UK house quality

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  • This is a bit of a silly post, really.

    OP, you’ve seen only a few properties, and quite likely at the lower end of the market, so you aren’t yet in a place to know how houses are in general.

    My flat was built in 1802, has survived a direct hit from the luftwaffe, and continues to be as solid as the day it was completed.

    My house in the North was completed in 1850 and, again, is rock solid.
  • Ah, Italian building standards... The absolute pinnacle of the construction industry.
    I've seen mostly builders from other countries, and there they do it in the proper way with good quality materials, good isolation and solid structure.

    Is this the same 'proper way' as the houses in Amatrice which was devastated by an earthquake thanks to "negligent" building standards, "unlawful building" and "m@f!a-controlled companies, using cheaper and, sometimes inadequate" building materials.

    Perhaps you should get your own house in order, eh?
  • snowcat75
    snowcat75 Posts: 2,283
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    Davesnave wrote: »
    I agree, the quality control sometimes isn't great.



    I guess we just build houses like Italians build cars. :)

    lets hope they can wire 110v better than 12v;)
  • leviathan
    leviathan Posts: 257
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    OP, you’ve seen only a few properties, and quite likely at the lower end of the market, so you aren’t yet in a place to know how houses are in general.


    Sory but I agree with him. In the various jobs I've held one was working in the house building trade, as a high end AV installer. That's going back 15years and the houses were around the 700K mark, so double that and a bit more in todays figures.
    TBH I found that regardless of the cost the same trades were working on them so the same shoddy mistakes would be made.
    The building trade cuts corners, because it's cheaper to do so. NHBC might well catch many snags but they have worked out that its' cheaper to snag than it is to do it right first time.


    Go look at an estate built with exterior wood from the 90's onward. It'll be rotten away because it's all done with pine. A softwood. Externally. Because it's cheap.There is no pride in long lating work. Cuts into profit.


    The problem with UK house building vs many countries is planned estates. Countries like NZ for example you tend to buy a plot and do a sort of self build. Tends to mean better quality.
    Sorry to label, but people buying houses in estates from showrooms more often than not are clueless about what they are buying, they've just convinced themselves that buying new is better because it's new. And they are likely unable to do any form of DIY. And then pay over the odds for that new home.
  • Rocksolid
    Rocksolid Posts: 317
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    I wouldn't be focused on double glass, as are not my concerne, I wouldn't live in such house.
    I renteded in an area where other houses were still in building process, mine was costing almost 400k, and the interiors, even if look nice, actually cracks everywhere, and no isolation between rooms, first problem zero privacy, second problem is if for a mistake you hit the wall you open an hole.

    Yes in Italy we have many problems, but walls are done with concrete or how you call it in English.

    The earthquake zone in the center is another story, !!!!!, old houses, etc, the rest is still up and running even if is red zone since 20 years.

    I've seen also how the build the roof in UK, I'm not surprised I was a bit scared when a simple cat was walking on it, or when there was wind I could literally hear a lot.

    I'm not searching for a discussion to offend, I'm just imaging myself to be presented such house and be asked for 400k around 25-50 miles from London...
  • spadoosh
    spadoosh Posts: 8,732
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    Your first mistake was thinking London is the UK. From that, everything else you put is meaningless.

    Yup wholeheartedly agree with you, London is a hole.

    I can imagine a large part of the reason of the standards not being that great are largely to do with developers being able to take advantage of the ignorance of those who live there (ie primarily young and foreign).
  • dunroving
    dunroving Posts: 1,881
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    Pardon my ignorance but I'm still trying to figure out what you mean by "isolation between rooms"
    (Nearly) dunroving
  • Rocksolid
    Rocksolid Posts: 317
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    Still I need to see more about UK, that's true, but at 50 miles distance we can say that London is a bit far, no? ��
    Yeah, I don't like London btw.

    With isolation I mean sound isolation.
    I would add also the door lockers to the list, really something I can't understand, closing a door is a job every morning, happened in 3 houses... A normal key rather than to pull up the trigger? ��
  • There is a lot wrong with newer houses and large estates, particularly from the bigger builders who build down to a price, and as described in some of the posts above. But standards do vary, as they do in Italy, and generally electrics are better here, and brickwork too! A lot of Italian building is just pouring concrete, and when done to standard it's good ma...You won't get 'porte blindate', but then Italians are paranoid about security, as anyone who has heard their neighbour locking their front door will understand!



    Incidentally 'isolation' is a bit of an amico falso - it would be insulation for thermal and sound-proofing for beh.. sound!:-)
  • Dedekind
    Dedekind Posts: 224
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    What's wrong with the roofs? A cat won't break it certainly.

    Most walls at least for old ish houses are built with solid bricks. What's better than bricks for a wall?

    Door locks what's wrong? Do you mean the typical nightlatch? You get used to them. I didn't like them. Still Not all doors have one and certainly if you buy a house, changing the locks for something you like is one of the easiest and cheapest things you can do.

    400k 25-50 miles from London can mean anything. What area? What size?

    Nobody is forcing you to buy!

    I think you are overreacting a bit. As said if old houses where ~ 60 million people live are still sound and safe, that speaks of good quality to me.
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