Hi,
I found an End Terraced Property. It was built in the year 1850 (more than 170 years old).
Is it safe to buy an old property of more than 170 year old?
Thanks,
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If you are buying properties to rent out, you are better off buying newer properties as they have less maintenance issues and are cheaper to heat usually.
The HA I work for is selling all their older properties when they become empty to build newer properties that are much better insulated and cost less to heat.
I hope this is useful.
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i bought to live in a 200 year old stone built mill house with 2ft thick walls .Insulated it . Truely my dream house. But they will always need more looking after due to age
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I believe the property I am looking at is brick wall. It is full of rendering outside.
Is it easy to get insurance for such old properties?
Thanks
Out of interest did you insulate inside walls or outside? I’m guessing inside as outside would ruin character?
Toying with this idea right now, that is buying an old brick house to make a long term home! Any tips?
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You need to check the rendering has not bridged the damp course, if there is one. A dampcourse survey may be useful . Silicone damp courses can be injected nowdays
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I insulated my stone house inside as I see no point in insulating outside of a building. of course it is far easier to insulate the outside with a graphited board and K rend it. But I do my places on the inside walls with kingspan type board. plbd and skim. One tenant says its TOO warm !! Insulate inside and no mould problems in any of my places
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It wont have a cavity wall if its that old so will be more expensive to insulate.
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just remembered somthing else about end terraces. possible settlement from old leaking drains running near the foundations. Esp. if the end terrace has an entry at .the side and there is another end terrace just a few feet away. bad drains are a strong possibility with old places , leading to settlement
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Super advice! Is there any suggestions regarding thickness of kingspan please as it will reduce floor area so compromise might be required. Thank you
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I remember hearing somewhere min Energy efficiency requirement will be increased ( I have to check). If that becomes the case it can be costly to bring your property back on the market.
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the obvious thing is that the thicker the insulation you use the more heat you will retain It is always best to insulate the inside wall of the room to external walls. Even in between floor joists. I insulated a Top floor flat with 80 mm PIR boards and achieved a good C rating
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An apparently keenly priced property of circa 200 years old came up in Reading, so the Mrs and I went to view it as prospective BTL buyers. It was an open day and about 35 viewers were queueing. On getting inside, it was obvious that a total gutting and refurb was needed. I checked the floor slope using my phone app as something felt odd. It was 4 degrees! A bit more research showed that in those days, deep foundations were considered an option, so this 4 floor block did not have them and the risk of subsidence or other unpredictable structural issues was rather large.
On top of all that, the entry lobby was rather neglected looking and the floor strewn with junk mail. We walked away.
my old stone house (200 years old) a foundation just 6 inch into the ground with a base of huge stones . had no settlement or cracks !!
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We lived in a mid terrace house for nearly forty years. It was built in 1857. No insulation anywhere, it didn’t even have a loft as it had a room in the eaves (original). My husband insulated the kitchen and bathroom from the inside as they had more outside walls (three in the case of the bathroom).
We brought our son up in that house and were very happy there. We never had any trouble with damp or mould. We had a logburner in the middle room as well as GCH.
We now have what we consider to be a much more ‘modern’ place; a bungalow built in 1930. 
So still nearly 100 years old. Again, not much insulation but we do have loft insulation. We still do not have cavity walls.
It was damp when we bought it, but it was mainly the rotten floors that were causing that, All we get now is the occasional black spot in places where there is no air circulation.
I have found older places are fine, often built very sturdily, but I wouldn’t buy one to rent out as they do need maintenance. Our BTL flat was built in 2014.
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