House not updated since 70s

[Sparkymoo]

House needs rewiring as plugs are still in skirting, new kitchen, bathroom, has central heating but imagine it is very old, at least two windows are showing movement, one ceiling has had a previous leak and big stain, ceiling in front bedroom has had part of ceiling replaced so maybe a problem with roof (done to get sale through as the rubbish is currently in the garage), complete redecoration.

It's perfect location, great garden, doesn't smell of damp at all, enough space and storage, would likely be our long term home.

It's also first home, we have a six year old, no local family support, enough money to do rewire, fix ceilings and windows but would have to wait a year for kitchen, another year for bathroom and what would we do for very dated decor in the meantime?

Feels like too much to take on but partner keen.

@Sparkymoo You may not need a full rewire if a new consumer board has been installed. Plug sockets in the skirting boards will not meet current regs but that doesn't mean they are unsafe. You may be able to have an electrician move them up the wall, then you replace or fill the holes in the skirtings.

If you need a full rewire and plumbing, I would do it first and get it out of the way.

Ceiling stains can be from slipped slates, a leaking header tank (which a 1970's house is likely to have), it doesn't always mean there are major problems with the roof.

I do not think it is a huge amount of work, the positive with the worse house on a good street is all the effort and money you put into the house will pay dividends. I would also expect the house to have larger rooms and more solid walls than the new builds, that always has to be a positive.

Movement in the windows sticks out to me.
You need to rule out any form of ground movement because it absolutely is not worth investing in a house with GM. You'll never profit on it and struggle to get insurance for less the £1000 plus a month.

Do that same time. We moved from bedroom to downstairs utility, and probably saved £1-2k. Tbh we didn't have central heating, so we needed to do everything.

You haven't seen my house then and I certainly do not pay £1000 per month, I do not even pay £1000 per year.

Window movement can be for many reasons, some simple and not particularly worrying others not so, but you do not just rule out a house and say it will cost you £1000 per month for insurance without actually finding our what is wrong first.

You do if you read mumsnet 🙂.

its a wonder anyone buys a house after reading some of the stuff people post on here. 🤣

If you know it needs a rewire, have a look at the heating system too (not just the boiler). Will the radiators need moving? Are the pipes buried in the wall, or wall mounted? Are you looking at moving the boiler?
If you're doing a rewire, it makes sense to do a replumb at the same time, especially if the pipes are wall mounted and the walls need chasing, as that's another big, messy job.
Also have a think about cables and technology. While we were getting rewired, we also put in the cables for internet to be run everywhere, and TV aerials, etc, as they can all be run in similar channels (they have to take notches out of joists in the floor to run cables, so it means they can bundle them together). But it does mean you have to make decisions NOW about things like where TVs and plug sockets go in rooms, which feels crazy.

We're 5 years in btw, with a 5 year old, and lots of trades in the family and close, and still nowhere near done. It's surprising how little of a priority stuff is when you have kids, and you quickly become decor blind (until you have guests). I agree with decorating a living room/ your room/ kids room, even if it's only paint and nice curtains, so you can turn the lights down low and ignore it.

Hi.
I've worked in home insurance for over 15 years, dealing with claims, complaint and renewals. I have also done property surveying for an insurance company. I know what I'm talking about.
Most policies for property with subs/ground movement will not accept the risk. Some will but you will likely have a massive premium OR endorsements OR a high excess.
Most customers don't bother to read these details/endorsements or check their excess.
Any property with ground movement claims in the past are considered a high risk.
I would very strongly advert anyone form buying a house from ground movement. That's from my experience.

You're right, window movement could be for a lot of different reasons but it's often a big indicator of GM/subs. That is why I shared my advice on a post from someone asking for advice...... 🤷🏼‍♀️

Or it could just mean a couple of the windows have not been fixed in properly and your barking up the wrong tree ? If it were ground movement there would be more serious signs of it , cracks in the brickwork/plaster than just window movement.

Possibly, and hopefully so!
But if you read my posts I've just pointed out that I would recommend ruling it out. I never once said that subs/ground movement was the cause. I have just said moving windows are an indicator of it and buying a house with subs is not something I would ever recommend from my experience.

This is exhausting, I was only trying to help! 🙄🤯🥱

Good luck OP! I hope you find what you're looking for!

We did this with our first home. We did the safety/security things before moving from rented. So roof, rewire, boiler and heating pipes, bathroom (as old one was in a bit of a state not just dated decor).

Then gradually saved up and did the rest over ten years. It gave us a chance to work out what we really wanted. I made different decisions about the kitchen after living with the old one for several years than I'd have probably made if we'd done it before moving in?

We had so many happy years living in the house. Eventually had to move for work and because we'd outgrown it but it was well worth the time and effort we put into it.

I can see you are trying to help the OP and it is clear you have experience but I think, even with your helpful knowledge, there is not enough information the OP has to say for definite there is ground movement and therefore should rule the house out. Older houses come with issues, the prospective buyer investigates those issues and decides if they wish to proceed.

I do not have your insurance experience, but I do have experience of older houses and there are many older houses which show window movement with no ground movement.

If it’s a ‘70s house the original roof tiles will probably be concrete and be will brittle and porous. Concrete tiles don’t last like old slate roofs. Also the felt under the tiles will most likely be perished. I’m in an early ‘70s house and in the process of getting the entire roof replaced after paying out for costly repairs over the last 3 years. We’re also getting the insulation up to modern standards to comply with building regulations. It’s costly but worth doing before you tackle anything cosmetic.

Agree. It took 10 weeks fulltime for the whole house to be renovated whilst we lived elsewhere.
The dust was so bad that I used to talk to the builder on the drive rather than go in the house.

We also increased the water/gas pipe diameters to reach current requirements, plus telcomms upgrades.

Only do it if you can live elsewhere whilst the big jobs are done.

So we didn't get it. Went to best and final and we stuck to the asking price.

Our first time of putting in an offer so didn't know what to do really. Should have upped bid but how much? It did need a lot of work - would have felt £5k was ok but above that would have seemed too much. So regret not upping bid but there were another 4 people putting in offers and as it was chain free, us being chain free too was probably less relevant.

Thanks for all the comments, was appreciated

Put a link up so we can see what you could have won ?

Sorry to hear you lost the house OP, before you had a chance to fully look at work/cost implementations. (Unless it comes back on the market.
Although you may of course be put off of it now anyway.

For anyone else who is following this, and contemplating a similar purchase, a few things that we have picked up over 40 years & 4 house moves.

If walls are covered in heavy wall paper have a very careful look & knock the wall lightly with your knuckle (if you can). Look for lumps or powdery/soft areas.
from ascending order, the plaster will at minimum need attention- repairing in some areas, it could need a professional ‘skim’, or if you hit the jackpot (as we did) completely replacing, (though you can save some money by removing all the old plaster yourself) & getting a professional plasterer in to put up new. You will then need to do a *mist coat’ and decorate.
(*Getting a ready-made mist coat was worth every penny in our case, it saved so much time).

We also had the ceiling artex tested, (internet kit), yes it did have low level asbestos present (1984 property).

This can often be skimmed, ours couldn’t- too deep a pattern, so every ceiling was overboarded and freshly plastered.
Finally we did try the asbestos removing gel, - it didn’t work… so you may not be as fortunate as the lucky people further up the thread!

We’ve just bought a house which had subsidence 20 years ago, and was underpinned, we didn’t find it difficult at all to get house insurance and we pay less than 1000 a year. Our surveyor, who is local and very knowledgable was not concerned and as half of London has suffered subsidence in the past, it really is not an issue for many.

I second that. Covid and other stuff delayed our doer-upper, but we got a better kitchen layout as a result as we'd lived with it a bit.