Living alone in an older property

Completely agree re being nice to good tradesmen. My house is 100 years old.
I pay in cash and make coffee and biscuits so they have me down as a good customer. And a glass of beer for the gardener which he loves!

I look after tradespeople too.
I want them to come to do little jobs as well as big ones.

I have a little black book of totally trustworthy tradesmen I've used . They are all local "one man bands". When they work for me, I cultivate my own local reputation as the ideal client to work for.

If ever I call on them I know I'll get prompt service, good advice, a fair price.

Not an old house - built ‘92, but I’m here on my own now and as DH worked away, all domestic issues were mine.
Like others, I’ve acquired a list of local tradespeople to call on (except an electrician who died tragically earlier this year).
I read that one should be spending 1% of the property’s value on maintenance and decoration every year, so I get things done as soon as I can, rather than wait for a possible disaster later.

First of all check all the radiators to make sure none are leaking slightly.
Do you have the boiler serviced annually? If that's coming up shortly ask the the engineer about the pressure loss.
Do you have a central heating man up your sleeve?
This is where it's so good to have local friends who can give advice and recommend people.
I'm not sure that buying a new property guarantees having no problems.

I have a friend dealing with this problem. Although she has a husband most stuff is left to her.
If I mention downsizing to something smaller and newer she is horified and says she hates new houses - yeh right. I have moved to a new build bungalow and its terrible having to deal with good insulation, economical heating system, less housework less maintenance costs etc!!!

I have a retired builder and an electrician local that does small jobs, but I will say its becoming expensive to keep on top of, I recently purchased this house and all was fine, unfortunately a lot of little unexpected but expensive jobs have had to be done, my advice is find a local handyman that doesn't cost the earth, ask neighbours for recommendations to keep in a little book for future occurrences, its that or sell up and buy a smaller newer home that will be easier to manage, something we may do ourselves in the future, life's short and we want to enjoy what we have left without extra worries,

My house is older than yours but I do have a DP.However….it’s usually down to me to get any maintenance organised as he is one of life’s procrastinators.You can’t deal with a leaking roof yourself you call a reputable roofer, or for inside leaks a reputable plumber.
Other than that, sell the house and go for a new build where you won’t need to repair anything.