Buying a Reno or buying Done

[Oldhouseyn]

House 1
Old period property. Grade ll listed. Needs updating - new kitchen, bathrooms and re decorating, new boiler and re-wiring. Opportunity to add value and choose finishes.

vs

House 2
Built in 2005, all nicely furnished. Kitchen would need replacing in a few years. Bathrooms etc very nice but not necessarily what I’d choose (too nice to rip out - couldn’t justify it). We’d struggle to add value as buyers asking for full price.

Both good locations for schools. Both long term home potential 20+ years. We don’t plan on moving again for a long time or until children leave home.

Torn about what to do. Any advice??

which do you like the most?

Do you have the finances to do either one up to how you want it over time?

Have you done a reno before? The stress, the issues you might discover and the extra costs that might come up?

I would always say a period/character property as I love them but I’m also realistic about what work and the costs involved plus stress but I don’t like new builds!

2005

Only choose option 1 if you truly take the time, to understand old properties AND listed properties.

Then, can you afford it? Do you have the patience for the time involved?

By afford I mean the appropriate work for the era of property and its status. By time and patience, getting permission and trades

Something in between that is not grade ii listed

The older one will inevitably have an absolute tonne of shit that won’t come up on a survey ( unless the surveyor has xray eyes) and will cost $$$. Unless you literally have 2 years of your life to dedicate to it and really enjoy that sort of thing, don’t do it. Buy the other one.

Which has better transport links for teenagers? Is a sunny garden important? Which house allows you to have fun and travel with your family? Do you want to be constantly busy at weekends on a housing project?
Surely there are other factors beyond the style of the homes?

My experience of a reno tells me you will not add value. You will end up with a house where the compromises all make perfect sense because you had to make them but you won't be adding value these days.

I'm not sure either option is right for you.

I think there are certain people who love old houses and would consider it a labour of love to be able to update an old, listed property. If you don't feel this way, it might be better to avoid a listed property as work will be very expensive and there will be specific rules, specific materials you need to use and there will always be something to do/spend your money on.

The 2005 option doesn't sound great either, particularly not if the sellers are trying to insist on full asking price. I wouldn't be keen to pay top dollar in a falling market, unless it is genuinely excellent value for money, in which case it would likely sell v rapidly. You keep mentioning adding value. If that is a vital consideration for you, I would probably wait a bit before upsizing (I'm guessing you are looking to upsize) or wait for something offering better value and more flexible sellers.

Prices are dropping, OP, so I'd wait and see what else comes up. The first will be a money pit, if it were more cosmetic, it's ok but proper renovations on Grade II will be very expensive. You don't sound like you like the second one enough, and they are asking full price as they know prices are going down!

Reno generally no longer worth it

Parking. You haven’t mentioned parking.

I would buy something older but not listed. Preferably where all the disruptive wiring, heating, insulation has already been upgraded but finishes (kitchens/bathrooms need updating) as I like to put my own mark on these.

To add I also agree with pp who have said that hard to add value now unless you are very handy and can do a lot of the work yourself. Even back in the property boom, a lot of people didnt actually add value through renovations, they just absorbed their costs into a rising market (property ladder show being the ultimate example of this- no Jeff, you didnt make 50k by adding that ill advised ensuite and doing a bit of decorating. You wasted 10k and made the flat worse but the market saved you). We are mid reno- we will end up with a house that flows better, has been modernised, works well for us and we plan to enjoy for 20 years, but we will have lost substantial money on it if we don't ascribe any value to that "value in use". We do sometimes laugh (hollowly) about how, when we come to sell it it will be mega dated and the new owners will rip everything out and spend a tonne more cash on it.

I currently live in an ongoing project and have done since March of last year. It’s been fun at times and I’m adding value but I don’t want to do this again. I fully intend the next move to be a house that needs much less work, whatever the potential another wreck might have!

Listed buildings are a pita to rennovate. Dont do it unless you really love the building. You definitely wont make money on it because renovations are loads nore expensive on listed buildings because of the materials you need ro use and the specialist trades.

I’d go for the 2005 house - although it’s not to your taste you can move in straight away without having to do any major works. You can save for a good few years for the kitchen replacement.

Property 1 sounds like you’ll need to spend south of £100k to get the property to where you want it to be. It could be worth it if you’re planning to stay there for 20+ years but you would also need a contingency budget too.
We renovated the home we moved into in 2025 - 1960s bungalow - reconfigured the layout and renovated the entire property including a re-wire and new plumbing. Cost us £150k all in. Happy to spend that as we won’t be moving again but it was a faff managing contractors etc.

I spent 3 years trying to buy, I got outbid on a few houses bought by 'flipper'. All resold in a year with a third added to their price. We even reviewed some, non of the fixed the issues, they simply painted over the metaphorical (and sometimes literal) cracks and tried to make the house look modern and turn key.

I would never buy a so called 'turn key' after having seen these houses before and after and knowing how quick the turn arounds where. They literally do it as cheap and fast as possible to maximize their profit hoping the buyer doesn't notice until they are in.

My BIL bough one and has had loads of issue. At least when you buy a doer up while old a lot of historic things where done to higher standard when things where family homes not 'flips' and you know they standard of the jobs you are doing and your not going to screw yourself over with a bodge job.

I tend to always go older but grade 2 listed would give me a pause. Windows for instance are usually a nightmare in grade 2 buildings etc...

If the latter is not flipped and genuinely just a 20 year old family home it might be the wise choice of the too given how difficult grade 2 can be.

I was all set to say house 1 - until I saw it was listed. I live in a conservation area (strictly enforced), and that’s bad enough. Unless you’re a builder who specialises in listed properties, or have very, very deep pockets, and a real understanding of historical renovations, I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.

I wouldn't consider renovating a grade II listed property, too much hassle and expense.

Sounds like you have young dcs and should consider the opportunity cost of renovating in time and money - friends who have done it have had it swallow up weekends and AL, plus there's the financial side which could be spent on experiences with dcs. With young dcs we've not had time to spend on redecorating or structural changes, and we were glad our house was fairly well finished (though not renovated specifically for sale) so we didn't have to worry about making any immediate changes. That's improved our quality of life as our weekends are family leisure time and we spend school holidays doing family holidays, which we wouldn't have had time or money for if we'd ploughed it all into renovations.