What else bugs you about new and new-ish building designs?

andy444

Lack of storage space with in-built cupboards, wardrobes etc.

Small gardens.

Prioritising number of bedrooms over decent size of them. 

peter3hg

I think people have a tendency to compare the worst of the new builds to the best of older properties.

Most of the criticisms of new builds can be levelled to many older properties as well and conversely don't apply to many new builds.


I live in a 4 bed which is the smallest type of 4 bed on the estate (end townhouse style).
It has masses of storage compared to pretty much any older house I viewed. 3 of the 4 bedrooms have good sized built in wardrobes, there is an under stairs cupboard and laundry cupboard downstairs, airing cupboard on the middle floor and two further storage cupboards on the top floor, along with boarded out eves storage.
Bedroom sizes are about 180 sq/ft, 140 sq/ft, 100 sq/ft and 75 sq/ft which was better than pretty much all the older properties in the price range.

Outside it has a circa 22ft long garden, drive for 3 big cars, detached garage and a roughly 35x45ft rear garden. Again this isn't any worse than most of the older 4 beds I viewed.

Since I've been here I've never once heard the neighbours through the party wall so sound insulation is good.

It came with solar panels already installed and is very well insulated so the energy use is tiny compared to my old house.

Madmel

We went to look at new builds before we bought our current house, parts of which go back to the 17th century. New build 1's master bedroom had 3 dormer windows. I asked the EA where one would put a wardrobe and he suggested the landing...! New build 2 had a really good layout but to preserve the "uniform" frontage, parking was round the back. However, getting from the car to a door was a pain. Again, I asked the developer how one would bring in one's grocery shop and they simply shrugged.

I wish developers would think of the practicalities of living somewhere when planning. I wish local councils would insist on more off-road parking provision when approving plans. I know we are trying to cut car use, but until public transport in this area is sorted, a car is highly desirable and essential in my hamlet. Devon/Exeter, I'm looking at you.

saajan_12

Surprised by some of these responses, I actually like the open plan style rather than all separate rooms which can feel boxy and leave very little space after furniture. The proximity of doors really doesn't make much difference if its a semi anyway (I don't think they're thinking all that much about how traditional your family is, could be a bunch of sharers prefering to be more social and nip into eachothers houses while a family might prefer to be further from strangers..?)

My pet peeve is very straight frontages - no bay windows, porches, car ports etc, with everything inset from the rectangular boundary. Rows and rows of them look like toy houses with zero character.

housebuyer143

The narrow roads, lack of parking and general crushed in estates where it is obvious they are just trying to make as much money as possible.
I don't mind the houses but will never buy one because the estates are nasty.

jrawle

saajan_12 said:

Surprised by some of these responses, I actually like the open plan style rather than all separate rooms which can feel boxy and leave very little space after furniture. The proximity of doors really doesn't make much difference if its a semi anyway (I don't think they're thinking all that much about how traditional your family is, could be a bunch of sharers prefering to be more social and nip into eachothers houses while a family might prefer to be further from strangers..?)

The problem is that many new builds are "open plan" because the total floor area is so small. First it was kitchen-diners, which I know are fashionable and some people like, but the cynic in me thinks these are now the default because they take up slightly less space than a separate kitchen and dining room. Now the trend is for just a single living area, particularly in smaller terraced houses and flats. Again, this is because the floor area would be too small to have a separate living room and kitchen.

A true, open-plan home with a large floor area could be amazing, I mean an architect-designed mansion where the areas are so far apart it matters little whether there are walls between or not. However, I'd argue the houses on a standard new build estate aren't "open plan" at all, but rather have just a single room downstairs.

Each to his or her own, though. Some people prefer open plan, some separate rooms. Some prefer the lounge overlooking the garden, some the kitchen. There do tend to be variants of each house type, and thankfully there is something for everyone. What is lacking on new builds is space, which means small gardens, little or no frontage and houses crammed together. In towns, the density on new developments is usually at least 50 dwellings per hectare, probably twice what it would have been in the '80s, so new builds will unfortunately never be able to compete in that regard.

Gycraig

Personally as someone who sells sofas for a living it’s stupid town houses that have 0 planning for how to get any reasonable form of furniture into the house with stupid turns at top of stairs etc. 

then in front rooms it’s the 2 doors a window and then French doors in a front room so you can barely squeeze a 2 seater and a chair into a massive room without blocking doors etc 

TripleH

I like our smaller windows. They are large enough to let light in without dominating the room.

Storage in our house in the bed rooms was nonexistent but we had plenty elsewhere.

We use our bedrooms to sleep in / as home offices. I personally don't see the appeal in massive bedrooms. As long as there is room for my bed, space to walk round the bed and space for wardrobe / drawers, that would be perfect for me.

atarisrocks

Open planned living space. I rather my sofa doesn't pick up the smell of what I am cooking.

Lack of space between detached houses which means there is no external access to the back garden as you can't squeeze down the side.

No garden or even pathway between the front door and the road just open door straight on to the road with cars potentially driving pass inches away.

ka7e

Again, garden only being accessible through the lounge. Taking washing in and out, kids with mucky shoes and cats/dogs all traipsing over the carpet. I've had a kitchen/diner in all my homes for the last 40 years (Victorian and 1930s), so it's not a new-fangled design.