How to find the age of house?

[ralph123]

I purchased a house and i have no idea how to find out the age of the house for insurance purposes?

Is there a place that you can do a title search? to find out the date that it was built?

or even a website which shows pictures of typical old houses and the dates when the style was popular?

Any help from you would be appreciated

 

[LynnH]

ralph

Go to your local Council office. They will have plans which were lodged with the building application - the plans will be date-stamped with an approval date. Council will also have lots of other information available ... I've found them an excellent source of info.

The date of any building will not show up on a title search, as far as I am aware.

Your insurance company should also have access to general information about various suburbs, when they were settled, the style of houses built during particular times etc.

Cheers
LynnH

 

[Raddles]

Hi there
often if you look in the meter box you can find out when services like electricity were connected which can give you an idea of the likely age of the property.
thanks

 

[ralph123]

Thanks i

'll give the council a try,

They have recently done renovations on the electrics including meter box so i could not find out any clues on the age of the house.

 

[RumpledElf]

If you have a house that is 100% not council approved like both of mine (*cough* and the one before that - I like old houses) then you just have to guess!

One of mine is of historical note in a couple of books and stuff so is on record at being built in 1876, the other one I just stab in the dark at 1900, give or take a decade, as it is a common cottage of no significance. Both rather old, anyway. It helps when there's photos of your house in the local museum.

My first house had the original title as well as a couple old codgers who came past one day commenting they were born in the place. It wasn't as old as the ones I've got now, a mere baby circa 1923.