Found a dream house, but it has damp

[WeMeetInFairIthilien]

Just that, really.

We're looking to either extend, or we will need to move (2 DC, opposite sex).
We have planning permission to extend, which would give us 2 large bedrooms, 1 medium and 1 study, with a bigger kitchen and a small playroom. Semi detached 1930s house.

An old house 5 mins away has come on the market. It is 1850s, the old curates house. It overlooks the local church, but also the main road. Detached.

It has 5 bedrooms, and as it was an old BnB, it also has 5 bathrooms.

It would cost about double to buy, compared to extending our current home, but could give significantly more space. It is also listed.

There is a lot to do, the kitchen needs to be gutted, but the major issue is the house is damp. The walls felt damp at the corners, one carpet was wet. All of the upstairs rooms showed evidence of damp, whether active or staining. It's an odd shape, so not a standard roof either.

Just don't know how to proceed with this. Damp could truly scupper the house, but it could also be beautiful.

Remortgaging would be doable, but with 2 small children, I worry about overextending ourselves, and then having major issues.

Head and heart are saying very different things.

It has damp?

it’s not your dream house

Dream to look at, and on paper, then.

I guess my worry is that it isn't fixable, that it would be a nightmare.

Ordinarily I'd say go for the big project house but with the cost of doing work, plus having young kids, I'd do up your house and live in rented while you do it (gets it done quicker)

Being listed adds a whole new level of £££ to a renovation!

It’s damp AND listed. That’s serious money.

I think I would be more apprehensive about the listing, and getting things approved before you can take action. However, it also could be difficult to live on site while works are done.

We live in a house of about the same age and similar size. I love it dearly and I wouldn't want to put you off. It is worth thinking about how much the combination of a main road and a listed property would affect your attempts to reduce noise with glazing. What would you be prepared to live with during renovations, and how much better or worse would that be than extension? That's what I would be asking myself.

Sorry, I'd stay far away but look wistfully at it from afar
You could possibly view it and arrange a damp company survey at the same time. They usually just charge for the survey plus VAT, it would give you some peace of mind and information

I think it sounds a nightmare to reno though, listed = ££££££ , nonstandard roof, b&b aka not much in terms of maintenance and people looking after it. Dread to think about the electrical and pipework
Plus the cost of heating it!!

It will be fixable but it will cost a lot. Could you take a damp specialist round to get an idea of what it would cost before putting in an offer? I lived in an 1850s house and there were constant issues. In hindsight I wish I’d just replaced the roof/gutters/downpipes, pointing & chimney flashing etc when I first bought.

Personally I wouldn’t buy a listed house.

Old houses are totally different to new ones. Ours has 2 ft thick solid stone walls and can get cold in winter leading to condensation and potential damp. We run a couple of dehumidifiers that does the trick and we have to actively ventilate more than our previous newer house.

There may be other issues causing the damp too but I wouldn’t rule it out before the results of a survey.

We viewed it at rush hour. There are single pane sash windows, and the bedrooms also have secondary glazing inside. It was no noisier than where we currently live, as also behind a large wall.

It could easily be very expensive to fix

With unlimited budget go for it.
If not unlimited be realistic. Damp and listed.
£££££

Buy it, we’ve bought a few properties with damp and it can be fixed. I wouldn’t let it put me off a property. You can fix damp, you can’t fix location.

Literally tell your heart to STFU. Or you can come visit my grade 2 listed disaster of a cold damp money pit!!!

Yes, that is my worry.

It has just had a new boiler.

Been empty for a few years, now being sold.

We live in a World Heritage City, so there are plenty of companies that work with the listed buildings, so there is at least a lot of local expertise.

Listed will mean that the cost of renovating everything will absolutely rocket, even without the damp.

Damp AND listed? Not a chance in hell. Been there, hated it, spent tens of thousands and moved within five years.

If you can afford to lose the money if you don't buy it, then could it be worth getting a survey done to find out where the damp is coming from? There might be several easily-fixed causes, or a couple of whoppers.

If its got damp i would be very very cautious

@WeMeetInFairIthilien everything's fixable but it will cost you a fortune. And inevitably much more than initial estimates. Ongoing maintenance of an old house will be much greater than for your current home, ditto running costs. If money's no object, you love it and can cope with many months of work to address the problems go for it. It's a heart versus head/finances issue.

It sounds a lovely house but the damp issues will only be the start, I can guarantee it. These problems never come alone. Plus there is a lot more building to have to repair, and being listed... ouch. I'd say go for it if you've had a lottery win, but if you haven't you'd be far better off staying where you are and doing the extension work. That'll be expensive for sure but without the headache of being listed nor additional costs for selling it and buying the money pit...

Sorry, OP, but I’m with everyone else. Damp is curable, but will be expensive to resolve regardless of what’s causing it.

But as @ShodAndShadySenators said, it’ll only be the first of many issues you’ll uncover as you go along, and unless you’ve got infinitely deep pockets and/or a lot of practical skills and knowledge, the cost of renovating a sizeable listed building will break you - and if you run out of money you’re totally fucked because you’re unlikely to recoup the sunk cost if you have to sell a partially renovated house. You’ll get low-balled no matter how much you’ve invested. Plus you won’t be able to live in it if the work is extensive, and nor should you move kids into a damp house to start with.

I really feel for you - finding a dream house sets you on a fantasy path to a future idyllic life, but it’s months or years of bloody hard yards and tears and stress and sleepless nights and ‘making do’ and running out of money (ask me how I know!), and as a veteran of three huge projects I honestly think I’ve knocked years off my life with the stress of it all, not to mention living in dusty, mouldy environments whilst work stops and starts around you and timings and budgets go out the window.

If it's damp now, and it will always be cold. Old stone builds are always like this. Even if you fix the damp it will still be cold as it will be draughty. Plus listed buildings are always very expensive to maintain and heat.

You have young children now and could spend 20 years working on the house and it will be no better unless you have unlimited funds and don't mind missing their childhood.

If it hasn’t been lived in for a few years I would expect a lot of the damp to be caused by that. Ours had been empty for a couple and we had damp and mould as it hadn’t been heated or ventilated. Not a stone house though so maybe they behave differently!

It’s listed which will bring a big headache, even if doing essential remedial works to fix the damp. I had a leaking window in a listed cottage. I had to apply for listed planning permission to replace it with exactly the same window. I had to provide drawings and cross section of the window frame, which I had to have made bespoke. I had to wait six weeks for them to even look at the application. I got it, but I felt that they made it as difficult as possible, and this was just one small window that needed urgent replacement.
Id usually say damp is fixable if you throw enough money at it. But as you describe it it seems like a money pit. Not only will you be stretched buying the house in the first place, but the money (and headache) renovating and you will regret it. Also you probably can’t live in it until the damp is resolved- so there’s the cost and upheaval of renting.
Afraid this doesn’t sound like a dream house at all.