Process of buying a 1890s old house - advice please?

917700

Hi all

I am now looking to put an offer on a period old terrace house. The vendor purchased the house in 1991 and the EPC rating is E 48. Can anyone advise the process of buying this kind of house please?

I know I need to get a home buyer report, mortgage application and instruct a solicitor. But, should I get home buyer report first, then proceed mortgage application? I am worrying if there will be any issue flag up and may effect the value of the property. 

Thanks

FreeBear

Look for signs of "damp treatment" - Typically, holes drilled in the walls just above ground level, waterproof plaster/render slapped on internally (you will probably need to ask if any treatment work has been done). If the answer comes back positive, you know the place has been burgered about with, so look for one that isn't messed up.

If you do go for a survey, get a full one that looks in detail at the fabric of the building. And use a surveyor that has a good knowledge of old, period properties - Some will misdiagnose damp problems and suggest you get a PCA damp & timber survey done (usually to the detriment of the building).

theoretica

When was it last rewired?  You may want more detail on the electrics than a standard homebuyer report will give, unless you are already planning to rewire.

[Deleted User]

And as an aside - do have a large budget you keep in reserve for repairs and improvements, over the years you live there, because old properties often require more upkeep.

greatcrested

what makes you think the process is different for an old property? It's exactly the same though you need to perhaps do more indepth investigation into its condition, depending on your own skillsin that area.

Tracet74

theoretica said:

When was it last rewired?  You may want more detail on the electrics than a standard homebuyer report will give, unless you are already planning to rewire.

Unfortunately, no residential survey would cover electrics as they can only carry out a visual inspection and cannot test the system as it can only be verified by way of a Periodic Inspection.  Your legal advisor can find out when this was last carried out by the vendor.

princeofpounds

I've owned an 1890s property. If you have a 'modern' one for the time - double skin brick with cavity, damp course etc. then they aren't that different to more modern properties in many ways. A lot of what we think of as standard construction was starting around then.

I had a full building survey and I found it quite useful. A homebuyers' report should give you notice of any major problems (that would get picked up in a survey) but the descriptive element of the full survey was quite useful. Lots of details about the property that turned out to quite useful over time, and more freedom to ask questions and receive some consulting. As freebear suggests, I found someone who specialised in properties of this type - it turned out it was basically his academic hobby so he charged me a low price to do the job and spent hours on site. Thankfully the vendor was also into the whole history so didn't mind.

What can I tell you?
- Drains actually turned out to be the trickiest thing, and are generally left out of standard surveys. They were making the pipes from something that was kind of like tar and fibre back then (I forget the name, it was a long time ago) and they were getting degraded, especially the main pipe to the sewers.
- Our property had a proper damp course. Not all of that age do.
- Some of the utility spaces weren't easily designed for modern equipment e.g. water tank was in a cupboard over the stairs as it wouldn't fit in the attic space, which left water pressure upstairs a bit weak. So look out for compromises made in the plumbing and central heating as they will have been retro-fitted at some stage. 
- Speaking of the attic, it wasn't really built to make it easy to put in extra insulation, but we managed it.
- There were woodworm holes in some of the timbers. It was nothing to worry about - probably hadn't been active for decades.
- Chimneys were great, but needed modern liners to be usable.
- Generally the build quality of the later additions (replacement windows, an 80s side extension etc) was worse than the 1890s original.

Mortgage first - you will need to check the solicitor you instruct is on their panel (most will be, but not all). 
You can do the survey at any time, but as it's a significant expense it's often left until the mortgage application looking good. However, if your mortgage application takes a long time in this Covid world, you may want to demonstrate movement on the transaction by going ahead anyway - that's up to you.
Your mortgage lender will do a valuation survey of their own - this may or may not involve a site visit. You may be given the option to extend this into a homebuyers or full survey. I wouldn't do that - a surveyor who pokes around more is more likely to find reasons to downvalue; I'd appoint my own separately so the surveyor working for the bank is really only checking that the property is standing and the price is about right. 

tacpot12

Great info from princeofpounds! Only thing to add to catsacor's point is that you might need a new roof relatively soon if the property has not already been re-roofed. The roof covering might be ok for 30 years more, or it might need replacing sooner. Definitely one to save up for. 

Benzine

I'd just echo what prince of pounds says. I have an 1890's end terrace and it's really well built. I had a full survey done when I purchased. The only issues I've had with the property have been with modern additions such as a poorly installed boiler 5 years ago. 

davidmcn

Tracet74 said:

theoretica said:

When was it last rewired?  You may want more detail on the electrics than a standard homebuyer report will give, unless you are already planning to rewire.

Your legal advisor can find out when this was last carried out by the vendor.

Which in all probability will be "never".

TheProfessional

We live in an 1890 mid terrace that we have just sold. The buyers survey said the house was in excellent condition so old doesn't necessarily mean poor.
We had a cellar which flooded an inch with heavy rainwater. We had some damp when we moved in but they redid damp proof course. 
It has character, lovely high ceilings etc but also the sort of character which meant not every wall and floor seemed perfectly straight. Also creaky floorboards upstairs and the stairs themselves we had to get someone to try and nail/screw them down