To ask for your reasons for preferring period properties?

[Derlei]

Sorry, another LLL thread.

I always come across buyers on this programme looking for "period properties". What is it about period properties that people prefer? Is it the charm, is it the potential history associated with it, or is it the way that they're physically constructed? Do they appreciate more in value relative to other types of builds in the same area?

Some of the period properties Kirsty and Phil find are quirky and quintessentially British, but at the same time are tiny and imo don't look very cosy

If the costs become too high, people simply will stop living in them.

I'm not against state support where necessary, but given that plenty of people are struggling to live in any house, you might have a long wait.

I'm not against state support where necessary, but given that plenty of people are struggling to live in any house, you might have a long wait.

I've lived in all manner of houses and flats and whilst I appreciate the charm of Victorian terraces, they're so dark.

Now in a 1920s which I love. Big rooms, high ceilings, wide hallway and landing, picture rails, original doors upstairs, big garden and east/West aspect so always light.

@JungleInTheRumble you don't happen to know the name of the window company your parents used do you?

What I love about our house is that it's breathtakingly beautiful. The rooms are massive with high ceiling and the garden is gorgeous. The only 2 annoying things are the fact that if the weather gets extremely cold then downstairs can be freezing, and, our chimneys attract all sorts of wildlife into the house. I was sat in my bed last week when a bird materialised out of nowhere and started flying around in a panic. Thankfully it only started pooing in the bathroom as I desperately tried to get the windows open to let it out.

The biggest thing for me is floors. They type of older home I grew up in had beautiful floors. Husband wanted to put hardwood floors in our 1990s house, but I must admit I nixed it. Cold & noisy & sure to get easy damaged by the kids (& by us adults).

I love how practical our 1990s house is, solid, warm, reliable, well-laid out, good size spaces, low maintenance, etc. But it's not a pretty house. One day when I am child free, I might prefer something small & quirky.

My DH was always saying "I MUCH prefer modern houses, blah blah"

Then we moved into an old house and he's amazed.

The high ceilings are EVERYTHING here in Australia. It's so cool...much better built than the modern Aussie homes.

The windows are beautiful too.

How old is an old house in Australia, User?

I have lived in a range of houses, from 1860 to 1968 and have just downsized to a character 1924 house.
New builds, are enticing but just don't do it for me. Unless, it was a one off designed and built to my specification!
We we bought our 1968 4bed detached, I didn't really like it, but it had the space we needed, was in a very good location and had feature solid wood parquet floors. When we moved and it was empty and the removers had gone, I couldn't believe how big the rooms were!
I think if I had a growing family I'd look at 60s/70s houses.

Desolate Lol...ours is 1888 which here is OLD!

People say "Oooh...it's so OLD!" about the 1920 house near MILs.

Ours is positively ancient in comparison.

I've only been here in Oz for about 15 months now and when I lived in the UK I worked in a shop which had Roman foundations and my sister lives next door to a 13th century church...it's funny when you think about it.

our chimneys attract all sorts of wildlife into the house

Ours is a listed 17th C house which has so much character but has been modernised in keeping with the style. It is a forever house.

Ceiling heights, build quality, general prettiness, character, history, space and layout. Plus new build "premium" makes them a bad investment.

Build quality of many new builds is shocking- they won't stand the test of time. To put it bluntly- there have been temporary hovels at every stage in history, the reason we don't see those is that they have fallen down or been knocked down. Huge proportion of today's new builds fall into that category. If you're buying a house to pass onto children etc, a lot of new builds won't last long enough to do that.

Character, spacious rooms, ceiling height, mature gardens, developed local area.

user Is yours a Queenslander? My family have one, it's beautiful.

Anything new enough to list a house as a three bed when really it's got 2 beds and a box room, is too new for me!

We live in a 1969 house. The layout was shit, we've rejigged it and extended. It's warm enough, light, and all 3 beds are a good size. I often lust after the more aesthetic, but I do love being warm!

puss round here there's literally hundreds of 1930s houses and they all have 2 good sized doubles and a 7x8ft single bedroom.

Great tip @Bluntness100 thank you so much!

I love our period property but they do come with their issues. High heating bills and more often than not the previous owner has cut some corners... but its a 100 year old house so you have got to expect some wear and tear and some bodge jobs. Our house tidies up well for visitors but don't look too close. haha.

You're welcome. As said I can't imagine they cost much, you just need someone with a ladder tall enough and we never have anything come down the chimney which the sweep attributes to the grate/ cover. Our previous house didn't have one and we used to get birds and all sorts come down, if I'd known about such a thing then I'd have had one put on, solves the problem immediately and permanently and has to be very cheap to do. It's just basically a metal grid.

I'm amazed at everyone saying how cold old houses are. Ours is a Georgian terraced house and it is toasty. I really feel the cold but since we put a new fire in the sitting room and underfloor heating in the bathroom it is really warm.

I grew up in one of those omnipresent 1930s suburban semis with two bedrooms and a box room, and I still have a great fondness for them.

The one thing I like about my Victorian house is how spooky it looks from outside - like a proper haunted house.

I'm fascinated by people who've lived in properly old (i.e. pre 18th century) buildings, I have a fantasy of living in a medieval building or a church or windmill or something, even though I know in reality I'd hate it.

uptownflunk, terraces are always warmer than semis or detached houses because you have fewer outside walls.
In our house it's the windows that make it cold, some have been replaced with double glazed ones but the majority are still single glazed and each window costs £1k+ to replace with a wooden double glazed panel. I think we counted 18 we have still to replace . But actually the heating is perfectly good, it's just that it costs a lot to counteract the windows!

I grew up in a Victorian house. My parents still item it, and when I return to the the UK I'm always struck by how well its laid out, how handsome it is, and how roomy yet cosy.

I'm interested to read that new builds are small - DB lived in a Victorian two-up two-down and it's the smallest house I've been in.

Off topic, but a lot of Victorian building was crap - it hasn't lasted due to slum clearance and the Luftwaffe.

We had always rented Victorian terraces, and I sort of assumed that was what we'd buy. We looked at a couple and then at our current house, a 1960s semi, and we realised how much more living space we could get for our money if our house was less pretty from the outside. I was a bit sad about it at the time but now think it really was the best choice, certainly when buying a first house - the Victorian terraces we rented (three of them) were always cold and had big damp/mould problems. And while their exterior walls were thick, the ones between properties weren't. One of the times we moved it was partially because next door had a baby and we didn't sleep through the night for six months.

I do also much prefer our house to new build, though - the room sizes are so much bigger. In any case, I was properly put off new build when I discovered that our mortgage company requires a bigger deposit proportion if you're buying a new build. If they don't trust it'll hold its value why should I?

Toadinthehole - I think a significant number of houses throughout the ages has been pretty crappy. They just tend to fall down, so what we end up inheriting are the better quality ones.

I don't think the Victorians are super builders or anything. I just think if I move into a ten year old house the odds of me getting one of the shoddy ones is much higher.