House surveys in West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire grew on wool, textiles and coal, and its housing reflects that industrial past. Leeds is known for its red brick back-to-back terraces, while Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield and the Pennine towns are built of local sandstone and gritstone, with weavers' cottages, mill workers' terraces and grand merchants' villas. Wharfedale towns such as Ilkley, Otley and Wetherby are affluent and in high demand, while Wakefield, Castleford and Pontefract sit on the Yorkshire coalfield. Common survey issues include coal mining legacy, damp in solid stone walls exposed to Pennine rainfall, steep sites with retaining walls, river flooding in the Calder and Aire valleys, and the particular quirks of back-to-back houses.