I've lived in various iterations of old and variously picturesque houses since my youth
Always renting since I left home.
300+ yr old cob cottages are cute to look at, and well insulated in some ways .
As are Victorian farmhouses, railway cottages etc etc , done all them too.
But there's also tiny windows and many generations of rat runs in the walls.
Damp running down the walls of the badly build brick extensions
Windows that don't shut properly.
Dodgy plumbing, electrics, heating systems, and poorly insulated roofs..
Dry rot etc etc..
They cost lots to maintain properly.
Agree much modern housing is built shoddily , but they're 'thrown up' by the multiple builders, who will never have to live in them.
Give individuals a chance to build their own homes, on properly planned new development sites, (even via a third party builder) you'll probs get a much better quality, and more aesthetic build , cheaper for the occupants possibly, and it builds community right there, as people plan to stay a while in their own creation .
Unfortunately the UK planning system, and grip of big builders on the market majorly disallows this .
I'm currently living in a trailer / park home , which is mostly fine really except for the thin walls.
Hoping to build something more permanent soon, under agricultural tie conditions.
It will be of the more open plan 'Scandi style' wooden clad, lots of light and space, big windows on the south side..
Well designed, easy to heat and clean, and live in, just big enough, but nothing too fancy or expensive.
(I've never watched Grand Designs, and don't intend to start)
Lucky position to be in, yes I know.
But Tbh it's 'luck' born of working my @rriss off, year in year out, and jumping through multiple planning hoops for the last few decades, to get to this position.
.
