ELI5, why are wooden houses so prevalent in the US vs UK?

Question

My wife is from upstate New York and every home is made from wood, I don’t think I’ve seen a wooden house in the UK. Maybe one or two grade 1 listed pubs.

I get the proximity to cheaper materials, the availability of brick, local resources etc.. But I also see it reflected in the price £400k, for a 4 bed in East Greenbush (outside Albany), vs £700k for a 4-bedroom brick house outside Chester (I thought roughly equivalent, if not weighted in favor of NY).

Surely there’s a market for cheaper wooden houses in the UK? What’s the deal?

In: 15

Answer 1

North America is covered by forest. Wood is plentiful, cheap, and easy to work with. In the vast majority of cases it’s more than sufficient for construction