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

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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?

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19 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

3 reasons –

1.the cost of construction is a relatively small part of the price of a house. Building plots are scarce and expensive.

2. Weather. We get a lot of rain and a lot of wind. Pretty much everywhere will get 80 mph winds every couple of years. Brick stands up to it better.

3. We expect houses to last. There is no culture here of rebuilding.

and tradition. We expect brick and would be dubious of anything that wasn’t.

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