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

RelievedSheff

Slinky said:

Maybe MSE should email a link to this thread to the major housebuilders in this country..........

You say that but I work with a fair few of the major house builders and the vast majority of peoples "issues" on this thread with new builds are not actually all that common with the house types that we work with.

Very few have a truly open plan living area. The vast majority have a kitchen diner and a separate lounge.

Very few mid terrace properties have no access to the rear garden from outside the house. There is usually a footpath that leads around the houses to the rear garden.

lincroft1710

w12ee3e said:

It might just be me but I absolutely loathe the design of placing two front doors right besides each another. Why do they keep doing that? 

Nothing "new" about this, very common on 19th  century houses!

[Deleted User]

You couldn't pay me to buy a new build. I have mentioned on this site before about the new builds they have put up around me.
These are "luxury" flats in London zone 2. Every weekday without fail a number of trade vans are outside these flats fixing issues. And these properties were built nearly 10 years ago, and for nearly 10 years the vans have been there!

Putting that aside, the actual designs of the properties, seem to consist of rectangles with no light apart from one wall. This is bizarre compared to older designs where you would normally have light coming in from multiple walls. It just creates a flat in a shipping container really.

Another thing I don't understand with modern doors is the handles. I have seen so many new flats or buildings with handles which break off or don't work.

Also on the new builds near me, there is a lot of subsidence around the property, it is not likely the actual property has subsidence, but all the paths are bent only after two years this started. One property I went past on the train the other week, the entire fake wall had collapsed, that was only opened six months ago. There is also heavy discolouration on the properties near me.

One time I was visiting a friend in a new build, I came out of the lift to go home and the place was a maze, I found a door which went into a garden, once outside I found it was gated and I could not get back in or out of the garden.

AVOID NEW-BUILDS 

Edit: I have to disagree with open plan, if you are single or a young couple without children very good, if you have kids you need a proper house.

onylon

My new build pet hates:

1) Being overlooked or overshadowed by the neighbors and whatever privacy screens they put in.

2) Rooms that are so economic with space that there is only one functional layout.

3) Bedrooms with no where to store your clothes.

4) Layouts that maximize the number of bedrooms/bathrooms but at the expense of living/communal areas. Eg houses with the garage built in so that it eats half of downstairs.

5) Too many bathrooms. Cleaning toilets is not my idea of a good time XD

JuzaMum

I have a kitchen/lounge/diner and kids and it works well for us. I can keep an eye on the kids whilst cooking. (Washing machine is not in the kitchen so no noise problem there) It wasn't originally like this when we bought the house. The house was built in 1905, the garden is only 25' deep and bedroom 4 is 6'3" x 7'3" so small bedrooms and gardens are not a new thing.

[Deleted User]

- Open plan

- Can't get to the car without getting rained on

- Garage too small for a car

- Big windows, terrible for efficiency
- No heat pump

- Heat pump only heats, no cooling
- No car charger

- Poor use of space

- Rooms too small

- Too few mains sockets

- No network points

- Terrace/semi detached houses

- No solar
- Rubbish shower, make it properly enclosed

- Bricks

- Fireplaces

- Lounge designed for TV in the corner or on the wall

- Miles from anywhere, need a car

There are so many more...

ReadingTim

lookstraightahead said:

I've always found this with a separate dining room. What is the point of traipsing roast dinner through the hallway to another room.

Well, indeed.  And what's the point of eating it at a table when you can shovel it in off your lap in front of the telly? 

Sheesh, restaurants - they'll never catch on....!  

Getting_greyer

A bit of hate for tv's on wall here. I hate TV units so I actually like it, unless there stupidly overly big TV,s then I agree it looks terrible. 

New ones like the Samsung frame are nice, both on the wall and the stand.

Slithery

Getting_greyer said:

A bit of hate for tv's on wall here. I hate TV units so I actually like it, unless there stupidly overly big TV,s then I agree it looks terrible.

They're fine if they've been properly fitted. I just can't stand it when there are cables dangling all over the place.

[Deleted User]

Getting_greyer said:

A bit of hate for tv's on wall here. I hate TV units so I actually like it, unless there stupidly overly big TV,s then I agree it looks terrible. 

New ones like the Samsung frame are nice, both on the wall and the stand.

It's the neck ache that I object to.

The ideal height for a screen is the top in line with your eyes.