Central London, and he said very small..
Are British homes sub standard?
- Thread starter Mrwong
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I've got 4 bedroom house in Leicester Square very big
If he think that's bad tell him never to go to New Zealand or Australia, houses there are double the price of the UK and of much lower quality
Soldato
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Yes the quality of homes here is terrible.
90% of them should have been knocked down by now. a lot of them are unfit for modern life (kitchens too small for appliances, TV's needing to be mounted on walls, tiny 3rd bedroom, tiny bathrooms, no downstairs toilet, no garages, no parking, could go on).
90% of them should have been knocked down by now. a lot of them are unfit for modern life (kitchens too small for appliances, TV's needing to be mounted on walls, tiny 3rd bedroom, tiny bathrooms, no downstairs toilet, no garages, no parking, could go on).
This seems like a complaint about private landlords and their upkeep more than it is about the UK housing stock as a whole.
And that's fair enough. Landlording is inherently immoral, and so generally attracts those for whom the humanity of their rentees matters less than the money that can be extracted.
And that's fair enough. Landlording is inherently immoral, and so generally attracts those for whom the humanity of their rentees matters less than the money that can be extracted.
Soldato
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My old 3 bed semi was built by the Corporation of London in the late 1940s as a Met dog handler’s house with a reinforced concrete roof over the kennel/utility area and cast concrete skirting boards and dado rails. Keep the roof sound and paint/repoint the brickwork every decade of so and it’ll still be there in another hundred years time.
I visited an old co-workers 2017 new build before I left the U.K. and I’ll be surprised if it stays upright as long as I will.
I visited an old co-workers 2017 new build before I left the U.K. and I’ll be surprised if it stays upright as long as I will.
Soldato
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Both problems exist. Uninteresting, small boxes for homes especially for apartments but normal houses are no better. And then the landlord issue as well.
The main problem with British homes is that most of them are extremely old, which typically means you need to do a full floor to ceiling reno and a ton of repairs before they're even fit to live in. Structurally they're OK, but the interiors are usually horrendous.
And of course, the average British house has just enough space for a family of 15 rats, or half a human.
And of course, the average British house has just enough space for a family of 15 rats, or half a human.
Soldato
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OH **** not a department being impacted!!!1111, is he curing some horrible disease?
What a stupid attitude..
A cheap, badly maintained old property is exactly that.. tell him to buy a new place..
Soldato
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Surely that's a case of them not being maintained properly not that they are crap? Nothing lasts for ever and if you don't keep on top of things it creates actual problems.
So you’re telling your friend what size of property to rent? That seems just a touch weird.
Yes. As I said, they are structurally sound. People just don't bother to maintain them properly, or lack the funds to modernise them in the first place.
A cheap, badly maintained old property that's structurally sound can often be restored to a high standard. A new place is unlikely to be as well built. It'll look like for a while with maintenance, but in time the structural problems will grow.
From an energy point of view they are pretty bad. You need to get a lot of work done to really make a difference. EPC scoring is also getting stricter so the amount of properties that will have problems being legally rented and possibly sold will increase. Even EPC ratings of C are really not good anymore.
Must depend on where you live. Of the properties I am looking at in my area, 30% are in corner-sofa-grey with televisions floating above fireplaces; 60% are just 'nice'; 9% need work. The ones that need work must have been taken back to brick at some point as they aren't in disrepair, just out of fashion. 1% need knocking down.
I'd say its hard to find a house that hasn't been touched for as long as you are making out.
Soldato
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It's still early in the morning so apparently can't read properly.
For sure, it does depend on where you live. When I lived in the Black Country, I saw a lot of homes that hadn't been maintained properly, and some had never even been fully modernised. When I first moved in with her, my wife's house still had a gravity fed shower and a high level chain pull cistern for the toilet.
In fairness the structure of the house stock being built is generally very good, especially foundation design due to the insurance requirements. However workmanship is not the greatest as a national average although some sites are excellent, they are very few and far between. The biggest issue I have is how much smaller houses have got on average since the 30's with each decade almost minimising what can be utilised. Kitchens and bathrooms are the biggest examples of minimising room sizes so they can maximise total house stock on site.
To the OP,
Well rental is so varied that you get about 1 good in every 20 badly maintained properties, especially London because they are generally so easy to rent. However it really depends on location. The housing rental market needs much better enforcement but the councils are just understaffed to cope with the shear volume of properties on the market and generally they are not inspected prior to letting which should be the case in my view where prior to contractual agreement with a tenant an assessment should be carried out at owners cost.
Our house is about 130 years old and solid and has been completely gutted in the last 10 years but it has an awful EPC rating and would cost us a small fortune to fix. We aren't going to spend £60k+ to either ruin the outside of the building or lose loads of space inside to sort out the insulation that will save us a few hundred quid a year.
Oh and to the OP, a salary of £90k in central London isn't that amazing and if hes looking at places that are £2500 for a 1 bed flat then hes trying to get a place really really central and prices there are nuts. Its pretty simple. Live further out and get more for your money.
Oh and to the OP, a salary of £90k in central London isn't that amazing and if hes looking at places that are £2500 for a 1 bed flat then hes trying to get a place really really central and prices there are nuts. Its pretty simple. Live further out and get more for your money.