We looked at over a dozen houses around Manchester last year, and most of them seem to have been built around the same time/by the same developer.
They all had the exact same layout, with built in wardrobes dictating the layouts of the rooms, a separate dining room that limits the size of the kitchen/living room making us want to knock the wall through, a tiny box room unsuitable for anything other than an office/small child, and old windows/sealing that was in desperate need of replacement. A good few had gardens that were embarrassing even by newbuild standards as well.
The brown brick aesthetic also just really doesn't do it for me either. I prefer brighter colours.