That depends, for example:

Il y avait une maison ici

means both “there used to be a house” and “there was a house here”.

On the other hand:

Il y avait un camion garé ici

means “there was a truck parked here” while:

There used to be a truck parked here

would be better translated by:

Un camion était souvent garé ici

or

Il y avait un camion qui se garait ici