No heating in reception room/plumbed in washing machine

[fatpony]

Looking for opinions - just put in an offer on a lovely Victorian house done up by a developer. Offer accepted! We viewed it on Saturday and didn't notice at the time (can't think how) but there are no radiators in the two reception rooms/no heating at all. is this something we could reasonably expect the developer/owner to put in? There are two biggish receptions with an archway between so would need at least two rads. I couldn't bear to move in in winter and straight away have to pull up floorboards and pay for the cost of installing radiators (we've got a baby). A secondary thing is there is a plumbed in dishwasher but no washing machine. Is that a bit odd?
Thanks!

is there underfloor heatingin instead?

no washer - have seen that in a couple of empty homes. it's great, you get to choose a new washer instead of inheriting any old manky one

No underfloor heating :(
True about the washing machine but don't want the cost/delay on first moving in (got a one year old who creates a ton of laundry!)

Are the fire places usable?

There aren't any because some idiot owner at some point has taken them out including the chimney breasts. We're prepared to gradually put those back in and have a stove but not immediately.

WTveryF is the developer playing at? If you are a developer, you generally have to make some improvements....

Is there central heating already? TBH I'd be wary about buying something off what appear to be a bunch of amateurs and I wouldn't pay a premium for it. Depending on the existing plumbing, it's no big deal to plumb in a washing machine.

I don't think you can expect them to put in radiators once you've made an offer! You offered on the house you saw.

Victorian houses do not lend themselves to underfloor heating as they are normally suspended wooden floors. (With plenty of ventilation)
The removal of the chimney breasts would ruin a Victorian house for me.
I would not be prepared to use electric heating, of any form, for warmth.

You either have to rescind the offer or budget for the radiators.

Thanks all. Houses like this in good condition and with extensions done/good primary catchments are few and far between in the area in London we're moving to. Sad but true. So prepared to gradually put in stoves/build back chimney breasts etc but I'm going to have to go back to the agent tomorrow and ask what the heck about the lack of ground floor heating. There is nothing in the hallway and one radiator in the kitchen. I don't get it...surely it's something you'd put in when doing it up as a developer?

Developers do some weeeeird shit. Lack of heating is going it some, though. Where in London is the house? I'd imagine plumbing in a washing machine wouldn't be that big a deal, but heating...! There isn't that hot-air circulating system that sometimes gets put in place of chimney breasts, is there?

It sounds like a cowboy.
He might not be but if you get as far as a survey make sure you pay out for a full one. I live in an area where every man and his dog has an immaculate looking house. Just don't ask how well it was put together

Yeah def' doing full survey as it's got a big cellar and is end of terrace.
No hot air system IShould! Just electric sockets.
It's certainly strange, will hopefully know more tomorrow.

Ah, if it's EOT you could easily put a flue up on the outside (unless it's over the street?)

That either shows some serious corner-cutting or there is a more serious problem preventing the developer putting in heating (though I'm jiggered if I know what that could be). Could the boiler be too small to run that many rads and he was too cheap to replace it? Really odd thing to do - it would make me very suspicious.

Please ask the EA to ask the seller why there is no heating (and report back - I'd love to hear the excuse )

A big cellar makes it especially easy to run radiator pipes under the floor. Very strange they didn't.

Is there space for a laundry room?

It's got a utility with the boiler in it so no problem really about plumbing in a washing machine. Actually on this one it's the owner who has done it up and developed it (thought it was a separate developer as we saw three others that day all done up by developers). Will let you know Lala!

Ah, there IS underfloor heating! Even the agent didn't know this and had to check. Phew. I'll see the house again tomorrow and will check what can be seen from the cellar.

Underfloor heating in a Victorian house doesn't strike me as the best idea. As PJ said, they generally have suspended floors so I can't see how you would put in a wet system and for a decent dry electric system you need a well insulated sub floor.....

You have to wonder why they didn't put radiators in. Worth checking if the boiler is sufficiently powerful to support more radiators. I'd worry that the boiler might be too weedy so more radiators would require a new boiler too.

Modern boilers are capable of modulating their power up and down, a certain amount, according to demand. A 30kW boiler costs the installer almost the same as a 24kW boiler or an 18kW boiler or a 12kW boiler in the same range. If you have a combi boiler it will probably be about 30kW even if your house heat loss is calculated as 15kW. So it is almost unheard of for an average-sized house to have too small a boiler these days. Opinions differ, but I would always prefer a slightly-too-powerful boiler to a slightly too-weedy one.

You can calculate heat losses for your house here if you like.