UK house quality

RelievedSheff · 8 November 2019 at 7:51PM

If you are looking at houses and flats that are £400k within 50 miles of London then you are looking at the budget end of the market.

We have lived in several houses ranging from a 1890 Victorian villa, a 1937 semi and currently a 2019 new build detached. So have lived with and experienced the progression of housing construction in the UK.

While the villa was beautiful, it was cold , drafty, impossible to heat and generally too much upkeep to keep it to standard.

The 1937 semi was much cheaper to run but really not built very well corners had been cut.

By far and away our favourite of the three is our current new build. It is solidly built, well designed for modern living, highly insulated and very energy efficient. Everything has been thought through.

You really cant put all UK housing under one banner as there is such a variation in age, design and construction in UK housing stock.

Cocorita · 8 November 2019 at 9:16PM

WOW I'm impressed at the bad reaction this post had and how mean some of the answers are. Seems like he touched a nerve?

I'm sorry to say, but the OP is right.
The building quality in the UK is terrible compared to some countries.
New houses are generally crap done quickly, with low skilled people and low quality materials. (Don't want to believe me? Believe her: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/don-t-be-fooled-by-shoddy-new-homes-kirstie-allsopp-warns-buyers-r57s8hvsr and them: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47826166)

Refurbished property (from 80's to 1800's and older properties) is a lottery: you can find some beautifully and carefully done houses, but generally when trying to buy in the mid range, you will find poorly refurbished properties, and many many of those with any characted just ripped off from them.

My personal theory is that the UK is plagued by greediness and resent.

At one side (greedy one) you have the people that buy properties, send the cheapest idiots they can find to strip it completely (cornices, fireplaces, everything, such a sad thing...) and finish it quickly and badly to rent it out to people (the other side, the resentul one) that clearly won't give a blip to keep it in good order because "i'm being ripped off by a monster" (which is usually true) or to sell it to a poor soul that has been saving like crazy to buy it and have no extra money to fix it, for years.
Also, since self building is almost unknown here, people have no choice but to buy from big building companies that we all know are there for the profit and are not properly regulated.

Don't make me start with the abuse of plasterboard everywhere, the cheap flooring, kitchen cabinets that are made to look ok only for a couple of years, etc.

I've seen HORRORS that in another parts of the world a builder would not even TRY to get away with, just because is bloody common sense and they have some pride. And it happens in expensive and inexpensive property, mind.
Last one I saw, it was an amazing old stair banister CUT randonly to make space for a spiral staircase, complete madness:

:eek:

Now, I'm not saying that ALL houses in the UK are like shanty town huts (calm down misus, I promise the rest of the world don't think you, personally, live like a chav) or all builders are a disgrace. But is fairly common to see disasters and cowboy builders "spreading the love". Much more than in other parts of the world.

Rocksolid · 8 November 2019 at 9:17PM

I was a builder, so I'm aware of certain things guys

. Comparing my country is not correct, too general, but on the other side you can't tell me that if I spend one million for something at 50 miles from London is a good idea, if we talk in absolute terms, I'm sure will build what I want, obviously I can't pay that amount.

How much did you pay for it? Are the walls sound proof? How many m2 of construction? 2 floors or only ground floor? How much terrain in total? Location?

Regarding previous questions, I was talking about Buckinghamshire (as maximum Northampton or big cities before) , or near Slough.

Dedekind · 8 November 2019 at 9:21PM

I don't understand what that staircase has to do with this. Bad taste is one thing, bad build quality is a different thing. It's an example of someone with bad taste ruining an otherwise perfectly built house.

And new builds tend to be bad almost everywhere, not just UK.

Davy_Jones_II · 8 November 2019 at 9:33PM

Rocksolid wrote: »

Regarding the location, the London zone is also 50 miles away, probably 25 miles radius, due to the commute possibility.

I can't imagine to pay 400k for such low quality, small garage and small garden.
Do you see the same guys or it's just me?

If you are British I doubt you can see it, I had the same debate with other British, they look like do not follow my speech, between foreigners we see it clearly, but for one reason or another one, people keep buying

Xenophobia is never a pleasant trait. If you are going to choose to make your home here then starting out like this doesn’t seem to be a great idea.

The U.K. is a wealthy country, and quite densely populated, so housing tends to be expensive, meaning for a given budget more of the money goes on the land costs and less on the construction than in poorer countries. I’d recommend thinking a bit more before posting rubbish like this, getting your head down at work, and earning enough to buy somewhere nice.

Cocorita · 8 November 2019 at 9:34PM

what has to do? That a proper bulder would refuse to do this?
xD

TELLIT01 · 8 November 2019 at 9:43PM

I certainly won't dispute the claim that many houses, particularly those on large developments, are very poorly built these days. You only have to look at the reports about Persimmon Homes to see the truth in that.

However, to brand all housing in the UK because of that is ridiculous. House prices in the area around London are ridiculously inflated, but that's because demand greatly outstrips supply, and land for building is eye wateringly expensive. You cannot compare the cost of property in different countries as far too many factors are involved.

Rocksolid · 8 November 2019 at 9:47PM

You took it personally, I'm not saying UK sucks.

I can even get a mortgage for 600k, but I wouldn't give neither 300k to an house no sound proof.
I mean the walls are paper, the roof really tiny and I'm bit concerned with this wind in UK, doors are bit funny, not paper but extremely light wood, same story.

Robbery there is also here, not only in my !!!!! country, so a secure door that at least you can close properly rather than smashing the door or the trigger would be a nice have.

This is what I've seen in brand new houses around Buckinghamshire.
I don't want to say that building with concrete (good quality and level) is the right thing nowadays, but at least I would expect proper wood, not paper walls, a proper door locker and decent doors (OK those weren't so bad).
I didn't get this for 400k in Buckinghamshire, aprox 2-3 bedrooms, so, what's the budget for what I want?
I'll go to see houses for 600k, let's see what changes, I'm sure only for the design and good looking interior, I just smell this in my next search

Rocksolid · 8 November 2019 at 9:52PM

I'm not comparing with Italy guys in terms of money, just the way and materials used in the process.

My search for a good house didn't finish, so I didn't look all the UK possibilities

Looking the price itself, I don't consider 400k a good price for what I get, I'm counting with my UK salary obviously and salary average here, that doesn't allow neither to take a mortgage for 150-200k, just to make things clear, unless you use the help to buy, but if for 400k I get that, I can't imagine for 200k.

RelievedSheff · 8 November 2019 at 10:13PM

You need to look out of the London box. You get more for your money the further out of London you look.

And it isn't just London most major cities are the same.

We moved out of Sheffield because our budget didn't buy anything we would be happy living in. In the end we moved to Worksop, 16 miles from work in Sheffield, but that meant we got a brand new 3 bed detached house with garage in a nice area. It would have struggled to get us a terrace with no parking in a mediocre area of Sheffield.

Look further afield. You might be surprised what you find in your budget.

Dont look at distance look at actual travel time to work. Despite living 16 miles from work we do the commute in exactly the same time as we did from our old house in Sheffield which was 5 miles from work. We are no longer having to get across the city in nose to tail traffic.

UK house quality

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