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

bexybest

I really dislike the cheap wooden fences that are used to split the gardens. I know brick prices are expensive but having a 3ft brick wall topped with a wooden fence makes loads of difference to privacy and the general feel of the property.

in_my_wellies

For me a solid built traditional house is spoilt when the insides are ripped out to make an open plan space.  I don't want cooking smells everywhere. I don't want/need to heat all the space. I want to listen to the radio when others want the TV. 

With the cost of heating I can see the open plan fad ending and walls being replaced 

Getting_greyer

They have their benefits but I agree with most of what's already been said.  

I'd also add: an obsession with putting en suites in spaces that would be better served as living space.  Or downstairs wc that have a window directly next to front door or like weirdly right next to living room.  Or maybe it's just me that's obsessed with toilets.  

On the subject of kitchen/diners, I don't like the ones that only have space for a small 4 seater circular table.

AFF8879

I hate how, particularly in flats it seems, they stick a few kitchen units in the lounge and sell it as “open plan”. They’ve screwed you out of an extra room and charge you more for the privilege.

Oh and the bathrooms have no windows.

I really don’t miss apartment living!

ProDave

ka7e said:

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.

Add to that rear garden ONLY accessible by going through the house. Common in mid terrace houses.  Add to your list taking the lawnmower or any garden tools and garden waste through the house to get to your back garden.

If you have a front lawn as well, imagine having to carry the lawnmower through the house to get from one to the other, without dropping grass cuttings etc, and then try doing that on your own if you are single.

DairyQueen

New build hates;

- open plan kitchen/living areas
- grey fixtures, tiles and flooring (believe me, this will date your property in record time)
- kitchen at the front
- no access to the garden from the kitchen (at the rear)
- 3 'bedrooms' squeezed into an area only just sufficient for two bedrooms. Result? One bedroom and two cupboards. 
- A garden that hosts builders' debris. Expect years to create an environment in which plants will grow.

Bonniepurple

The fact that most of the new builds around here are town houses.  Not everyone likes loads of stairs!  Houses crammed together.  

Houses being built with no thought to the infrastructure until almost the last plot is sold.  That means no new school/doctors/shops which leads to overcrowding and not enough spaces in the existing ones - so people have to drive (further) to get there, meaning more cars on the road.

strawb_shortcake

I don't like that the houses you can see from the road look quite nice, but once you drive into the estate it's pokey lego type houses with no character.

With the open plan living I think I read here about that will soon go out of fashion as energy prices rise. You have to heat the whole downstairs, you have no option to just hear the room you're using 

ironlady2022

3 stories is my biggest pet hate! 

lookstraightahead

in_my_wellies said:

For me a solid built traditional house is spoilt when the insides are ripped out to make an open plan space.  I don't want cooking smells everywhere. I don't want/need to heat all the space. I want to listen to the radio when others want the TV. 

With the cost of heating I can see the open plan fad ending and walls being replaced 

We have an open plan downstairs in a house about 200 years old. When we bought it I was concerned about it but to be honest there's nowhere for the smell to linger if you're happy to let fresh air in which we are as old houses need ventilation. Personally I find smells linger in small closed up rooms.

I think new builds are built as cheaply as the developers can get away with, and are placed on dodgy land. I have no problem with a new house if you could move it to an established place. I also find them hot but then I live in an old house.

Having said that I think you have more peace of mind with new houses and it's the people who make a home, whatever it's like.