Wooden houses

SnowyOwl_2

Hi Jo4

I live in a development of timber framed houses, and bought mine one year ago brand new. The house next door to me which is completely identical to mine in terms of build, floor space, layout etc etc (except for kitchen, bathroom and cosmetic finish of course) is on the market for just under double what I paid for mine.

Some people are a bit iffy about buying timber framed houses as they seem to think that they are noisier (not true) or draftier (not true) than standard (brick) construction houses. There might be other reasons but I am not aware of them.

The usual factors of location, proximity to schools, proximity to main roads/shops, internal layout etc etc etc all still apply in how much people are willing to pay when considering the purchase of any house, including timberframed.

There are 60-70 houses in the development where I am - aside from a few cash buyers I would guestimate there are c50-60 mortgages in this neighbourhood! When they go back on the market the Sold sign is up in about a month or two. So somebody must be lending on timber framed houses!!

I'm in N.Ireland btw.

Jo4

SnowyOwl wrote:

Hi Jo4

I'm in N.Ireland btw.

YIPEE! I am in N. Ireland so what you have said gives me some reassurance.

Jo4

Following advice from an architect he is of the opinion that it would be cheapest for us to sell our house, buy land and put a new house on it. Second cheapest idea would be to renovate the existing house and the dearest option, although it is only about £10,000 dearer than second option is to put a new house up where we live and toss the existing house.

We do not have a clue what to do. We are happy here and so far we haven't seen any land for sale that takes our interest in the slightest and we aren't even fussy! I am totally confused!!

gizmoleeds

Jo4 wrote:

Following advice from an architect he is of the opinion that it would be cheapest for us to sell our house, buy land and put a new house on it. Second cheapest idea would be to renovate the existing house and the dearest option, although it is only about £10,000 dearer than second option is to put a new house up where we live and toss the existing house.

We do not have a clue what to do. We are happy here and so far we haven't seen any land for sale that takes our interest in the slightest and we aren't even fussy! I am totally confused!!

You don't see much land for sale these days, and I find it hard to imagine that it would only cost £10k more if you demolish your current (and I presume, perfectly good) house. Plus you would have to find somewhere to live for the duration of the demolition/build.

Although it is a long-shot, you could try and find a house (occupied) locally with a lot of land and approach the owner to see if they would be willing to sell a bit of it for your development (subject to planning).

lush_walrus

Jo4 wrote:

Following advice from an architect he is of the opinion that it would be cheapest for us to sell our house, buy land and put a new house on it. Second cheapest idea would be to renovate the existing house and the dearest option, although it is only about £10,000 dearer than second option is to put a new house up where we live and toss the existing house.

We do not have a clue what to do. We are happy here and so far we haven't seen any land for sale that takes our interest in the slightest and we aren't even fussy! I am totally confused!!

I think your architect has over simplified things as the ease of each option will not really just come down to costs, but also availability of land, ease of obtaining planning permission etc. Im not sure if things are less competitive in N Ireland, but in S England trying to find suitable land would be a full time job and if you are happy with the size and location of the land your house is on at the moment for the sake of demolition costs I would certainly opt for that!

Ive read through the thread, but Im not entirely sure that of what you are aiming at or why you are thinking of opting for a timber framed house?

If its because you want a pre-fabricated house, then Timber framed houses are not necessarily pre fabricated, nor are pre fabricated houses necessarily timber, infact mostly they aren't and are more likely to be constructed of concrete units that are dropped into place on site.

If its for the effect of the property appearing to be timber, then timber cladding onto blockwork will work out a cheaper option and give the desired effect of a timber appearance, unless you are looking for something similar to a chalet?

Jo4

gizmoleeds wrote:

You don't see much land for sale these days, and I find it hard to imagine that it would only cost £10k more if you demolish your current (and I presume, perfectly good) house. Plus you would have to find somewhere to live for the duration of the demolition/build.

Although it is a long-shot, you could try and find a house (occupied) locally with a lot of land and approach the owner to see if they would be willing to sell a bit of it for your development (subject to planning).

It would cost £10,000 more to put up a new house on existing land than to renovate existing house! Therefore new house on existing land = renovation of existing house + £10,000. Hope that makes sense!

carnet

Sorry, but can't quite see the purpose of this thread .

For the past 25+ years a high proportion of all new residential properties have been timber framed (with brick outer-leaf) and this trend continues to increase.

There is absolutely no problem with buildings insurance and these properties are treated no differently by Insurers to other, more "traditional" forms of construction.

They are also bought and sold just as readily as any other residential properties.

Jo4

lush_walrus wrote:

Ive read through the thread, but Im not entirely sure that of what you are aiming at or why you are thinking of opting for a timber framed house?

If its for the effect of the property appearing to be timber, then timber cladding onto blockwork will work out a cheaper option and give the desired effect of a timber appearance, unless you are looking for something similar to a chalet?

I am aiming to decide whether I should
1 Sell existing house, purchase land and build there.
2 Renovate existing house.
3 Build new house on existing land.

I know nothing about the different style of houses, perhaps someone would like to educate me?! A big thing in my area at the moment is timber framed houses. There is timber on the inside and block on the outside. If we were to build a new house I was wondering whether we should consider timbered framed houses or not. I want to consider all options before moving/renovating/new build.

Jo4

carnet wrote:

Sorry, but can't quite see the purpose of this thread .

Timber framed houses are a new thing in my area which I know nothing about and I wanted to get the opinions of others on this site who knew about them. After all if I got a timber frame house that I didn't like, there was problems with, couldn't sell etc, etc, etc, it would not be good moneysaving and after all that is what this site is about!!

gizmoleeds

Ignore carnet's rudeness.

You are quite right to be asking questions about this and researching an option which may be cheaper to build or run than an ordinary brick house.

When you say building on existing land - do you mean building alongside your current house or in place of it? (I am asking out of curiosity - I don't have much more to add here other than that I think it is a good thing to consider).