worth asking if it’s north facing since the EA doesn’t say it’s south or west facing.

Despite some negatives, it’s a nice looking house & probably not a bad price for the area but it obviously needs some love.

On the floor plan the garden is pointing north.

Just looked at street view and the houses seem fairly well spaced out with extra on road parking for a new estate.
I prefer to have the kitchen at the back of the house so that you are not traipsing mud over the lounge but it’s not a deal breaker for me.
Looks Like a north facing garden which wouldn’t be my 1st choice.

That will put some people off who like a sunnier garden for gardening or - as in my case - sunbathing or sitting outside a lot during the warmer weather.

Others won't mind of course.

I think the ratio of 'downstairs' living floor area to bedrooms/ bathrooms is all wrong.
If they are going to be working from home and using bedrooms as studies it could be nice.
Maybe the first floor ensuite changed into an upstairs laundry/utility might balance things better.
As a family home, the lack of anywhere to eat other than in the living room would bother me.