Owners of historic homes spend TWICE as much on maintenance, says Zoopla

Homeowners living in period properties spend an average of almost £700 on repairs and maintenance every month, according to new research from Zoopla.

The property portal found that period homeowners spend more than twice as much on maintenance costs compared to non-period households.

In total, it estimates that homeowners spend an average of almost £70,000 in any given period on repairs and maintenance over their entire stay in a given property.

Last week, Rightmove revealed the top five most popular historic property styles, with Victorian houses said to be the favorite among house hunters, closely followed by Georgian homes.

Tim Bannister, property expert at Rightmove, said: ‘Victorian houses remain extremely popular, characterized by their period charm, solid construction and spacious interiors.’

More than a fifth of British homeowners live in historic houses, according to Zoopla, which it defines as properties built before 1919.

However, Zoopla’s findings suggest that such homes come with high maintenance costs, which may make people reconsider whether they are worth it.

The research shows that homeowners have spent an average of £19,213 on keeping their property up to date since 2022.

This is almost two and a half times the price of a non-period property and equates to an average of £686 per month. That’s on top of the current average monthly mortgage cost in Britain of £950.

As more and more mortgaged homeowners come to the end of their cheaper fixed interest rates each month, there will also be many who will see their monthly mortgage costs increase significantly, adding to the pressure in addition to maintenance costs.

Zoopla says the drain of constant repair bills has taken many long-time homeowners by surprise.

More than a fifth say they didn’t realize how much they would have to spend to maintain, repair and upgrade their property – or didn’t anticipate any costs at all – before purchasing a home.

Two in five homeowners say the final costs were higher than they expected.

Of those who say costs were higher than expected, a quarter say they regret the decision to buy a historic property because of the expensive maintenance.

However, the majority (nearly three-quarters) say the cost is “worth it,” and they don’t regret their purchase, showing that most historic homes are worth the extra money.

Daniel Copley, consumer expert at Zoopla, says: ‘There’s no denying that period properties are full of character and of high quality, with many features that attract buyers, but these require regular investment to keep them in good condition.

‘In fact, the average expenditure is almost the equivalent of an extra mortgage. Potential buyers should take this into account when purchasing a home, and whether they can afford this maintenance in the longer term.’

What drives the costs?

Correcting external parts of their historic home has accounted for the majority of the costs incurred by homeowners since the beginning of 2022.

External maintenance includes things like repainting, replacing windows, roof problems, subsidence, structural problems such as leaning chimneys, cracks in brickwork, garden maintenance and repairing clogged or clogged gutters.

Zoopla found that the average household owner has spent £12,865 on this since the start of 2022.

This is more than three times as much as the external maintenance costs of homeowners with homes built since 1919.

According to Zoopla, on average just £4,314 was spent on external maintenance by those who owned a non-period home during the same period.

Meanwhile, over the past two and a half years, homeowners have waived £6,348 on internal maintenance costs such as floors, bathrooms, electricity, removing mold, improving insulation and repairing wiring and electricity. This compares to £4,182 for people in non-period homes.

Overall, Zoopla found that owners of historic homes have spent an average of £68,289 since purchasing their home, having owned it for an average of 16.8 years.

By comparison, owners of non-historic homes have spent an average of £39,970 on their home since purchasing it, over an average of 13.4 years of living in their property.

Is a historic building worth it?

Despite the potentially expensive maintenance costs, the majority of long-time homeowners find it worth it.

More than half of owners say historic homes have more character, 44 percent say they are built to last, and 45 percent like the architectural style and how it looks from the outside.

The garden attracted more than 42 percent of people and a third loved not being able to hear their neighbors thanks to the thicker walls – and vice versa.

Original elements were favored by a third of respondents and layout by two in five.

However, Zoopla’s Daniel Copley believes homebuyers should seriously consider alternatives to historic homes.

“Our research shows that old homes and new builds are significantly cheaper to maintain and are worth considering when buying a home,” he says.

‘There are plenty of options when it comes to the era and style of the home, with many high-end homes on the market requiring less investment in maintenance.’