Affordable housing

[plasticpigeon]

Near where I live there are a couple of places that look interesting. Both are very near the city centre.

This one is in a slightly less enviable position but my god look what you can get for the price.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55851791.html

And this one is on the edge of millionaire's ville, but just in a mixed road with old council houses and social houses.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53327203.html

I wonder if I should lean hard on my partner about the second one. It is really nice but rather inner city, and suburban living is a bit more pleasant, especially with kids.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

They both have some very strong points---space, original features etc--depends what you are really looking for, amazing prices for all that sq. footage!

I have just been remarking on two Rightmove updates that I received today, one in Ampthill - the town where we used to live--Victorian semi detached, 3 beds, at £465K and the other in Chelsea by Sea not far from where we are now, semi detached, 3 beds plus a tiny 3 room annexe at a reduced price of £865K bizarre!!!!

 

[88v8]

Ye gods, that second one is amazing for the money.
In fact, just plain pretty unusual. Either the conservation area is very closely enforced, or the owners have deliberately and intelligently refrained from ruining it. Overall, I'd guess the latter. Elder son perhaps has other ideas.

Other than the regrettably white décor and loss of picture rails, not too much to complain about.
I like the garden shelter.
And there's even a garage.
The house reminds me of many in genteel Cheltenham.

Yes, one wonders if there's some problem with the location. Or, the agent has a prejudice against unmodernised houses and has underpriced it. 'In need of modernisation', suggests to me the latter.

City centre... not for me. And perhaps not for you, forever. But you're a young chap.

Ivor

 

[mims&pip]

They both look lovely properties, PP.......and to echo what has already been said - such fantastic prices They put me in mind of our old Southsea house, which when we found it was definitely in need of what estate agents describe as "modernisation" <shudder>

The location would certainly bother me now - but when our son was small we thought nothing of living in the thick of things (although the part of Southsea we were in has a villagey atmosphere plus the promenade and large common, not to mention Waitrose, John Lewis and a host of independent shops/eateries!) - and we chose our current location because it has a semi-rural feel*.

Price-wise, have you researched what such a type of house in those locations goes for in restored condition? I guess if you are not so bothered about making a profit further down the line and can tolerate a more urban vibe, then perhaps it's a no-brainer? Otoh, I know that in our area nicely restored larger houses with period features (unless you include celebrity hairdresser Royston Blythe's delightful 'trophy home' next to Wightwick Manor, lol!) are not selling as fast or for as much as smaller, modern boxes :roll:

*If you avert your eyes and ignore the 1980s estate that was built in part of our house's original garden, lol!

Mims x

ps If you do go for the second one we can have a 'who has the best veranda?' competition.......and I'm pretty sure you would win!

 

[plasticpigeon]

Unfortunately my other half wasn't keen, she thinks it needs too much work, but then she hates change, but will usually embrace it if I am persistant enough and what I suggest really is better. Yes I have looked at houses in that area. Wellington rd really is in the thick of Edgbaston along with multi million pound detached Georgian mansions, all on the Calthorpe estate, and that rd is just off it. However it really is inner city, and the area is getting mixed there and I'm not sure it is right for a family. I really like the idea of living in a listed house in a conservation area as although I wouldn't have to do things right, I would have an excuse to do them properly!

These were the last 2 houses on that rd to sell.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=33813126&sale=1956979&country=england

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=49941319&sale=54052946&country=england

 

[88v8]

All three of those house are crying out for some Wm Morris papers. But again, the two sold offer what in most areas would be considered amazing value.
I wonder how long it took for the new owners of the first house to redecorate the orange bathroom - I bet the agent cringed when he saw it.
Amusing with the second one, to see how the photographer lay down on the lawn to minimise the impact of the overlooking modern housing.

Mixed. Hmmm. To a minor degree, one reason we left our previous house of 30 years was the sense that that might eventuate.

One day, far in the future, someone will devise a means of uprooting a house and teleporting it to a new location.

Ivor

 

[kreyszig]

One day, far in the future, someone will devise a means of uprooting a house and teleporting it to a new location.

My parents bought a Victorian house in New Zealand for the princely sum of $1 (it was due to be destroyed to make way for new builds) back in the 70s. Being constructed from wood, like many NZ houses, it was relatively easy to put on a truck and move to a much better location. They did literally chainsaw it in half though, so it was a bit of a project!

Maybe one of those tree scoop things for houses would work on a brick house

 

[Flyfisher]

Talking of moving houses, who has heard the story of May Savidge?

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/the_house_that_may_built_1_700239

http://youtu.be/GeYJEnlYvX0

 

[mims&pip]

Talking of moving houses, who has heard the story of May Savidge?

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/the_house_that_may_built_1_700239

http://youtu.be/GeYJEnlYvX0

I have heard of this amazing lady and her house, FF, and funnily enough I was going to make reference to a similar tale concerning a previous residence of ours when Ivor mentioned moving a complete house earlier in the thread.

The story of our non-listed, non-Conservation Area, Tudor house in Essex is less well-documented than Miss Savidge's, but in a similar vein the original owner of our last-but-one house carefully took it down one piece at a time when it was about to be demolished in the late 1930s. He then rebuilt it in a different part of the county, teaching his sons his craft (he was a master builder) during the process. By the time we came on the scene in 2007 the building's history had been long forgotten and as it had been subject to some extending and alteration over the intervening years it was not immediately apparent that it was an actual Tudor house (despite that being its name - but then how many mock/stockbroker Tudor houses are also named thus?), and the vendors span us a yarn that the builder had added in a few reclaimed materials to add character. The (modern) deeds dated it to 1938. It was only after purchase when we poked around a bit - both physically and online - we discovered the house's real history. Even then the info online was scanty and has since disappeared - sadly I never printed a copy.

We were only there a very short time and when we decided to sell we often discussed (only half joking!) how great it would be if we could do such a move again - it was a lovely house and deserved a nicer location - in fact that was the first time I heard of this forum, after I posted elsewhere about moving a house piecemeal and was reprimanded for being an idiot. The poster concerned said they'd like to know what the members of PPUK would think of such a stupid woman with a crazy idea :roll: :roll: :roll:

Mims x

 

[malcolm]

You wouldn't be able to do that these days in quite the same way. It would count as a new build in the new location and be subject to all the same rules, regs and taxes as a new build so would need to be modified a lot before it could be erected. Even houses that don't need to be moved first aren't really economical when subject to those regs.

Even before the '70s it must have been quite uneconomical to move a house at all, so good on them for preserving their bit of history.

 

[mims&pip]

You wouldn't be able to do that these days in quite the same way. It would count as a new build in the new location and be subject to all the same rules, regs and taxes as a new build so would need to be modified a lot before it could be erected. Even houses that don't need to be moved first aren't really economical when subject to those regs.

Even before the '70s it must have been quite uneconomical to move a house at all, so good on them for preserving their bit of history.

I know, that's what we began to realise as we started to investigate further. A shame really because location-wise it was just wrong. I guess moving it to somewhere less than ideal in the 1930s was better than letting it be lost forever though

The people that moved it back then must have been fairly well off as apparently it was the first house in that area to have an outdoor swimming pool. Thankfully this was long gone by the time we bought the house - rumour had it that it had to be filled in during WW1 and later on most of the large gardens were sold off for development :roll:

 

[Flyfisher]

Would it count as a new build if it wasn't dismantled and rebuilt, just relocated?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQY5mhGyptg