How much work on a house is typical when you first move into a non-new build

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My partner and I are FTB and love a house's layout and location but the more we think about it, the more we will need to do and it's beginning to feel like it's a bit overwhelming and that it might be too much.

How much work is 'reasonable' when moving into a propety?

The house was built in 80's and has been in the same family for 25 years. It doesn't look like carpets / wallpaper / bathroom has been changed since then but as far as we can tell no damp or structural issues. Heating was put downstairs 10ish years ago, with combi boiler, and electrics have been updated in last 12 months.

Current list we want to do in order of essential:
-Put radiators upstairs (property has gas radiators downstairs and electric heating upstairs).
-Probably update boiler to needed capacity for this
-up loft insulation from 100 to 270ml
-board loft
-install outdoor tap
-update bathroom
-new flooring
-strip wallpapers and redecorate
-check cavity wall insulation (unlikely from EPC but not sure) and if not there get added.

• add fencing and steps to 2 level garden for child safety

We hoped to spend about £15k on work and redecorating but it's starting to feel like it will be a lot more than this.

Does this sould like too much for a first time buy in a non new build, or does it sound like it's too much work?

Those all sound like fairly standards updates with none of them being super urgent. I have no idea re: costs. FWIW I would never ever ever buy a new build house. Soulless boxes on estates with endless ‘snagging’ and often serious issues with drainage etc. buying a decent quality older house is far better.

Sounds about right. In the past 5 months
I've installed a new bathroom, fixed the roof and replaced weatherboarding in my place so far at a cost of £9000 (half the roof and front is paid by the owner of the other flat)
I'll be converting the garage and will need a new kitchen at some point.
When you buy somewhere that hasn't been updated in a long time you have to expect this type of work.

Expect to have to plaster. Our house was similar and down with the wallpaper came most of the plaster. In every room. If you don't have to, it's a bonus but be prepared for it.

That sounds reasonable, it doesn’t sound like any of it’s urgent. My first flat didn’t need anything other than to be painted but my first house needed a new boiler, rewiring, double glazing, new kitchen, new bathrooms, and redecorating but we got it at a reasonable price and took about five years to do that.

Most of that list are nice to have, not things that you absolutely have to do. It's probably going to take us 10yrs to save to get all the jobs done on our house. In the meantime we will just live with things as they are. That's just life. Or you can buy a cheaper house so you have spare cash to do all of the work straight away.

Sounds pretty straightforward and to be expected - none is essential.

I'd tweak the priority though - upstairs radiators and boiler first, but if you have a kid then you get the garden sorted before the summer. I'd also decorate before sorting out the loft insulation and boarding - those jobs don't add value and can wait several years.

In a new build you'd still have to sometimes pay for loft boarding and an outside tap.

Most of those things I'd expect to do but also not immediately on the big jobs

I wouldn't bother boarding the loft if you're only planning to store things up there.

There's not really a "typical" amount of work that needs doing - some houses need none, some need everything doing. As long as it's liveable in straight away then you can do the work gradually.

If the property is priced to reflect the condition then there is no right or wrong. It doesn't matter if you are a first or third time buyer, only whether you are up for doing work. If you want a turn key property then you should look for a new build or recent renovation. My first property neede kitchen and bathroom doing, so definitely more than some people would have wanted, but it was fine for me.

The work sounds fine but not all for £15k.

In this area no one seems to move into the house they have bought. They are boarded up and worked on for 6 months. Presumably while they are completely renovated. We looked at a house that needed an estimated £200,000 work on it. No one had done anything to it at all in 50 years.

To be honest , you will find much more to do when you start living in it, and some will be higher priority.
But as long as it’s not urgent and the house is liveable then you can take your time.
Each house move I have promised DH I don’t need to do much, then proceed to change everything.

It took us 10 years to do our first house with babies and little money. It was depressing and overwhelming, but we made £100k. It depends on if doing all that work will add value. Plus, you will get good at it. You'll get to know plasterers, electricians etc. They'll always be work to do if you're that way inclined. We are. Just write a big list and as the years go by it somehow gets done.

Seems odd there are no radiators upstairs in a 1980s house, was it warm air or convection instead? None sounds urgent, much is your personal choice (ie outdoor tap, boarding loft) which could equally be the case fir a new build. Focus on the heating and insulation to bring it up to current spec but beyond that you cam do gradually.

We moved into a thirties house in august knowing there was work to do - we've had to adjust our expectations of when things will be done due to availability of tradespeople to actually do the work, but all in we're looking at around £15k not including furnishings (sofas, curtains etc). That's for a new boiler and 4 replacement radiators, new bathroom and downstairs loo/basin, carpets in 4 rooms, some garden work, ceilings skimmed, painting and repair of exterior woodwork. The kitchen had already been replaced thankfully and there is no structural work to do. We'll do all the painting and decorating ourselves.

That's phase one, which hopefully will be completed within a year...there is more that we want to do eventually, but we're planning on staying here for at least 10 years so that's fine.

I think unless you move into an old house that has already had all the renovations done (and pay accordingly) that's about normal.

That sounds pretty normal. We bought our current house 6 years ago. We did some cosmetic work straight away (getting rid of patterned carpet and carpet in the bathrooms, for example), then saved up for bigger things. The kitchen was solid wood and in good working order, so initially we just painted it to make it more to our taste, but given that it was more than 30 years old we did want to replace it, we just saved up for a couple of years first.
So long as it meets your requirements for size and layout, and is structurally sound, you can do the rest as your have the time/money/desire.

I think with current materials shortages and trades booked up, £15k is optimistic.

None of it sounds like outrageous work, though – just normal, getting-on-the-ladder house stuff.

I think if you are renting I'd prioritise decorating and carpeting the house while it's empty. It's a lot easier and will make it nice when you move in.
Heating I'd wait until you've lived there for a bit. Could be you don't notice lack of upstairs heating, in which case it doesn't need prioritising.

It sounds normal. Also it’s not a question of what is reasonable or unreasonable. Different houses will have different amounts of work needing doing. It’s a question of whether you are paying an appropriate price to reflect that. Our most recent house needed almost everything doing that you can imagine - rewire, new boiler, all new flooring, new kitchens and bathrooms, every room redecorated, garden totally overhauled. But we paid 50k less than an identical house next door that had been done up recently. We spent 60k on the work and now it’s perfect. And it’s worth 90k more than we originally paid.

Agree with @AdamRyan you should decorate before moving in if you have a decent overlap and can manage it. Also if you want to board the loft I’d do that before you have to stuff it full of crap! DH did ours once we had already lived here a few months and it was a nightmare trying to shift everything around.

@LIZS

Seems odd there are no radiators upstairs in a 1980s house, was it warm air or convection instead? None sounds urgent, much is your personal choice (ie outdoor tap, boarding loft) which could equally be the case fir a new build. Focus on the heating and insulation to bring it up to current spec but beyond that you cam do gradually.

I've got no idea. It's really odd. There's one wired in electric heater upstairs and the others are plug in oil electric heaters. We've seen 4 other houses on that road and none of the others have them. It's just weird! But, shouldn't be too much to do, got a plumber coming for a walk round with me next week to assess and quote.

My main concern would be the radiator installation as you will need to connect their pipes somewhere and this may result in having to box pipes and/or redecorate some or all of the upper rooms.

You can get the bathroom cheaper but I would say about £8-10k if you want it to look not “luxe” but anything more than basic.

The loft insulation you can do yourself (you place it over the ceiling) and it shouldn’t cost more than material which are cheap enough to get.

One question before boarding the loft? Is there enough space to stand on it? Otherwise I wouldn’t bother.

For the amount of work you want to do, I would say probably £25k provided you don’t find any nasty surprises once you start moving things around.

Radiators and boiler first. Only way to avoid is if it happens to have both an electric shower and log burner - I’ve lived in a house with no proper heating or hot water and it’s doable but a bit grim.

The rest can wait. Your budget is off though. It’ll cost more - but can be done over time.

As ftb you will never be in such a good position again. Go for the best you can afford and accept you might take time to bring it up to scratch. It will be worth it long term

Nothing there sounds overly urgent with the exception of the heating upgrades. Decorating and sorting garden are fairly standard and I’m sure you could do most of that yourselves and not straight away. I’m amazed by people that pay decorators to paint the whole house before they’ve moved in. How do you even know what you want until you’ve lived there!