‘In need of improvement works’: but the kitchen range, and open fireplaces in the rooms, give this good off-grid potential. Cottage in Machynlleth, Wales, for under 100k. http://www.morrismarshall.co.uk/property.html?id=10010346

It makes me laugh, scanning Rightmove and seeing what’s tagged ‘in need of modernization’ or ‘requiring renovation’ in today’s housing market.

An avocado bathroom suite, swirly carpets and some frantic retro wallpaper seems to be enough to earn the label. I viewed properties in the 90s ‘in need of modernization’ which had wiring from before the Second World War and plumbing from before the First.

Many of the current houses ‘in need of modernization’ are habitable, but unfashionable. Some will be fine for working on gradually while living in them; with mild discomfort, maybe, but hey, it’s good for the soul. 

‘Modernization’ works I am relaxed about – windows might be worn out and there might be some roofing and guttering required but if there is rot or dampness or worse then it’s a different proposition and I will be having a very good prod around. Rot etc can be expensive to eradicate and repair, and that’s the kind of work that can blow apart tight budgets for purchase and renovation.

An advantage of buying a house needing modernized is that there’s a chance there is no central heating system, or if there is one, that it’s needing replaced anyway. This gives the blank slate you need to fit waste oil boilers, solar water heating or whatever. There’s no point in paying extra for a modern heating system in a house if you intend to rip it out to make way for something unorthodox.

An unmodernized property may also have original fireplaces, and these you may want to keep, either to use them open or to fit multifuel stoves or ranges.

What will seen by estate agents and most (though not all) buyers as disadvantages – no or ancient heating, old fittings that ‘need’ replaced etc – can be for downshifters and off-gridders a benefit. In some situations you might be able to saunter in with a low but quick and decisive offer to secure some value bricks and mortar.