Buying a Modular home

szwh14

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if you could kindly help me please? I currently own a terrace house and would like to sell it to purchase a modular home. I am unsure whether it is the right move to make. If someone would let me know their experience. Could you kindly shed some light on the matter and let me know if they are durable, or appreciate in value if I was to resell, fire-risk (in comparison to conventional homes). etc. that would be great.

Thank you

ProDave

What do you meant by a "modular home"?

Do you mean a mobile home? i.e. a residential caravan? or aomething else?

eddddy

Do you mean that you want to buy a piece of building land, get planning consent to build a modular house, and then buy and build the modular house?

The land should appreciate in value, but I'm not sure about the modular house.

Also, it might be very difficult to get a mortgage for a project like that.

szwh14

As far as i understand they (modular homes) are built in a factory (assembly lines) and then put together on site. with foundations.

The company will deal with buying land, planning etc i would be getting the finished product.

Would it be difficult to get a mortgage on a completed modular house?

Cornucopia

The issue in most of London & the South East is that suitable building land with planning permission is hard to find and expensive.

Elsewhere in the country, land may be cheaper, but then house prices are lower, too.

Having looked at self-build myself in the past, I couldn't make the figures work at a reasonable risk level, anywhere other than Scotland (outskirts of Glasgow or Edinburgh).

Tom99

Go for a Huf Haus, you can be on Grand Designs then.

https://www.huf-haus.com/uk/europa/london/

But it won't be cheap.

Doozergirl

Why this company? There's very little detail on the website. Absolutely no case studies, no pictures of real houses.

Light guage steel frame sounds a bit random, considering that the aim of most self/custom build is to be high quality, highly insulated with little in the way of thermal bridging.

You'd need to check that the system is acceptable to mortgage lenders if you need one or ever want to sell.

I'm struggling to find anything to be excited about there and we've judt placed an order for a part manufactured off-site house.

eddddy

szwh14 wrote: »

The company will deal with buying land, planning etc i would be getting the finished product.

Are you sure? How exactly does that work?

Are you saying that you say "I'd like to buy a modular home in Watford please" - and they find a building plot in Watford for you, buy it, get planning consent, build the house and then sell it to you?

Or you find a building plot, and then they buy it on your behalf?

Or do they have a 'stock' of building plots that they already own, and you choose one? (If so where is their list of available plots?)

I think you may have misunderstood.

chappers

hmmm.

Nothing wrong with the construction technique, lots of buildings are built this way, though currently mostly commercial.
Looking at this lot though, I wouldn't be handing them any of my cash.

They operate out of serviced offices in London
Companies house reveals they are a group of three companies, two of which appear to be dormant and the other hardly looks like it has the business is doing much as it has motions to be compulsorily struck off.
The director holds several other posts in similarly non trading companies all loosely based around the same sector.
At best they will be working as agents for another manufacturer

ProDave

Yes, what you are talking about is prefabricated house. I know of one firm near me that builds such buildings. They can be extremely well built and extremely well insulated, but like all build methods, how good depends on the individual builder, so get recommendations.

Once built, I would not refer to it as a "modular home" ever again. That is just asking for a "non standard construction" label to be pinned to it. In reality, the finished house is no different to any other timber framed house. The only difference being a modular house was assembled mostly inside a dry factory whereas a normal timber framed house was assembled on site, outside in all weathers until the roof was on.

As with ANY self build, finding the land is the crux. Find a plot first, then decide what build method you are
going to use.

szwh14

If a house comes with a 10 year NHCB warranty what does that mean? does that mean they are as good as normal houses?