Victorian Stone Terrace or new(er) build

blues

Personally I find most new build house quite soulless and would plump for Victorian over new build anytime.

DRP

Cautious_Optimist wrote: »

Guess I must be lucky and have quiet neighbours then!?

One point about very new houses:
I think they can drop their value quite quickly...

^good point and important as the opposite is true of period houses which tend to hold/increase value better.

The maintenance issues often come from one or more of the many previous owners bodging important jobs. However we could have lived in it as it was - most of the money spent was optional redecoration and improvements as it was quite dated.

Owned an 1886 2-bed for 9 years:
Essential roof/chimney maintenance twice - probably 5k - due to an ex-owner DIYing the roof (badly).

Optional improvements:
New boiler/rads 2-3k
Removed the floor and refitted all new joists/floorboards - 4k
New kitchen 2k
All new carpets - probably 2k
New windows and front door - 3k
New bathroom 1kish

trailingspouse

If you think that a new house is maintenance-free and you'll never need to find tradespeople, you're going to get a big surprise.

I've lived in new, old, and very old (300 years) houses. When we looked for the current house, we visited 4 houses on the same day - three were modern, perfect, not a tile out of place, could move straight in. The fourth needed a lot doing to it - Victorian/Edwardian end of terrace. It was 4 times the size of the others, for the same price.

Yes, it needed a lot doing to it, but I don't have a particular problem talking to tradespeople (nor do I assume they're all male) and the cost has been spread over a couple of years.

I would go for an older property every time - and after 30 years of property ownership, and 4 renovation projects I haven't got the 'full of character' bug out of my system yet.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

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Lord_Baltimore

On the bright side of owning an older home, you make new friends. Tradesmen (gawd, ok, and women) love you because you're an eternal source of revenue. The power companies love you because you're an A-star consumer and top contributor to senior executive salaries. The neighbours are your terraced mates; watching you and commenting helpfully on your DIY. You know, the DIY you do before you pay, again, for someone else to do it properly. Who can repair rotting materials anyway?

One of those little boxes with no 'character'....well, they're just not you are they?

You prefer draughts, wet rot, dry rot, woodworm, stone walls with no insulation, built-in cupboards with chipped paint, picture rails (for your pictures?), skirting boards (for your skirts?), coving (for, umm, looking Downton Abbeyish), ornate ceiling roses, 10 layers of paint on everything and electrics covered in a fraying material. It's all a real pain but that's quirky, little old you. Your family also love you for letting them live the lives of Victorians .

You wear a bobble hat and a onesie indoors and you smile at the thought of the souless estate people sitting in warmth, with permanent hot water in the taps and low energy bills.

They don't have the pleasures that you have .