Mortgages re Non Standard Construction

AKP86

Does anyone have any advice re houses built from concrete blocks and how easy it is to get a mortgage on them? Thanks.

vectistim

Do you have a particular type of non-standard construction in mind?

(This was the first website google turned up)
http://www.defectiveproperties.com/Defective-PRC-Homes-List.php

This is a list of defective properties that as far as I'm aware you won't get a mortgage for, unless they've been properly 'repaired' often this repairwork will consist of lifting the roof up building new external walls and then putting the roof back on the new walls.

Much of the concern with these things is where they have iron[1] re-inforcement, often the iron wasn't very deeply sunk into the concrete meaning that its been exposed to air and water and then rusted.

[1] I believe lots of the metal was recycled military equipment as many of these houses were late 40s/50s pre-fabs, which certainly weren't planned to be used for 60/70 years.

AKP86

I think we are going to need to find out more about the concrete itself. I'm wondering if it will require a full structural survey, although that could cost up to £2k.

vectistim

Can you point us at the property in question, or something similar?

sejdee

Our first house was 'non standard' construction. It was originally of pre fab concrete and had been renovated some years later.

We found out during the mortgage application with Nationwide. Apparently they were very particular about things like this, so we went with C&G and they were great. This was in 2002 though.

We had a full survey done and didn't find any problems, and only thing we noticed was how thick the external walls where.

ed110220

If they are really concrete blocks then it's probably classed as traditional construction ie if it's 'breeze blocks' held together with mortar. Structurally, that's essentially the same as brick or stone masonry and a very common construction method (usually the concrete blocks are only used for the inner skin with a brick or stone outer skin, or are rendered to avoid looking unsightly).

If it's made of precast reinforced concrete panels or in-situ poured concrete then it's a different kettle of fish.

Cazza

Mundic is the type of concrete you need to be particularly concerned about, it's most common in the South-West.

Ask the EA if the property is mortgaged at the moment and with whom, that will give you and idea of one lender who could be happy. Get the EA to also ask the vendor if they've had any problems with mortgages as a result of the construction type too. The vendor doesn't have to answer but it's in their interest to do so if you explain why.

Phone a local surveyor and have an informal chat over the phone - someone registered with RICS is what you're looking for. Give them the property address, a good surveyor will cover a relatively small patch and be able to give you a run down of the style of construction. There's a good chance they may know off the top of their head which lenders they've done surveys for on that style of property before and whether or not they signed it off as suitable security for a mortgage. If not, they'll definitely be able to give you enough detail to take to a good independent, whole of market broker for them to do the market research for you.