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Taylor Wimpey Fundamentals (TW.)

i think house builders in general has to be the right sector even before the election

cynic, I agree - a Sector that's seeing Demand and NIMBY regulations appear to be restricting all but expensive developments.
What I don't understand is why on the one hand we need so many Houses, yet we ( Govs ) fail to build them. Never understood "Affordable", either - surely that means a modest multiple of Wages?, That varies across the Country...forget London/SE and elsewhere houses should be starting at £100k for a 2-bed with parking on the drive. That's hardly enough for a modern family with 2+ children and 2x cars . . . . meaning they need something like 4-bed with double garage.. ~£150k - but with land in such short supply, that price would be impossible...
Do we need to have a better/cheaper/faster method of building?

yes but people wouldn't like it

just as pre-fabs were put up just after the war, and lasted many many years longer than anticipated, so now we could use 20/40' shipping containers
these are already used as temporary accommodation and offices all over the world including uk, and nor need they be visually ugly

unfortunately, and it is a sad fact, the current wannabe house owner wants (tries to demand) accommodation that is far beyond realistic expectations, let alone income

we should also be doing far more to regenerate existing but empty but (relatively) derelict stock

"Do we need to have a better/cheaper/faster method of building?"........These guys are trying to do it, but are struggling to make money out of it at the moment:

http://www.marcityhomes.com/mar-city-homes/unique-modular-homes/

btw, straw is another method of cheap, highly energy efficient and surprisingly long-lasting construction
a major downside is that the walls are about a foot thick, so the footprint is much greater than for a traditional house

Harry, it's a shame they seem to be struggling, as it makes sense - some chain hotels have been using this modular approach for some years.

Cynic - a foot is about similar to a modern cavity wall - see the bottom row here.

Yes, but when I read luxury apartments where does it leave the average homebuyer!
So we're back to square one.

In Solihull! :-)

at present yes, but i believe my solution (#109) would truly work but no one in power seems to want to explore something quite so obvious

of course, first time buyers would help themselves if they weren't quite so precious with sights set on 3-4 bedrooms + garage + garden! .... oh, and of course a really nice neighbourhood with first class schools

Our Uni currently using straw for insulation. Maybe very cheap as we have Norfolk Broads reed beds not far away. Might be fine for Uni, but not so sure about housing.

https://twitter.com/adaptcbe/status/575675323704078337/photo/1

i heard about it on the wireless a few weeks back .... i'm sure it's near bristol that there's a whole housing development using this medium (straw) .... go read all about it :-)

Skinny, the bale is 18" wide, so when you've daubed your cowmuck render on both sides it could be up to 24" wide. :)

BB - you're in the right area ... do you know of he project about which i'm talking?

Thanks BB - I was working with the 'about a foot thick' - should always check!

Sorry skinny I have seen it done on tv but don't know the project your referring to.

worlds first commercially available straw eco-homes
The BBC visited, what is believed to be, the worlds first commercially available houses built using straw. The seven houses being built in St Bernards Road, Shirehampton Bristol, use the ModCell prefabricated straw bale panel system as the main envelope of the building.

Sounds at bit like the present coalition government, which is going to be blown down in r a few weeks time.

8-)

bad news fred
these houses have great longevity and have now been approved for long term mortgages

:-)

How long?