Exterior Spray Painting in Swinton

What the age of the housing means for the walls

Of the 7,140 properties the Valuation Office Agency records around Swinton centre, only 8.8% were built before 1919, against an average of 21%, so most walls here are twentieth-century or later cavity construction: render or brick over blockwork, which suits a sprayed masonry finish once loose or chalky paint is dealt with. Only 15 of the 203 towns we cover have a lower share of pre-1919 homes. Across the other 36 South Yorkshire towns we cover, pre-1919 housing averages 18.1%, 9.3 points higher than here, so cavity walls are more typical here than elsewhere in the county.

A further 64.6% were built between 1919 and 1972 (18.2% between the wars and 46.4% from 1945 to 1972, well above the 42% average for that period), and postwar estates of the 1950s and 1960s often mixed brick with rendered or dashed panels; a few system-built houses of that time have concrete panels that need a survey before any coating. Across the other 36 South Yorkshire towns we cover, 1919 to 1972 housing averages 42.4%, 22.2 points lower than here, so dashed and painted render is likely to be more of the work here than in neighbouring parts of the county.

Newer housing is a smaller part of the picture: 11.2% of properties date from 1973 to 1999 and 15.4% from 2000 onwards, 26.6% in all, against 36% on average.

House type, access and what gets sprayed

Detached and semi-detached houses together make up 71.3% of homes here (51.3% semi-detached, 20.0% detached), and a semi usually has three elevations to spray: front, side and rear. The rest of the stock includes 17.2% terraced and 11.3% flats. Across the other 36 South Yorkshire towns we cover, the detached share averages 27.1%, 7.1 points higher than here, so most jobs here involve fewer elevations than in the rest of the county.

Owners, landlords and timing

Social renting accounts for 23.4% of households; if your home belongs to a council or housing association, external decoration is normally the landlord's responsibility and you will need their written permission before changing colours. Owner-occupiers account for 64.0% of households and private renters for 11.7%. Across the other 36 South Yorkshire towns we cover, owner-occupation averages 65.6%, much the same as here.

How Swinton compares with nearby towns

The nearest towns have more pre-1919 housing (23.9% in Mexborough, 16.9% in Wath-upon-Dearne and 18.3% in Rawmarsh), so Swinton has a younger housing stock than its neighbours and fewer solid-walled houses. The biggest contrast in house type is with Rawmarsh, where only 16.7% of homes are detached, so more jobs in Swinton involve four elevations and the access equipment that goes with them. Renting also differs: 35.1% of households here rent, against 42.1% in Mexborough, and on a rented home the colour of the outside walls is normally the landlord's decision.

For housing built from 1919 to 1972, the main pebbledash and roughcast era, the three range from 42.0% in Mexborough to 53.6% in Rawmarsh, and Swinton sits above that range. Wath-upon-Dearne has the most recent building of the three, with 23.4% of homes dating from 2000 onwards, so through-coloured renders that may only need cleaning are more common there than in Swinton.

What the figures suggest about a quote

The most common home around Swinton centre is a semi-detached house: roughly 3,430 of the 6,680 households live in semi-detached houses. Our starting figure of around £1,200 is for a front elevation, so on a typical semi the side and rear, plus any garage or render repairs, are what the survey adds. Next come detached houses, roughly 1,340 households, which are priced individually from the survey. The largest group of properties was built between 1945 and 1972 (the 3rd highest share for that period of the 203 towns we cover), so chalky old masonry paint and patched render are the likeliest extras.