Member-only story
What To Do When You Hate Your New House
3 options from a homeowner who jumped in too fast
On paper, our house ticked all the right boxes.
It was detached, with three bedrooms; close to the train station and it wasn’t a new build (newly built houses tended to be much smaller).
I remember looking around the house and loving everything that I saw. Yes, it was worn looking and old fashioned — the previous owners were a retired couple — and it was a bit smaller than what we had wanted, but no major work needed to be done, it was in the area we wanted and it was within our price range.
At the time, we couldn’t believe our luck, and immediately after that first (and only!) viewing we contacted our lawyer and made an offer.
August 2019, we moved in and I was filled with high expectations.
This was our family home. We would raise our children, retire, and grow old here. Everything we wanted was falling into place.
Yet, even as we settled in, I noticed I didn’t feel the contented happiness that I thought I would.
In the time it had taken to buy the house, I had forgotten about all the little niggly things that would need to be fixed or changed. I took an immediate dislike to the kitchen, which was small and…
