"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
Foundations are MUCH better - they have to be. So is wiring, insulation,
plumbing and general use of the space and fitout quality. Its teh
structure where the building regs are bent till they creak that
sometimes gets a bit naff. I.e. use of chipboard floors that creak if no
glue is used, and stud walls instead of block. A block house is a
quieter house IME.
I would not say so. partition walls can be quite quiet. It depends on the
wall construction.
Also use of plasticky windows and doors is a bit naff in anything other
than ultra modern styled places. However if the owner doesn't do window
frame painting, they outlast softwood.
Modern houses are nice 30-100 year and then tear em down places. Low
maintenance then replace.
Since the STRUCTURE house cost these days probably represents on many
sites less than 50% of the 'value' I would expect many of them to be
torn down and replaced anyway in due course.
The average is 1/3 the value of the structure, the rest is the land value.
RThat does not mean the house is cheap.
A friend of mine who was a bit of an industrial and heritage
archaologist, reckons that a house gets a major refurb (up to 60% of
rebuild cost roughly every 60 years - usually after someone has died in
it. Average life is I think around 150-200 years. Most stuff older than
that gets torn down, or catches fire. That fits in well with the
pre-victorian properties being in the minority here.
A LOT of e.g. victorian terraces also - with no loos, baths or decent
insulation, arguably could be demolished and rebuilt at less cost than a
total refirnb anyway, and gain decent foundations as a result. Lost were
in the 'slum clearances' of the 50's and 60's.
I am not sure about planning issues, but you can rebuild a house for
betrween 60 and 120 quid a square foot, depending on final quality.
Apply that to many houses for sale in the south east at least, and it
really becomes a matter of 'buying a plot, with a crap house attached'
The Japanese now have larger homes on average than in the UK. They had a
continual re-build policy that ensured a pretty newish housing stock. These
new homes also emit less CO2.
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