HOUSES THAT ARE UNTOUCHED FOR DECADES

Perhaps people just buy a house that they like as it is, so that they don’t have to spend shedloads of money changing anything and as winterwhite says, perhaps they’re concerned about the environmental impact.
We bought our 1960’s house in 1987. In 1999 we could finally afford to replace the kitchen which was unergonomic and drove me up the wall. It works. 3 years ago DH repainted the doors. We also changed the bathroom, once.
We’ve added a utility room and a sun room, and redecorated as infrequently as possible.
That’s all.

Greyduster - I think that we probably have the same basic mindset (ie of doing the work needed) LOL - maybe for similar reasons....?? - ie having a house that was owned by us/we could do what we chose with it and that previous home inspection each time we'd moved (ie as a child in my case) - and there'd better be nowt out of place or the Armed Forces would not have accepted it.

As a child growing up there was never - ever - a thing out of place and work was done when it needed to and cue for once my father came out of the Armed Forces for good they sold the Victorian starter house they had and bought first one new one and then a later move was another new one. But - whichever it was of those two new houses and my mother would want some work done and so my father did it. I think it was probably the mindset of "The house has to be immaculate - because someone is going to inspect it for damage when we leave it...".

One of the ways I could see getting older was having an effect on my parents was when it became clear that they needed the missing shower in the bathroom (ie instead of the bath) and they weren't doing anything about it (whereas once upon a while and they'd have been on it - as my mother had had a tendency to replace perfectly okay furniture she'd bought with a different style of furniture for years). Cue for it had to be done as an emergency job when my mother had a hip replacement and needed that shower in the place urgently - so they did that and left the rest of the 1970s bathroom in their (brand new to them) 1970s house.

BlueBelle

Is it your business ?
You seem very invested in other peoples house, just carry on getting on with your own
Not difficult to see why you have neighbour problems (re your other threads) ‘mind your own’ as they say not your business whether they have ‘lots of money left over’ or scrapping the barrel
Get on with your own life don’t try and live someone else’s

Thank you BlueBelle You saved me the effort of writing what would have been exactly the same.

When I moved in to this house I knew the bathroom needed an update but it is functional. I got in some quotes but realised I just didn't have the money to do it.

Same with the kitchen that now needs new appliances.

I know people who spend all their money on holidays rather than their homes. That's their choice... I have neither holidays nor tradesmen, that's my lack of choice.

I don’t think the assumption that it’s only money that stops people constantly renovating is a sound one. Not everyone’s bothered about having the latest decor - it’s about priorities.

Not only that, but ‘having things done’ means hassle and often being around when people would prefer to be away or out doing things they enjoy.

As winterwhite says, the environmental impact is important to a lot of people too, and others might put helping ACs with a deposit on a house above a new kitchen for themselves.

What does it matter? And antiques are basically ‘other people’s furniture’ 😂. Do you turn your nose up at those too, OP?

Retro is popular. For example, revamped English Rose kitchens, popular back in the 1950's, cost a fortune.
There will be people who like the older style and furnishings in their home. Things were certainly made to last way back when.

We lived with a 1980s kitchen for ages.
Moved here in 2000 and did nothing with it until after the "children" left home. We were basically too busy with not enough "spare" money to do it the way I'd like it and still be able to do the things that mattered to us.

We have recently replaced a carpet that moved house with us in 2000. It was originally laid in 1991. 100% wool.
It was (finally) starting to wear in the doorway!
I would have been happy to buy exactly the same again.

Sometimes you buy things you truly love and if you can't afford to do that you might prefer to wait... and if you never do it then why does that matter?

No one has mentioned the environmental impact of all these bathrooms, kitchens, doors, carpets etc going to landfill.
We’re urged to ‘consume’ less, repurpose more, throw away less, make do and mend, but for some reason this isn’t seen to apply to house renovation

We have just cleared a relative’s house. Untouched since the 70s. She was a well off spinster who spent most of her money cruising around the world. Her house was merely a stop off point .

Is it your business ?
You seem very invested in other peoples house, just carry on getting on with your own
Not difficult to see why you have neighbour problems (re your other threads) ‘mind your own’ as they say not your business whether they have ‘lots of money left over’ or scrapping the barrel
Get on with your own life don’t try and live someone else’s

When we moved into our last house, which was the first house we had ever owned, having lived in Army quarters for nineteen years, the house hadn’t had a lot done to it. The owners had bought it as a new build in 1936 and had lived there ever since. The owner gave us a copy of the original sales leaflet from the builder. It was a revelation! It was tidy; white paint throughout, a half tiled bathroom with a blue suite and no shower. Still had the old tiled open fireplace. Compared with some of the quarters we had lived in, it was a palace, but more importantly, it was ours (even if we were paying fifteen percent interest on a mortgage at that time)! The worst thing from my point of view was that the lady who had lived there was really quite tall and they had had the kitchen worktops fitted to accommodate her height. I am a shade over five feet and it was a problem! We lived with it all for a while and then set about updating it. New wiring, new windows and doors, new kitchen, new bathroom, new boiler, new floors downstairs and carpets up. And then we extended it with a conservatory and a new dining area. We lived there for thirty one years and then decided to move to the house we have now. A few years later, someone told me that the house was up for sale so being a nosy old cove, I looked at the sales details. The inside of the house hadn’t been changed much at all apart from the decor. When we moved here we didn’t think we would have much to do to it, but since then there have been wholesale and very expensive changes, and I have no doubt that when I am obliged to move from here into something more practical and future proof, there will be again. It’s in the nature of things.

As a family of serial house renovators, doing it ourselves as and when we can afford it. The answer to your question quite simply is - money. Work is done as the money is available.

You stretch yourself to get the house you really want, it might be something special in your price bracket because it is so run down. Having spent every penny to buy the house, it takes time to get the money to do any renovations.

Sometime money is expected - like a regular bonus - but fails to appear, or redundancy happens. Also one person's essential 'do immediately' job is someone elses, 'happy to live with' feature'

Another reason is that quite simply, the purchasers are simply not interested in house renovation. As long as they have a roof over their heads, that is all that matter. DS inclines that way. 20 years ago, he and DDiL bought an immaculate but dated house and garden in a nice road. In 20 years, they have replaced the roof, kitchen and boiler and decorated once or twice. They still have no downstairs cloakroom and the bathroom is untouched, although they have bought towels to match and in the battle between man and garden, the garden has won.

The reason is that, apart, from having and bringing up children, they are a family that are always doing things, DDiL is part of a highly regarded folk group, as well as the day job, DS is a morris dancer, the children do scouts and dancing, and drama and a host of other things and there is lots of socialising, they are just far too busy for DIY and cannot afford to keep paying for people to do work and are not that bothered anyway, because a friend has called by and they have put the kettle on.

But they are happily married, the children are doing well, they are at the centre of a big social circle and 2 members of the family have minor but debilating medical conditions, which can lead to hospital admissions and minor emergencies. If they are happy with life and with the house as it is, that is all that matters.

vegansrock

I think some people just get used to
The décor, kitchen etc and don’t really see it with others’ eyes - my next door neighbours lived in their house for 40 odd years and did nothing to the house and only had any work done if something actually broke or they had a leak etc. They had plenty of money , ( the wife boasted that she had over £500k in the bank ) but were both quite mean - we sorted out workmen for them when they needed boiler repairs etc and they would quibble over how much it cost etc and they annoyed several of them who refused to come back! It is now empty and whoever buys it will have to strip it out completely.

Maybe that is it with some people - ie meanness and they don't like spending any money on anything if they can do without (or maybe even cadge it). But yep...I'd think I was well in personally if I had that sort of money in savings! It takes some doing mentally sometimes to spend money one can get away without spending if you've had to economise for years I know. For myself I've always been single and low income and so for a LONG LONG time I had to "pick the cheapest food I would eat", miss out on most of the holidays I was due for, etc. So I spent years, for instance, thinking "That's MY food there" in the supermarket and look at interesting/modern/organic food - and then buy cheaper stuff (as I didnt have enough money for "mine"). These days - at long last - and I can buy "MY" food instead of the cheaper stuff and into my basket goes everything possible organic, real coffee, decent bread, etc and there's still a little "witter" going on in my head saying "That price is twice as much as I could pay" and I'm firmly telling it "Keep quiet! This IS my type of food and I am having it now I can afford it - and anyway it's healthier".

I'm used to knowing I should "pay my way" and have even been known to think "That workman isn't charging enough to be fair to himself" and hand over a tip they're not expecting to make the cost up (it's rare for a workman to undercharge - as we know LOL - but very occasionally has happened).

Ashcombe

That could be any number of reasons why new owners choose not to spend money on their home. Perhaps they’re concerned about keeping savings in reserve for care needs later on. Maybe they don’t want the hassle of having workmen about the house. They might want to spend any profit they made on having holidays or they might wish to keep it to pass on to their children. We all have our own ideas about what constitutes the perfect home….. “One man’s meat, etc.”

Guess that could be it for some people - ie they plan for possible care needs. Where my own attitude for myself is "Go into care ever = NO chance!" That was my personal decision long back that I never would go into a carehome or the like. So I have set aside some savings - but that is going to be kept as savings (ie just in case my house needs some work or my body requires healthcare the NHS would put me on a list for or something). Most people don't need carehomes and, even if it did crop up for me = I wouldnt do it personally.

I think some people just get used to
The décor, kitchen etc and don’t really see it with others’ eyes - my next door neighbours lived in their house for 40 odd years and did nothing to the house and only had any work done if something actually broke or they had a leak etc. They had plenty of money , ( the wife boasted that she had over £500k in the bank ) but were both quite mean - we sorted out workmen for them when they needed boiler repairs etc and they would quibble over how much it cost etc and they annoyed several of them who refused to come back! It is now empty and whoever buys it will have to strip it out completely.

That = there

That could be any number of reasons why new owners choose not to spend money on their home. Perhaps they’re concerned about keeping savings in reserve for care needs later on. Maybe they don’t want the hassle of having workmen about the house. They might want to spend any profit they made on having holidays or they might wish to keep it to pass on to their children. We all have our own ideas about what constitutes the perfect home….. “One man’s meat, etc.”