Renovations

[Maci12]

Hello, we went to view a rather lovely house today. It's 1880, has some cracks and damage but I really don't know enough about this sort of thing to say whether it is a don't touch with a barge pole or an easy job/nothing to worry about.
Pic 1: a crack going from the picture rail detailing all the way through the ceiling.
Pic 2: damp/hole forming in the ceiling (the bathroom is above this) the wooden poles in the way are the clothes racks!

Sorry for awful pictures, I had to screenshot off videos!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Were there other signs of movement? Gaps in the windows? Warping around the sills? Flooring sloping? Doors not shutting? I don't know enough about this I'm afraid, so a hopeful bump to someone that can.

Has the house been lived in for the last 2 yrs? If not, there is a little known government scheme to get homes back into a livable state. You pay less VAT on labour/materials. We've just renovated what had been a derelict property and this scheme has saved us £xxxx's. Happy to provide details if its been empty at least 2 yrs.

Is it a good area/nice street/good catchment etc? Our renovation took longer and cost much more than expected, BUT, we love the area, the neighbours are lovely and its our forever home.

I am not an expert but would say that ceiling needs to come down and be replaced. If there is damp appearing there is likely a leak/leaks in the bathroom which will need attending to, or alternatively could be leaking central heating pipe under the floor above. I would get a professional to check this out just to make sure that it is not serious or structural. If you do decide to go ahead, a surveyor would likely give you worst case scenario and suggest that it requires further investigation.

First picture most likely plaster and lathe ceiling cracked. Can be pulled down and reboarded and plastered. Or, just boarded straight over and plastered.
Second picture as per PP, most likely leak under bath. Plumber or DIY repair, then new ceiling, like picture 1. Both pictures are probably described as standard maintenance on an old building.
More importantly how is the structure of the building? Most likely it’s solid wall so a low EPC. When was it required/replumbed? Windows? Etc etc.

Thanks for your insights! The house has actually been repossessed after a long and messy divorce. So not tons of history available. Not derelict, house was lived in up until a month ago when they got evicted. Very low EPC. Windows are the originals and it's grade 2 listed so probably will stay that way!

Not unusual at all to have cracks or water damage in a historic building. The respectful solution is to stop the water leak and repair ceiling damage. In my opinion a lot of character comes from an original ceiling and they are worth saving. They just look different to plasterboard. I would question why previous owner allowed bathroom leak to damage house. Cracks in lime ceiling can be repaired with filler and a bit of knowledge. Large chunks coming away will need more effort and lime plastering. Of course builders and owners often don't have the knowhow/energy/resources to do that and will replace with plasterboard. Then it will look like a perfect modern ceiling.

I wouldn't be too worried about the cracked ceiling unless there are cracks internally or externally on walls or around windows sills.

The ceiling issues could well be a leaking pipe. The other option is that the drainage pipe under the bath has come apart or the seal broken (if it's been repossessed, chances are whoever didn't have the money or incentive to repair). We had the latter happen in our old bathroom - the pipe just needed tightening under the bath. The one to the sink, the seal had totally gone and the plumber would have had to take sink out, put a new connection and seal in (didn't have done as were about to get a new bathroom). Another thing that won't help is the fact there's a clothes airer underneath - damp is known for affecting the ceiling.

If it could seriously be the one for you, maybe get the best survey you can and ask if a plumber would be allowed to have a look. The damp ceiling is obvious so make an offer allowing for that, but if there's any shocks on the survey, you might be able to renegotiate.