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[alephnull]

Hi, I've recently bought a Victorian house and I've been having a look at doing a few bits of DIY. I unscrewed a light switch today, to find that the Live wires are all connected together, and (I think) that the earth being used as a Neutral (all the yellow/green wires are connected together). Please see attached image.
How bad is this? Is this 'not up to modern standards but you'll be ok' or is this 'call an electrician ASAP'?

[Mr White]

If live is connected to neutral it will go bang, so your assumption that the yellow is neutral is wrong.

As for the remainder of the house, and the condition of the wiring it is not possible to tell from here.

You could have an Electrical Installation Condition Report carried out, this is carried out by an electrician, all wiring etc is checked and should take best part of a day, this is also reflected in the cost of an EICR Since you want to make some alterations I suggest you get a complete rewire (Negates the requirement for an EICR) that way you can be happy all is well and you can have light switches etc where you need them. (Have a least two twin sockets where the main TV will be.)