Cussins Houses

This is a follow up post, following my article about BISF houses, back in January. BISF houses are easy to recognise. Another metal framed house you may come across is the Cussins house. These are much less common. A photo of one is shown below.

At a first glance, they appear to be traditional brick, but looking more closely, you can see the bricks are stacked rather than laid in the usual way. Then you'll notice vertical and horizontal joints. In fact they are not brick, but concrete panels with a brick effect design, bolted onto a metal frame.

It may be possible to get a mortgage on a Cussins house, but expect very limited lending criteria. It is also likely that the obtaining of a intrusive structural report will be a condition of the mortgage. The frame extends down to ground level, where there is a risk of corrosion. They can also suffer from failure of the fixings between the panels and frame. It would be great to hear from anyone who has had experience of a Cussins house! Next, I will post about non-traditional houses that you will not get a mortgage on, so look out. To see previous posts on building defects check out my Page at Hallworth House Survey Education. If you click 'like', then 'get notifications' then future posts should appear on your timeline.