Schindler Houses

When does an unmortgageable house fool the surveyor into thinking it is mortgageable? The photo below is of a Schindler House. These are another form of non-traditional construction, with a hidden frame, but brick external walls and a traditional roof. Like the Airey, Cornish and Wates houses shown in earlier posts, they were designated defective and cannot be mortgaged.

The problem is that the frame is well hidden and they appear to be traditional brick structures from the outside and from within the roof space. Worse still, estates where they are located often also contain traditionally built counterparts side by side. They all look the same. There is a risk that the unwary surveyor will not recognise a Schindler house from a traditional house. In the photo, the house on the left has re-built walls, indicating that it has been subject to a repair scheme. The house to the right has its original walls in situ. However, there are alternative repair schemes for this type of dwelling which can be performed from the inside, allowing the original walls to remain. Therefore it is possible that the right hand house has also been repaired. If you enter a local authority estate where some of the houses have rebuilt walls, it is a sign that Schindler Houses may be present. I'm going to rest the subject of non-traditional construction for now and move onto something else. If you've enjoyed this six part series, 'like' my page at Hallworth House Survey Education and click 'get notifications' to receive future posts of this kind on your timeline.