Yeah, I’m calling it. House prices despite recent falls are hugely and unjustifiably over priced given the quality of the housing stock (not to mention high interest rates) – Both due to Building Defects and Lack of maintenance on the part of the owners.
It would seem many existing houses quite a few years old will have some of structural framing defects. Chances are unless people have been meticulous with maintenance, if you pull the Interior plaster wall off or look into the ceiling space, There will likely be a number of Timber members that have suffered in someway from water ingress unbeknown to the owners – Usually from a leaking roof (particularly under heavy wind and rain conditions pushing water up under the flashings and into the building cavity) or improperly flashed details.
I don’t believe the issue is simply limited to the Monolithic cladding and houses made of untreated framing alone. Have seen State houses of the 1940’s suffer from this primarily due to lack of maintenance and inspection.
It’s why for myself at least I have shied away from embracing the purchase of new Town houses (Terrace houses) owning to access issues for regular inspection and maintenance. Frankly while many of them are built with a cavity which will help keep any water away from structural framing. Some I can see haven’t been particularly well built.
