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 think as others have said it depends on where. I live half an hour from Bath and some Victorian and Georgian terraces go for half a million with a lovely combo of original floors and fireplaces with sympathetic renovations. On the other end we looked at one in 2008 and the bathroom was a crappy, leaky extension behind the tiny galley kitchen. We also didn't want a 10ft wide, 100ft long jungle of a garden. We ended up buying an early 90s 2 bed.

I wouldn’t mind betting the houses that definitely won’t be coveted in 50 years time will be today’s new builds. That’s always assuming they’re still standing. Tiny plots, jerry built to squeeze the maximum profit, apparently they’re built to last 25 years.

@Alsohuman and Victorian terraces were slums in a lot of areas, do you think at the time they thought in 50 years they would be seen as desirable? 1960s apartment blocks in countries where they actually maintain them publicly are already seeing a revival. It's the way of the world.

Also "apparently they're built for 25 years" source that please. Just as there isn't 1 type of Victorian terrace there isn't one type of new build, there are a variety of developers and construction styles, no mortgage company would lend on a house designed to last 25 years.

Sitting in one now. Cool in the summer, warm in the winter. I think it's something to do with the bricks, also bigger windows.

I've only ever lived in Victorian terraces........never had a downstairs bathroom and the lovely, thick walls are a huge bonus.

Can't hear the neighbors, can't hear my other half fart in the next room as all the rooms have actual walls between them instead of plasterboard.

Ours is very warm, mid terrace. Beautiful spaces with high ceilings. We've double glazed it. Sound carries through the floorboards but it's so flippin tall (basement plus four further split floors) that we can lose ourselves and find peace and quiet pretty easily!

I live in a small Victorian terrace. There are niggles - bathroom being downstairs was weird at first, although I'm used to it now. Parking on the street can be difficult, but we're right by the end of the terrace so we can usually squash on the end, we have a tiny yard rather than a garden.

I love love love the high ceilings, how cool it stays in summer, the big windows, the huge bedrooms, how it looks from the outside. We have no problems with noise - we do occasionally hear one side, but it's only ever when they're laughing really loudly, which always puts a smile on my face.

However, we've got no children. If we did decide to have kids, I would probably move - our bathroom is very cold in winter because it's downstairs, and the lack of garden would bother me. That being said, this is basically an extended two-up, two-down. I know someone who has a five bed Victorian terrace in Leeds with almost half an acre of garden between the front and the back and it's HUGE, with more than enough room to raise a whole army of children should you want, so it very much depends on the house.

Apparently they're built to last 25 years! Don't be so ridiculous

As the previous poster said there are different types of new builds and different styles of houses. I loved my Victorian terrace but it was dark and very inconvenient in lots of ways. My new build is bright, spacious and we are all a lot happier. We actually chose the plot because it had a small garden because we are not green fingered but the outdoor space is still twice the size of our garden in our Victorian terrace.

New builds have always had a bad press a few years back there was a trend to try and cram as many houses in as possible but that's less common these days. It was also the case in Victorian times too. My Victorian terrace was only 11foot wide! The houses had all changed over the years but when they were built 160 years ago they would've been identical and no doubt considered "soulless".

I live in one and it’s great! Lovely and cool in summer and warm in winter, huge bay windows, fire places in all the rooms, 2 bathrooms (one upstairs!) huge back garden that I’ve just had landscaped.

The only downside is it’s only 2 bed, so if I have another baby I’ll have to look into converting the attic. But it would take an awful lot for me to leave here, I adore it.

@PicsInRed, I lived in one, never heard a thing from next door, even when they had a new baby.

I should probably let Nationwide know that my 4 bed redbrick townhouse is going to self-destruct in 2038.

Ours is a small 3 bed Victorian terrace, we can just about hear the neighbours but they have to be really loud tbh. Never any issue with it. Once when one of my kids was small the woman next door asked if he was ok as she could hear him crying all night, I apologised tearfully for the noise and she said honestly it was no bother, not loud enough to keep them awake.

We have an upstairs bedroom and a tiny back yard. Honestly if we had a garden that was a bit bigger I'd take a punt and install a loft conversion rather than explore moving house. It is quite dark because the front bay is three distinct narrow windows. I like it though.

Oh - also that one in London linked upthread is about 10x the cost of mine in a NW city!

I live in one, its not noticeably colder than any other house I've lived in and the downstairs bathroom has never bothered me, I assume it might if I was less mobile and the stairs were an issue. The only problem I have is I have to get a decorator to paint especially the stairwell as its just so damn high.

Every house that was ever built was once a shiny new "soulless box" that the neighbours in older houses considered an eyesore

I have lived in a few Edwardian and Victorian houses and flats. They can be beautiful. They (mostly) had big gardens and high ceilings and pretty fireplaces. I loved them. I would say that they tended to be cold, damp and very long, so that if you were at the front of the house you felt very disconnected from people at the back or upstairs, which was sometimes nice and sometimes lonely.

I now live in a 12 year old newbuild, which I also love - I love the layout, which is a series of separate but connecting rooms and a decent sized hall, and I love that everything is pretty new and in good condition. This is where we became a family and it is full of happiness and good memories for me.

I've been on similar threads and got quite anxious and defensive about the virtues of newbuilds but the way I feel about it now is: I'd live in a lovely newbuild or a lovely older house quite happily; every house is different; everyone should live in a house that makes them happy if they can; and different people will have different ideas about what they want in a home. We don't have to pick one over another (especially as over 40 years people will change their mind about what "newbuild" means) but if you do have a strong preference you also don't have to be massively dismissive about someone else's different opinion.

I would have thought that modern houses are hard to live in. Tiny rooms with no space to put storage. Open plan downstairs so that you are always in sight of other family members and harder to heat as the air area is so large. Pocket sized gardens so that you don't have space to sit outside AND put the washing out. Really hot in the summer due to tiny windows, low ceilings and poor air circulation. Often built without car parking spaces and nowhere near public transport.

Makes a Victorian terrace sounds really nice in comparison.

I have never seen new build houses in my area built without parking spaces, and I've lived here 15 years.

@notheragain4

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.

Victorian houses haven’t really ever been out of favour other than the slum houses that got knocked down.

I apologise if I came across as snobby as I didn’t mean to

I am just a full supporter of reusing what we already have before buying/building new whether it comes to products or housing

@Kpo58 you do realise there is not one floor plan for "new build" there is arguably more diversity in "new builds" than Victorian terraces considering new build is basically any house built in the last 10 years or so. My new build has a double garage with car parking for 6 cars and 3 reception rooms, not all open plan.

You can't compare one style of house (which in itself comes in a variety of styles) with every house built in the last 10 years.

It depends what kind of victorian terrace - that description fits a huge breadth of different victorian houses! We live in a 6 bedroom, 3 storey victorian terrace. When we first moved in we were fully prepared to spend that first winter freezing but it was actually much warmer than our previous 1950's house!! We have double glazing and no issues with heat at all, I think the houses either side help with that. The walls are so thick and solid we never have any sound travel across from the neighbours. Huge, high ceilings. Every room is spacious with big windows which let in lots of light. Beautiful, characterful features. Loads of storage space. You would never get the space or features we have in a new build. I still pinch myself every time I wake up here!

@Rebelwithallthecause that's not true, a lot Victorian houses went through a period of being unfashionable in the middle of the last century, it doesn't mean people stopped living in them, but they didn't all come with the character prestige that many do now (barring in mind the development in modern conveniences at the time). Sorry I can't cite my sources, I worked on a new town heritage project and it was often discussed (I'm speaking quite broadly as well which is obviously impossible!!)

We also have a bathroom and a seperate toilet upstairs. I don't know where you got the downstairs bathroom from but I think you are thinking of a specific type of Victorian terrace?

@Whendoesthisgeteasier I think a lot where we live had a downstairs bathroom only until most people moved them upstairs into what would have been a 3rd bedroom

Not many around now with no bathroom upstairs but they do come up for sale occasionally

I find it interesting as I live in a town that is full of the typical Victorian terraces, one of which I live in and then I know lots of friends who live in them too.

Many have been built by different builders but you walk through the door and can see they’ve been built to near identical plans.

What differs is how over the years people have modernised them to make them work for them, some have removed walls. Chimney breasts. Added bathrooms upstairs, loft conversions or rear extensions and so now none of them are the same at all.

The one part of mine that I am a little sad about is that it would have once had a lovely front garden with metal railings. All now gone and block paved for a driveway.
The driveway is obviously very convenient but on our row only one house remains with the original front garden and it looks so much prettier

[quote 81Byerley]@PicsInRed, I lived in one, never heard a thing from next door, even when they had a new baby.[/quote]
Thank you! Quite like one...it was just the noise stopping me!

a lot Victorian houses went through a period of being unfashionable in the middle of the last century

Not only that but you couldn’t give Georgian vicarages away either. Everyone wanted a newly built house. It was interesting watching my parents’ views change between the purchase of a new build in 1967 and an Edwardian semi 32 years later