Prefab homes in the UK may have once had certain connotations of inexpensive and rushed construction but the concept of the Huf Haus has left this notion behind. It is 16 years since the first Huf Haus graced British land and now the German company is continuing to demonstrate how much creativity can be allowed to flow within economically friendly and energy efficient properties.
Every one of the ultramodern Huf Haus properties has triple glazing and uses renewable energy amongst its features but the emphasis is on bringing individual visions for the ideal home to reality. With one of these homes you are required to purchase the land and the house arrives before being constructed almost like a kit.

It is the kind of open plan home you’d envisage in your fantasies and besides having the opportunity to use it as a blank canvas for your living ideas it is also highly sustainable. There may be a certain exclusivity attached to the Huf Haus with just 170 of them in the UK in 2011, but this only seems to heighten its appeal.

Innovation should be welcomed and when the result is as impressive as this it should be completely embraced. Many want to gain access to this exclusive section of the property market because the Huf Haus is proving just how terrific something can be when you dare to dream a little different.

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Nowadays new build houses are everywhere and it can be somewhat difficult to find a period property with its character still intact, however, it’s not impossible. Although new builds look great and are extremely practical with perfectly straight walls and floors they don’t generally have much of a presence. Obviously though, there are pros and cons to both types of homes and it’s important to consider them all before making any final decisions.

Pros of buying an old property & cons of buying a new build:

1. If you buy an older property then you’ll generally get a lot more for your money because old houses are nowadays being over-looked for the in-demand new builds which means that you’ll get a lot more space for a fraction of the price that you’d pay for the same size new build.
2. No two old homes are the same whereas new homes are all built to be exactly the same; if you walk into a new build home that’s exactly the same as yours then the only reason you’d be able to tell the difference is because of the contents of the house. Old houses however have individuality and personality on their side because the floors and walls aren’t even, the doors aren’t in the same place in every room and the ceilings are impractically high meaning that there’s no danger of confusing your own house with your neighbour’s.
3. Some people love to really put their own stamp on a property and an old house gives you the opportunity to do this. Depending on the house that you choose you could be faced with a full scale renovation – which is exactly what some people are looking for – or you could choose a place that’s pretty much ready to move into, only requiring a few tweaks here and there and some work on the interior design. With a new property you don’t get this option as they’re all ready to move into with white and neutral colours throughout leaving you to alter only the colour of the walls.
4. As well as being cheaper, older properties are generally much bigger with more, larger rooms too so they’re practical for large families as well as being a nice size for smaller households too.
5. Many old homes have been built to last unlike new builds which are built to last only a few decades.
6. New, estate built houses generally have small gardens, and although old town houses don’t have the huge amount of land that you can often find with an old property in the country, their gardens are still generally bigger than those that come with a new build.
7. Because you generally save a lot of money on the price of an old house compared to the price you’d pay for a small one, it means that you have money spare to splash out on luxuries for your new home that you probably wouldn’t be able to afford if you’d spent more on a new build.
8. Whatever you see in an old building is exactly what you get; a wooden floor for example is exactly that, wood, however, you can’t be so sure in a new house where a wooden floor could actually be all manner of materials.
9. You’re really not limited on the type of style that you can bring to an old property; whether you prefer antique or reclaimed furniture or you have a modern style doesn’t matter because anything goes, in a new house however, period features generally look out of place in such perfect surroundings.

Cons of buying an old property & pros of buying a new build:

1. Older properties generally need some kind of work doing to them which takes time, effort and money; new builds on the other hand are ready to move into as soon as they’ve been built so once you’ve paid for the house you shouldn’t have any unexpected extra expenses other than simple aesthetic changes.
2. Older properties tend to need more maintenance than a new home because all of the materials are so much older; with a new house you can be assured that everything is brand new so in the case that something does go wrong it will usually be under warranty anyway.
3. Old homes were built for old fashioned living so when it comes to modernising an old property with things like electricity, internet and phone lines it can sometimes be a little difficult.
4. There’s no such thing as standard in an old property as everything was made to fit that particular house. If you live in a new build you have the luxury of being able to visit any shop and being almost certain that a ‘standard size’ will fit your home if you buy it; you do not get this same guarantee with an old house.
5. If you’re taking on a major renovation then a small mistake could jeopardise the entire project as it could essentially condemn the house’s structure. With a new house, none of this renovation would be necessary as everything is brand new when you move in; the most you might want to do it to knock a wall down to give you a larger space to enjoy and that’s highly unlikely to affect the entire structure.

Essentially there are some great reasons for buying both styles of home and it’s consequently down to personal choice. There are some great old houses out there and you really can do a lot with them but be aware of the few that really aren’t worth the time and money it would take to renovate them.

Mark loves modernising old properties and furnishes them with an eclectic mix of reclaimed wooden furniture from Nottingham based, Eat Sleep Live.

The news for the UK’s housing market has been increasingly bright recently and investment from overseas buyers in London property is at the forefront of this upturn. According to The Daily Mail, the prices of UK houses were up to a new high in May, overtaking the previous record set before the recession and all its implications for the nation’s economy. Property prices have fallen in only one of the last 18 months and the average cost of a home in England and Wales is now £233,061.

Experts say that the rise has been driven by the improved fortunes for the London property sector and the weakened state of the pound has been cited as a key reason for foreign investors’ interest. Buyers from abroad have been attracted to properties in the more privileged areas of the capital and this has heightened the overall outlook for the country as a result.

This time last year, the price of the average home in the UK was £226,936, over £6,000 less than it is at present. This is undoubtedly extremely welcome news for the housing sector and David Newnes, LSL Property Services director, said: “Even taking inflation into account, the record high price is symbolic of the significant improvement in the housing market over the past year.”

Newnes also pointed to the greater level of mortgage availability as a principle factor in a boost for the industry that has taken the average cost of a UK home above the February 2008 high of £231,709.

Significant changes could be afoot in the UK property industry as housing associations have been looking at the possibility of becoming privately-funded companies. The option has been explored as a way to protect the industry against the possible end to funding from the government.

In an article on the Financial Times website it was reported that the leading social housing associations have been in discussions already with advisory firms such as KPMG and BDO. The aim of these talks has been to weigh up how viable the option of private funding would be as opposed to relying on government help, something that has always previously been used.

The option of alternative means of funding has already been delved into by the UK’s housing associations as £4billion was generated in the bond markets in 2012. This was a highly significant occurrence as the amount raised for the year was nearly four times as much as the previous record.

Housing associations are said to be considering a number of other alternative funding methods including raising social housing rents, building a greater amount of private rented homes, and turning to equity investors. Places for People is among the biggest property management companies in the UK and the association’s finance director Simran Soin said: “We are working off the assumption that there will be little or no grant funding at all after 2015.”