Newer build or older house with more character?

[Maybemabel526]

We’re currently house hunting and feeling a bit torn, so I’d love to hear your thoughts/experiences!
We're struggling to find the house we want in the location we want (walking to the station). We’ve viewed a 'new' (10 year old) build that tick a lot of boxes — modern, energy efficient, no immediate work needed — but the garden is slightly smaller than some others we've seen and the style is very 2010s in design - very bland (incl the garden which is just a grass rectangle).
On the other hand, the older houses we've seen tend to have bigger gardens and more charm, but have generally not had as good a layout and needed a lot of work...
Would you:

• Go for a 'new' build with a smaller garden and try to add character internally?
• Or hold out for an older property with more space and character?

Especially interested to hear from anyone who chose either option — do you regret it or love your decision? Thanks so much 😊

New build. Character is expensive and I really don't care what my house looks like on the outside as I spend very little time standing outside looking at it. Older houses also tend to be harder to heat.

I do like 1970s houses because they tend to have big rooms and more space for your money, even though they look very plain. Would that be a compromise if there are any available in the area?

I love my 12 year old new build, it does have character such as bay windows and high ceilings. The bills are really low, it’s always warm, I have solar panels and the layout is fab.

New build. A house without issues is a dream IMO

i know new builds can have issues too but ours hasn’t and it’s so much easier to fl

I’m on my second new build. It’s warm and has no issues. My energy bills for a 3 bedroom town house is £120 with us both wfh for 80-90% of the week. The rooms are a good size and it’s really quiet and safe.

I’d never buy a new build . I’ve had both new and old and it’d be old every time . They were built to last . I doubt we’ll see a Baratt house still standing in 100 yrs . Old houses are often more spacious with better proportioned rooms and larger gardens . I love character aswell .

Definitely one with character, I don't like New Builds and most tend to be on estates. I prefer bigger garden too.

I grew up in a new build- buit in the 70s and we were the first owners. I always thought it characterless and bought one built in 1890.
It's brimming with character- I chucked the carpets and have a stone floor,steps etc. and I opened the original fireplace.
It's been a bloody lot of work but that's only because the woman I bought it off had basically done naff all to it- it all needed re- plastering and decorating.
I'd go 'old'but make sure it's in good condition.

Old house every time, assuming you factor in and can afford the cost of any work that needs to be done.

Somewhat depends on your circumstances and ability to DIY is. Avoid damp at any cost!

For me it’s more location and orientation that is more Important than age of the house. Having said that I have never lived in a very old house so not sure I would. As I get older, a warm house is very very Important to me.

I would choose the old house, but there are things I'm envious of in new houses. I have lived in houses from 1900, the 20s and the 30s, and all have been quite cold! But I like the character and the garden is important, because you can improve a house but you can't make the land it is on bigger . I would go for whichever house you like best.

New build. Out of the four homes we’ve owned since 1991, three have been new builds. We moved into our latest last October. We have a large garden, parking for four cars, energy bills are low and every room is spacious, and it has character.

The old house, our second house purchase, was the one that we had issues with, and it was never warm.

10 year old ‘new build’ here. We bought it at 2 years old so previous owners had addressed all snagging issues etc. Large rooms, modern, energy efficient, insulated, etc. I’ve lived in many older properties over the years, and thinks like damp, condensation, cost of updating, poor heating, general maintenance costs all put me off. A house that can look lovely on spring and summer, can be absolutely horrendous in the winter months.

We are in the process of moving from a 140 year old house to newer build and looking forward to it. Old house is a money pit and roof repairs are frequent. Hoping for warmer home and will add character.

Having owned 30's, 50's & 70's houses, we were determined to retire into a NB property that ticked all our boxes.
Well designed, spacious, cheap to run, there is nothing about it we don't like.
Larger than our previous houses, we decided to upsize into retirement to ensure plenty of room and good accessibility as we get older.

If there was a downsize it would be the garden.
Always had large gardens (our last one was 300ft long!) but realistically, a garden anything like that is just too much to look after in old age. Instead we designed, built & planted our new garden from scratch and have filled it with all the plants we love. As NB gardens go it is actually quite a decent size but even so, took some getting used to after our previous house.

Thank you all so much for your opinions! Seems warm house is definitely a major factor, it’s something we don’t have in our current house and I think would really like to have. It’s not on an estate it’s a one off house built by a builder rather than one of the house builders so hopefully the quality is better though I know it’s not built like homes used to be and I’m sure they cut corners!

The blank garden is the biggest worry for us - how long has it taken for you to be happy with the new garden and get plants to look full etc?

Unfortunately the housing stock we’ve seen either seems to be around 1910s and needing work or this one ‘new’ house - not much in between in the area!

I wouldn't assume older houses are better built. They had no building standards or inspectors years ago so it's largely luck if it's well built or not. I lived in a Victorian terrace and it was really badly built compared to modern standards and the walls were only 1 brick thick - you could hear the neighbours draw their shower curtain when you were in the room next to their bathroom.

Old house. Always. It’s subjective though.

My first place was a new build and my second was a beautiful Victorian.

Both are bad in different ways 😂

Current house is new build, last was when we bought it,both have advantages in no real upkeep, relatively economical to run,both utterly characterless boxes which no matter what you try, seem to always just be that.

Old for me every time. Way more charm, bigger rooms and gardens, cost more to heat and maintain but hold value better and easier to sell.

Personally, I prefer the problems of old houses to the problems of new ones. Other people will take the characterless boxiness as a trade-off for energy efficiency and warmth, obviously, but I’ll cope with draughts for the sake of lofty ceilings, original stained glass, and strange nooks and crannies.

First new house after six period houses and it’s absolute heaven!