Non-Traditional Housing

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Non-traditional housing, what is it?

We have recently had a phone call asking what non-traditional housing is, as it had been referred to in a valuation that they had had carried out on their property and the lender had decided not to lend on the property because of this. Yet, from what they could see the property was in good order and they knew the person who had lived in it for the past thirty years, with no problems whatsoever. They went and had a look at the property again and it still looked to them like a traditional house and to be in good order. What was more they liked it and it had big garden too and they were mystified why they couldn't get a mortgage on it.

What do valuers and chartered surveyors mean when they say non-traditional construction?

It would probably be a better term if the term non-typical construction was used. If you think of a house or a flat and think how they are traditionally built, it is of brick and tile, or brick and slate, or stone and slate, or possibly render and tile, or render and slate, or timber frame, depending upon which part of the country you are from. This will be the traditional construction in that area of the country (although equally we would argue that timber frame construction is the traditional type of construction in most areas of the country, but we will leave that argument up for another day).

Non-traditional construction

Non-traditional construction can really be classed as construction techniques that utilise systems of building, focused on speed and economy of construction. It is the sort of construction that it used where a great deal of housing is required quickly, so it is often used by local authorities to mass build (although today it is also used with commercial construction companies and developers).

After the Great War we needed houses

In the UK after World War I and World War II our housing stock had been bombed and made safe by being demolished and the houses that there were there were fewer of. There had also been a lack of maintenance over the war years, as the workforce had been at war, and then the armed forces men were returning and they needed houses quickly. Various methods of non-traditional construction were proposed and built in the 1950's to 1960's.

Also, this type of construction has been used during boom years, such as the early 1970's and the late 1980's, where it has been hard to build quickly enough for supply and demand.

After the war years it took the form of large panel construction building and Wimpey's no fine concrete construction and Airey buildings and some high rise buildings. In the 1970's it took the form of cross-wall construction, with some high rise buildings and in the 1980's and 1990's it was modern timber frame construction, both for traditional two storey houses and also for low rise high density properties.

If it looks traditional construction even though it is constructed in a non-traditional way it is counted as traditional construction!

It could be argued that the houses being built, in what is known as modern timber frame, are as far away from traditional construction as houses that have been classed as non-traditional construction! They, for example, have been built out of concrete. However, this is where it really confusing as some non-traditional construction techniques look very similar to traditional construction techniques and can only be identified by the trained eye. Even more confusing is there are some traditional constructions that are accepted by the banks, building societies and mortgage lenders and others that are not. It is a fact that banks, building societies and mortgage lenders will lend on this type of construction and it is important factor.

Is it the way the structure works that makes a building traditional or non-traditional construction

To expand on this, a traditional old style timber frame property is built of oak to a one-off design. It certainly could be classed as the original traditional construction, as most houses were built in this form. However, in more recent times traditional construction has been thought of as brick and tile, or brick and slate, or stone and tile, stone and slate, etc, as we mentioned earlier.

When the original non-traditional housing was built there wasn't too much thought given to making it look externally like a traditional building. Therefore, some complained that they seem to have concrete finishes, be it painted concrete, which looks similar to render, or concrete planks, as in the Airey buildings. We would argue as these were easily identifiable and stood out they were more a target for mortgage lenders not lending on non-traditional construction that looks like traditional construction.

Modern timber frame construction that is non-traditional but will be lent on

Let us first of all explain what modern timber frame construction is. They are very much an engineered timber frame, that is an absolute minimum of timber and maximum strength characteristics. They are majority factory made and factory assembled and are built in mass, rather than being a one-off design and they have an external cladding for protection, often brickwork, although in more recent years render has been used, or cladding panels of timber and also plastic look alike timber. Modern timber frame properties are also finished with a membrane to stop any dampness from the external walls getting through (where it does happen it can distort or rot), as it can be in a traditional timber frame property.

The whole idea behind a modern timber frame construction is completely different, we would term a water construction. This is completely different to the traditional timber frame property that was built to breathe. However, the modern timber frame property is then cladded with brickwork or stone or cladding, such as vertical tiling, and looks very much like a traditional property.

The whole construction is based around the economics of cheap construction and fast construction, and this type of construction is very much assembled, rather than built by tradesmen, the de-skilling being another element in the economics of the construction. However when all is said and done the mortgage companies, such as the banks and building societies do lend against it.

Other more recent innovations within the modern timber frame market, such as using composite wood products for floor joists and also for the flooring, together with an increased use of external cladding, as it is more economical and faster to put up than brickwork.

Not lending against non-traditional construction

Interestingly, the techniques utilised for non-traditional construction after the war years tended to use more robust materials and more innovation. They fall into three categories:-

•  Structural frame

•  Large panel construction

•  Innovatory construction

Structural frame

This was very much where a structural frame was erected. The walls were then hung off. The danger factor for a mortgage company lending on this is if there is deterioration within the structural frame that is hidden. A lot of Local Authority housing was built in this manner, and other National companies requiring housing, such as the Coal Board, and utilising mass production techniques lowered the cost of the housing.

These type of houses also tended to use techniques that we hadn't used before in the housing market, although often we would use them in the commercial market.

Large panel construction

This, as the name suggests, is where rather than building small brick after small brick we used large panels, usually of concrete, which in themselves were a storey height and similar width, about two and a half metres square, and they literally interlocked. There have been problems with the reinforcement used in these and the connections of them, but we haven't come across these problems in the many years that we have been surveying.

Innovatory construction

We wouldn't think of a title for this, but we basically mean constructions that used innovation to look at building houses in a completely new way. An example is the Wimpey no fines concrete system, which is popular and, as far as we know, mortgage companies will lend upon it. It utilises almost a moulding system using form work. There is also pod construction, which is drilling pre-fabricated units, craned and positioned into placed and then an outer protective shell put around them. Lots of this type of construction was originally carried out by local authorities, as they had the pressure on them to build a large number of houses, and more recently by commercial companies, which had the pressure on them to make profits or returns for their investors.

Non-traditional houses becoming traditional houses?

Over the years there has been a need to convert non-traditional housing into traditional housing. It could be argued that the right to buy Council Housing stock made this an important factor, as it is those people who required a mortgage that required the amendments, as in many cases there was nothing physically wrong with the properties.

Also, large companies holding a large amount of housing stock, such as Council Housing and Housing Associations requiring the housing to be brought up to more modern standards for thermal efficiency, etc, have utilised innovative ways of upgrading (although we are not sure whether that's the right term). Their housing techniques normally involve a cladding system to improve thermal efficiency, along with the check on the structural elements. We have seen some of them practically re-build the original buildings, which ironically can be very difficult. Whilst we don't know the exact figures we imagine it would be almost as costly as building the property from scratch.

Whistle-stop tour of the non-traditional housing market

There are whole books dedicated to this area, so an article such as this can hardly present the subject of non-traditional housing in detail, but we hope this has given you a flavour and an interest for the subject.

Building Surveys or Structural Surveys

Modern Timber Frame Properties and their common problems

If you truly do want an independent expert opinion from a chartered surveyor, or a chartered building surveyor and are particularly interested in carrying out work on modern timber frame properties and if you are buying such a property please look at our survey examples. We feel our surveys are quite unique, as they are written to your level of knowledge. They include photos and sketches and definitions. They include an action required section and an estimate of costs in the executive summary. We are more than happy to meet you at the property to discuss any specific issues you may have or have a general chat about what we have found at the end. P lease contact 0800 298 5424 for a chartered surveyor to give you a call back.

If you have a commercial property, be it leasehold or freehold, then you may wish to look at our Dilapidations Website at www.DilapsHelp.com and for Disputes go to our Disputes Help site www.DisputesHelp.com .

We hope you found the article of use and if you have any experiences that you feel should be added to this article that would benefit others, or you feel that some of the information that we have put is wrong then please do not hesitate to contact us (we are only human).

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