This stance towards timber framed housing is very dated.
People used to love concrete houses - "must be solid etc" - before they found them damp and susceptible towards concrete cancer.
Those old fashioned oak beamed houses do ok eh? Plus bricks aren't very environmentally friendly and most of 'brick' built houses are made using breeze blocks for the structure.
That said, if these houses are pre-made in China, i'd want to see their FSC certification, their CE rating, BSS cert etc.
I wouldn't use Chinese timber to put a roof on my shed let alone build a house out of it.
Apologies in advance for this, I am aware I am being prejudiced here, but if you have ever bought anything from a Chinese shop, you would not want to live in a house made there.
Apologies in advance for this, I am aware I am being prejudiced here, but if you have ever bought anything from a Chinese shop, you would not want to live in a house made there.
Nothing wrong with timber houses at all. Have great insulation properties and if constructed well using quality materials you can build equally sound houses as brick. Look at Scandinavia and North America and Canada.
What these look like are cheap timber framed plywood skins with decent enough insulation. Will they still be habitable in 100 years ? I can't see it. I certainly wouldn't want to pay money for one.
Cheap affordable ? Homes for the plebs.
As you say, nothing wrong with them. We do have some very old oak framed ones in this country too. But we all know these are not going to be top end or anything close. More like mass produced crud like post war prefabs, loved by those who didn't live in them.
Very different climates in Scandinavia and Canada to ours.
Pacific coast of Canada in British Columbia has a very mild and wet climate.
Timber houses are still very common. The timber houses constructed in both Canada and Scandinavia use top end timber. I fully expect the construction of these units will be done like most other new constructs in the UK using cheapest materials possible and made to look good but with no thought for longevity.
I wouldn't buy one. Don't think you'll see many Tory politicians moving into one either.
It's a smoke and mirrors cheapest possible attempt to help solve the housing crisis. In the short term it will help I'm sure but God knows what state these properties will be in after fifty years
50 years is pushing it quite a bit. I worked on The Millenium Village for 4 years as a window fitter and was told by an architect that the life span for these buildings was 25 years.
Well if that's even remotely accurate then these buildings will be worthless in terms of a property investment and will not be mortgageable. If the builds are showing big problems in thirty years time who in there right mind would offer a mortgage that ends in another 25 years ? What's more who would burden themselves with them ?
I still maintain its a godsend and cheap option godsend for the politicians to resolve the housing crisis. By the time the poor quality time bomb explodes they will be long out of office and comfortable in their brick built piles.
The article says "Chinese state-owned construction firm signs £2.5bn deal to build modular homes with UK housing association." So I presume these properties are for rent and not to buy.
It is fairly obvious that these are cheap houses for the poor. As harsh as that sounds the poor need to live somewhere and they would rather live in a cheap house than have nowhere to live.
Assuming that these properties will not, literally, fall down I can see the waiting list to buy them exceeding supply for decades. Even if they are not going to be acceptable to all the High Street lenders there will be something in place to ensure that first time buyers will be able to get mortgages on them.
The most crucial element of the demand for them will be the location. If they built them within an hours train to London they would be able to make a big impact in the housing shortage in the South East.
The problem with house building is that it HA developments are almost entirely off the back of new build for sale. A new development project will have 15-20% affordable tucked away at the back of an estate, which in the South will be £500k+ houses. We need to have whole estates built specifically for rental. Whether they are flat-packed or built by Chinese is irrelevant.
Comments
People used to love concrete houses - "must be solid etc" - before they found them damp and susceptible towards concrete cancer.
Those old fashioned oak beamed houses do ok eh? Plus bricks aren't very environmentally friendly and most of 'brick' built houses are made using breeze blocks for the structure.
That said, if these houses are pre-made in China, i'd want to see their FSC certification, their CE rating, BSS cert etc.
I wouldn't use Chinese timber to put a roof on my shed let alone build a house out of it.
More like mass produced crud like post war prefabs, loved by those who didn't live in them.
Not only do the existing residents love them, but there is a waiting to list of people who really want to live in them
Nothing to say, just wanted a break...
I still maintain its a godsend and cheap option godsend for the politicians to resolve the housing crisis. By the time the poor quality time bomb explodes they will be long out of office and comfortable in their brick built piles.
The three little pigs story springs to mind.
Let's wait and see what @GreenWithEnvy comes back with before we write this one off
Seth, Paddy, Jessie and GreenWithEnvy [vs] LTGTR, Greenie,
There's a bit of potential here for a decent 5-aside match too..
Assuming that these properties will not, literally, fall down I can see the waiting list to buy them exceeding supply for decades. Even if they are not going to be acceptable to all the High Street lenders there will be something in place to ensure that first time buyers will be able to get mortgages on them.
The most crucial element of the demand for them will be the location. If they built them within an hours train to London they would be able to make a big impact in the housing shortage in the South East.
What's not to like?
You'd have to ask him for a brief truce re: his ongoing beef with Irving. That one is now spanning quite a few threads