Persimmon house

[cwhaley]

That's largely what I meant in my first comment on this thread. In factories local to me there are/were machines built in the 1940s/1950s to such a standard that many have survived (with servicing) into present day. Some of them were made local by firms who put their name proudly on the machine -- the men and women making them were very conscious of what that meant. My Grandfather used to work for International Combustion in Derby and remembers having Americans visit their works in the early 1970s. Some of the machinery was date stamped with the year and one of the machines was dated 1923. They hid this from them but in truth, the machine was build as well if not better than comparable equipment from today.

In my Dad and Grandad's day, getting a real apprenticeship and eventual job and places like this and Rolls Royce was easier and it was a job for life. It just doesn't work like that any more.

 

[Leofric]

But in terms of appearance, design, layout, room size, front and rear gardens, proximity of the neighbours, estate layout, then all new houses are absolutely shiite.

Another sweeping generalisation. Regarding ' ALL new houses are absolutely Shiite ', in terms of rear garden size yes, you don't get the long rear gardens like you find on a lot of older properties, I accept that. In terms of other comments on ALL new houses it is just not true to say appearance, design, layout, room size ,estate layouts are shiite As far as proximity of neighbours goes, you get that in a lot of older houses.
Your comments might be more appropriate on a lot of large estates by national volume housebuilders but some of them have become more concerned with appearance, design and estate layout, but you won't get the massive long rear gardens.

 

[JP_]

In fairness, it is hard to find any new builds on a good sized plot where I live. A builder will always put as many houses on it as they can, rather than make one really nice house.
Another trend at the moment seems to be selling off the bit of land with a garage on it to develop another house. Great way to make some money I guess.

 

[Leofric]

In my Dad and Grandad's day, getting a real apprenticeship and eventual job and places like this and Rolls Royce was easier and it was a job for life. It just doesn't work like that any more.

Yes, it is a pity, there used to be more real apprenticeships leading to real jobs.

 

[Leofric]

We counted 20 houses that overlooked our garden in a new build we viewed.

20,how could you get that many

 

[Leofric]

I wouldn't buy a new build from any builder these days.

I would have bought some of the luxury houses the firm I worked for built, unfortunately I couldn't afford to pay several times what I paid for my house.
It is all relative, but there is no excuse for poor workmanship on any house.

 

[Leofric]

The houses seem to follow the same pattern as the existing 1930s ones on the main road and the design/style is very fitting with houses in the area.

Some developers are concerned about the design/style nowadays. In the 1990's I worked on developments of new houses of varying designs/ styles/external materials made to give that traditional village look. People liked them and one won a design award from the local planning authority.
Of course some people, architects in particular, would say ' pastiche' ,you can't please everybody.
ps Prince Charles goes too far in that direction in my opinion.
pps this topic could go on for some time

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

In fairness, it is hard to find any new builds on a good sized plot where I live. A builder will always put as many houses on it as they can, rather than make one really nice house.
Another trend at the moment seems to be selling off the bit of land with a garage on it to develop another house. Great way to make some money I guess.

Its all to do with the cost and limited supply of land. People need houses and generally they need to be as cheap as possible, that usually means small, low ceilings, with not much space around it. Many show homes have specially made small furniture put in them, to make room look bigger.

My 1955 has lots of garden, some might say far too much - it has enough space to build a decent sized bungalow in the rear, would I - no, I like my private space.

 

[JP_]

yeah, there have been some shockers round my way recently. An old cottage sold for 300k, they built 3 houses on it, each for 600k
the old school house was sold, 2 houses built on the plot - the largest has a tin back garden, cannot be more than 3m deep.
and somebody built a house in their garden - large house, but totally fenced in with parking space in the garden.
all of these are in the same area, a quiet lane in the middle of the urbanised village.
But, all private developments, not the big guys. Still crap! Might be better quality houses, but design is awful.
I'll do a picture ...

and the houses. ...

the triangle plot with parking in the garden: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-p...l?prop=65619778&sale=10434433&country=england

can't find the others, but I remember that the old school house didn't even show a photo of the garden, it is that small!

 

[Leofric]

that usually means small, low ceilings,

Ceiling heights are usually a standard 2.4m which doesn't seem too bad to me. You are lucky with your big garden of course.

 

[scbk]

For people who like looking at houses, there's a new town/village called Tornagrain that has almost sprang up overnight, and it is designed to look very "traditional".

Google streetview of the main street : https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@57.5...zgRyvgNMMuR3BmNXkGZA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
It is amazing to go through it now, there's rows of buildings that look like they have been there 100+yrs


News article from a year ago:
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/f...s-plan-to-a-very-real-and-pretty-new-village/


For what it's worth, I couldn't live in a built up area, new build or not

 

[JohnD]

I couldn't live in a built up area

you could if you had to.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

For what it's worth, I couldn't live in a built up area, new build or not

Nor could I, not a heavily built up area. I would like to live out in the wilds, but I'm too practical - I like quick access to good local services, buses, pubs and shopping and medical services etc.. Which I do have where I live, all within easy walking distance as is the open countryside.

 

[scbk]

you could if you had to.

Everything in life is a choice, there's people I know/have met, that have 'no fixed abode' but chose to live in rural places.

There was a guy living in a tent in the woods, he was working aswell, so probably had more cash than me!

 

[Notch7]

The UK compares badly with other countries on typical room sizes -I think it is because this country uses land and houses as investment.

I agree with Woody, generally new build houses are poor compared to older stock - most true with the big 6 builders that are driven by shareholder returns not product quality.

We are seeing a generation that are locked out from house ownership. Also high rents are causing poverty.