Which kind of house is better? Victorian, Edwardian, 1960, new built

[VandFamily]

Hello Everyone,
We are looking to purchase a house within next 6 months. And are was looking for some info on architecture. We moved here from Germany about 3 years ago so the material and architecture is very different from there. So I was looking for some first hand experiences on the kinds of built and durability of houses in UK.

Online search gave me the details of the architecture like timber content in frames and description of BISF frames. Also there are different types of houses Victorian, Edwardian, 1960 built with timber frames as well as new builts. But with my low experience it is difficult to determine which type of house would be energy efficient, low maintenance and long lasting if we are buying in next 6 months.

So if someone with first has and can share experiences on what is the most energy efficient and high quality house as per UK standards or specific things to look for, I would really appreciate that.

Thank you in advance.

This is a really good point. Thousands and thousands of terraced houses were thrown up in the late 19th and early 20th century. These were not craftsman built. Many of them are only still standing because their neighbours haven't fallen down!

I grew up in a 1920s semi in Welwyn Garden City. Draughty and cold but looked nice. Central heating had been added in the early 1970s but the layout meant that if the wind blew the pilot light would go out!

I notice no one is mentioning the post war builds, 1940s/1950s. I grew up in a 1950s house (council property), it was very well built. Of course in those days they didn’t have double glazing or central heating, but with those added now that period of house tends to be very reliable and quite warm.

I love older houses Victorian/Edwardian etc if they’re well maintained but ive never lived in one. I’ve owned a couple of new builds (small starter homes) and then we bought our first family home around 20 years ago. It was a 1960’s house as was what we could afford at the time for our budget. It was a solid house with a huge garden and driveway but so cold and needed more insulation and new windows. The windows were huge and let out a lot of heat.
I honestly never loved the house as it was very boxy to look at but we made it a family home.
This year we’ve moved into a new house (extra bedroom and bathrooms) and although we have a smaller garden and less parking the rooms are so much bigger, it’s so much warmer and our energy bills have dropped massively. Plus I personally think it’s a nicer house to look at than our previous one.

all styles and ages of houses have pros and cons. Older houses will likely come with higher energy and maintenance bills. Newer homes will often have lower energy bills and maintenance costs but will have less character.

depends really what you are looking for. I would suggest viewing a few styles of different houses in your budget to see what suits you. Good luck with your search

Just to confuse things further. We live in a new build and it is a large, detached, well built house. Much more floor space for the price than the local period homes and significantly cheaper to heat despite the extra space. A world away from some of the box new builds that we didn’t buy as our first home a decade ago.

You need to be aware of "Listed houses" and "Conservation Areas" too, which can limit changes to the external appearance of your house (eg. if you want to fit new windows or paint it purple with pink polkadots😁) and sometimes you can't change your garden - for instance having a very old stone wall and not being allowed to knock it down to make a new gate, or not being allowed to chop down a tree. You are very unlikely to buy a grade 1 listed building, but you can't change them internally or externally.
https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/your-home/owning-historic-property/listed-building/
I've lived in houses of many eras, but never a thatched cottage - but I have friends who do. I'd avoid them - lots of animal pests, loads of flies in the thatch in the summer so you can't open the windows. One friend lived in a "cob" cottage which is a mud mixture. It lasts for centuries if properly maintained and is cool in summer, warm in winter. However rats used to burrow into the walls - in the end he tiled the interior of the rooms partway up to keep them out!

I'm currently doing up my late Victorian house. Big rooms, high ceilings, decorative cornicing, big windows, original fireplaces, but nothing is straight or square, and the plaster is actually the original and seen better days. I don't find it particularly cold as the boiler is new and it is cool on a hot day. I sometimes think that bashing older houses about often causes more problems rather than sympathetically using what you have. So, no blocking up fireplaces but using them etc.

I agree with this poster and was thinking the same. I have lived in Victorian and Edwardian houses, and now live in a 1940s ex police house. I loved the high ceilings and big windows, cornices etc in the period houses, but I don't miss the cold and damp. I love this house, it is solidly built, with cavity walls, good sized square rooms with decent natural light and air bricks in every room which ensures no damp even if you forget to open a window to air the rooms. Ex police and local authority houses represent good value as they were built to last and well maintained.

Our Edwardian terrace is a nightmare. Everything is broken and difficult to replace as walls are wonky, floors uneven, rooms are odd sizes and fireplaces and chimney breasts take up half the floor space. It’s absolutely freezing in the winter and costs a fortune to heat as single brick walls. Constant issues with damp and condensation. I would honestly never buy another one.

1930s house here. Love the character of it, much larger rooms than 60s onwards houses but not as high ceilings as victorian so easier to heat.

Definitely look to see if there are any in your search area- could tick most of your boxes

I have a Victorian and 1960s. The 1960s is so much cheaper to heat and more functional layout. Build quality the 1960s is better because its a 100 years younger and cheaper to heat house is ugly as hell. I want a mock Georgian house which has the look but cheaper to heat.

I think if you live in an older house it's important to keep the fireplaces open and use them in winter if you want to avoid damp and condensation as the damp air is sucked up the chimney as the fire burns.

I don't think you can easily generalise when it comes to room sizes. There are new properties with tiny room, old properties with tiny rooms, etc.

We moved from a beautiful victorian mews to a new build. We loved the older place - quirky, sash windows, high ceilings. But it was only 96sqm and the gas and electric was nearly £300pcm back in 2020, so easily 6-700 now for that specific house.

New place is more than twice the size, none of the rooms are small, we have storage space. Because it's insulated, has a heat pump and now has solar and batteries it's currently costing us £93 a month.

Right now, I wouldn't trade back to a period place unless it had been significantly modernised. We've been able to make this feel really homely and it's certainly not soulless, and whilst I love period features we are overall able to live better here. We looked at period properties but we couldn't get the same floorspace for the price and they generally needed serious work (e.g. knocking rooms together to get a nice kitchen space)

1960s! I had a very nice looking Victorian townhouse but it was absolute money pit in terms of heating, repairs, and the damp... nearly every Victorian property has damp because of terrible foundations. The last straw was realising that a party wall was crumbling in the terrace and a series of slugs coming in the air bricks. I would only buy one now if it was fully renovated to a high standard or it was so cheap that I could afford to bring it up to a good modern standard.

I moved to a 1960s townhouse instead and very happy. It is warm, cheaper to run, no damp, bigger windows and very few repairs though did have to replace the heating as that hadn't been touched.

It's the easiest place I've ever lived. And no damp, wildlife or crumbling walls.

I would go for 1960s or 70s as you can get a lot of space for your money as people are put off by how they look. I would then use the savings on external insulation/cladding to make it more attractive and cheaper to heat.
https://www.e-architect.com/articles/ways-to-completely-transform-the-exterior-of-1960s-and-1970s-homes?utm_content=cmp-true