For the homeowner who wants everything: a 19th-century cottage with original beams and a brick fireplace that can deal with modern electrical demands
People will pay more for a period property. For years, this baffled me. “Why pay extra for a house that has a downstairs bathroom, needs endless repairs, and has had someone die in it?” I’d wonder. “Nostalgia must be one hell of a drug.”
I now know that many homebuyers think about resale value, and the joy of waking up in a high-ceilinged room flooded with daylight from sash windows. For buying to let, there are generous room sizes and the potential for modification to maximise occupancy. But what these future landlords don’t think about enough is plug sockets. How is any modern human meant to survive with only two double plug sockets per room? Don’t get me wrong, I like an ornate fireplace, but the mounting tension in the living room over who unplugged whose phone puts its beauty into perspective.
Related: All the places I’ll never live: a flat without a whodunnit mystery
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