Are British homes sub standard?

Considering our new build was bought off one of the most reputable developers and had a list of problems that took 3 months of daily visits to fix and then random plumping/electrical incidents frequently over the next few years of ownership I’d tend to say yes. Made an absolute fortune on it in the long run of course being a UK roof over your head near London.
 
My house is substandard but also as expensive as it was and as little as it will actually increase the value from improving all these things then it can stay that way
 
Gigabit said:
When we moved in two windows were stuck open, the hot water didn’t work and there’s damp in the common area.

Is that substandard? Idk
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Was it built that way? If not then it's more of a you issue than a housing stock issue.
 
Your average British house has more age to it than most of the USA.

Old houses were built to a different demand.
A typical 30s terraced house is bordering on 100 years old . It's gonna be sub par in practically everything except thickness of the walls.

I dunno it's winding me up, what a dumb bait question it is, if he can't find a 1 bedroom flat that's not new or modern maybe go back to the USA? Sounds like he's a bit of dullard tbh.
 
A while ago I saw a documentary that said for new build housing estates, it was common for building reg inspectors to basically be employed by the developers. There is a conflict of interest when it comes to building construction standards in the UK.

Over the years I've paid attention to new builds in my area and it's clear that it's all about profit. Detached houses with barely enough clearance for a wheelie bin, hollow walls, letter boxes that are uncomfortable to open etc.

Even when it comes to minimum standards, they are pretty poor really. There is emphasis on thermal insulation but not a lot for sound insulation. Couple that with homes getting smaller and people being bunched together more and it's not a good way to live.
 
arknor said:
come on bro UK houses are mostly tiny with tiny rooms and barely a garden.
also the most basic finish and fittings they can get away with.

On average our house builds must be some of the worst out of the countries we are ranked with for GDP etc.
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Most UK housing is built to fit as many houses in the given plot size than any care or consideration to room size, garage size or garden size.
 
I think it depends on what builders can get away with, or what they can't, and this is as much as about environmental considerations as legislative.

We live in an 'earthquake zone' and by the sea in Greece. Since 2004 the materials and building standards required are considerably higher than that I have seen in most of the UK properties I have owned as a result.

- All builds must have a reinforced concrete frame, including houses.
- Infilled - or bricked areas between the frame must have the bricks wired, akin to concrete reinforcement
- internally there are no stud walls, everything including interior partitions are wired brick

Additionally being by the sea there is no UPVC window framing, proper heavy duty aluminium extrusion only, and heavy plastic coated.

Our front door is a steel plastic coated security door, with multi locking points....

But I know full well that if these were not necessary or required, in order to build and sell, they would be built of cardboard instead....
 
Does the perfect home exist? What some may find substandard others find impressive.. The cost of energy has changed peoples perspective on homes..

The perfect home right now for me would be a passive house with PV, battery bank and ASHP if it even needed it.
 
Jean-F said:
Possibly a slight exaggeration, I don’t live bang in the centre but I can see Tower Bridge from my bedroom window, some 1500 metres to the west, and Bond Street station is 6 stops from my nearest Jubilee Line station.
I retired 10 years ago after driving a Black Cab for 30 years, and I bobble along without too much trouble, but to be fair I’ve been mortgage free for maybe 22 years.
We’ve had to eschew holidays in exotic places like Tahiti and the U.S. Virgin Islands, but I can still manage a couple of weeks on Florida’s Gulf Coast, and I take my wife out to dinner at least once per week
In the interest of full disclosure it all came down to being in the right place at the right time, and being willing to work my nuts off, if I was starting out now I wouldn’t be living where I am now.
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For you sir. A bit of history.

 
my newish semi house in west Yorkshire bought roughly when i joined here had a shocking lack of sound insulation ,joined on to a rental containing various levels of scum over the years it was a pleasure to wave it goodbye ,the 44k paid for it totally paid for this one on selling that was privately built with room to build another property in the garden (like my neighbours have done)
my daughter has an ex show house in Faringdon Oxfordshire that seems really solid (big 3 bed semi drive and garage) but the first bath they emptied came through the ceiling
 
martin363 said:
I think it depends on what builders can get away with, or what they can't, and this is as much as about environmental considerations as legislative.

We live in an 'earthquake zone' and by the sea in Greece. Since 2004 the materials and building standards required are considerably higher than that I have seen in most of the UK properties I have owned as a result.

- All builds must have a reinforced concrete frame, including houses.
- Infilled - or bricked areas between the frame must have the bricks wired, akin to concrete reinforcement
- internally there are no stud walls, everything including interior partitions are wired brick

Additionally being by the sea there is no UPVC window framing, proper heavy duty aluminium extrusion only, and heavy plastic coated.

Our front door is a steel plastic coated security door, with multi locking points....

But I know full well that if these were not necessary or required, in order to build and sell, they would be built of cardboard instead....
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I'm intrigued to know why no pvc. Is it something to do with salt water:confused:. I don't think places in the UK are built differently on the coast that's all.
 
theone8181 said:
I'm intrigued to know why no pvc. Is it something to do with salt water:confused:. I don't think places in the UK are built differently on the coast that's all.
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From a quick Google doesn't seem to be any weakness with using UPVC in coastal areas but powder coated aluminium will apparently last about 50% longer in such conditions.
 
Is this friend really you? This thread should sit in the career forum, congrats on being offered more money to stay.
 
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