Old and new

Historic home: Gloucestershire. This is the kind of cottage in which a Jilly Cooper heroine would retreat having been dumped cruelly by her philandering husband. Cuckoo Cottage in Ampney St Peter, Cirencester, oozes charm with its oak beams, inglenook fireplace and log burner, and Aga – all prerequisites for the classic Cotswold lifestyle. It has two bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor, but offers plenty of ground floor space with a separate dining and sitting room, a kitchen and downstairs shower room. Outside is a very picturesque garden with a double garage and parking. On the market for £495,000.
Savills, 01285 300022 Photograph: Savills

Historic home: Northumberland. This four-bedder has been formed from two former cottages so qualifies as old, but the inside is new, spacious and pristine. Sited between Seghill and Cramlington, Fieldview Barn has an open-plan kitchen and lounge with beams, and french doors into the front garden. One bedroom has been converted into a dressing room for the master bedroom, but there is still another double and a single bedroom. The garden is big but bland and there is space for four cars on the drive. Yours for £445,000.
Rook Matthews Sayer, 0191 499 9056 Photograph: Rook Matthews Sayer

Historic home: Devon. Isambard Kingdom Brunel is said to have designed this late-1830s grade II-listed house in the centre of Totnes. Inside are a couple of fireplaces and period doors, but the old nature of the house is somewhat submerged by the laminate flooring and modern kitchen cupboards, which you might want to update. You get four bedrooms and a south facing garden for your £399,500.
Marchand Petit, 01803 424019 Photograph: Marchand Petit

New build: Essex. Built in a conservation area, Betty’s Cottage is on the market for £475,000 and has been carefully designed to fit in with the small cluster of houses surrounding Gamble’s Green, Terling. Inside it is bright and light with two double bedrooms and one single, and a modern kitchen leading into the dining area. The garden is a blank canvas awaiting a keen gardener, completely laid down to lawn with views over the surrounding fields.
Savills, 01245 808532 Photograph: Savills

New build: West Midlands. The Ludlow development is close to the centre of Tipton and offers a range of two-, three- and four-bed homes. For £169,995 you can buy a three-bed detached house like this with integral garage, en suite bathroom to the master bedroom, and an open-plan kitchen/dining room.
Redrow, 0121 411 9121 Photograph: Redrow

New build: Kent. If you can get over the fact that Westgate is cheek by jowl with the less than desirable Margate, and transport connections to London are terrible, this immaculate town house offers a great deal for just £235,000. It has four bedrooms and three receptions over three floors.
Regal Estates, 01843 808645 Photograph: Regal Estates