Hi original poster! I know it’s 7 years since you asked this but would love to know what you did. We are not in a similar position with a similar looking house at the back but even steeper. I know that a full extension and lowering the internal floors would be ideal but we can’t afford that and need a 5-7 year fix. Please let us know what you decided and why ☺️

do as Dundrum says. although your pic doesn't show the rest of the street I suspect there is a strong symmetry with the other houses. this needs to be kept. a statement is what this house eally doesn't need. As has been said, refresh the exterior paintwork keeping it the same as the neighbours and/or in line with that of the other houses on the street, and generally smarten up what is there. the hedge on the left should be clipped. the tree on the right is a yew and should not be touched. it is a slow grower and will cause no problems. if it is bothering you the whole tree and not just your side can be trimmed by a third. one thing that would be good is to remove all the weeds from the gravel, possibly relay the gravel if needed, and introduce some sort of threshold between you and the road - it may already exist underneath the weeds.

Just seen this post and as a glass company would like to offer some inspiration and advice with the current staircase as it is with the open threads I would be keen to recommend a stand off fixed balustrade with or without a handrail its really your decision, see the below photo of a job we did with stand offs fixings and a matching stainless steel handrail. If you were to reconfigure the stairs there are other options such as balustrade clamps or baserail fitting as per below photos. Hope this help, unsure of your location but if its within Bristol, bath or Gloucester give us a call. Thanks BFG.

Thanks all for your kind replies. :) tbh, I wasn’t quite sure about the two-tone approach and think we should go for one colour for window frames and masonry. I do like white but want to avoid the blue-ish hue (?) you get with brilliant white, but at the same time also the ridiculous F&B prices. :-) I read on here that so called Trade white paints don’t possess that ’blue’ but if I remember correctly, Dulux Trade is still called Brilliant White. I’m confused...