Buying an older Midlands home: 8 defects to look for before you commit

There is a lot to love about an older home. Thick walls, characterful brick, a garden that has had a century to settle. But character can also hide trouble, and in my work across the Midlands I hear the same story far too often - a buyer who fell for a Victorian semi or a 1930s terrace, then found a five-figure repair bill waiting after contracts had already been exchanged.

If you are wondering what to check when buying an old house, the honest answer is that you cannot check everything yourself. Some of the most expensive problems stay invisible until you know exactly where to look. What you can do is ask the right questions, recognise the warning signs, and understand what a proper survey is really for.

Here are the eight defects I check first, why each one matters, and how to judge whether a home deserves a closer look.

Why older Midlands homes carry risks buyers miss

Older housing stock was built to different standards, in different eras, from materials that behave in their own ways over time. A Victorian terrace in Leicester, a stone cottage in Derbyshire, a 1920s semi in Birmingham - each carries its own familiar weaknesses. Most have also been altered, extended and improved several times over the decades.

Those later alterations are where risk creeps in. An extension added without proper damp-proofing. A loft conversion that cut through roof timbers. Rewiring done on the cheap and never certified. A surveyor's value lies in reading that history and spotting what a viewing simply cannot show you.

None of this means an old house is a bad buy. It means the repair bill is knowable, if you look in the right places before you commit.

The eight defects I check first

1. Rising and penetrating damp

Damp is the defect I meet most often, and the one most likely to be underestimated. Look for tide marks on internal walls, a musty smell in ground-floor rooms, bubbling plaster, or skirting boards that feel soft to the touch. Rising damp climbs up through porous brick and stone; penetrating damp enters sideways through a failed roof, blocked guttering or cracked render. Both can be fixed, but the cause has to be found first - and remedial work on a period home is rarely cheap.

2. Roof timbers and the roof covering

The roof is the single most expensive element of most older houses. Slipped or missing slates, sagging ridge lines and crumbling mortar are visible from the ground. The real question is the timber beneath. Rot, woodworm or historic water damage can leave a roof structure that needs costly strengthening. Getting into the loft and inspecting the timbers at close quarters is something a viewing never allows - but a surveyor will do it.

3. Structural movement and subsidence

Hairline cracks are common and often harmless; a crack you can fit a coin into is not. I look for diagonal cracking above and below windows and doors, doors and windows that stick, and floors that slope. Midlands clay soils shrink and swell with the seasons, so older properties on clay often show movement that has been going on for decades. The key question is whether it is historic and stable, or active and getting worse.

4. Old wiring and electrics

Many homes built before the 1970s still carry wiring that was never designed for modern loads. Watch for round-pin sockets, black rubber or fabric-covered cables, and a fuse box with ceramic fuses rather than modern trip switches. If a property has been rewired, ask for the certificate. If nobody can produce one, budget for a full rewire - it is disruptive and rarely cheap.

5. Plumbing, heating and drainage

Old pipework can contain lead, and old boilers can be nearing the end of their life. Check the age and condition of the heating system, look for signs of leaking pipework under sinks and around the boiler, and ask when it was last serviced. Drainage matters just as much: a blocked or collapsed drain on a period property can mean excavation under floors or drives, so a specialist CCTV drain survey is worth it on an older home.

6. Timber decay and woodworm

Wet rot and dry rot thrive where timber stays damp, often behind plaster, under suspended floors or around bay windows. Woodworm leaves small round flight holes that tell you the timber has been attacked at some point. Neither is automatically a deal-breaker, but both need proper diagnosis: the difference between "treat and move on" and "replace the floor structure" is significant.

7. Windows, doors and ventilation

Timber sash windows look wonderful and leak both heat and draughts. Check for rotten sills and frames, failed double glazing, and windows that no longer open. Just as important is ventilation - period homes were designed to breathe, and sealing them too tightly without introducing airflow is behind a great deal of modern condensation and mould.

8. Guttering, ground levels and external defects

Water is the enemy of old buildings, and the first line of defence sits outside. Check whether gutters and downpipes discharge away from the walls, whether the ground outside sits higher than the internal floor level (a classic cause of damp), and the condition of render, pointing and external brickwork. Poor drainage away from a property quietly destroys walls over many years.

When to bring in a RICS Home Survey before you exchange

Everything above is a set of warning signs, not a verdict. A viewing tells you what a seller is happy for you to see; a survey tells you what is actually there.

If you are buying an older property, the sensible moment to commission a survey is once your offer is accepted and before you exchange contracts. That is your one real chance to renegotiate or walk away with your deposit intact. A Level 3 Building Survey is designed for older, non-standard and altered properties; a Level 2 Home Survey suits more modern homes in reasonable condition. Both come with a clear, jargon-free report and, with me, a phone call to talk through anything that worries you, so you know what is urgent, what is cosmetic and what you can plan for.

I work solely for you, not for the seller or the lender, and I know these regional property types and their typical defects well. That independence is what turns a page of findings into advice you can actually act on.

The bottom line

Buying an old house is not a gamble if you go in with your eyes open. Damp, roof timbers, movement, wiring, plumbing, timber decay, windows and external drainage are the eight places I look first - and they are where most surprises hide. Ask the questions, watch for the signs, and get an independent RICS Home Survey before you exchange. Then you can fall for the character, knowing exactly what you are taking on.