BISF Houses

Few non-traditionally constructed houses can be as easy to notice as these when in their original state. They are BISF houses. 'BISF' stands for British Iron and Steel Federation. When I was as a student of surveying houses a long time ago, I was told that 'BISF' stood for British Industrial Steel Frame, but have not heard that term since, so don't use it. 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). The photo below was taken a long time ago and shows examples of the original metal windows.

Unlike the Airey, Cornish and Wates houses discussed in my earlier posts in this series, BISF houses are not designated defective in legislation and can be mortgaged, but obtaining a mortgage on one can be difficult as they are subject to limited lending criteria. Typically, this used to be 75% loan to value, which means that the buyer must stump up 25% of the purchase price in cash. Most are found on local authority estates. Consequently relatively few found themselves into private hands through the Right to Buy scheme. Market values are usually always less than a comparable traditionally built house however. From an investment point of view, you may get a good return, if you can get a mortgage on one.

One half of the pair of BISF semis shown above appears to have walls reconstructed in modern brickwork. Did not inspect this house myself, but suspect this is a brick cladding over the original metal frame. Unless all the houses on the estate are treated in this way, there is no way of disguising the history of the dwelling. Such works are unlikely to be cost effective. Many BISF houses have been clad with external insulation. This gives the houses a more modern and traditional appearance and improved thermal resistance of the walls. I'll doing further posts on non-traditional housing, each briefly examining some of the most common types. All can be found on my Facebook Page - Hallworth House Survey Education. If you have an interest in this subject, are an investor or regular buyer of houses, keep in touch as I am sharing lots of information that you'll find interesting. If you look up the Page on Facebook, 'like' the page and click 'get notifications' from the menu, they should appear on your timeline. Enjoy reading.

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.