50's wood cladded house query

[First-time-buyer]

Hi there, i was looking to buy this house, its a 50's temporary house that is up forsale for £105,000, it was £115,000 which is way over the price.

The house is as per the picture, though once you go inside its like you have entered the 60's. I assume the house is made up for a brick base, with a wooden outside.

Inside i noticed a crack within the plaster, im unsure what this is as i dont know much about the builders side of this trade.

Is there anything that i need to be wary of with a house like this, i cant work out how they value the house at this price, i noticed that next door have rendered the outside of the house, i asked them about this and they said that they have done this over the wood.? How does the wood survive, would you need to remove the render now and then.

What would it cost to tread the wood, what would it cost to get it rendered..

There is a field next door that you can see which is getting full with water..

What is my next step.? What survey would you get done? How much does it cost.? What else should i be looking for.

Help please..

__________________________________

Lynda, moderator

Welcome to the fourm, please read the forum rules (9)

 

[stem]

You need to find out what's under the timber. It could be steel. There are some steel houses near me and there are concerns about the spread of fire and difficulties getting a mortgage. They are known as BISF Houses. Details of the steel construction can be found here.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/two.hd/foursteelwalls/casestudies/cs-bisf.html

There were also some timber ones from Sweden, Screen 8 of this link looks like the one you're interested in.

http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/story/printer_friendly.asp?StoryUid=44&totSlides=15

And these people specialise in refurbishing/rendering

http://www.septaluk.co.uk/