Howard Houses

Howard houses are a form of metal frame construction with exposed columns to the corners and thin concrete panel walls. They also have metal beams internally. Roofs are of a shallow pitch and covered with metal sheets. Asbestos cement panels may also be present.

BISF Houses

The first thing to recognise when inspecting a house is whether or not it is of traditional or non-traditional construction. A traditionally built house may be described as one constructed from bricks and mortar. An example of a non-traditional house is one built from a concrete or steel frame with small or large panel walls. There are many, many different types. Spotting one is obvious in most cases, but not always.

The photo below is of a BISF house. BISF stands for British Iron and Steel Federation. They were built in the early post war years when there was a shortage of traditional building materials. They have concrete walls at ground floor level and a metal frame above with metal panels bolted on. The roof structure is also a metal frame and is covered with metal sheets (or sometimes asbestos cement panels in the early days).

Obtaining a mortgage on one can be difficult and they used to be subject to limited lending criteria. Perhaps someone could update me on that. Consequently relatively few found themselves into private hands. Market values are usually always less than a comparable traditionally built house. From an investment point of view, you may get a good return, if you can get a mortgage on one.

I'm doing a number of posts on non-traditional housing from today. All can be found on my Facebook Page - Hallworth House Survey Education. If you 'like' the page and click, 'get notifications', they should appear on your timeline. Enjoy reading.