tony de wonderful

What do you reckon?

I can see the attraction of new houses for convenience but otoh new builds tend to be packed in like sardines and built from cardboard.

I really like houses built by the Victorians but they can be costly with upkeep due to their age even though the are built very solidly.

95turbowagon

iTrader: (17)

Grew up in a house that was full of beams, and i'm determined one day to get somewhere with beams.

Prefer the look of old fashioned houses, ideal place would be a barn conversion. Modern gubbins but old fashioned charm.

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

I like my 1927 built house
Big rooms and high ceilings and big bay windows

Sold my new built bungalow i had built for me in1990 just for the older house
More character but more ongoing Maintence and big garden to maintain means
When I retire back to a smaller bungalow or a stairlift

Jamescsti

My house is a 1950's brick built house, not exactly victorian but we looked at new builds, tiny gardens and packed in. Cardboard walls, tiny gardens, not for me.
Every wall in my house is concrete block, even the none load bearing walls they don't build em like they used to

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

My house is a 1910 terraced house. Has high ceilings daft angled stairs but bags of character even for a smallish house. Would be nice if it had cavity walls but decent upvc windows and loft insulation helps.

I don't think me and the mrs would like a new build but mor something from the 60s 70s which still has character, build quality but modern efficiency.

astraboy

be different. Go for Acid House instead
astraboy.

Simon C

Old over new any day of the week.

I had a choice when I bought the new scoob, £20k towards house or car. Only new or newish builds were on the market and this was just before the crash. I couldn't bring myself to buy a new build.

tony de wonderful

I'm not sure about 60s or 70's, didn't houses hit a kind of nadir in those eras?

There is a big estate near me made from 80's houses and they still look ok though.

Turbohot

I don't know if all Victorian houses are solidly built. I know a few people living in them, and their hollow floorboards on rickety beams make an awful noise. One person is called Jonathan. We call him Jonathan Creech due to the creeching sounds of his ancient floor. The walls of his Victorian house look so precarious that you don't want to lean on them, as they might fall apart! Another old friend lives in a huge inherited Victorian mansion. He has wild Ivy growing inside his ancient, totally fcuked conservatory, antique Rayburn cooker on all the time, carpets look terribly worn, and the whole place stinks of mould, but the character of the place is amazing. You feel that it is haunted, even when it isn't.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

I prefer older to newer, nothing like some oak beams or high ceilings (though not with oak beams ).
Just watch the bandings for the building though, new will be lower than old in 95% of cases.

Tony

hodgy0_2

buy what you like -- personally I don't like houses built out of paper mache so would never buy a "commodity" new build -- plus they have no transactional history so value is hard to judge

Dedrater

Well, not all old Victorian houses are built solid. A few miles from me are 30 or so listed building, they look stunning, but are not built on foundations. They are built on the rock/clay underneath.

I only know one person who lives in them and it cost him 20 grand to underpin his house. When he tried to sell, his energy certificate was rated 1, the lowest, with the potential of 20ish (F band)

His house also, only has the slate on the roof to keep it water tight, no DPM and no modern water draining tiles, lead water supply and single glazed windows, he can change like for like, but that bill is 22k.

I wouldn't want a really old house, it is unfortunate that modern dwellings look **** and this should be looked at by local planning. Some sorrt of 'character' should be implemented with all new builds.

corradoboy

I hate new houses. Sure, they are a dream to heat, easy to decorate, but soulless and devoid of charm and character. As far as we know, our house started life as a farm factory in about 1810. Sometime after WW1 it was converted into 6 houses, and each has developed its own character ever since. Some have open stairs in a hallway, others have no hallway (ours) with bigger rooms and enclosed stairs. We have opened ours up front to back with bi-fold doors between the kitchen/diner and living room, and intend to add bi-folds out from the kitchen onto a deck with steps down to the garden. Later we intend to convert the cellar into two double beds with a utility, shower and w/c, turning it from a 3 bed (2 dbl) 1 bath, to a 4 bed (all dbl) 3 bath.

dpb

Queen Anne period , if i had any money

AsifScoob

In an ideal World, one of each.

(Actually I can't believe I am posting something on a TDW thread! I must be going mad!)

A modern place has all the mod cons, but very few have character. Previous house had real character and I really miss it, but was too small. Current house, is very big, big rooms, loads of space, mod cons, such as en suite bathrooms, all the convenience, such as integrated double garage. For me it is like an extension of the house, but just for me. I love it down there.

It's some sort of Mock Tudor, so not altogeher to my taste, but what the hell? It has all of the utility that I require. It does seem soul less compared to the last place.

One thing I like that a lot of other new builds don't have: between the ground floor and the first floor there is a thick concrete floor. This is great for sound proofing, but dreadful for mobile phone signals!

When we were looking for another property one that we really liked was an Edwardian. Very nice, loads of character and space, but didn't have a driveway, or even off street parking. Barely a tiny front garden. Looked nice of course, but on a busy street in West London, and with 3 Scoobs to park, just impractical.

I have property, both in this country and abroad, but none of it is old or has character to be honest. Love the idea of a new house here and an old place as a country retreat. A French farm, or a Spanish Finca.

Oh well. Keep playing the lottery I suppose!

Asif

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

New build BUT, built to MY spec, with plenty of breathing space around it away from the neighbours.

i.e none of this mass produced rubbish from Barrat/McAlpine/Redrow/Bryant/Wimpey etc. Closed in ceilings, tiny second bedrooms, stuffy ventilation, all built from sandy brick with mock period "features" eurrgh.

I have an idea of what I'd like to do "grand design style", but by no means would it the typical "eco" box that they so often show.

tony de wonderful

What's wrong with a grass roof?

fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

Gotta be older style,new builds are just gash in everyway..

My house is just over 200 yrs old..Yes it has faults,and needs a bit of maintanance every few years,but it has character and is an interesting building. Also it is in a nice position,living on a new build housing estate is like some kind of horror story IMHO.

It is purely a personal choice though.If you cant ever be bothered with a bit of DIY and tinkering about,then a new build is a better option.

Liken it to a Kia car....Does the job,has a great warranty and bought new will give trouble free motoring for a while.But it will be like every other car on the road,no individuality or charm.Just a boring box,but does the job.

Or buy a 2nd hand BMW,built better but will need maintanance now and again.Sitting inside will still give you a feeling of good build quality and peace of mind.

Many people will be happy to live in a plasterboard,studded wall,thrown up cheaply home for the sake of it being "new".Looking out of there front window at there Ford Mondeo and seeing an exact mirror image of house and car staring back at them...And thats fair enough if thats your idyll..

Not for me im afraid.

Leslie

Older houses always seem to be better built, not down to a price. As long as they have been well maintained I would always prefer one. Ours was built in the 1850's from stone and is in excellent condition.

Les

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

The gardener would wake me up when he mows it first thing in the morning

njkmrs

Not keen on the "upkeep " of older properties to be honest .As said ,a Barn conversion would be Ok with modern interior .
Cant say Im bothered about high ceilings as I dont fancy paying to heat all that unused space .
Our Bungalow from the 60,s suits me fine as its been modernised to my taste and is fairly easy maintenance wise .

Myles

iTrader: (40)

Ive got a place in Plymouth, just the same as the above, big bay windows, solid sash windows, woodburner in the dining room, high ceilings. I love the house (even though I havent lived there since 1998!). My wife wants to buy a new house when I leavew the mob, but I cant bear living is a shoebox, so itll be another large terraced.

Lee247

I like old houses.
Ours is over 120 years old. Only snag is, it's huge, has high ceilings and costs an arm and a leg to run

Turbohot

LOL It depends if your neighbours are nosey. Mine are very nice. They are very helpful when required and vice versa.

Ideally, I would like a 200 yr old mansion to live in, but I would also like money to heat it, and would like happiness to surround me. When we came to North Wales to settle, I lived in an old chapel (at least 200 year old, may be more). It is a listed building, so it had all beautiful characteristics e.g.pulpit, huge windows and exterior left undisturbed, which was fantastic! But I was very unhappy there due to personal reasons. Anyhow, one day, I walked out of that place with my two kids (they were little, then), and we eventually found peace and quiet in a common looking 3 bedroom house, and never looked back. I believe that it's not the visible character of the house but the happiness that makes the house worth living in. Any shelter is to provide safety and security in physical and emotional sense. If that is lacking, I'd rather live in my current semi-detached humble hut on an estate, no regrets whatsoever.

mslorach

iTrader: (22)

+1 New builds can have a lot of character too, plus they are much cheaper to run. I've just built a 4 bed detached, partially larch clad house with high bedroom ceilings. All for the price of a 2 bed flat in my area. I really detest barrat boxes ect though.

tony de wonderful

Here's a question - do Imprezas lower house prices?

lozgti1

First house was new house.Great fun!!!!

Measure up where to drill hole,start with 6mm drill bit end up with hole size of a dinner plate

Fell down the stairs carrying my then baby son.Put my elbow right through the wall

Garden...used to slap the flymo on the lawn,move it left and right a couple of inches,job done

Live in a 1927 house now.Had to buy an Industrial type drll and new drill bits just to get through the blue brick.Nothing falls down once its up though

Nice garden too.No one seems to want a garden now.we love ours

andythejock01wrx

A whole street of them, yeah, probably!

1970s houses aren't the best - mine's one!

tony de wonderful

Well I was looking at streetview to see a house I was interested in.

One of the houses on the street had a shiny 911 (non turbo) on the driveway.

I think it made the area seem more 'aspirational middle class'.

Maybe I'm a secret snob.

I wonder how the neighbors would feel about a battered classic with a de-cat?

Lee247

You are right about a garden. Ours is hooge. Joys of living in the sticks in an ancient house