1970s houses

[helpmey]

Hello we are looking at houses & have always lived in & liked period properties. I have seen a 1970s house that is a bit ugly externally but ticks a lot of boxes. What is the build quality like in general? anything to be wary of? tia

yes it has the bad swirly ceilings & proper square rooms. I'm struggling with the lack of alcoves in the living room though & how to make that work.

It has a separate garage for lots of storage.

It has the cavity walls & double glazed windows. ceilings lower than i'm used but nice & wide which i prefer to long & narrow.

will look into the separate asbestos survey. thanks again

A standard survey might not, our house was built in 1980 and the report just stated we'd be wise to get the ceilings tested for asbestos. We did as soon as we moved in (as every ceiling here is a different form of hideous via artex!) and they're asbestos-free. Testing only cost £130 or so.

Artex ceilings were the height of Fashion then! We’ve never had any asbestos testing. Part of our current house was built in the 70s. But we do have plain ceilings in this house. Feature walls were fashionable in the 70s too. Our first house had one that was off white textured. More like a rough render. And it had faux small beams! I bet no one on that estate still has the wall!

If it doesn’t have a fireplace, you get straight walls with no alcoves. BoConcept do excellent wall units with cupboards and shelves and their Danish design really suits these 70s houses.

We did a decade in a dinky Cotswold cottage, followed by a decade in a 70s house. Overall we had less issues with the 70s one. I totally shared your misgivings. It was an ugly house but with views to die for - no regrets. HTH.

I’ve had Victorian and old Cotswold houses but much prefer my 1970s home. Easy to reconfigure, lots of light, warm, cheaper to run, cheaper to purchase, cleaner lines so better for cleaning/decorating, soundly constructed building, good size plot. It’s made my life simpler.

I lived in 3 different houses (gradually increasing in size) on a late 60s/early 70s built by Wates - yes, there were some downsides e.g little kerb appeal, poor internal insulation, but they were all so spacious with well proportioned rooms and so much storage. Compared to some new homes today they offer so much.

I live in a three-bedroomed 1970-built house in the West Midlands. What I like about it is the good-sized bedrooms, large windows, the integral garage and driveway for the car, the toilet and bath are in separate rooms next to each other, and the size of the downstairs is plenty enough for me - on the whole easy to maintain and keep warm in the winter. The house is not detached which means that - unlike newer built properties - soundproofing has to be retro fitted which can be quite costly.

This^
plus anything immediately post war.