A house built between 1983 and 1999 often has brown-stained windows, brick arches over the windows and a small pitched roof over the porch, usually on a cul-de-sac. Later ones borrow Georgian touches in uPVC, such as fake glazing bars and half-moon glass in the front door.
The short version
- These homes date from 1983 to 1999.
- Brown-stained windows are a classic of the eighties.
- Georgian touches turn up in uPVC: fake glazing bars and half-moon glass in the door.
- Look for brick arches over the windows and a small pitched roof over the porch.
- Cul-de-sacs, attached garages and conservatories added later complete the picture.
How to spot one, from the roof down
Start at the roof. Roofs tend to be steeper than the low-slung seventies ones and are usually covered in concrete tiles. Many homes have no chimney at all, just a flue for the boiler. Some have one mainly for looks.
The windows are the giveaway. In the eighties frames were often timber stained a deep brown, with brown uPVC following on. White uPVC took over in the nineties, often dressed up with Georgian touches: glazing bars stuck to the glass or sealed between the panes. It's a nod to the Georgians, done in plastic.
Above the windows, look for brick arches, often a shallow curve of bricks set on end. Some have a straight row of upright bricks instead, called a soldier course.
The walls are cavity walls in brick, often red or orange, sometimes with a band of a contrasting colour. Some homes from these years are timber framed behind the brick, which you can't tell from the street.
At the front door, a small pitched porch roof, tiled to match the house, sits over a door that may carry half-moon glass. An attached garage often sits alongside.
Round the back, a conservatory is a very common later addition, especially from the nineties onwards.
These homes usually sit on cul-de-sacs and winding estate roads, with houses grouped round a turning head rather than lined along a street.
Housebuilders each had their own range of designs, so treat these as clues rather than rules. This guide is written for England and Wales. Want to see how you'd do? Play What era is this house?
Where you'll find them
Most homes from these years were built by large housebuilders on estates at the edges of towns and villages. The cul-de-sac became the classic shape of a new estate.
The homes built then include starter homes and small terraces, semis, detached family houses and larger executive homes, along with low-rise flats and maisonettes. Mock Tudor and Georgian touches came back into fashion, sometimes side by side on the same estate.
Double glazing and cavity wall insulation became the usual thing over these years, so most of these homes hold their heat better than older solid-walled ones.
What tends to need looking after
Eighties and nineties homes are often easy to live with: practical layouts, a garage and gardens front and back. What they need tends to be about the things added to them since.
Early double glazing can mist up between the panes when the seal fails. A glazier can usually replace the sealed unit without changing the whole frame.
Conservatories can run hot in summer and cold in winter. If you're thinking about a new roof or turning one into a room, ask the council's building control team first, because the work may need approval.
Flat roofs over garages, porches and extensions need a roofer's eye now and then, as do the gutters and the main roof.
Asbestos was used in building until 1999, so any home built before 2000 can contain some, in places like textured ceilings, boards and floor tiles. If something might, leave it alone and get it tested before drilling or sanding.
Boilers from these years have often been replaced already. A Gas Safe registered engineer can service whatever you have and tell you how it's doing.
If your home is timber framed, a surveyor can confirm it and explain anything that matters for repairs or changes.
Keep your 1980s or 1990s home's story
Keep the conservatory's paperwork, the boiler's service history and every new window's certificate in one place. homehogs reminds you when each one's due a look.
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