Going from a new build to a well lived in Victorian terrace. WWYD?

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We have been to see a Victorian terrace mill cottage today. 4 bed. Big garden. Extended, so extra downstairs space. Downstairs is great. New kitchen, new dining room (in extension), new roof, very good new boiler (very warm, despite high ceilings), new wood windows, log burner. We can afford it.

Upstairs - hmm. Extension bedroom was nice. Dual aspect. The 2 bedrooms were shabby, including main bedroom, I could feel the floorboards sagging where I stood. Walls were patchy, carpets grubby, they had LOADS of stuff as they have lived their for 14 years. The attic bedroom was bad - eaves weren't boxed in, loads of clutter, terrible paint (dark blue), stains from a roof leak (hence new roof!), no door to attic (which would be where DS1 (17) with all his guitars and amps would be going. Bathroom was same, patchy walls. Suite was fine though.

We currently live in my 2.5 bedroom shared ownership new build which is tiny as it was all I could afford on my own. Has lovely views. Immaculate white walls but probably I need to face up to the fact it's cheaply made.

DS2 (13) and DP loved the house. DS1 didn't come view it but is desperate for his own room as sharing with his 13 year old shouty, PS playing ADHD brother is driving him mad. DD (9)said she thought upstairs was 'ugly' and she doesn't know. I think we should probably go for it but I'm worried about hating the upstairs. DP says there's lots we can do to it but because they had so much stuff it was so hard to visualise.

Did anyone else buy a house that they partly loved, partly made them ? WWYD? I am stuck! Please help me with your tales and of house buying.

Sorry for all the typos! New phone.

I live in a new build, and would kill for proper brick walls that you can hang a shelf on. Go for it. You will do it up and love it.

If you aren't good at visualising and DP is don't worry about it.

Sounds like you are struggling to see past filthy ugly carpets and clutter?

My house was built in 1994. Not much character but omg so much easier to maintain & live in than our previous homes (built 1890s & 1930s). And I luffs PVC windows. I grew up in a house full of character features. They are nice, but yeah, lots of work always to do.

If you go in with eyes open about issues that may need to be fixed down the line, I'm sure you can make the Victorian cottage work, OP. There might be repairs to do soonish -- but houses are good like that. They can be repaired & improved.

Check the insulation in walls & roof so you know the situation on both. Look for damp problems and ask directly about the plumbing & drainage. See if you can get an assessment on floor condition where floor felt odd.

Sounds lovely! I’d snap it up (subject to survey, obvs).

It sounds mostly cosmetic. Once their clutter has gone and you can paint and put new carpet down you can quite quickly transform a room.

The only thing that concerns me is you say several walls are patchy. Why are they patchy? Is it simply because they are scruffy or is there a damp problem? Damp would put me off.

So you need to decorate the upstairs, right? Abs put in a door. That’s no biggy.

Other than the floorboards it sounds like it's only cosmetic things that are putting you off. I'd love a house like that

They are patchy as in uneven. Not smooth plaster? Very scuffed paint too. Almost as if they have been painted with paint that was too thin? You could see the brush marks.

Thanks re plumbing and drainage. That's a great point. And the floor survey. I didn't know that existed. The house did not feel damp and I looked in the corners/round the windows for black mould.

I think that's exactly how to describe upstairs. Scruffy. It's very weird because downstairs was the opposite.

I am absolutely rubbish at visualising. I do not know how to do any DIY but DP does.

It sounds brilliant. You just need to steam clean the carpets and repaint the walls. Can you add a door to the attic or is it one of those minstrel gallery-style entrances which is all open plan?

I would think the main things are can you afford to do the work by paying someone to do it if you and dp can't do it yourself? Do you like the location? Does the space/plot have all your essentials? If it is yes to all this then it sounds like a good option.

Thing is though the downstairs sounds great and financially it sounds as though they’ve done a lot of the big ticket items like the boiler and roof.

What you’re describing sounds mostly cosmetic which providing the house is solid isn’t too expensive to put right. I think if you’re worried you should go back with a professional who can talk to you about what it could be and what that would cost.

New builds are easier, you move in and slap paint on the wall and job done. But you tend to get less living space and paper thin walls. And my experience of owning one is that they don’t hold/increase their value all that well because there’s always more, newer homes with shared ownership popping up.

I have lived in new builds and currently live in an old but well maintained cottage. I would never go back to new builds. I can’t live without character, the place is so solid and really retains the heat, we are semi detached (although a good part of the house is detached), we never hear our neighbours, who have a shrieky, tantrum prone daughter and baby (we know this as we hear the noisy daughter in the garden), go for the cottage, the issues you mention sound cosmetic.

Move from the new build. Make the house your home, decorate it as you want. You'll be so happy once it has your stamp on it

I lived in a new build for my first house. Now I have an extended Victorian house. I don't miss the plasterboard walls which I could never get a decent fix with

@Labobo

The attic is exactly this style staircase? No idea what they are called haha.

We will be staying in this house if we buy it. I am certain of that. The garden is amazing. The character it has is massive. It isn't on a road as such, has its own parking.

I think taking my builder friend is a good idea. He can tell me if it's just a cosmetic, few skims, replacing the doors and replacement floor boards needed. They had clothes hung all over the doors and books on every surface, loads of pictures etc. It was hard to see past that.

Can you put a door at the bottom of the stairs? I thought all loft/attic conversions had to have a door for fire regs?

If you love the downstairs and it has the space you need upstairs I'd say you've found your dream home!

@DuckyMcDuck

Can you put a door at the bottom of the stairs? I thought all loft/attic conversions had to have a door for fire regs?

Depends how recently they were done. If they were converted before the regs changed, it's not necessary

You really can’t see past clothes and books?

So decorate, that’s all you need to do,

It sounds like they did a full refurb down stairs and ran out of energy / money to do upstairs.. possibly due to the new roof requirement!!

The loft bedroom and style of staircase as you describe them do not sounds like they meet current regulations. You will need to find out when the conversion was done and likely need indemnity insurance.

If you were ever to make any internal structural changes, this might become an issue, in fact do check that they have building regulation approval for the downstairs renovation.

Things to think about are the cost to enclose the second stair case, ensuring the floors provide 30 minutes of fire proof safety time, joists are sufficient to support a room and new floor rather than just an open loft and is there adequate head space (2m). If the space does not meet these requirements, it cannot be classed as a bedroom and is not deemed to be safe for permanent occupation as such. However, many many lofts have been converted in this way.

The renovation to the other 2 bedrooms and bathrooms sound cosmetic but the floor boards may require attention. You can ask to pull up the carpets to have a look as long as you put them back down again but this can damage them especially if they are old so they might say no!!

It sounds like you need the loft space to be a liveable space, look into the cost of doing this and whether it is possible given the constraints of the space. We have lived in a Victorian house which had a relatively new roof and loft floor but to make it economy with regulations would have meant replacing the floor and changing the line of the roof to gain the required head space once we had put a door the required distance from the top of the stairs.

Our second house had such a low roof, there was no possible way of making the loft space work as anything other than storage.

I thought if there was an issue with the loft space, they couldn't say it is a 4 bed? The agents have it on the market as a 4 bed.

When you say 'enclose' the second staircase, do you mean putting a door at the bottom?

We definitely need a builder to look at the attic. I think it needs completely redoing myself. Floor and walls. We do have some scope to do that. The house is up for 197.5k so might offer 195k as the attic bedroom needs work? Does that sound okay?

I am currently doing up a Victorian terrace atm. It is amazing what a lick of paint and new carpet can do. It sounds like the expensive stuff is done already.

Bedrooms dont really have anything to maintain in them , no appliances ,etc. If the walls are not papered and you can see no damp patches, sounds OK . If necessary, you can skim walls or embrace the quirkiness .A survey should show up any concerns of things that need attention and you could negotiate the price to address these.
And if the garden is massive , how about a teenage pod or shed , finances permitting .