Concrete houses

Bf109

Hello all,

I have seen a couple of concrete-built houses for sale that I might be interested in. They were evidently built using the craftcast technique. This was apparently quite succesful.

I am aware that there can be problems getting mortgages for non-traditional built houses.

Is there some general rule of thumb with this - ie you need very low LTV or some such to get a mortgage or will most lender just not lend outright?

Or is it a case of each mortgage will be different and needs individual interrogation?

Thanks.

Chris2685

According to the EA I spoke to who was selling a concrete house, he said that Wimpey built concrete homes are easily mortgageable. If they are built by Tom and Harry from down the road, then they might not be.

I don't know how much you would trust the word of an EA though

I couldn't find much info about it when I googled it either...

koexelek

I have found in the past that the sort of lenders that are more sympathetic towards unusual construction are the HBOS group ( Halifax/ Bank of Scotland etc), Nationwide, and Norwich & Peterborough, if that helps
Often difficult to get a definitive answer without shelling out for a survey fee first though.

Toughluck

Most high street lenders will take on concrete houses (I'd imagine they are ex council). Go off the high street and some lenders may restrict the loan to value. there are many many types of concrete houses, some defective and some not. Best thing for you to do is get the actual type, if you don't know the local council housing department can tell you.

Bf109

Toughluck wrote: »

Most high street lenders will take on concrete houses (I'd imagine they are ex council).

Actually not. They are a fairly unique type of building - they were thrown up using a proprietory method just after the war. The government then banned the construction of private houses and that was the end of that. Ah! The wonders of socialism!

Chris2685

Interesting, all of the concrete built houses I've seen (admittedly not many) were ex-council. If they're not ex-council, maybe that would mean that Tom and Harry from down the road built them?

Bf109

Chris2685 wrote: »

Interesting, all of the concrete built houses I've seen (admittedly not many) were ex-council. If they're not ex-council, maybe that would mean that Tom and Harry from down the road built them?

No thats quite right. Its only a few dozen houses in Kent that were ever built as I described above. That doesnt mean they were badly built though... each house was custom built on site and my research indicates they are the type of place where you need a diamond-headed drill-bit and a nuclear-powered drill to put a picture up. That type of concrete.

babyblooz

Our best friends bought their concrete council house and then about five years later, the houses were all investigated and found to have a kind of concrete cancer, ie. the metal inserted into the concrete for strength, had corroded, and the council bought the house back from them, and they used that money to buy a different house. The original house was built in the 1950's so it may not be a problem in a newer house.

Worth thinking about though!

bubblesmoney

from the concrete houses i have lived in the past, one thing is for sure. concrete houses built by tom !!!!!! and harry are any day better than the wooden pile of junk built by national chains of builders now a days. atleast in a concrete house the whole building doesnt shake and reverberate if the neighbour lets one go first thing in the morning and on a windy night the roof doesnt rattle and threaten to fly off. too bad it is difficult to get a mortgage on concrete houses here in uk, while in many other countries wooden piles of junk wont even be sniffed at by buyers. if land was bought and sold as freely as in other countries and people were free to build their own houses as long as the plan was approved like in other countries then people here in uk wouldnt even think of buying wooden piles of junk that reverberate when climbing the stairs or walking on the 1st floor. gimme a concrete house any day.