It will be interesting to see what the estate agent says in response to your questions. Especially as you can possibly find the answers to some of your questions yourself, if you know where to look.
But remember that they ultimately work for themselves first and the vendor second. Especially if it's a landlord disposing of one property in a portfolio and when they might have other properties to sell / rent out.
You on the other hand are just a bog standard buyer and a means to them potentially securing a sale and getting their commission.
So, I'd expect them to say very little or absolutely nothing, other than to say those are things your solicitor / survey should turn up.
- Loft room - there are no results found on Charnwood Borough Council's website's Planning Search or Building Control Search relating to #226.
That doesn't mean the conversion was done illegally. But it also doesn't meant that it was or that it has been done well.
As the property is spread across three floors, in my opinion, a responsible landlord would have had all the doors replaced with fire doors.
- Paper off the walls / ceiling - you're best placed answer this as you will see the house yourself. Are there signs of water ingress or is it more likely condensation that resulted in paper coming away?
- Crumbly bricks under stairs - all houses built after 1875 were legal required to have a course. It seems likely this property was built after that. But it's possible that the area you're referring to is the old pantry or "cold step" and the bricks you're looking at could be below the damp course. Therefore, without ventilation, there's the distinct possibility of them suffering over the last 100 years.
Side note with reference to damp: Google "heritage house damp condensation" and have a read through the excellent (and free) information they have on their website.
- Boiler - I'd suggest trying it on your visit. If it's a combi, turning on the hot tap in the kitchen and letting it run is the quickest way to see. But as a former rental property, the vendor should have a Gas Safety Certificate dated in the last year (maybe a little longer depending on how long it has been vacant) and shouldn't have any reason not to share that with you.
Same goes for sharing an Electrical Safety Certificate, although there's less of a requirement to have one of those. I'd assume it needs a certain amount doing on the basis that the sockets are still in their original positions immediately above the skirting in the bedrooms though.
- Restrictions - these will be contained in the deeds. You should be able to order the title register from the Land Registry for £7. A solicitor would do that later, but you can do it yourself.
I'm surprised there's apparently no issue with rights of way, so I'd just be guessing at what the restrictions might be...
As far as fencing off "your" garden is concerned though, judging by the position of the downpipe at the rear and the manhole cover in line with it, you might not be able to set fence posts underground up the middle of the section closest to the house as there might be drains there.
- Are there any obvious signs that 224 Charnwood / 1 Kings Road (the building that the Co-op Funeral Care currently occupy) is up for sale and / or rent with Mather Jamie? Because I found a listing for that with a quick Google.
It appears as though the fenced off section currently belongs to that property. With the aid of previous photos on Google Maps Street View, it appears as though there used to be three garages there (which they possibly should have left standing if someone were to want to go for planning permission for the land at a later date).
Now, in general terms, when it comes to comparison properties, you only really want to look at 228 - 242 as the rest of the road are different in terms of age, structure, layout etc
The good news is that 234 sold in Dec 2024 (and March 2022), 232 sold in Nov 2024, 230 sold in April 2021 (and September 2018) and that Zoopla still has all the photos relating to those listings. So, you can see what state they were in when they sold.
They might give you some further clues as to what issues the properties might have, whilst also giving you inspiration for what they could be like.
Any other questions, just ask :)