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?

I'm absolutely done with living in a Victorian terrace, having lived in several, although ours have always had a decent sized family bathroom upstairs. It's the narrow shape, narrow hallways and narrow gardens I don't like. I long to live in a house that has a wide layout with more than one room having a view onto a wide back garden. Also, the kitchen can feel tacked onto the back (and ours is down a short flight of steps so even more so).

My gran lived in a Victorian detached villa. She had no central heating and the house was freezing in winter. She also had the original floors so slippers were essential. Later in life she lived in the dining room with a heated so it was lovely and warm. I can imagine how lovely it would have been had it had central heating.

This might depend on where in the country you are, but here Victorian and Edwardian properties are very desirable (despite there being streets and streets full of them) meaning there's a higher price despite the fact that they often don't have a drive, they're narrow, the layout is always a bit quirky etc. Both times we've bought property we've always decided that they're not for us, as I don't see how they're more practical for a young family to live in than a more modern (30s and newer) house, aside from they look pretty. Perhaps the ones we can't afford are nice, but for our budget (850ish SW London) you're looking at a terraced or potentially semi if you're lucky Victorian/Edwardian property with a loft extension for the extra bedrooms or a more roomy 1930s or later property. Also probably with a loft extension but the actual house will likely be a slightly lower price per square meter with a more usable floor plan.

They are much nicer than new builds, awkward for furniture but solid and more classy.

Live in a mid-Victorian terrace. Great insulation, and not too much noise from the neighbours other than occasional raised voices from the children. Tall ceilings and decent sized rooms too; I have got used to a kitchen and bathroom that are actual room size and feel hemmed in with the tiny modern versions. Only bugbear is the water pressure can be iffy. Otherwise lots of bang for your buck and we have a good sized back garden too.

Parking is a pain in the arse on our street but live the house. We're in a row of four and the houses are lovely, bathroom upstairs.

Anyone that lives in one beg to differ?

Completely differ - they are very liveable. My end terrace has windows facing east & south so I get light all year round, all day. It's exterior stone, with interior brick walls, and the gap in between filled with insulation wherever possible - 2 foot thick walls on the ground floor.

It's 3 floors + basement, so loads of room, and the room proportions are entirely designed for comfortable living - beautiful 12 foot ceilings in the 3 reception rooms, lower ceilings upstairs in the bedrooms.

We put in two bathrooms, installed new sash double glazed windows, central heating etc.

I wouldn't live anywhere else.

@sashh that one for £1000 has got to be worth a punt surly?!

If you have the money to do it up, or you have the skills.

The shame is that benefit rules mean the people who would benefit most can't buy. You couldn't move in until it had a new roof and was rewired but the moment you buy a property you can't get help with rent. In addition if you are renting from a HA or council you have to give up your tenancy.

So apart from it being 100+ miles away because I'm n a HA property I would lose my home if I bought it. And to further complicate things my HA property is designed for someone with disabilities so that would not be suitable even after a complete refit.

UCLAN have a campus in Burnley now so it would be ideal to rent to students.

It's really interesting reading all the different descriptions of "Victorian terrace". Even in my street I haven't been in two that match.

Seems there is no standard build, not surprising really as most of them were built by speculative builders using bought in plans according to the size of the plot. I love seeing the ones where the builder has named the houses, I like the ones with names like Doris Villa next door to Hilda Villa, or put in the his and hers faces over the front doors of adjacent properties. There is nothing better than the top floor of a slow moving London bus for checking out the way streets were developed.

Like another poster unthread I feel a bit sad that they are so often being ripped apart and unimaginative extensions built on with bifold doors and open plan rooms. I like all my differently purposes rooms, the only extra I would like is a downstairs loo but can't fit one in under the stairs because of the cellar. Maybe I should start a trend and reinstate the brick outhouse............... With proper plumbing though, not a bucket.

Having bought one that had been empty and unloved for years I’m not too sure I agree ok the upkeep being any more than any other house

Protect it from leaks and you won’t suffer from damp or woodworm

We replaced electrics and plumbing before we moved in so know it’s good to go for a long while

I loved ours. Much prefer older houses to new builds - for me things like the high ceilings really set them apart.

We were never cold (mid terrace - it was warm) and noise wasn’t an issue.

The only thing that was a bit annoying was the on-street parking but we did actually have rear access and were never bothered enough by the parking to turn that in to a proper space, which we could have done.

@viques I would love a brick out house!
Would be perfect for the children (and visiting friends)

We can’t fit in a downstairs one under the stairs but hoped to reconfigure it somehow a little bit to put one in

Two of my DC live in Victorian terraced housing, one slightly bigger than the other.
You mention the bathroom, and you should know that these houses were not built with bathrooms. Instead, when they were built, they would have had an outside toilet.
Obviously over the years, a bathroom (and toilet) have been incorporated into the house, and the question is - where?
In the original post the OP says the bathroom is downstairs, and this may be so in some cases.
In other cases, the bathroom has been incorporated elsewhere, by
a) converting the 3rd bedroom,
b), in the larger terrace - converting just part of the 3rd bedroom,
c) in the 2 up, 2 down terrace, where the stairs go up in the middle, the bathroom maybe incorporated by skimming off part of the 2nd bedroom, and placing the bathroom in the stairwell.
d) in some cases the bathroom is downstairs next to the kitchen,
d) in other cases downstairs at the end of the kitchen.
In my experience the structure is generally quite solid, the ceilings are not overtly high, and the sound insulation is quite good, but yes, they are not as insulated as modern houses.

@sashh that’s such a shame

When I read things like that it’s no wonder there’s issues with housing

Help the people who want to own these houses to buy them and fix them and we wouldn’t need to build so many new soulless houses and less HA ones may be needed

Our first house was a Victorian terrace. We loved it. Definitely wasn't cold and we were lucky to have quite neighbours. Bathroom was upstairs. Only down side was the tiny garden with very low walls so it was pretty much like all the neighbours were sat in one big garden.

I on my second one. The first was only 2 bed but had a bigger, none over looked garden that i really miss! We now have 3 double bedrooms and a separate hallway which I love. We also converted the cellar into a second living room/office which is great. I love the bay windows and character, our walls are solid so rarely hear the neighbours. When viewing our we realised that a lot of the other houses have drives, and we are on a corner with semis with drives. This means there is a lot of space to park on the road. It is definitely something to think about.

The only thing that annoys me in the small garden. Its 12ft by 12 ft and not overlooked at the back but close to the neighbours on one side. They have access and only generally use it for bins or delivery but it has got to me during lockdown!

It's usually only the smaller Victorian cottages that have downstairs bathrooms. Slightly larger ones have the third bathroom turned into a bedroom and the ones I have lived in are just large with an upstairs bathroom and much larger rooms than modern houses.

I've just moved out of a terrace. Mine was built 1914 so not Victorian. It had an upstairs bathroom. It also had asbestos and damp. It got sold. We were renting and still live locally. The people who bought it are doing it up to rent out and they have admitted that it needs much more work than they anticipated. Every job they try to do reveals five more problems/things that need fixed. I wouldn't buy one without having a lot of time or money to throw at it.

Actually living in one is OK if you like your neighbours. Not so much if you don't. By the end, I hated being there. The noise does travel between the houses. There is absolutely no privacy in your back garden even with a huge fence. My energy bills weren't terrible. Our house had be insulated (badly, hence the damp) and we left the heating on low all of the time in the winter. Parking was a nightmare, but one of the neighbours had a work van that he parked awkwardly. I still have this problem in my current house!

I'm in a brand new build semi now. I much prefer it. My fuel bills are much cheaper. I just like the privacy being in a semi gives me. I also like my neighbours in my new house which helps enormously.

I are up in a victorian house and it didn't have central heating - far healthier

They are hard to maintain re heat and damp etc. But they are incredibly cosy. I love them. My parents moved the bathroom upstairs into one of the tree double bedrooms

The Georgian terrace I lived in was fucking cold! Original (drafty) windows, no central heating, 18 foot ceilings on one floor... you could see your breath inside for 9 months of the year. Enormous house that was freezing, but amazing in summer.

Now I live in a small Victorian terrace. It's cozy and nice most of the year (if I turn the heating on anyway...), not much neighbour noise and rather easier to live in than the Georgian one. Mine is late Victorian though, earlier could well be more like the Georgian money pit.

What I did love about that house though, was how safe it felt! It had the original 6 inch thick oak door, with iron bars to lock it for night. All the lower 2 floors had thick oak shutters with iron bands to seal them too. Nothing at all was getting in there, that you didn't want to.

We love ours - built mid-1850s, very solidly, with decorative coloured brickwork and wrought iron work. Thick walls and probably a bigger footprint than later in the Victorian period. Long walled gardens back onto other big gardens so it all feels very green. We also have fair-sized pretty walled gardens at the front.

Downsides: no off-street parking (but that’s common in London). Ropey plumbing from a 1990s update, but we can’t blame the Victorians for that.

We had one with a downstairs bathroom. Turned a bedroom into a bathroom, and the old bathroom into a downstairs loo/utility room.

It was a brilliant solid house, with two large bedrooms, a huge bathroom, and a living room/dining room that had once been two rooms, and could easily have been changed back. We had young children though so the open plan space suited us.

Not a difficult house to live in at all!

I lived in a Victorian terrace. We lost a bedroom to make way for the bathroom as I don't like downstairs bathrooms. It was warm and cosy, mid terrace so lots of noise from the neighbours, not much privacy. It didn't have high ceilings, i think it's Edwardian houses that tend to have high ceilings, no off street parking which was a real pain! It was quirky but we are all much happier in our new modern house which was designed for family living.

Help the people who want to own these houses to buy them and fix them and we wouldn’t need to build so many new soulless houses and less HA ones may be needed

Oh yes those soulless houses that are better for the environment and more condensed so can house more people, we wouldn't want more of those would we? Don't be such a snob. There are plenty of old houses for those that like them, new houses are being built with the modern life and environmental issues considered and for our increasing population. Tastes are subjective, your soulless is other people's comfortable. You do realise they ripped out huge amounts of Victorian terraces in the 1950s for practically reasons but mostly they weren't desired, they were out of fashion. Like anything they came back into fashion, tastes change, what we covet now will be different in 50 years time and it'll continually change.