1830s House - Any problems?

Twmble

We've had an offer accepted on a 1830s cottage (but not listed)

Are there any issues/problems that arise purely due to the age of the property?
The estate agent has assured (as they do so well :rolleyes: ) that although buildings & contents insurance is more 'difficult' to get for pre-1850s houses it is possible and competitive.

Any thoughts welcomed - the survey is taking place tomorrow morning, which will hopefully be not too disturbing! :eek:

Doozergirl

This is not a good question to ask! You are asking for a list?

Simply because of it's age, the list of what could be wrong is virtually endless. The younger part of my house is the same period. If anything could be wrong with it, it was. Our house has been underpinned, completely re-roofed, insulated, dug down and tanked out, injected with a damp proof course, had chimney and part of the gable wall rebuilt, treated for beetle infestation, new joists, new windows, new electrics. The list goes on. To be frank, the 17th century bit needed far less work! Wouldn't stop me buying an old house but they do need looking after well.

For your survey, I very much doubt it will be half as bad! It will most probably show signs of movement. This maybe due to poor foundations, but the movement is most likely to have stopped years ago. The fact the house is still standing is a good sign! Worst case scenario, sometimes they only have one skin of brick and mortgage companies won't lend on them.

Why don't you see what your survey says then post back with news? Your survey will probably throw up somethings that need further investigation but people here are able to help you sift through the less important stuff and reduce panic!

safesound

Doozergirl wrote:

This is not a good question to ask! You are asking for a list?

Simply because of it's age, the list of what could be wrong is virtually endless.

And yet my 1840's cottage has not a thing wrong with it. It has slightly higher than average damp readings in the hall but I was told not to bother with damp course as they are still "acceptable" and a tiny bit of woodworm in the loft hatch (which funnily enough is 1970's modern). Thats it. I was well chuffed with the survey last month.

Twmble, as Doozergirl says; wait for the survey as every house is different.

Norma_Desmond

My house dates from around 1780-1820 and it would take something akin to a nuclear blast to shift it! We had very few problems with the purchase - our full survey showed that it was structurally sound (so it should be with 2 and a half foot thick stone walls!), and that there was only a minor damp reading on one of the back elevations; our surveyor reiterated that most if not all houses of any great age contain a certain amount of moisture.....and the best 'remedy' was just to live in it and keep it heated and aired. Forgot to mention that the house had also been unoccupied for 15 years and the worst problems we faced were to replace one rotten joist in the upstairs bathroom and a length of guttering. Unless your survey shows that it's structurally a death-trap then go for it - I wouldn't have a new house if you offered it me on a plate! Good luck!

Norma_Desmond

Oh and we had no trouble whatsoever getting buildings/contents insurance!

TheDink

We've just moved into a cottage which our surveyor dated as 1850, and the mortgage valuer as 1875. We quoted 1850 as the build date when looking for insurance - the only problems we had were that some companies won't cover listed buildings, or those with "non-standard" roofing materials (and their definitions of non-standard all vary - we have asbestos cement "slates").

As already stated - best thing to do is wait for the survey.

In the longer term, it might end up being a bit more expensive if you need to replace items such as windows, doors etc as they are less likely to be a standard size but other than that I'm sure the benefits and character outweigh the downsides.

black-saturn

My house was built in 1800. I paid £32,000 for it and it has 2 bedrooms. I've been here 3 years and so far I've had the damp course, rewiring, roof, guttering, underfloor piping, floorboards and heating done. That's cost me an extra £15,000 or so. Next I need to replace the kitchen cupboards which are falling to bits and I'd like an extension built for a 3rd bedroom.

Having said that, I love living in an old house and would never want to live in a new one. I lived in a brand new house before this and so many things went wrong with it. I think they build them too quickly and don't really concentrate on what they are doing.

margaretclare

Doozergirl wrote:

Worst case scenario, sometimes they only have one skin of brick and mortgage companies won't lend on them.

Yes, they will. Single-skin brick was still being used as late as the 1930s. I had no trouble getting a mortgage on this 1930s bungalow, and several around here have changed hands recently with apparently no trouble.

Aunty Margaret

Doozergirl

margaretclare wrote:

Yes, they will. Single-skin brick was still being used as late as the 1930s. I had no trouble getting a mortgage on this 1930s bungalow, and several around here have changed hands recently with apparently no trouble.

Different period, different building styles? Maybe because it's a bungalow there's less load being carried by the walls?

Like I said, worst case scenario, sometimes. I didn't want to be a doomster but Twmble asked for possible issues and I presented some. We couldn't get sign off on our mortgage until a second skin had been built and there's another early 19th century house in my village currently being auctioned for the second time because it won't get a mortgage without losing a lot of inside space.

If it's not an older person that lived in Twmble's new house, the current owners will probably have a mortgage, so there's likely to be no problem.

Twmble

Doozergirl wrote:

Why don't you see what your survey says then post back with news? Your survey will probably throw up somethings that need further investigation but people here are able to help you sift through the less important stuff and reduce panic!

Just to finish this thread - we pulled out of the deal due to a breakdown of trust between ourselves and the EA after some important information given to us by the EA turned out not to be true. :mad:

The survey didn't flag up anything important, but there were a few things on the land registry which restricted us further.

Ho hum. Back to trawling EA windows......:(

T

Debt_Free_Chick

There are a whole host of things that could be "wrong" with it ... but some or all of those might have been addressed by the current or previous occupants.

The only sure way of knowing is to commission your own Full Structural Survey - shop around for a local firm that has experience with properties of this age.