Debate House Prices
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New Build Houses - Size and Density
Comments
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I think FTB's are put off older properties by the maintenance costs. This is vastly exaggerated. Our 70's house is not expensive to run or maintain. Indeed when we purchased a new Wilcon house in the 90's we spent a fortune in filler and paint from poor decoration/preparation and putting in a decent heating system (the builder used a cheap system).
Indeed. Before moving here in 2011, I lived for 5 years in a house that was built in 2003, and it was forever needing things done to it because the build quality was so poor. I was only renting it, though, so maintenance wasn't my problem.Do you know anyone who's bereaved? Point them to https://www.AtaLoss.org which does for bereavement support what MSE does for financial services, providing links to support organisations relevant to the circumstances of the loss & the local area. (Link permitted by forum team)
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.
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My experience is that newer houses need as much maintenance as older ones, its just the type of maintenance is different. The build quality on our 12 year old house is lamentable and I've spent a lot of time and effort sorting it all out.
Anyway, I don't think we'll waste our time looking at new builds any more. We'll stick to looking at the older ones.0 -
mustang121 wrote: »Is it just me or do new builds seem to have incredibly large windows? Which makes one feel on constant display to the outside world.
I think some people, particulary younger ones, are turning out to be snobs and just buy new 'shoebox' builds simply because it is new.
I think it's just you.
Windows on newbuilds tend to be smaller than on older properties.
Current building regs concerning insulation and heat loss mean mean that large windows are not possible without using expensive products.0 -
They seem to be building a lot of family size houses down here at the moment, with quite generous proportions. Many of them come with a family room AND a living rooms, sometimes with a study at the same time.
However, on the same estates are things called "coach houses". I'd never really taken any notice of these houses, but they seem quite popular on the handful of new build sites here. These houses are basically flats, with someone elses garage underneath you (as I'm sure you are all aware!).
Thing I didn't quite get is that a lot of these developments have these large houses, BUT, no garage. Your garage is over the road under someone elses flat, which I thought was a bit bizzare.
They seem to have gone for the option of adding a family room, at the cost of a communal row of garages for large family type houses. I would have thought most people would prefer their garage with their house, especially considering the price these things are at (were talking 400k for a 4 bed with the nice living rooms). Thing is, there doesn't appear to be much in the middle of these two extremes. The 3 beds are all terraced, no garages, with postage stamp front and back gardens. You know the type, identikit with no seperation between the houses, so you end up mowing the next door neighbours grass to keep yours nice! The 4 beds top of the range. The low end, REALLY low end. The coach houses have not one single cupboard within them (bar the kitchen units!). The boiler is on the kitchen wall, so not even a tiny cupboard with a boiler in it.
Does this suggest the tradittional family isn't buying the new build? Hence the lack of decent 3 beds, and straight up to high end 4 beds?0 -
I was told that in showhouses they use furniture built for caravans/boats so it'll fit in the extra bedrooms etc.
Lived near Glasgow once and visited a schoolmates flat there once. Went up a close in the tenement he lived in and when he opened the door to his flat it was like finding Narnia/the TARDIS interior (pick age-appropriate analogy). It was a mansion flat with a massive hall, high ceilings, endless rooms. Absolutely soundproof as made from sandstone. No wonder tenement and flat living's still popular there. Can't get over how tiny the rooms and houses are down south. No front garden of course but what's that for?
It's the myth you need a garden and a house where you need to climb stairs to get from room to room I can't stand.
There'd be high density living without overcrowding if we took a leaf out of countries where flat-living's normal.
By the way that probably means we should get rid of "leasehold" as aside from England, Wales and Hawaii nobody's heard of it as it's rubbish.There is no honour to be had in not knowing a thing that can be known - Danny Baker0 -
I was told that in showhouses they use furniture built for caravans/boats so it'll fit in the extra bedrooms etc.
Lived near Glasgow once and visited a schoolmates flat there once. Went up a close in the tenement he lived in and when he opened the door to his flat it was like finding Narnia/the TARDIS interior (pick age-appropriate analogy). It was a mansion flat with a massive hall, high ceilings, endless rooms. Absolutely soundproof as made from sandstone. No wonder tenement and flat living's still popular there. Can't get over how tiny the rooms and houses are down south. No front garden of course but as what's that for?
It's the myth you need a garden and a house where you need to climb stairs to get from room to room I can't stand.
There'd be high density living without overcrowding if we took a leaf out of countries where flat-loiving's normal.
By the way that probably means we should get rid of "leasehold" as aside from England, Wales and Hawaii nobody's heard of it as it's rubbish.
Friends of ours have a nice "house" overlooking the Clyde and their lounge is something like 120 sq meters alone. It was terrifically expensive either although it has needed a lot of work doing on it."If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
The thing that bugs me on new developments is that there is never enough space for cars.
Many couples/families outside of big conurbations, have at least two cars these days if not more. If they have a garage it is usually too small to fit anything in. there is never enough roadway space either.
Most planning applications by us have pitiful car space allocation and the traffic plans they submit predictably predict people will walk or cycle up to 3 - 5km or us the infrequent, expensive public transport, to blag planning approval."If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
Graham_Devon wrote: »Thing I didn't quite get is that a lot of these developments have these large houses, BUT, no garage. Your garage is over the road under someone elses flat, which I thought was a bit bizzare.
They seem to have gone for the option of adding a family room, at the cost of a communal row of garages for large family type houses. I would have thought most people would prefer their garage with their house, especially considering the price these things are at (were talking 400k for a 4 bed with the nice living rooms).
I agree that if other things are equal, I'd prefer my garage to be with my house. However, if the choice was between having an extra reception room (but garage on the other side of the road) or having the garage with the house (but no extra reception room) then I'd pick the extra reception room every time.
My main gripe about many new build houses is that they're all bedrooms and bathrooms and kitchens, and hardly any living space. They seem to have been designed for people who are out almost all the time and only use their homes for eating, sleeping and having showers. That may describe the lifestyle of childless executives in London who design new build houses for a living, but for families with several children the priorities are all wrong, especially if there's at least one parent who doesn't work, or works part time, or doesn't work in school holidays.
I'm thinking of myself here, as a teacher who's also a single parent. School holidays with my kids would drive me insane if there was only one living room. My current house has a bigger downstairs than upstairs, and suits my family perfectly. We can be together when we want to, but if we all want to do different things, some of which are noisy and some quiet, then there are plenty of spaces for us to use.
Agree with grizzly about the cars thing, although it's never been a problem for me personally as the only adult and therefore the only driver in my household.Do you know anyone who's bereaved? Point them to https://www.AtaLoss.org which does for bereavement support what MSE does for financial services, providing links to support organisations relevant to the circumstances of the loss & the local area. (Link permitted by forum team)
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.0 -
Indeed. Before moving here in 2011, I lived for 5 years in a house that was built in 2003, and it was forever needing things done to it because the build quality was so poor. I was only renting it, though, so maintenance wasn't my problem.
Ours was built in 2008 and it's falling to bits. Virtually every appliance and system (I.e. trendy lighting panel, aircon, entry phone) has failed. The door to the balcony can't be opened if its been raining and the joists under the balcony floorboards are rotten. The window frames are being penetrated by damp, and the flat roof leaks. There are also problems with the communal areas with leaks.
This is supposed to be a high end finish as well! It has at least got very good sound proofing and is well insulated.0 -
I can understand this.I think there was even a point after WWII where the East Germans had more cars (per capita) than us.We just never factored it in properlygrizzly1911 wrote: »The thing that bugs me on new developments is that there is never enough space for cars.
Many couples/families outside of big conurbations, have at least two cars these days if not more.grizzly1911 wrote: »The thing that bugs me on new developments is that there is never enough space for cars.
If they have a garage it is usually too small to fit anything in.
That's unforgivable. You'd imagine they could shrink rooms but with cars getting bigger (even minis are taking steroids now), not garages. And yet insanely they're shrinking so they could barely hold post-war bubble cars.
Britain mocks Albania for building those half-a million "two-man bunkers" that two men won't fit in.
Fact is, we're at least as ridiculous ourselves.:(There is no honour to be had in not knowing a thing that can be known - Danny Baker0
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