Whaaattt?

@gks It's a big generalisation to say young first time buyers prefer new builds. Both the house next door to us, and the one beyond that, were purchased by first time buyers. Both couples have put a huge amount of time and effort in updating the properties which were built in the 1930s. One of the couples is still doing work on the place over a year and a half after moving in.

 

When we moved into our current house, nearly 40 years ago I ripped out and replace the kitchen. I also did all the decorating and added additional electrical sockets. Laid 240 paving slabs to create a patio and path the length of our 150 foot garden.
Now there's no chance of me doing the work myself. I'm simply not physically capable at age 75.

 

It was pretty much always the case that first time buyers bought fairly rundown properties with a view to improve them and sell in a few years at a higher price.

Lots of people started out on two up two down victorian terrace houses, working on them weekends and evenings.
Nothing grand with kitchens and bathrooms worth thousands.

 

You've had a 40 yr return for your efforts!

Round here almost all the housing for sale is new build. An older house has a rarity value. Usually higher ceilings, larger rooms, a bigger garden, on a street rather than within an estate (with management fees, etc), nearer schools, nearer the town centre, not strung along the busy A road, not built on old gravel pits - all these factors make them desirable.

 

My NDN's son left home a couple of years ago at the age of 24 or thereabouts. He and his partner bought an old property and have been doing it up themselves. His parents have always had old houses so perhaps sometimes it's a case of what you are used to as you grow up.
My first house, bought in 1972, was a Victorian end of terrace which had seen better days. Never bought a new build and looking at what is going up around here, I wouldn't be tempted but each to their own. The historical aspect of old houses can prove interesting too but not everyone is bothered about that.

 

So, mortgage lenders are wrong then, the younger generation and baby boomers who are down grading are not preferring new builds then. The main reason for them preferring new builds is low maintenance, warranties and more energy efficient with demand surging. But there is a difference between preferring and actually being able to own.

 

Research by Skipton Building Society:

First-time buyers prefer New Builds: Research reveals shifting preferences and pressures.

 

In France young couple and retirees seem to prefer new builds but there are strict building standards here about insulation, heating methods, water storage and flood management so such houses are cheaper to run than old stock. Building costs and the availability of experienced builders and trades make converting or renovation old houses very expensive even with available subsidies.

There's an awful lot of old houses sitting empty after people die because a) Napoleonic laws about inheritance mean all inheritors have to agree to share or sell and share b) aforementioned costs and complexities of renovation.

 

@Obelix-Vendée Surprised to know that those inheritance laws are still in place in France. We fell foul of that once - 2 inheritors who basically hated each other and wouldn't come to an agreement.

 

So if everyone wants new build houses you can get some idea where the problems lie.

Redevelopment needs to take place but it would be expensive compulsory purchasing whole areas of victorian housing only to demolish them and build new.

So we grab the green fields.

They have just demolished a whole lot of 1950s built houses and flats, two storey, around here and cramming in lots of houses, there wont be a blade of grass in sight once finished, the shopping area is also going later and a new one built, a pretty high imposing structure in the plans.

Parking looks a bit inadequate as well, so I suspect they will all be parking where I live, before you know it we will have parking permits just like in the town.

 

There's a difference @pete. UK housing has been much more concentrated in urban and city areas and largely brick built and buyers, both individual and buy to let, like the stock and can make it comfortable and profitable.

In France there is a lot less urban concentration and, outside of Paris, a lot of older rural and old urban buildings made from local stone which is harder to damp proof, insulate and modernise. On the other hand, in La Roche-sur-Yon, I've seen no modern apartment buildings over 7 or 8 storeys high and they are nearly all "social" housing. New builds in the local town (pop 3,500) have teeny plots with hardly enough space for a terrace let alone a garden but it seems that's popular.

 

You also have to take into account that single occupancy is on the rise as well. Life expectancy is one reason but many more people are choosing to be single with independence being the main reason.

If you look at the housing stock per capita in the EU, Bulgaria has the highest amount of dwellings per 1000 people, 612 dwellings to 1000 people. no surprise really as the population has been in decline for a good few decades now. Countries in Europe that have the highest percentage of single occupancy homes are all Scandinavian, where 45.8% of the housing stock in Norway is single occupancy. It is not as high as that in the UK but in the last decade there was roughly an extra 650,000 increase in single occupancy households, I think the UK housing single occupancy stands at 33% of occupied housing stock and that is projected to increase and with an increasing population, the need for more housing increases.

 

I think you need to have an energy performance certificate to put your house on the market in the UK with a minimum grade C certificate by 2030, anything below and you will not be able to put in on the market.

 

I thought this grade C requirement was just for rental properties and for landlords to make sure their properties meet the grade. Latest date is expected to be 2030.

 

If that's the case half the housing in the UK will never get sold.
Haven't got a clue what my place is and I doubt millions dont know either.

What I call high is 5 storeys where it used to be 3, not referring to tower blocks, its a mix of social housing and shared ownership as low as 10% to get people onto the property market.
Its not bad as such, just kind of dense in comparison to what was there before, it had large grassy areas that the poor old council had to cut a few times a year.