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.

Dyke CCC Houses

This is another large panel system and designated defective. The storey height concrete panels are easily visible at first floor level. The ground floor walls are rendered. Roofs are of the hip style. Problems include cracking between panels and metal reinforcement corrosion.

Unity Houses

These have storey height reinforced concrete columns linked at ceiling level by metal beams spanning front to rear. They are faced externally with concrete panels. Unity houses are also designated defective due to cracking of the panels and corrosion of metal fixings.

Gregory Houses

The pair of semi-detached houses in the photograph below look like Cornish Type I at first glance, but they do not have any visible columns and beams. Have not inspected these myself, but they are consistent in appearance with Gregory houses. This is another form on non-traditional concrete construction, also designated defective.

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.

Wates Houses

The house pictured in the photographs below is of large panel concrete construction, where the panels are the height of one full storey. This one is probably a Wates house. It was located on an estate of like dwellings, now demolished and redeveloped. They are still a common sight on some local authority estates.

There will be two more articles in this series, then I will move onto a new topic. To have my posts delivered to your timeline 'like' my FB page at Hallworth House Survey Education, then click 'get notifications'.

Airey Houses

Following on from yesterdays post about Cussins Houses and the earlier one about BISF Houses, in this artical I'm talking about a different type of non-traditionally constructed dwelling - The Airey House. Both BISF and Cussins houses can be mortgaged, but Airey Houses in their original state cannot. Most of them have gone now, but used to be a common sight, often in small cul-de-sacs in village locations. They are built from reinforced concrete columns, with an external leaf of concrete panels and plasterboard dry lining on the inside. Note the tile clad top to the gable end. This is a common feature of many types of non-traditional construction.

The problem was that the concrete columns were too thin, allowing moisture to penetrate, leading to corrosion of the metal reinforcement. They were designated defective in legislation and are not mortgageable on any terms. There were (and may still be) approved repair schemes, usually involving removal of the concrete components and replacement with modern cavity brick and blockwork, as can be seen on the next photo. You may notice a difference in colour of the brickwork, indicating that the reconstruction of each semi was done at different times. Once repaired in this way, the houses should be mortgageable, provided all the necessary documentation is in place.

My other posts on building defect related matters can be found on my Facebook Page at Hallworth House Survey Education. 'Like' the page and click 'get notifications' to receive future posts on your timeline.