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Value of an old house

ST1991
ST1991 Posts: 515 Forumite
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in House buying, renting & selling
I am intrigued...
When we bought the house the paperwork completed by the owner and our mortgage valuation both came back with an age of 1900 approx.

A few weeks ago the previous owner popped over with the old (ancient) deeds to the house. By now we've owned the house for a few months. I have a quick scan and some of them go back to 1820's...

I spoke with the neighbour yesterday over the garden fence and she told me the houses are actually 1700's, and the end of terrace has a sign on her door with the number and age (confirming mid-1700's)

Now, whilst i love the house, i feel we have been mis-led a little. There is a lot of work to be done in the house regarding damp - but i am now worried that there is ALOT more work than we thought.

Question is: When we come to sell it in the future will the age affect the price? Is there some magic rule that it is now automatically worth more or less, considering it is 300 years old...?!
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Comments

  • BJV
    BJV Posts: 2,535 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    For me no, I would love the idea of buying an older house. I have had old and new and much prefer the old build. The house I currently have is 1900 ???? ish ??? Victorian and I love it. I take it you had a full structural report prior to purchase which would of highlighted any issues?
    Happiness, Health and Wealth in that order please!:A
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    ST1991 wrote: »
    When we come to sell it in the future will the age affect the price? Is there some magic rule that it is now automatically worth more or less, considering it is 300 years old...?!
    No, what matters is the actual condition of the house. I doubt the age makes a difference - may even add some historic value.
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
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    edited 13 March 2017 at 11:43AM
    The age of the property bears no relation to the amount of work needed. Particularly when the difference is between 100 or 200 years (rather than 10 years and 100 years).

    A well maintained 500 year house may need no work at all. A poorly maintained 100 year house may need huge works. And there is a sliding scale in between.

    To identify how much work is needed to a property, you get a survey done, you do not rely on its age.

    Though its age may give the surveyor some clues about what kind of maintenance is required eg if there is subsidence needing repair, the depth of the existing foundations can be guessed from the age of theproperty.

    So - what did your survey say?

    Putting the state of repair aside for a moment, I would expect a house built in 1700 to be more valuable than a comparable property built in 1900.
  • Mojisola
    Mojisola Posts: 35,557 Forumite
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    ST1991 wrote: »
    I spoke with the neighbour yesterday over the garden fence and she told me the houses are actually 1700's, and the end of terrace has a sign on her door with the number and age (confirming mid-1700's)

    Didn't you notice this when you looked around the house and the local area?
  • JP08
    JP08 Posts: 851 Forumite
    Mojisola wrote: »
    Didn't you notice this when you looked around the house and the local area?

    To be fair to the OP, neither his surveyor or vendor saw it either ...
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    Also, title deeds are to do with ownership of the land - not necessarily evidence of the age of the building currently on the land. Though you'd expect a terrace to be all of similar age!
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
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    And if the footprint of the property on the land is the same on all deed plans that might suggest the same property has been there all along.

    With old properties, it is usual for some detective work to be needed to determine both its age and history.
  • TBagpuss
    TBagpuss Posts: 11,199 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper
    The survey should have identified the condition ofthe house. THe age isn't necessarily a major factor in that. Did you have a full survey, or just the mortgage valuation?

    If you had a full valuation I would epxect that to include more information about tthe type of construction, any specific issues etc.

    In terms of selling on, I doubt that it would have any adverse effect on the price.A lot of people like to think that their home has some hostory behind it, so it may be an advantagerather than an issue.

    You vendors may not have realised the age of the proeprty (just because they had the deeds, doesn't mean that they ever actually read them)
    All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    ST1991 wrote: »
    When we bought the house the paperwork completed by the owner and our mortgage valuation both came back with an age of 1900 approx.

    A few weeks ago the previous owner popped over with the old (ancient) deeds to the house. By now we've owned the house for a few months. I have a quick scan and some of them go back to 1820's...

    I spoke with the neighbour yesterday over the garden fence and she told me the houses are actually 1700's, and the end of terrace has a sign on her door with the number and age (confirming mid-1700's)

    And does the house look like it's late Victorian, or like it's Georgian?
    Now, whilst i love the house, i feel we have been mis-led a little.

    Really? What changed about the property itself?
  • ST1991
    ST1991 Posts: 515 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    Thanks everyone for the replies!

    We didn't have a survey... only a mortgage valuation. The estate agent told us we could have a copy of the previous survey (buyer pulled out) and they sent something on to us about damp. I assumed that was it. I know you should never assume... and i feel very stupid but it's happened now so no point dwelling. We were FTB and fell in love with the house, so we are entirely to blame for not getting a survey but at least now we know.

    The house is in good condition, and we are seeing improvement already on the damp without treating it (tenants never opened windows and we have aired the house out massively). Haven't encountered any other issues whilst redecorating.

    We still love the house, and don't regret buying it. I just wasn't sure if there are any repercussions now we know the 'true' age. E.G have we bought something valued based on it'g age, but it's actually worth less.
    From a quick google i think it looks more Georgian than anything else. Solid stone walls, concrete floors, no DPC.
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