Every corner of West London has its own structural personality. The leafy, Metro-land avenues of Northwood aren’t built like the Tudorbethan parades of Pinner, and neither behaves quite like the interwar semis and old cottages of Croxley Green. Each era and each area comes with its

Every town has its own structural personality — the eras it was built in, the ground it sits on, the quirks that show up again and again in its houses. Hemel Hempstead has a particularly rich mix: Georgian frontages in the Old Town, Victorian terraces around

If the phrase “system-built house” has landed in your inbox — flagged on a survey, raised by a lender, or mentioned by an estate agent — your first reaction is probably a small knot of worry. Is it a defect? Will it cost me a sale?