To presume Victorian terraced houses are hard to live in

[Allinadaystwerk]

I know they look pretty with great character but imagine they are cold and difficult to heat with the high ceilings...and the layout with downstairs bathroom is awkward. Anyone that lives in one beg to differ?

Lived in one for 10 yrs, downstairs bathroom, small yard only and street parking (I usually park at the end of the street to).

Not hard at all, wouldn't change it for the world. Know many who have newer houses with upstairs bathrooms m, drives, big gardens etc. They are all lovely houses but I still love mine. Its home.

We used to live in one and lived it. Ours was a traditional 2up-2down that had been extended back and into the attic, getting round some of the issues. Our children were tiny when we lived there, and it was fantastic being able to see the whole downstairs from the kitchen (no hallway and lounge/diner knocked through - kitchen being a full width extension).

Due to the attic conversion, we had an upstairs bathroom (in the original second bedroom), and a shower room en suite in the conversion.

The only problems we really had were with noise from the neighbour running up their stairs and the heat in the summer. We slept in the attic room and there was nowhere for the rising heat to escape to.

I live in a Victorian fully detached but my best friend lives in a Victorian terrace next door to me and another good friend lives in a Victorian terrace on the other side of me. The are two rows of terraces in my road and then my detached house plonked awkwardly in the middle of the two rows!

One of the houses has a downstairs bathroom but also an upstairs one and the other two houses both have upstairs bathrooms. We had to pay for damp proofing on our house and it does stay cool in the summer but it gets roasting hot in the winter if we put the heating on or if we have a fire. My house is three storeys and detached and I’ve never found it hard to heat! I have decent windows and doors too though. My friends have never found theirs hard to heat either.

We live in the North so it’s often a couple of degrees colder here than where my parents live in the south and I am also the coldest person you will ever meet 😂. I’m virtually never out of a coat and boots (I wore them and a blanket last night to a socially distanced garden meet up) and I find my house warm enough in the winter!

I live in a Victorian semi.

Absolutely love it. Charming period details-spacious and comfortable. Stays nice and cool in the hot weather and is very cozy in winter.
It has a walled garden so very private.
Not sure what you mean about downstairs loo but we have 3 loos-one on each floor so that isn't a problem.

Moved here from a big detached house and wouldn't change a thing!

Ours was warm, barely needed the heating on and the woodburner heated the entire house. We had parking and a garden. Ceilings were not high at all, they're higher in our 1930s semi. Loved that house.

Ours was lovely,mid terrace so it was warm.Noise - that was an issues when we had bad neighbours but I assume that would be the same in any terrace/semi.
The downstairs bathroom wasn't a problem at all,you just went downstairs and there it was,less distance than in some other houses I've visited where you are staggering along a long corridor in the middle of the night!
Bathrooms weren't all downstairs in our road,the choice seemed to be downstairs and a third bedroom or upstairs,two bedrooms and a bigger kitchen,so it depends what you want.
Also when the DC were little it was easier in the case of disaster to rush them in through the house and into the bathroom than it would have been to go through the house,uostairs and to the back of the house,which is where it would have been
So some advantages!

I grew up in one and my parents still live there. Bathroom is on the first floor. Never hear noise through the walls. Needs ongoing maintenance though, as with any old house. My parents would tell you that parking is a massive problem. It didn't used to be when I was growing up but many houses increasingly have more than one car nowadays and I know my parents get irritated by not always being able to park directly outside.

I’ve spent 35 of my 50 years in various Victorian terraces, of about 8 houses have only had a downstairs bathroom once. Never seemed a very “problematic” way to live. One house has 4 storeys and 3 toilets, unfortunately none on the sane floor ad the bedroom my brother, then sister and I shared. DM did say she spent a lot of time running upstairs with a child under her arm.

It depends on the house. A friend of mine lived in a Victorian terrace with walls so thin you could hear the conversation next door. Mine, not so much. They’re definitely not cold, especially if you have a mid-terrace one (although I dare say modern builds are even warmer) and parking only an issue if you get hung up on parking outside your house.

I love them and I’d far rather live in an imperfect house with some soul than a soulless modern box!

We live in a late Victorian house. Decent size rooms - so much that when we’re looking to move as been here 10 years we keep being massively disappointed by the size of rooms in other houses). Big upstairs bathroom which we recently converted into double bedroom. Bathroom now in box room but still looks great.
Garden - would like a bit bigger but it’s a very good size for a terrace. Enough space to have BBQ and kids to play. Houses behind us have bigger gardens still so definitely not overlooked or enclosed unlike plenty of smaller/mid size semis we’ve seen.
Not difficult to heat (energy bills are about £100 per month and we put heating on whenever we want)

I grew up in a Victorian terrace - smaller than we live in now (different place) but still very good size kitchen diner and bedrooms now bad. Bathroom upstairs

DH grew up in a small Victorian terrace, almost inner city area, downstairs bathroom (outside toilet initially!), tiny back yard with a house very close behind.

Not all Victorian terraces are created equally

They do look lovely I agree. I've never lived in one but might potentially. There is an upstairs bathroom but it has taken up too much of the bedroom so I'd need to reduce it to a shower room and install a bath downstairs in the utility space. Which I guess is doable.
No driveway, decent street for my budget but narrow.
Would a 1950's semi with a bit more space and driveway but in need of total renovation be better?

I live in a Victorian mid-terrace. Bathroom is upstairs but tiny. It has its disadvantages, I can hear neighbours both sides downstairs, ie I know what they are watching on tv, and the water pressure is dreadful as we have shared mains access with 3 other houses. However, it’s full of character with original stained glass in windows and fireplaces and in a lovely area which more than makes up for it. Ceilings are high but I don’t find it difficult to keep warm.

Mid terrace 2 up 2 down is the favourite of all the houses I've lived in. Love the high ceilings, wonky walls and personality. Dont mind a downstairs bathroom and it was a godsend when toilet training dd. Mine had a lovely long garden too and wonderful neighbours. It was a Good House.

I love my Victorian terrace. Bathroom is upstairs. Kitchen is small but it’s not a big problem. Not difficult to heat, not noisy (I have fab neighbours tho) not difficult to live in at all. It’s a lovely house with lots of character and it felt like home the second we walked into it.
I love my beautiful house.

I live in a mid Victorian terrace. I’ve heard so many people say they need a driveway and I always think it sounds so soulless! My house doesn’t have a driveway but it’s been here 120 years, has amazing ceilings and so much character. We know our neighbours because people sit out the front rather than only in the back. We may move to a 1930s semi in the future but again, those have character and life to them. I personally would always choose to live in an older property, so nothing after the 30s for me. A new build modern box would never be for me, I find them so boring.

Lived in a large Victorian villa type semi and a terrace in the past and both had terrible noise problems - of course it, depends on neighbours to a degree, but even "normal" noise was obtrusive.

I hated ours.
No hall.
No off street parking. Road so narrow that you had to park half on the curb to allow traffic through.
Often datk, despite big windows, because the next terrace blocked off the light.
Tiny garden at the front.
Straight into the road at the back and EVERYONE had a good nosey as they walked past.
Limited storage because of attic bedroom so stuff everywhere.
Yucky, spidery cellar that couldn't be used for storage because it was a bit damp.
Cold and expensive to heat.
Hard to decorate as their wasn't a straight wall in the house and starting something always exposed a load of problems.

On the upside the downstairs was lovely and cool in the summer. The attic was soooo hot though.
Our bathroom was upstairs.
No noise due to thick stone walls.

I suppose that it varies though depending on location and layout. Ours was fine as a couple and only became a big issue after kids.

I loved mine but the neighbour noise was horrendous which you might not expect in a older sturdy house. I moved out because of the noise (normal family noise) from both sides after 4 years.

Apart from a modern rental when we first got together, we've always lived in Victorian houses. I love the high ceilings and features. The previous house was a small detached with original wooden sash windows with stained glass so it was cold in winter but dealt with that by lighting the open fire and hanging heavy curtains. Bathroom was upstairs.

The current house is semi detached. It's been fully insulated and double glazed so it's really warm in winter. The bathroom is downstairs but we also have an upstairs toilet.

I love the period features and space of Victorian houses and don't mind sacrificing some of the conveniences of modern houses to live in one.

We live in one, with a downstairs bathroom, which doesn't bother us. We can hear our neighbours on either side but we're lucky in that they're not noisy neighbours as such, we can just hear the tv sometimes. We've noticed it a bit more because we've both been working from home.

It's a cosy house but cool when it's hot which is lovely. The only things that bother me are that we don't have a hallway as the front door opens directly into the living room, the bathroom is small, and our loft room access is via a door in the spare room so we can't have it permanently set up as a guest room - we've got a blow up double bed for guests. I'm reality those are just minor quibbles.

I love the fact that we've still got an open fire, particularly at Christmas when it is really festive and cosy.

depends on the size.
friend lives in a tiny 2up2down where you enter a tiny living room directly from the street.
the bathroom is in a drafty lean-to at the back.
the house is 3m wide and the rooms are very small, the larger bedroom is full with a double bed and chest of drawers. the small one a single at best.

we used to live in a three double bed one with large kitchen/diner and with a bathroom upstairs.
it was great, neighbours 'insulated' us. plus new windows and roof insulation did the rest.

How important is parking? I wasn’t bothered about driving around trying to find a space when single but with kids a driveway is much easier.

@tensmum1964

I have always lived in old terrace properties. I wouldn't live in an ugly semi or new build if you paid me. I love the character and charm of old properties. They can be drafty etc but that can be managed. I love mine and people often comment on how lovely it is.

Same!

We’re now living in a Victorian semi and have been here nearly 20 years. The downstairs bathroom was a godsend when the D.C. were little. With DH working away for most of the time, I could throw the kids in the bath and keep the door open so I could chat to them while I get on with cooking dinner.

We’re house-hunting now as we’re relocating. It’s depressing how many old properties have had walls knocked down and bifold doors put in - they all look the same to me.

I've lived in one with no parking & downstairs bathroom

I've lived in one with off road parking & upstairs bathroom

Some noise from neighbours

Only access to garden was through the property

I found the older character to be nicer than new build

Depends on the terrace, some are huge.

Never felt chilly in one, more the opposite of being too warm. I did miss having a garden when I lived in one but there was no problem parking as it was a quiet street.

This one has 6 bedrooms!

www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=66908657&sale=8838058&country=england#

At the other end if you want something to do up - and no there isn't a 0 or two missing.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71709444.html