Is it true Victorian houses are higher price & if so why?

[Ruralbliss]

We went to view a nice house yesterday but it's considerably higher asking price than it's larger, well insulated, multi bathrooms modern counterparts.

A quick chat with the agent tells me this is definitely the case despite rooms being smaller, lower energy efficiency rating etc no garage.

I'm thinking of making an offer despite it meaning I'd have to get rid of loads of large pieces of furniture and belongings as like the location and garden

Just wondering if Mumsnet property board people have a view. Don't want to find out via a survey that it's priced more than current value.

I think they often do command a premium for all the reasons previous posters have said. But perhaps not the tiny two up two down terraces built without any period bells or whistles.

However, I don't think it's straightforward and some people change their minds after having owned one. I previously owned a Victorian house but now my large 1930s semi suits us much better, and importantly gets and stays warm. I would have rolled my eyes at it in my twenties pre-kids ten years ago when we bought the Victorian house (I would have thought it was something my parents / grandparents would live in, and therefore not very cool). But now it just seems really practical at this stage in my life.

My Victorian house has high ceilings, huge windows, picture rails and cornices and fireplaces in three rooms. Yes, it needs constant repairs / maintenance but I love it. Though if someone offered me a Georgian house...
Haha, exactly. Give me Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, 1930s; difficult damp and expensive, but alive.

Every now and then I click on something more modern on Rightmove because the price/rooms ratio is so good/better than period properties, but then the pictures look so miserable, all boxy and square with miserly windows and hobbit height ceilings. I’m a homebody, I like spending time at home; think I’d be permanently depressed with low ceilings. Unless they were the beamed and wonky ceilings of an ancient chocolate box cottage

Old houses are more aesthetically pleasing to most people. Fact. Never ever had i someone gush and stand in awe viewing a new built. Victorian and generally old houses have the wow factor, character, soul etc etc. Some people prefer new builds for practical reasons -lower cost of running, less problems[not always] but not for their beauty.

As can be seen by this thread, people prefer the aesthetics of them.

I personally want a house in the right location, good size rooms, modern fittings… I don’t massively care what the outside of the house looks like (within reason) because I’ll spend the majority of my time inside it. Don’t like fireplaces or picture rails or anything like that.

My last house was Edwardian, I'd definitely take that era over Victorian @Bluntness100 @hotmeatymilk. The place was bursting with character, the rooms were huge high ceiling spaces with big windows, I miss it so much. You just don't get that wow factor with a new build standard 3 bed, unless it's a new build mansion.

@Bluntness100

I think that’s about the property itself being in poor repair.

Mines about four hundred years old, no damp, no crumbling, it’s not a full time job, but on saying that, we have fully renovated it, one big job a year though, for eight years Ie kitchen, bathrooms, landscaping etc, more because it was very dated inside and hadn’t been touched in over thirty years, but it is definitely crooked 😂

Great, years of expensive jobs 🙄

Ultimately it's just supply and demand, and both of those factors for Victorian houses will differ according to where in the country you are.

Character
Period features unique to that era
Kerb appeal
Location (often- but not always - new build estates are on the outskirts of towns)

But youre right, there are also downsides-
less well insulated,
potentially more expensive to maintain
Impractical layout (often bathroom is downstairs)
No garage or parking

Our house is post war and unbelievably dull to look at (with no attractive period features) but was probably 30% cheaper than a similar size victorian house

I would pay a premium for a house that is within walking distance of a town centre, train station etc. Mainly as I hate driving. More often than not the houses near a town centre will be older, including Victorian era.

So I’d definitely pay more for a Victorian house then I would for the same size house in one of those new build type developments where you need to have a car.

I love period houses, but only ones with features.

I've got a small terrace that opens straight onto the street, has two reception rooms with an attached kitchen, then two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. It has a few Victorian details still, like the cast iron fireplace in the front room, the cornice in the front room, the ceiling roses in both downstairs rooms (don't think they're original tho), and this lovely detailing in the hallway.

Sadly all the picture rails in the rooms are gone - I'd love to put them back up one day. I've just bought a refurbished cast iron fireplace to go in my bedroom - you can see where one used to be.

My house doesn't have particularly high ceilings, and it's very cold and only has a yard (it's becoming a beautiful 'yarden' with lots of plants and trees in pots though). But, it's close to town and that's great as I don't have a car.

There are some more expensive terraces with front and back gardens nearby that I would like to move into one day - but who knows, I love my current house.

In summary, I can definitely see why Victorian houses would cost more. There's a limited number of them, after all, and lots of people like period features.

@PurpleIndigoViolet

I would pay a premium for a house that is within walking distance of a town centre, train station etc. Mainly as I hate driving. More often than not the houses near a town centre will be older, including Victorian era.

So I’d definitely pay more for a Victorian house then I would for the same size house in one of those new build type developments where you need to have a car.

Good point, it's going to be very difficult to compare like-for-like because Victorian houses are likely to be in better locations. If developers manage to get a brownfield plot in a town centre nowadays they tend to build high-density flats on it, not houses.

(New-build houses do have a propensity to be built on disused landfill sites on the outskirts of town on the flood plain, with a view of the industrial estate )

Really enjoying reading this thread. I'm in Ireland where there are far fewer period homes - and we don't necessarily describe them the same way either (being in Ireland and a tad touchy about connections with English monarchs 😃). Many period properties were destroyed in 60s & 70s when they became flats / bedsits, features ripped out 😞

But there are some glorious houses, but definitely here, even if falling down they are incredibly expensive. And then need renovating. They look amazing though.

I don't know if I'd actually like to live in one, but love the idea of one. Some of the descriptions here are gorgeous. I love the BBC programme A House Through Time & the idea of the history behind an old house.

I do also love (maybe prefer) clean bright modem spaces, tho not the sterile look or the grey interiors.

Mostly envy in all cases as I live in a very standard semi, that I have just been able to afford to keep since becoming a single parent. It's my home & I'm happy but have only just managed to do some urgent jobs that I had to put off for years, and spend my time wishing I could do so much more.

I was brought up in a rambling old (and pretty dilapidated) Victorian house, which my parents had to sell eventually due to death duties of a family member, for a crazy low price (the house is in West London and worth about £3m now!).

So my childhood memories are of big rooms, with big hallways and staircases and a huge walled garden. I have gone on to buy 2 Victorian flats and now a semi-detached Edwardian house that needs everything done to it. Period houses just hold such fond memories of childhood and magical Christmases.

The house we live in now will be beautiful..it's just going to take a lonnnnng time as we are doing much of the work ourselves. So worth it though..I love our house

Love a Victorian inside and out. It's generous with lovely space and features. I own part of the building but it's bloody lovely.

@Bouledeneige that is beautiful 😍

It isn’t true where I live, because there several estates of Victorian terraces and many people see them as starter homes. There are always plenty of them on the market.

The first property I bought was a flat in a Victorian terrace. It did have a lovely bay window and a ceiling rose, but it was damp and the parking situation was a nightmare. Too many multi-car households and no driveways.

Living the dream @Bouledeneige!

A double fronted house similar to yours near me in West London sold for £2.5m towards the end of last year. On that same road houses would fetch between £1.5m and £4m.

I don’t own all of it! It’s in north london. I have the ground floor and basement. The whole of the front - the front door and hall is mine. And I have a garden at the back. It’s beautiful. I’m very lucky.

@Bouledeneige OMGGGGGGGG 🍆

“Double-fronted period house” is my love language.

@CliveAntichrist I know what you mean about Christmas memories too. Also you wouldn’t see a Hollywoody “home for the holidays” Christmas film in a new build.

@EarringsandLipstick

Really enjoying reading this thread. I'm in Ireland where there are far fewer period homes - and we don't necessarily describe them the same way either (being in Ireland and a tad touchy about connections with English monarchs 😃). Many period properties were destroyed in 60s & 70s when they became flats / bedsits, features ripped out 😞

But there are some glorious houses, but definitely here, even if falling down they are incredibly expensive. And then need renovating. They look amazing though.

I don't know if I'd actually like to live in one, but love the idea of one. Some of the descriptions here are gorgeous. I love the BBC programme A House Through Time & the idea of the history behind an old house.

I do also love (maybe prefer) clean bright modem spaces, tho not the sterile look or the grey interiors.

Mostly envy in all cases as I live in a very standard semi, that I have just been able to afford to keep since becoming a single parent. It's my home & I'm happy but have only just managed to do some urgent jobs that I had to put off for years, and spend my time wishing I could do so much more.

Also in Ireland, and have a large, urban wreck built during the long 19thc reign of a Foreign Monarch. I adore it. It has lovely, battered bones and proportions, but as a pp said, it’s partly its location — we wanted to live close to the city centre and within walking distance of DS’s city-centre school, and the housing stock is mainly 19thc.

I think it is often due to the location, outskirts and other places were new houses build are built often do not have the nice schools and conveniences around.

I went to see a Victorian and a new build that were the same price, 15 years later the new build has gone up by 50% while the Victorian has gone up by 200%.

I agree with many others that if you're looking for a family home the Victoria house has larger rooms and although higher cielings means more heating, if it's a rundown property in need of modernization then I know lots of people who've lowered cieling and changed floor structures to allow for a second floor extension which in the end is pretty large in itself.
You might not get a huge garden, most probably not alot of parking space but a very big living area

@Bouledeneige

Love a Victorian inside and out. It's generous with lovely space and features. I own part of the building but it's bloody lovely.

Gorgeous house

Character, location, space, dimensions, aesthetics…

People tend to pay a bit more for period features and high ceilings. I'm surprised someone who's old enough to be buying a house wouldn't have noticed that.