Why don't they make properties like they used to? Victorian etc?

[soldieronandon]

I understand that they try to make as many houses as possible as cheap as possible now. But obviously there are some people with money who would prefer higher quality like the old Victorian and Edwardian style etc. Why don't they make those kinds anymore? I just see red bricks everywhere, even when big expensive houses are made.

That’s a really good economics question! There are lots of posters here who are listing all the reasons they prefer modern houses but that’s irrelevant since people do pay a premium for the prestige of a period property. On my brother’s fancy north London street, period houses are valued at nearly double of their equivalent new builds.

So demand is there and you’d think the market would take over and build period style houses. Surely there’s a way of constructing them in keeping with current regs. Maybe they’re so very expensive to build - for the highly skilled labour etc - that all but the very richest would be priced out?

I’m not sure people want a pastiche of older styles. Of course some people do. Look at Prince Charles snd Poundbury. However they would be expensive to build as an exact copy. Who really thinks they could be the same ? Is that desirable.

A Victorian house is of its era and age. It’s a limited pool of houses. Hence prices are governed by scarcity. They are not much more expensive where I live, however. The larger ones are but not a two room terrace one. If rich people in London can afford to pay double, they will. Others obviously cannot. I also believe a good modern house of a decent size is worth quite a bit too! Especially a grand designs type one.

My husband is an architect and he said it always boils down to "cost engineering" which is a fancy way of saying saving as much money as you can.

And there is a serious lack of traditional skills in the UK to produce the materials.

I live in a late Victorian/early Edwardian end terrace house, not pokey at all but would have more light if it wasn't a West facing garden with few windows along the far wall. I am very fond of it, but could very well be swayed by an energy efficient new build with decent windows, if the garden was big enough. And that's the tradeoff I'm not willing to make, so older homes it is.

Huge new build estates going up near my city - all are identical small boxes. In a slightly scandi-esque style, with steep pointy roofs (not a solar panel to be seen and I suspect their angle won’t lend themselves to add later). Small dark windows. Frontage is either 60cm to pavement or the length of a car parking space. Back garden is tiny, think rotary washing line and tiny patch of grass or deck to sit in. Overlooked by the house behind /around which are all the same so no idea how the sun will ever reach your garden. Even the big ££ ones have more width but are touching distance to the next ‘detached’ house and the garden is short and wide.

I live in a 1936 semi, so light and bright with a fantastic reasonable size garden for the kids, hedgehogs, birds etc to play in. I would like better insulation and solar panels, (but would need a rewire first so not adding them).

Some of the issues I see with new estates is the lack of eco planning (eg why no mandatory solar panels, rainwater should all avoid mixed sewers, electric car charging points, walking distance facilities &or massively subsidised public transport) and lack of space per property. Not just for the inevitable cars (how do they expect people to get to work with a rare bus service and no schools or shops in walking distance?) but also reasonable size gardens and space between neighbours.

Developers throw up poor quality identical houses, crammed in, purely to maximise profit. The cost to build vs the cost to buy is a ridiculous markup.

The big issue with new builds is small room sizes and frequently unnecessary numbers of en suites that make bedrooms too small.

I think that instead of concentrating on Victorian features, developers should be forced to focus on heat and especially noise insulation in new builds and provide adequate parking.

On mumsnet, most disputes seem to arise from fighting over limited parking spaces and neighbour noise. Too many houses are crammed onto plots and are overlooked, gardens are often tiny.

I live in a Victorian detached and I love the beautiful features such as high ceilings and big rooms but we are always fighting damp and insects . Also it is expensive to heat.

I hate new builds with a passion. Edwardian houses have so much going for them.

Living in an EdwardIan house, great to look at but mostly freezing. In those days there was no cavity wall so limited insulation, high ceilings make it hard to keep warm.

We live in a Wueen Anne House. It's beautiful, but the same design built today would be 'better'. All our floors, walls and doors are wonky, our window joiners dismissed our grade 1 listed sash windows as 'rubbish', well, they are 320 years old and among the first 'prototypes', but they only have 3mm glass, so they break easily just when cleaning and it's cold and loud and rattles. In some rooms, we are literally walking uphill. I reinstated many lost mouldings, architraves, and there are many skilled craftsmen today who can do anything if not better than older generations.

My parents had a big detached Victoria house at one point. Beautiful.

But as a PP has said, not a right angle in the place. If you put shelves up, would you like them to be flat against the wall? Be parallel to the ceiling or floor? Line up with a chimney breast? OR do you want them to actually be straight and level?
Pick just one of those, because you can’t have more than that 😁

Having just done it though, I agree it’s a horrible job putting up shelves in a hollow wall… I think basically it’s a crap job wherever you are!!

I’m in a Victorian house. It’s red brick, with some fancy moulding around the door. They all are where I am.

Houses I have owned in order of quality:

1. (best) 2013
2. 2018
3. 1992
4. 1850s

The 1850s was very poor quality, not just because it was old. Could hear next door’s teaspoon stirring his cup of tea.

Classifying all new builds the same doesn't show you in a good light

OP - you need to find the right builder
There may be none in your area

It's a trade-off. I've lived in new builds and period and basically you trade the lovely high ceilings and space, for warmth. High ceilings mean an increased volume of air space that needs heating!
Now if you have lots of money to spend on retrospective insulation, and high heating bills, it's worth it.
Like a PP noted - yep love the solid walls but agreed layers of plaster from rooms being reskimmed numerous times means those lovely feature alcoves either side of chimney breasts aren't straight from bottom to top and are actually a bit of a b*gger to fit shelves etc into. But again....if you have money you can pay a specialist to fit out those alcoves beautifully.

I've got a newbuild and I love it. We have about 50 percent of extra space when compared to the victorian houses adjacent. We have drives for parking our cars. Our heating bills are reasonable. No draughts. No damp. Upkeep on the house is reasonable. Heats up quickly when you switch the heating on. I doubt we'd ever go back to a period property now.

I feel embarrassed about out architectural legacy . We have Victorian, Edwardian, Elizabethan ,Georgian etc and what are we going to leave behind . The bloody Barrett house 😂😂

The only redeeming fact is they won't last 100 yrs so the next generation can decide what to build .

I used to love my 4 bed Victorian, the high ceilings and the period features but we had a lack of parking and our garden was pretty small. We also had some damp and the bugs started to become an issue.

I moved to a new build (corner plot) with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a 6 car drive, double garage and a massive garden for not a lot more than my Victoria terrace. We have so much more space and light here (albeit we lack the high ceilings and features). Our home life has improved so much due to more space and every room being warm and cosy as it’s insulated really well.

never thought I’d say it but the new build wins hand down for me.

I wouldn't offer passing building regs as any kind of guarantee . Just ask all those people trapped in nightmare cladding flats

DD and DS have, at some time, lived in an Edwardian and a Victorian terraced houses respectively. In both you could hear nearly every word spoken by the neighbours.

The rows of terraced houses thrown up during the 19th and early 20th centuries were actually a step up for many of the people who first lived in them. Especially when local authorities started dictating a minimum size and proportion.

Yes. Our newbuild is terraced. We nearly never hear anything from next door.

@hattie43
I think you will find the cladding issue was a whole raft of mistakes. Building regs was one part of the issue. Not the whole issue.

We are mostly preserving our old housing stock now. Few houses are being pulled down from any era. People prefer renovation. We have estates and large scale building to try and house our population . We don’t manage to do that. High quality, bespoke homes cost a lot. Many people cannot afford that.

What we should do is ensure good insulation, lower cost heating and the best glazing for even the most modest of homes. We needed to do it 15/20 years ago. However it costs! High quality always does.

I grew up in an incredibly beautiful listed Victorian house.
I had an amazing grand marble fireplace in my bedroom, it was so big we used to run along it as children and jump on to our beds. The original cast iron bath had ball and claw feet, original embossed paper in the hallway and original kitchen cupboards and Belfast sinks. It had six huge bedrooms all with high ceilings and the attached servants quarters housed my Granny. I guess for many it would be a dream home.

My abiding memory is it being very cold and of my Mother crying because she couldn’t find a builder to do work as it was listed.

A great business idea would be to think about how to create the look and quality for a better price - some sort of factory line or training regime for the skills required. Then meet the market demand! Which clearly exists despite many posters on here saying they prefer new build.

There is an absolutely GORGEOUS new row of new build terraces with ornate brick on highgate rd near Dartmouth park in London. But instead of copying the Victorian style they have curved roofs and a big front window, also curved, so the terrace row is a row of ornate red brick arches. The roof is a green roof so the existing homes behind look down on to grass and wild flowers.