What does 'in need of modernisation' actually mean?

[mumarooni]

Hello. FTB here, looking at houses on Rightmove and wondering what sort of work is meant when adverts say in need of modernisation. Does this mean redecorating, or re-roofing?! Or what in between? Love to hear from anybody who bought a house that said this and what it involved (and a ballpark sense of costs would be so interesting if anyone feels able to share). As you guys probably like to see houses...here is the sort of thing I am looking at...www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/128235044#/?channel=RES_BUY

You having a laugh?

or did you mean per room?

We bought a house advertised as in need of modernisation- it’s cost us upwards of 40k so far (I had thought it was mainly cosmetic) and we’ve still not finished.

FYI our house didn’t look like it needs as much work as the one on the link you shared does.

Taken at its lowest that it needs updating cosmetically, but I’d also consider it might need new electrics/heating etc.

I would read it as needing everything replacing/repairing, from the roof to the floor. It often seems to cost around double what you think it will cost. 5k to 20K would not come anywhere near the cost to modernise that.

I would be interested to see what the other semi is like, is that as bad? If it is that would definitely put me off.

It differs depending on properties but if you're not sure just completely avoid it

No way is that £5-20k work. At least £50k+

Well it does have ample parking..
DH is a builder and he was like “yeah..” when I showed it to him. Agreed it might cost around 60K if not other hidden faults.

It's going to cost far more than that unless you do all the labour yourself and can buy all the materials very cheaply, which realistically isn't going to be the case.

It looks like a probate sale or a previously rented house. It needs a new kitchen, full redecoration including flooring throughout. Look at the plug sockets in the skirting boards - the electrics are going to need replacing/updating too especially if the cables are rubber coated. There's a section of ceiling down in the kitchen, etc., etc. It also looks as though part of the garden may have been sold off as next door's land wraps around, across the back so that would need to be looked into.

If you look at it on Google Maps there is a new looking (well it was in 2014) fence running down the left hand side of the plot (right side, blue line of Estate's Agents plan) the house plot is the red line. I wonder if they are planning to squeeze another property next to it as they also mention 'existing access retained' whatever that means.

Im glad I’m not the only one that thinks this 5-20k estimate is crazy talk 😳😳

Looking at those pics @mumarooni I’d be expecting at least some updating (if not full replacement!) of electrics, plumbing, insulation, roofing, damp proofing perhaps windows. Check for asbestos/woodworm/rot. Then you’re looking at a full replaster, bathrooms, kitchen, flooring.

I personally wouldn’t even consider it unless I had a healthy renovation budget with some extra available incase things ran over. We bought earlier this year and looked at a few that weren’t needing as much work as this and we were easily looking at £50-60k. We’re Scotland based so had a Home Report to work with before even viewing properties so we could see the basics of what needed done. I’d expect yours to end up more. Obviously costs can be kept down if you’re able to do work yourself/have help with labour but with the cost of materials etc at the moment, it would still be high.

@lljkk you'd pay that fir a simple paint job!
OP I'd be budgeting £75-100k for that, and I do not recommend living there at the same time. If you did much of the work yourselves you could bring it in much lower.

ha! I could live in a fairly manky house, like I could put up with that bath & kitchen for years. We were told about our previous house that the roof needed doing soon: we lived there 6 years & had no roof issues : left without doing anything to the roof.

But flooring for sure, and other absolute essentials, is how I got to £20k.

Is it a probate house as it looks fairly typical of one, DM's was very similar. Probably will need rewiring which would need doing first, heating might need upgrading some of the stuff you could live with and do as you go along like the kitchen

@mumarooni that is one great house. I bought something similar, and in a similar state. Major things I had to do were:

Rewiring, new consumer unit etc.
New boiler, some replacement plumbing, flushing out the old plumbing which I kept because I couldn't afford to have the whole house replumbed (the boiler had been condemned, so no choice there).
Repairs to the roof (didn't replace it, as couldn't afford to, but did have the holes filled).
Damp proofing (involving taking out the kitchen floor and digging a fair way down)
Kitchen (very similar to yours when I bought it).
Bathroom (ditto).
Replacement windows (mine had rotted away)
Replacement flooring in some parts, and sanding/sealing the others. Sanding some of the floors involved hiring a man and an industrial sander because something had been stuck to the floor.

Then, of course, there was the non-major "cosmetic" stuff - replastering in particular. I did all the decorating myself and anything that involved basic DIY, as I'm quite good at that kind of thing (I can put doors on kitchen cabinets etc).

I have had to do it gradually and am now saving up to insulate the loft. It has cost me £60-80k, and that's with me being very involved and project managing it. I tried living in it at first, but had to move out when they took the floors out, plus there was a period when it had no water or heating. I could have coped (did it once before, many years ago), but not with children. You could spend getting on for 5k on the plastering and decorating alone, if you're having the whole house done, so don't be seduced by the idea that it might only cost £5-20k in total!

This is the planning website for Taunton, if you look up the postcode there's planning for an extension on one of the other cottages and it has a location plan showing how much bigger the garden for number 3 is currently. You could be losing a lot of the space to development and living on a building site for ages, alongside your own renovation. There's no planning applications for new houses, but it does look like they have sold off the garden.

www3.somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk/asp/webpages/plan/plapplookup.asp

It's lovely, it also looks like it needs a lot of work, you would probably wouldn't get any change out of £400,000 for the house and renovation if you paid asking price for the house, especially if there were any hidden issues. It will also be freezing. I live in an older house and it's artic compared to newer ones.

It's a very elastic phrase, generally speaking. I usually take it to mean 'someone died here' to be honest.

Specifically speaking, that there is what I refer to as an Onion House. In that for every 'layer' of work you plan and budget for, you'll uncover another dozen unexpected layers underneath that will also need attention. And dealing with it will make you cry.

On the property shown think.

1. Rewire/ electrical installation update.
2. Plumbing renewal, possibly lead pipes.
3. Heating system boiler renewal.
4. Remedy any damp issues: check guttering, damaged tiles, roof valleys, chimney flashing.
5. Renew Windows if condition poor.
6. Update bathroom.
7. Update kitchen
8. Redecoration.

9.Landscaping.

The garden is tiny, compared with others nearby. And if, as previous posters have spotted, the land on the east and south is being considered for development, you might have shared access with any new houses and that is something very much to be avoided. If you look at the proposd site plan (pic 17), you will see that the boundary of the property passes through the shaded area marked 'existing access retained'. Most of that shaded area is outwith the boundary of the land that goes with the house. Without further legal info, we can't know exactly what that means, but to me it looks as if owners/occupants of the existing house have to drive/walk over someone else's land to access their own home. That is definitely not something I'd be happy with.

In need of modernisation to me would be needing a new kitchen/bathroom, new carpets, decorating, possibly a rewire and plastering.

In reality some estate agents can use the phrase to mean the house needs gutting and probably has some structural work required.

Many houses ‘in need of modernisation’ have been lived in for many years by older people and were last refurbished decades ago. I would expect the house to need, as a minimum, a new kitchen, new bathroom(s), new floor coverings, new boiler, some re-wiring and full decoration from top to bottom. It may also need a full new heating system, new doors & windows, new floors, work to the roof & ceilings etc.

The 'modernisation' is not the problem. The 'development' will be.
Walk away, OP.

I would not spend the best part of £100,000 (which I reckon it might take) to modernise a house with no access of it's own. Not even a garden path; all access from the road/pavement is across another owner's land. Especially, as senua says, with close-by development pending.

If you;re still interested OP, you could make a list of everything suggested here, go along to house in your link, and see what info there is to indicate "that" needs doing too.

Let us know if you do look at it, what you actually find out.

£5-20k is hilarious. There’s all sorts of costs you forget about: skip hire or waste disposal. VAT on labour. Decoration. Unless you’re a brilliant DIYer with time on your hands to learn and time to scour FB Marketplace and the like for secondhand bargains for fittings, it’s going to cost.

Great house with good bones, though – looking at it room by room to “modernise” one of those empty bedrooms you’d be looking at stripping the wallpaper, which may expose blown plaster, so replastering, rewiring and adding sockets, new radiator, refurbish windows, sand and finish floors or install carpet, paint and then curtains, furnishings on top. Bathrooms and kitchens obviously miles more expensive and complex. Plus you want to make sure the roof and walls are sound – always start from the outside in – boiler up to scratch, etc. Consider which room you could make quickly habitable to camp out in while working on/saving for the rest – that house is a years-long project if you only have a slim budget.

Bear in mind everything you do will uncover some other issue: we’ve just replaced all our windows and had our top-floor room stripped back and insulated and in doing so, discovered damp problems so now need scaffold and a roofer, plus some of the windows have revealed blown plaster behind paper, or other areas that need insulation, etc. Houses are like pulling a loose thread on a jumper: one tiny job leads to 8m bigger jobs. Just depends on what you’re up for and what level of hovel you can cope with living in for the end result. My hovel level is fairly high!

Also all the budget goes on boring “unseen” stuff like roof, wiring, plaster, waste, labour, etc, so all dreams of fancy tiles or F&B paint quickly get downgraded to B&Q and bog-standard brilliant white.

In general, I'd read 'modernisation' as estate agent-speak for the kitchen, bathroom, décor and floorings being dated, and possibly moving into practicalities like heating, shower, windows etc being in need of attention or updating. Whereas, I'd read 'refurbishment' as more heavy-duty work, getting into structural/roof/bits dropping off territory. Although there's overlap, and one agent's modernisation is another's refurbishment, as it were...

Do bear in mind that many Mumsnet posters are in the happy position of being accustomed to pretty modern facilities, and therefore will tend to say that everything needs ripping out and replacing, whereas your mileage may vary. I could perfectly well live with that kitchen and bathroom to be going on with, for example. It's completely legitimate to feel otherwise, but it's something to consider based on your personal feelings about what your own living expectations are, not necessarily what everyone on here would expect for themselves.

I do echo the points others have made about a) the importance of surveys and b) wondering what the heck is going on with the access and any nearby development around that particular property, though.