It's a beautiful Victoria property in the perfect location. I never thought we'd be able to afford something like this. High ceilings, great proportions, period details, lovely street.
However, it needs A LOT of work. Windows would need replacing, every room decorated (it's not been touched for decades), proper loft extension doing (they've got an existing loft room but it's not been done to building regs and is a death trap!) and ground floor extension to create a kitchen/family room. We would have about £150k upfront to do some of the work. The rest would have to be done gradually.
Also, and this is a biggy, it has a north-facing garden and the whole back of the house is quite gloomy. We reckon we could counter this downstairs with an extension that uses lots of glass. But would it always feel a bit cold? And I guess the back bedrooms would always be quite dark? The garden I'm less fussed about as it is long and does get some sun at the back (been there on a sunny day), but is sunlight in the part of the house we will use the most too much of a compromise?
I'm not too scared of the amount of work, but just don't want to pour time and money into a house that will never be right because of the positioning.
Views very much appreciated!