Will period property fall out of favour because of high energy bills and energy efficiency measures?

[flashbac]

I love the charm of old/period property. I know I'm not alone. However I do wonder what will happen to them due to energy efficiency measures in the pipeline. Will they fall out of favour?

They will never fall out of favour, because:

Some people can afford not to worry about energy efficiency measures.

Some people can't afford not to worry about energy efficiency measures but will buy them anyway because they couldn't bear the thought of living in anything built after about 1870 (that would include me).

Some people wouldn't think about the energy issue and would just buy the house they love. I have bought and sold several houses, and have never once given any thought at all to their energy efficiency.

They are fabulous!

No,not for me, our property is not what most people would call period as such, built 1929 but not with overt period features but if I had the money I would buy much older. Just invest in more jumpers, socks, fingerless gloves and hot water bottles. We have a log burner anyway which is helpful, I would love one in every room really

I wonder about this. We are moving to a Victorian house (from a Victorian house) and it's really difficult to work out what we can practically do to make a difference to the carbon footprint of running it. Insulation yes - but we had a bad experience in this house when making the sash windows too draught-proof just lead to lots of condensation, so we need to go carefully. Double glazing probably - but will need to be really expensive timber sashes. We are going to look at the option of a biomass boiler - but it's not clear-cut that that's a great answer. We are feeling a bit stuck tbh.

Having had period property it wasn’t too bad, the bigger problem right now is the amount of open plan houses with lots of glass that have not had enough spent on insulation.

@bellac11

No,not for me, our property is not what most people would call period as such, built 1929 but not with overt period features but if I had the money I would buy much older. Just invest in more jumpers, socks, fingerless gloves and hot water bottles. We have a log burner anyway which is helpful, I would love one in every room really

The government want all houses to be a certain grade in terms of energy efficiency and will 'encourage' lenders to incentivise this. If this doesn't work legislation will be introduced. Landlords won't be able to let homes below grade c either, after 2025. The clock is ticking.

I don't think so. Period properties have proved their utility by still being habitable after a hundred, two hundred years. They can be adapted to whatever requirements are imposed.

By contrast, many of the properties being built now (especially flats) have a planned lifetime of less than 50 years. While they may be more sustainable to run if you ignore the construction and re-construction impact, I am yet to be persuaded that they are a more attractive option in the long run.

Not for me. New builds are mainly on estates, which I hate and they generally don't have character.

Nope they'll just complain more.

Nope

well will the gov apply the legislation ( should it be passed) fairly ?
No doubt their old country mansions and period town houses will be exempt along with Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle etc. Honestly what do they expect ordinary people to do.? We have an older property and have done as much as we can to make it efficient but there are limits so what should we do ? Do.they want to demolish all period properties and destroy all the character of the country and replace it with estates full of cloned newbuilds ?

I don't think period properties will be an issue as they've lasted the test of time and are well built.
Imho it'll be 70's to 90's houses which suffer (I say this as we're in the process of buying an 80's house).

Until last year therev was the green homes grant so you could get 'help' with energy efficiency.
now there's only a grant if you are on UC or earn under £30k. (which we miss out on). Hoping something else comes up as 90% of our income is spent on living (yay childcare) so where we're gonna find the ££ to modernise heating, insulate, etc

The gov need to do something..... but what I dunno!

Heat pumps only work when there's good insulation, wiping lots of homes out of this opportunity.

We have single glazed sash windows in 200+ year old plus house. I’m sure it doesn’t get as warm as a new place but it’s really not that bad. But then again, DH and I both grew up in kind of funny houses and it’s quite normal for us.

We have dark iron radiators which fit the style and they keep hot for hours after they’ve been on.

People will always be in a position to not be worried about money plus you can retrofit, I did

Some people can't afford not to worry about energy efficiency measures but will buy them anyway because they couldn't bear the thought of living in anything built after about 1870 (that would include me).

Me too, I just put up with a freezing house six months of the year. Still wouldn't get me buying a modern house!

Period properties will always be popular as they are beautiful, have character and have shown to stand the test of time. We moved from a 1990s flat to a Victorian and now an Edwardian house and I’d never but anything without character! It’s warm enough for us .

I’ve owned a mixture of new (off plan) and period, and never took energy costs into consideration. I’ll be moving again in 2025 or 2026 and this topic won’t won’t play a role in my decision. I’ll look at anything that’s the right size, in good nick, and suitably located.

They have for me. Starting to look at a move and when I saw the height of the ceilings I was like... Ohhh that's going to cost a lot too heat.... And clicked off it. I already spend a fortune now the prices have gone up I can't imagine spending more.

I’ve got a house built in the 1880s and it’s a hell of a lot warmer and more energy efficient than PILs 1990’s new build…

We’ve replace the original sash windows with double glazed ones when they needed replacing but the solid brick walls and horsehair plaster are pretty insulating

As things like boilers and radiators have needed to be replaced, we’ve done so with modern energy efficient versions and would assume most houses would have the same?

Very few period houses will have their original windows and heating systems, and it’s very easy (and not very expensive) to retrofit efficient ones.

Unless a house has been built in the last 10 years, I’m not sure a well-maintained Victorian house is much better or worse than a well-maintained post-1970s house

I don’t think appeal will drop. Period houses are lovely and cool in the summer which counts for a lot, it’s not actually cold enough for heating most of the year particularly in the south of the U.K.

Capital requirements related to climate change for banks are already being discussed by the regulator. If these houses become unmortgagable or the rate is much higher, then prices will fall when compared with more modern properties. There are things you can do but they are often disruptive and costly. I loved old houses until I lived in a new one - no way would I go back!

Another no. I have a feeling that the coming energy efficiencies are not going to be relevant for a lot of people. The reason is that most properties are not going to be suitable for heat pumps without a total refit of heating pipework, which is larger than is typically used today.

I have a 1980s house with copper microbore and a 2016 house with plastic microbore piping. Microbore piping is just not suitable for heat pumps. I'm not even sure if traditional 15/22mm pipework is adequate.

The long and the short of that is that truly energy efficient houses have to be designed from the ground up, and that change has barely started to happen.

Op I’ve been thinking about this, there’s a similar thread in the property board. I find it hard to believe that in 8 years time banks won’t be giving mortgages on period houses, that would be a massive vote loser if the government force it through. It’ll be a bigger scale than the scandal of those poor people stuck in flats with unsafe cladding who can’t sell up.

Doubt it. They're better built than most new properties, beautiful, and are more likely to have open fires which are a godsend when the power goes out from storms.

I’ve rented a lot of houses over the years period and post 1990 to 2007 , and the most heat efficient ones were the individual non estate detached ones we had in Oxford— built in 2005 and 2006. (Which were about 8 years old when we rented them) period ones can be great but only if well cared for and renovated .

@Herhereherhere

Capital requirements related to climate change for banks are already being discussed by the regulator. If these houses become unmortgagable or the rate is much higher, then prices will fall when compared with more modern properties. There are things you can do but they are often disruptive and costly. I loved old houses until I lived in a new one - no way would I go back!

What counts as a modern property though?

The vast vast majority of UK housing stock was built before modern building regs and efficiency standards became a thing, so it just wouldn’t be possible to make most houses unmortagable or difficult to mortgage without causing catastrophic issues in the housing market.