British Homes - The embarrassing truth

My house was built in 96 and is a persimmon, it's pretty solid my only real gripe if the chipboard sheets they've used upstairs which squeak and creak a lot. I'd change them to floorboards but that's a massive job. My parents moved into a linden house a couple of years ago and what surprises me most is the changes in materials, there stud walls are a metal thing rather than the traditional wood, and they're joists are chipboard which I think is a bad move if you ever get a leak. We've just had an extension built and it seems that skirting and door frames are now made of ****** mdf, had I known I'd have paid extra to get Wood in (even though it will be psinted). I'm not saying my house is without issues, I've had to do a couple of minor repairs but what I don't get is how builders struggle to make walls square:p.
 
I work in the sector and new builds nowadays are a disgrace. I’ve seen so many build issues and complaints about lousy construction. I don’t know if it’s fixable anymore because everyone is only interested in fast and cheap.

Maybe house builders should be de-listed and run not for profit or profits only reinvested into the industry..

the latest disaster I was unfortunately involved in related to a lack of drainage in the houses. Turns out they’d forgotten to install most of the drains! Full excavation entailed.. this was a site signed off by NHBC for warranty purposes and the Local Authority for building control - how that happened I do not know.

Also things aren’t built to last at all and when they do go wrong NHBC refuse to step in. I’ve seen 3 year old new build roofs leak and destroy the interior and NHBC refuse to step in and fix as loose roof tiles are a home owners responsibility. Why those roof tiles came loose after 3 years no one could answer.
 
Shoza said:
I work in the sector and new builds nowadays are a disgrace. I’ve seen so many build issues and complaints about lousy construction. I don’t know if it’s fixable anymore because everyone is only interested in fast and cheap.

Maybe house builders should be de-listed and run not for profit or profits only reinvested into the industry..

the latest disaster I was unfortunately involved in related to a lack of drainage in the houses. Turns out they’d forgotten to install most of the drains! Full excavation entailed.. this was a site signed off by NHBC for warranty purposes and the Local Authority for building control - how that happened I do not know.

Also things aren’t built to last at all and when they do go wrong NHBC refuse to step in. I’ve seen 3 year old new build roofs leak and destroy the interior and NHBC refuse to step in and fix as loose roof tiles are a home owners responsibility. Why those roof tiles came loose after 3 years no one could answer.
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That's disgusting. The housing sector is unregulated.
 
Don’t think any volume housing ever built has been a great standard. Most are just above the minimum standard at the time.

People bleat on that their 1930s house is great quality but they fail to mention or appreciate it’s had 90 years of maintenance and upgrades, many have had damp issues fixed and had to be underpinned.

If you want a good quality home you’ll have to pay for it. There are good quality house builders out there.
 
Maccapacca said:
Don’t think any volume housing ever built has been a great standard. Most are just above the minimum standard at the time.

People bleat on that their 1930s house is great quality but they fail to mention or appreciate it’s had 90 years of maintenance and upgrades, many have had damp issues fixed and had to be underpinned.

If you want a good quality home you’ll have to pay for it. There are good quality house builders out there.
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This. A 350k 5 bed is likely not 'well built'.
 
Between 1940 and 1980, you will find a raft of shoddy construction.

Post war there was a serious lack of man power and so local authorities experimented a lot with construction that was quick and cheap.

Wimpey no fines, Steel frame, in situ concrete, hoop iron etc etc - so many issues.

It’s fair to say that a cavity brick built house with a proper DPM should be sound at its core but it’s the floors, internal walls and joinery which tend to let houses down. It’s easy to build the frame but it’s the stuff inside it that costs so much. That’s why high end houses tend to be cavity brick with reinforced concrete floors - that way you get good insulation, sound proofing and strength.

As has already been mentioned, stud walls throughout a property is a plague and sadly the norm with new builds.

I’m a surveyor and visits hundreds of new build sites and the standard of workmanship ranges from shocking to decent - it depends on the construction method, the site and the developer.

I have found Redrow to be fairly decent and linden homes in the past too but it is site dependent.

my mother and father in law bought their current home in 1999 from David Wilson homes and its lovely. It’s in a very quiet road, has a perfectly decent front and rear garden, double drive way and isn’t positioned with 2 foot of the neighbours house.

these days the same house would likely have a smaller drive, smaller gardens and would cost three times what they paid for it. It would also be about an inch from next door.
 
fastwunz said:
Between 1940 and 1980, you will find a raft of shoddy construction.

Post war there was a serious lack of man power and so local authorities experimented a lot with construction that was quick and cheap.

Wimpey no fines, Steel frame, in situ concrete, hoop iron etc etc - so many issues.

It’s fair to say that a cavity brick built house with a proper DPM should be sound at its core but it’s the floors, internal walls and joinery which tend to let houses down. It’s easy to build the frame but it’s the stuff inside it that costs so much. That’s why high end houses tend to be cavity brick with reinforced concrete floors - that way you get good insulation, sound proofing and strength.

As has already been mentioned, stud walls throughout a property is a plague and sadly the norm with new builds.

I’m a surveyor and visits hundreds of new build sites and the standard of workmanship ranges from shocking to decent - it depends on the construction method, the site and the developer.

I have found Redrow to be fairly decent and linden homes in the past too but it is site dependent.

my mother and father in law bought their current home in 1999 from David Wilson homes and its lovely. It’s in a very quiet road, has a perfectly decent front and rear garden, double drive way and isn’t positioned with 2 foot of the neighbours house.

these days the same house would likely have a smaller drive, smaller gardens and would cost three times what they paid for it. It would also be about an inch from next door.
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There was a linden homes next to the taylor wimpey site. They had all sold, but looked quite good from the outside at least.

any thoughts on Jelson homes? Not visited them yet, but the website says they are solid brick internal walls, oak doors and what looks like an half decent kitchen. The development near us also has Virgin media on site so all the cabling is done to each room with faceplates which is quite good.
 
Maccapacca said:
Don’t think any volume housing ever built has been a great standard. Most are just above the minimum standard at the time.

People bleat on that their 1930s house is great quality but they fail to mention or appreciate it’s had 90 years of maintenance and upgrades, many have had damp issues fixed and had to be underpinned.

If you want a good quality home you’ll have to pay for it. There are good quality house builders out there.
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Very true this.

I'd never go for an older house because of the horror damp stories you hear, whilst modern builds can be poorly put together, at least with modern building techniques they're not likely to suffer damp issues.

Your absolute best case scenario if you've got the money is to purchase some land or a house for demolition, and then pay for a local builder/firm to build the house from scratch - at least that way you can verify issues on the way rather than be given a completed shell and have to go around looking for issues.
 
Semple said:
Very true this.

I'd never go for an older house because of the horror damp stories you hear, whilst modern builds can be poorly put together, at least with modern building techniques they're not likely to suffer damp issues.

Your absolute best case scenario if you've got the money is to purchase some land or a house for demolition, and then pay for a local builder/firm to build the house from scratch - at least that way you can verify issues on the way rather than be given a completed shell and have to go around looking for issues.
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I imagine the snagging list is just as long, if not longer... But it is truly 'yours' then.
 
clv101 said:
Would you consider self building? Far more common on the content than here but it puts you in control.
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would love to but there is a compound problem:

getting a good plot - planning being very difficult, a mine field and property developers snapping up all plots and stuffing as many houses on it as they can get away with.

financing - you’ll need at least a 30% deposit to get something started. So £100,000 cash on hand.
 
You have to aim for an older home where someone’s already taken the big hits having CH put in, fixing sagging bay windows, had good double glazing fitted etc.

Just make sure that the silly sods haven’t blocked up all the airbricks.
 
The builders who built my bungalow in 1972 must have been way ahead their time.
I virtually had to gut it and start again.
Now 10 years on I refuse to polish this piece of ***** anymore.

Best house I ever bought was built in 1934.
 
NHBC regulations can be bent/abused too David Wilson/Cambourne

... As an architect, I have some knowledge of the requirements of the Building Acts concerning thermal insulation. Seeking further information, I consulted the local Building Control Department and subsequently, the NHBC Inspection Department in York. I was staggered to learn that David Wilson Homes circumvent the usual requirement for a U-value of 0.45W/sq.m/deg C through the walls by using the ‘trade-off’ method of calculation rather than the usual elemental approach. In other words, you avoid the need to insulate the wall cavities by (theoretically) improving the insulation elsewhere. As a result, the U-value through your walls is only 0.7W/sq.m/deg C – the standard requirement of the 1976 Regulations – hardly a modern standard of insulation. The word ‘cheapskate’ springs to mind.
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- stuck in my mind from earlier thread , it's a bit like VW
 
kindai said:
Ive been looking at self building due to this reason.

The biggest problem is finding the land itself :(
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The government needs to sort something out. Most people wanting to self build will also be looking to build very efficient housing and yet here we are with them propping up mega developers who refuse to innovate (given, they can’t get their current product right!).

I’m not sure how it would work, maybe a tax exemption if you build and live in it for 5 years
 
TheOracle said:
There was a linden homes next to the taylor wimpey site. They had all sold, but looked quite good from the outside at least.

any thoughts on Jelson homes? Not visited them yet, but the website says they are solid brick internal walls, oak doors and what looks like an half decent kitchen. The development near us also has Virgin media on site so all the cabling is done to each room with faceplates which is quite good.
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never heard of them - although oak doors a d solid brick internal walls is certainly a positive
 
stuman said:
The government needs to sort something out. Most people wanting to self build will also be looking to build very efficient housing and yet here we are with them propping up mega developers who refuse to innovate (given, they can’t get their current product right!).

I’m not sure how it would work, maybe a tax exemption if you build and live in it for 5 years
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Exactly, looking at some of the self build options I could bosh out something twice the size and quality as these companies for half the cost.

Problem is, want this pittance of land? Sure, 200k. Oh no planning permission so good luck.
 
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