Older homes - how desirable?

[AlexisP90]

About to put an offer on a home. Obviously subject a survey etc..

It's a good home for us right now. We are relocating and although it needs some work ( a downstairs low and some modernising) it's pretty perfect. Big size for a 3 bed which we struggled with. Our current home is 10 years old but we got lucky with the room sizes (they are HUGE) but while viewing newer houses in the new area realised this isn't the norm!

The house was built in 1910. Solid build. Looks in great shape (on the surface...Obviously a survey will be happening) fireplaces throughout the house so has that appeal. I don't love that but happy for it to stay.

My question... I have only ever purchased a newer home so I have no idea how desirable they are. We would live in it for about 5 years then hopefully have enough for something slightly bigger. Location is great.

Do people still want these older houses? Would I struggle to sell?

I realise mumsnet isn't an estate agent or can predict the future but any advice/ experience would be fab.

Our house is Edwardian. What's the central heating system? What's the roof like? How old are the electrics? What kind of windows does it have? Does it have the original floorplan or has it been extended, any walls removed, etc? Is there a proper attic or does it have a loft conversion. Is there a cellar amd where's the access to it.

You've said there are fireplaces, but what about other original features?

You're buying it to live in and plenty of people like the character of older homes. If you can modernise sympathetically it'll have wider appeal in future if you want you sell.

I would imagine they are desirable, they are in my area - just do not rip out any original features. My current house is Georgian and I've never lived in anything newer than Victorian, so when house hunting was put off if a house had been renovated to remove any of its soul. Go for it if you like it!

I read that in the UK only about 5% of people prefer new houses. Older houses are definitely more desirable in this country.

Thank you. Useful info!

My DP said on the viewing he wanted to remove the fireplace. Estate agent almost fell over 🤣 I don't love it but would be happy for it to stay.

Other features I'm not 100% sure on but will be sure to check. We like it so all being well will probably go for it. Just wondered if we would have huge issues selling. Sounds like we would be ok. The road is highly desirable

Oh wow that's really good to know!

These newer builds definitely seem like boxes....

I love an old home and would always pick that over a new build home.
The rooms are just generally better proportioned as well as the history and the sometimes original features and they are just solid!
Don't get me wrong they can have their issues and I have an older house and just spent months tackling damp issues but I would still pick a well maintained older house over a newer one.
My friend bought her new build 3 years ago and it's lovely but she has had so many problems with it and now the drive is sinking so she's always waiting on contractors to come round to rectify issues and the rooms are small and the walls are made of paper. I Don't think she would go for another new house again.

Where I live older houses are very sought after.
Our present house is Edwardian. We have several pretty fireplaces, one of which is still an open fire, plus high skirting boards, wooden floors, ceiling roses, picture rails, stained glass in hall etc however over time I have modernised the bathrooms, and fitted a new kitchen Shaker in style, so while not old-fashioned feels in keeping with the house. Light colours throughout, wallpaper only in one bedroom, uncluttered generally, simple curtains or Roman blinds so not chintzy or fussy.
We put it on the market recently and got three good offers in the first couple of days.
I would say old but in good condition and with a nice kitchen and bathroom is very desirable to many people.

We are in a victorian terrace, looking to move to an older and larger victorian semi. Having viewed lots of grey soulless boxy 90s houses, we know this is the right place for us but I've joined a couple of Facebook groups about older properties and they are so interesting and helpful. Some real purists out there who will tell you exactly how to restore features and deal with the quirks of old houses. I'd recommend browsing those groups as you get a real feel for the sorts of issues you might deal with but also how much people love character!

On what planet would you struggle to sell a solid old home, its most the housing stock.

Frankly I wouldn't touch a new build with a barge pole unless I had custom built it. They are as you said tiny, and they are shodderly built en masse as quick as possible by the cheapest bidder from the cheapest materials to make maximum profit.

Victorian/Edwardian houses where built to last, the slum ones are all gone. Post war house where built with care and respect under 'homes for heros' (Not later prefabs though) and even the old council houses (NOT brutalist sky walks etc... though) where built decent with the future in mind and respect for the working man but modern stuff is just pure churned out capitalist money grabbing crap with no care to quality or longevity.

I wouldn't say so.

Modern houses have their issues, but old ones do too.

A lot of them aren't easy to modify (most modern ones can be easily modded by DIYers because it is easy to mess around with stud walls). They haven't been designed for optimal thermal efficiency or acoustic damping to limit noise and damp proofing can often be an afterthought.

Electrics can be in a poor state in older houses as well as roofs which often need replacing after 50-100 years. Finally they often come encumbered with strange clauses in the deeds or omissions that lead to arguments with neighbours and lack things like good provision for parking because car ownership was not a thing when they were built.

I would not say that new houses are free from problems. But the idea that old houses are better is not correct. They have problems. Just different ones to new builds.

Thank you all. Really appreciate the comments!

I may have sounded nieve but having only purchased a newer house (10 years old) I had no idea of the market.

This is really reassuring! Obviously I'm sure there will be issues crop up and a full survey will be done but on the surface it looks in good condition at least so a good start..

We put an offer in and it was accepted this morning :) will see what comes of the survery

Sounds really accepted and great that your offer got accepted. I've never lived in an Edwardian house but have lived in houses from most other eras up to the 90s.

Older houses tend to have bigger rooms and high ceiling and a lot of charm. I would not be removing any of the fireplaces so make sure that is understood and accepted by your husband. Your Edwardian property will have excellent resale value, but if you start ripping out original features that could undermine the resale. Leave skirting, ceiling roses, fireplaces, doors intact where possible and if needing to replace, do so sympathetically.

We are just moving out of a late 1920s house. It's been a super solid house and I would 100% buy an older house again. We are moving to a 1950s house, which is actually not dissimilar in structure, being built before the 1960s style came in.

I once lived in a 1970s house as a kid and my God, the walls were paper thin. You could hear next door arguing (and then making up 😭). Fortunately, my parents bought a detached house after that.

Yes I’d say generally period homes are more desirable than new builds. Many people consider the latter poky, cookie cutter, without character. They can be money pits, but a good survey and maintenance and you can mitigate that.

People love period homes, there's multiple face book pages of groups of restoring these homes. You won't have a problem re selling it but word of warning. People who love a period home don't like them if their modernised inside, obviously it'll be your home you do what you like but if you leave the inside out of character this may make it hard to sell 😁

People love period homes until they come to heat them! Then they find they are single brick, have single glazing and poorly fitting frames and everything costs a fortune. So I’d be hoping it’s ok for heat loss and has newish windows.

Depends on the area. In London period properties are highly desirable. Where I live now in the North, the majority of buyers prefer newer properties, especially bungalows, and beautiful large Edwardian houses go for a song! It's the running costs and poor insulation that put people off.

You are describing my house! We've replaced the windows with double glazing which fits and insulated the roof, both of which have helped, but the single brick walls continue to lose a lot of heat. Still love the house though.

@EdinburghTimezone. It’s a case of buying with your eyes wide open. A house can be in good condition but very very expensive to heat. It is essential the op has a full structural survey to ensure roof, chimneys and structure is sound. People make alterations which are not designed properly.

I wouldn’t ever buy a new build and I suspect a huge amount of the population like period properties.

Liking them and paying for upkeep and heating are two different things. Lots of people cannot afford either.

Hear hear; our great Edwardian pile is only possible for us because we sold in an expensive area and bought in a cheap one so we had money left over for upkeep and running costs. However, people who buy new builds sometimes end up with serious, expensive problems on houses which in theory are guaranteed for 10 years, but are not sorted out properly in practice.

could you name check a few of the FB groups please- we have a period property and would be great to get some good tips and ideas.

Old houses hav stood the test of time whereas new builds can be a bit of a lottery on their quality. With all houses, maintenance is key.

Our Edwardian home is double brick. I thought that was typical of the period?

Are older house still desirable? Only by people that enjoy period features and well designed homes.