New House vs Old House...

23n1th

Hi guys,

Moving house hopefully sometime this year, was wondering about the above. When I moved into my first house it wasn't an issue since I needed a place to live. Now I have a choice so what do I go for?

I know there will be pros and cons with both, but what are they?
What should I look out for?

Cheers guys.

MrsAmanda_2

Wow, it's one of those how long is a piece of string?' questions. I bet everyone will have a different answer.

Personally, I prefer 'old' houses above new builds. I find new houses can often be a bit boxy, and lots of developers make the rooms - and garden -as small as they can get away with. Older houses often have higher ceilings and more generous room proportions.

But, of course, newer ones are often more energy efficient and have fewer awkward nooks and crannies that you don't know what to do with. They're often easier to maintain and shouldn't have nasty surprises of a dodgy roof or electrics etc.

I look forward to seeing other responses ...

evoke

New house: Bad points: likely to be in a development with affordable housing so the whole development will effectively become a council estate in 10 years time with unsavoury characters occupying properties whilst claiming housing benefits. Lots of car crime and drug-dealing awaits you. Most of the flats in the development will be rented out to HAs by greedy landlords so you'll have people who don't care about their home or their neighbours living in the development. Parking will be a royal PITA. You'll almost certainly have to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the communal bits. The walls will be like paper. Very poor sound insulation. Tiny rooms - you'll struggle to swing a cat in the largest room. Good points: no renovation required. You may get a full complement of white goods. NHBC guarantee. Very energy-efficient so low energy bills.

Old house: Bad points: searches may show up chancel repair liability, flood risk, etc. Property may need extensive renovation. You may need to replace major, very costly elements like the roof, electrics, double-glazing and central heating. These costs are likely to be required early on during ownership. You may encounter structural issues just a few years down the line. Shared driveway disputes. Energy bills likely to be much higher. Good points: no service charge to pay. Likely to be on a 'proper' road than an estate/development. More land (appreciable front and rear gardens). Larger rooms. Solid walls.

BitterAndTwisted

I'm sure there are spacious, well-built new properties. The only problem is that I've never seen one. Some of the developers appear to be in love with open-plan ground floors which I particularly loathe. Horse for courses, I expect.

skintbuthappy81

I love new houses but the main problem we faced when moving from old to new was how thin the walls are in comparison. We are lucky with our neighbour as she is generally quite (as I hope we are) but you can hear the smallest sound. It might not sound a big issue but trust me with some of the neighbours we have had in the past we kissed goodbye to a good nights sleep.

MrsAmanda_2

evoke wrote: »

New house: ... Parking will be a royal PITA. ...

In my neck of the woods, the parking is more of an issue with older houses. There's a proliferation of Victorian/Edwardian terraces. The council have stopped letting people drop kerbs to convert their front gardens into off street parking, so getting a parking space anywhere near your home is almost impossible. Where there are newer developments, more provision has been made for cars.

bristol_pilot

New-ish houses: bad points - small rooms, low ceilings, no character, hermetically sealed so you can get condensation issues, most estates will have minimum 10% 'affordable housing' = problem families on housing benefit, build quality usually very poor, so-called detached houses far too close to neighbours, new-ish estates may be built on a flood plain; good points - energy efficient, purpose-built flats with concrete floors MAY have better sound insulation than older converted properties with wood floors.

Older houses: bad points - unrenovated properties may be a total wreck requiring re-wiring etc and a lot of work, DIY renovations may be bodge jobs, non-detached properties may have poor sound insulation, energy inefficient and may not be realistically improvable, risk of major works being required in near future e.g. new roof, garage/driveway may be too narrow for modern cars; good points - more space per £, larger gardens, more character.

My own preference is for an older property, but recently professionally renovated.

ali-t

I am going through the same dilemmas myself at the moment. The things I hate about my new build house are - having neighbours and it being poorly constructed. The things I love about it are it is cheap to heat, large rooms, no hidden wasp/rat/mouse infestations, doesn't leak out heat, has plenty of storage, fantastic off street parking, is versatile to be able to do anything with the decor and no strange shaped rooms.

I guess ideally I would like a new build house on a large piece of land with a secure walled garden for much cheapness!