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 😊

I've had half a century of old houses with lots of character. Now in a new build and very much relishing having time to enjoy life instead of worrying about the next thing that needs fixing.

That said, some new builds are awful. Research carefully!

Thanks for the opinions - such a hard decision!

I spent most of my childhood growing up in a 1990's new-build. It was permanently freezing, and there was little to no privacy, as it was on an estate and you could look straight through the front windows and out into the back garden. I swore that I would never live on such an estate ever again!

So far, I have been successful in avoiding this. I've spent the last few years in a 1930's house in what can charmingly be described as a "hamlet". The house isn't very well-insulated in parts (it has been extended at some point), but I've been putting measures in place to keep it warmer. It has been MUCH warmer since I replaced the draughty exterior doors with UPVC ones, and shutters over the windows are fabulous for keeping heat in, and for keeping excessively bright sunlight and heat out! I do wish that some of the original features had been left, but am contenting myself with the thought of re-installing some period features (e.g. it has a mix of some original cottage doors, and cheap standard Victorian ones) over time.

I was always an old house person, but we just moved into a new build and I love it so so so much. My last house - Victorian - was basically collapsing. I don't know why people think old = solid. Lots of Victorian houses were never expected to last as long as they have. If we drilled into a wall, the brick just crumbled. The foundations were barely there. The neighbours were one brick away. We did this house ourselves and it's insulated to the eye balls and we know the standard of workmanship and the light and space is like nothing else I've ever lived in. I can't imagine going back to small windows. Everything works - it's heaven. And it's a five bed and costs less than 1000 a year for electricity (both heat and light).

I grew up in an 80s new build on a leafy estate, back when they gave people decent gardens and proper driveways. But all new builds I’ve viewed since have seemed pokey and crammed in.

I’ve only owned two houses myself - a 1930s semi which had been stripped of all its lovely original features in the 60s and an Edwardian house that has been extended so many times in different eras that nothing about the plumbing or electrics makes any sense at all.

I’ve loved both houses, but the older it is, the more odd decisions from previous owners you have to contend with. In our current place things are constantly going wrong and you’re trying to fix them without a manual, because nothing makes any sense and you don’t have the records of what was done. And yes, it’s freezing cold and a bugger to heat.

Assuming DH and I stay happy and healthy together, it’s my ‘forever’ home and I picture our young children as adults here. But if anything changed that would make maintenance more challenging, I’d have to move to a new build.

We have lived in three houses since we were married in 1989. Our first house was a thirties semi and I loved it - it was a good, solid, well-proportioned house. Our second house was an eighties built house and was a very nice house to live in. It was ten years old when we moved in and our children grew up there. Both our first two houses had bay windows, which I have always loved. When we were 3house hunting for our present home, we stipulated that we wanted the house to have been built between around 1930-1990. We felt that older houses very often have very expensive problems and, post-1990, a lot of houses look spacious on the outside but have small rooms inside and are often flimsily constructed. They have not had time to settle in so can seem to be lacking in character. We would have been very happy in a sixties or seventies house as they are usually well-proportioned and spacious inside and out if, perhaps, a little boxy. This house was built in 1983 and has everything we wanted and some character in its design. My favourite part is actually the hall, which is quite large, and the winding staircase. Our previous 1980s home had a small lobby only.
@Maybemabel526, given your update, I would go for the newer house. Ten years is long enough for the teething troubles to have settled and will be much easier to live in than an older house, which often has an endless list of problems.

We got planting straight away to give the boarders & trees time to establish, the landscaping was then carried out around these and finally, the smaller shrubs were put in. Been here 4yrs now and are still planting but all the heavy work was done in the first couple of years.
To give yourself a headstart, pay (a bit) more and go for older, more mature trees etc. Makes a real difference and gives more impact.

Thank you all. We’ve made an offer on the newer house - fingers crossed!!

Older house every time. Newer builds are soulless and have no character.

I bought a new build with a "grass" ... well green! ... rectangle.
Straight away I created a raised border along the fence, a path, a small patio, a curved area at the end to leave wild and a tiny pond with alpine and stones around.
The fence was covered by the following year and 5 years later the garden is lush and thriving.
Put in evergreen shrubs and climbers that will develop, and add in annual bedding plants to begin with while these come into their own.

I’m team old house, new houses are generally bland, characterless boxes with very few appealing features. I adore our rambling old Georgian farmhouse, love the period features, wonky floors, well proportioned, elegant rooms with high ceilings, sash windows and actual fireplaces. But living in an old house needs a different mindset, they need maintaining sympathetically, you can’t treat them like modern houses or you’ll have problems. I know I’m probably slightly mad but I’d hate to live in a modern, energy efficient, insta worthy house. Give me a draughty, creaky, old money pit any day of the week.