Sorry to burst your bubble annie but your estate was painted white for exactly the reasons one of the other aber's said- cheapness. It was not some grand design scheme, the minimnalist monochrome pitched to you as a design feature was in fact done so that the building firm could shave about 80% off their costs and not have differeing finishes on the houses, whilst managing not to upset the incoming buyers and look cheap. Plus it's a vile idea for everything to be the same. Hopefully now one person has altered what must be like living in stodgy, doughey bland hell, everyone will. Go on have a think about what colour you'd like to paint yours- and please don't say white, use your imagination a bit, colour is fun.