Finding out age of house

Michela

Hi,

I have been advised that we can build up on our house if built after 1945.

The issue is I can't find the date out of house.

The OS map of 1945 shows no houses on our street but I am pretty sure there were 5 houses built in the 1930s and mine was one of them. But they were not numbered.

The Land registry only have info from 1978.

I have tried a local historical society but they have no info either.

I tried aerial shots from 1936 but it's not clear.

Is there anything else I can do?

My house deeds don't state the date either.

It looks like 1930's to me, the front door, architecture etc.  There is no consistancy with neighbouring houses as they were built at different points in time.

I feel at a loss of how to find out.

Doozergirl

Your deeds must have some date of the original conveyance on them, no? 

Michela

Doozergirl said:

Your deeds must have some date of the original conveyance on them, no? 

No, there is no date on them.

The only thing we have is the same document the land registry have. I phoned them today to clarify and they said that the only date is 1978 from when it was first registered. 

I believe 1978 is the date the previous owner inherited the property from their father.  

Doozergirl

Have you downloaded Google Earth?  It has historical aerial photos.  

I have to say I'd be surprised that Ordnance Survey hadn't picked up houses several years after you think they were built.  

What kind of house do you have? The additional storey rule that you're talking about relates to permitted development,  but is it possible that you'd get regular planning permission? 

Michela

Doozergirl said:

Have you downloaded Google Earth?  It has historical aerial photos.  

I have to say I'd be surprised that Ordnance Survey hadn't picked up houses several years after you think they were built.  

What kind of house do you have? The additional storey rule that you're talking about relates to permitted development,  but is it possible that you'd get regular planning permission? 

Thanks, we have a bungalow and perhaps we would get permission but the architect feels it's a safer bet under the permitted development law.

To be honest I had not even considered adding a story, I assumed just adding hip to gable etc, so it's quite an exciting prospect.

I just read the 1933 register online and it lists houses in the road by name. But I can't say if any are mine.

But the OS doesn't show them in 1945.

It's a mystery.

I did check some aerial shots but it wasn't clear.

I will look at Google earth. I think I was looking at Britiain from above. 

Slinky

Is it possible to work out if the names relate to other properties in the road? It might be bad news, but if it turns out the 2 on either side of you were those named properties it might swing things your way?

Michela

Slinky said:

Is it possible to work out if the names relate to other properties in the road? It might be bad news, but if it turns out the 2 on either side of you were those named properties it might swing things your way?

I'm not how I would match them up as it says the name of the owner and the house name in 1933. But I'm not sure how to match them with exisitng numbers. It doesnt show any map it's just a small list of house names and owners. 

I also looked at the 1935 OS map and that says the road doesn't even exist. But it did according the 1933 register.

casper_gutman

Dates of maps around the 1930s-1940s can be confusing. I was sure our house was built in the 1930s, but it isn't on the map published in 1947. It took me ages to realise that map was actually based on survey data from 1938, which I assume was kept unpublished until after the war. The map shows the docks and a large industrial plant which was in the area at the time, which might be a factor, but I suspect there may well just have been a blanket policy of not making up-to-date map data public.

Doozergirl

Hip to gable using SIPs could be an idea.  It might enable you to use the entire roof space without building upwards. 

Ours is built like that.  The new 'bungalow' next door is much smaller than ours in usable volume but is much taller because of the sheer wasted space in traditional construction.  

We have every square centimetre of space from eaves to eaves with no internal structural walls.  I love it!

fenwick458

you might already have tried looking here?
https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/

GDB2222

Have you considered brazening it out with the planning department, and asking for a Lawful Development Certificate? Just send them some murky aerial photos as evidence. They are quite overworked, and may just wave it through.