For those of you that live in a Victorian terrace...

[Wondermule]

Do you regret buying it? I know houses are all different but just trying to get a feel for how high maintenance they are.

And if you do regret it, what sort of house would you go for next time?

TIA

I lived in Victorian properties for 20 years but now live in 1960s house. This was a conscious choice! They can be very beautiful but the problems were obvious because unless you were prepared to gut the house and redo it to modern standards it would be cold and damp. To the point where damp is just an occupational hazard of owning a Victorian property.

Other problems- heating, a money pit. Roofing, a money pit, party wall nightmares with terraces because walls crumble! Soffits needed doing. Pests, because of old Victorian infrastructure falling to bits. Basically I would tolerate the aesthetics because it was a fine townhouse to have but the expense drove me away and I sold. It had many surveys which declare it fine, which I found hilarious.

I moved into a mid century property with more light, better windows and by god it is warm! No damp. The heating costs are tiny and roof is perfect. I do not regret the move!

After reading the thread it’s clear that a terrace in London might be significantly different to a terrace in Yorkshire.
We live in the latter, little noise from neighbours, no damp, it’s warm and spacious with lovely high ceilings and a garden.
It was built around 1900 and feels so solid. We love it.

Love mine. Always have loved Victorian/Edwardian houses. Yes they have design quirks as mentioned upthread and the walls can be thin, but I don't think that is exceptional for that age of houses (some 60,70's houses have that).

Parking can be a bugger though. We are lucky enough to live in a Victorian house with a drive!

I don't really like modern houses with the exception of glass boxes. I'd only move for an architect designed modern house - which is very unlikely on my budget!

I love ours. Never hear the neighbours unless one of their teenagers is having a full on meltdown.

Ours is a step up from a Coronation Street straight-onto-the-pavement type but several steps down from high ceilings and original features.

Yes off road parking would be nice. Yes a wider hallway would be nice. Yes an upstairs bathroom would be nice although our third bedroom was a bathroom at one point so we might change it back as we get older, to a toilet at least.

I would just get a very good survey - explore the lot. Terraces vary but in London quite often a bit shonky, for example, you might be surprised to see that the terrace has little to no foundations and it effectively sits on bare earth! Or indeed is built on a rubbish heap!

It’s all common sense really - beware the freshly painted Victorian terrace with the entirely tiled bathroom. Fashionable, but can cover a many sins. Watermarks on the exterior etc.

Ours is end of terrace with the front door on the side so no loss of space with a hallway. All rooms are larger than usual with original ceiling roses, cornices, skirtings, doors and stairs. All three bedrooms are large doubles.

Really thick walls so no noise. And because it's EOT and the way it's laid out we have off-road parking as well.

Biggish garden also.

We did look at moving a few years ago as just two living here seems a bit of a waste. A new estate was nearly finishing so we went to view. Jeez, places were small. Felt a bit claustrophobic with 'low' ceilings and small rooms. Not a chance I'd want to live there.

Love it, was told by someone to expect to spend about £1,500 a year keeping it ticking over. The people before clearly didn't so we've been playing a bit of catch up, but that makes sense to me. I expect it will still be around many years after the newbuild flat we sold is.

We have a Victorian terrace on a hill, it’s beautiful and I do love it but it causes me endless low-grade background worry over maintenance, there are always several things that need doing. The whole terrace seems to be very slowly sliding down the hill made of London clay and our house is on the fault line. The windows always need repainting and inside there are so many layers of paint on all the woodwork that you can’t see a lot of the detailing properly. I’d love to strip off all the paint and start from scratch but it’s a horrible job. But all houses need some sort of maintenance and if you’re mentally prepared for that I’d say they are worth it. New builds can develop lots of cracks & gaps as they settle into their plots.

And noise isn't an issue at all with normal neighbours, if your neighbours are excessively loud you’ll hear them, but if you’re lucky you’ll hardly notice them, except that your house will be a lot warmer than a detached house!

If you're struggling with dark halls and landings, we got a light tunnel put in the roof to the landing ceiling, which bounces light all around the landing and stairs. It wasn't expensive.

neighbour noise in our terrace wasn't an issue until they mounted a tv on the chimney breast...

We live in a Victorian terrace. We love it but I’d love it more if we weren’t a terrace due to the constant fear of making too much noise for the neighbours. It’s quite stressful in that respect and I’m looking forward to moving. I’d like to add that I personally find it quite reassuring to hear signs of life from next door particularly if I’m home on my own and in case a murderer comes to my door...

I loved the character but hated so many aspects of the two we've lived in that I wouldn't buy one. We were renting so couldn't improve it but they were both freezing, damp riddled, damp creepy basements, strangely shaped (I quite liked this for character but awkward for furniture), and with really steep narrow staircases which was one of the main reasons we moved before having kids. Also the gardens were very overlooked with an access path so couldn't relax in them, and steps up to the narrow front door meant moving furniture in, getting deliveries, was an issue. Cars parked on both sides of the narrow road too as there was no off road parking, which was another issue for letting kids play and made getting a food shop delivered really difficult. I may feel differently if I had the opportunity to live in a properly refurbished and insulated one though with a decent garden.

Ours is a 5 bedroom end terrace built in 1900. It has a large cellar, small strip of garden at the front and a larger garden at the back. We've lived here 15 years and done quite a bit to it - put in a shower room in the larger attic bedroom, and velux windows up there too. New bathroom, kitchen and downstairs toilet. Also redid the garden.
I love it. We're lucky with the neighbours, but the walls are pretty thick too. Downside is parking, but that's a given with all terraces.

Thanks for your replies, I am reading them all.

If we bought the house we have in mind, we would have a good chunk of money to stash away for potential repairs etc.

Has anyone moved an interior wall? Do you have any idea of cost please?

My friend lives in one. It’s absolutely lovely with the Hugh ceilings and it’s huge when inside.

Agree with Chicchicchicchiclana 100%, I too have lived in a victorian terrace most of my adult life and I wouldn't choose it. Refurb works are a pain with both neighbours involved (permissions / noise etc). There's no access to the garden so everything carted through the long narrow house. My final nag is parking - you'll have the privilege of paying for a parking permit for your street but not always be able to park outside your own home.

We have a back lane which is wide enough for vans and lorries, and the bins are kept and emptied there too.

I wouldn't live in a terrace without that.

I viewed the house today, and put in an offer! Waiting to hear back. It’s in lovely condition throughout, just a few things aren’t to my taste but they can be changed in time (a bit too many black and silver wallpaper feature walls on the go 😷)

In time I would want to knock through one of the bedroom walls to merge two of them, and also do a loft conversion (no en suite). Has anybody done this? If so I would be grateful for any advice or info on how much it might cost.

Thanks for all the advice, it’s been very useful.

Just to list things I checked after reading your comments!!
There is an entrance path at the back for bins etc
No funny angles bar cupboard under the stairs
No steps up to front door
Nice front garden so door is set back from road
I would get a very thorough survey

We brought a Victorian semi our first home just finished paying for it and I love it for all it's faults .It is draughty and being a small village on street parking and they can cost you over the years in maintence.Plus though it is solidly built , love my garden and no noise, walls are thick and resident ghost.

My parents had a victorian house ,3 bed terraced , not really high celings and no bay window
They bought it and gutted as previous owner had done nothing
3 good size bedrooms all could fit a double which isn't the case with many 3 beds
It was always warm , no cold issues
Bathroom was downstairs ,although you get used to that and even though I haven't lived at home for 20 years , I rarely wake up for a wee as think Im trained
Lack of access to back was a pain as only through the house
The main issue though was the parking and thats why they sold it and moved to a cheaper area and have a driveway

The thing is though in most areas a victorian terrace will be cheaper than a detached with driveway ,so not comparable really
Like comparing my 3 bed new build 1 parking space, terrace with a large detached 6 bed new build ,

Our first house was a Victorian end of terrace. I hated it I'm afraid. Cold damp, which was constantly being treated but never went away. No cavity walls, noise travelled, scullery type kitchen at the back of the house, draughty fireplaces, spiders galore, no off street parking. Maybe some of it could have been put right with enough money, but we were pleased to cut our losses asap.

Oh I love it. I’d never want to live in a modern house. I do want one that’s a little bigger with more garden next time, but it’s a nice little house.