Concrete Build House - Please Help!

DSH82

Hi Guys,
I’ve done some digging about and cannot find anything answering a problem I have which could be potentially huge – so I really need some help please.

2 ½ years ago I purchased a house with a friend for 210k. We took the basic survey offered to us through HSBC and this came back with no major issues, a slight bit of damp but nothing huge so we proceeded with the purchase.

We are now trying to sell our house and received, and agreed an offer close to what we had paid of which we were happy about. The person who made the offer took out a full survey and this came back with one major difference – that the house is a concrete build and subsequently they backed out. The survey we received through HSBC when we purchased the house stated it was a brick build.

I have a couple of questions as this is very much a learning curve for me;

If this is as serious as I am starting to realise, what advice would anyone give me ? A family friend suggested an insurance indemnity policy should be taken out which would re-assure any future potential buyers ?

How serious is this? Some reading I have made already scares me as it says concrete builds should be steered clear of, and even some banks will not lend on them – this is obviously what our buyer discovered and pulled out.

How liable would the company who completed our survey be ? – I know it was the basic survey we took out, but surely that getting what the house it built from is an absolute fundamental ?

Many Thanks in advance

RDG

Your house being built of concrete doesnt necessarily make it bad, there are many different types.

The ones with the bad rep were thrown up cheaply with poor design and if you had one you would probably have noticed by now.

Can you post a link (you will need to put spaces in it) of some photos and maybe even the add for the house so people can have a look at it. Its obviously not obvious that its concrete if you and the previous surveyor thought it was brick.

EDIT: Just had a thought if you have a gable roof then you will be able to see the construction type from inside the loft, assuming its not been converted.

DSH82

Hi RDG, thanks for picking this one up.

Here is the advert link - regarding the gable roof, apologies but I dont really know what this means, I googled the term and think I have a gable roof, can you tell from the pics in the ad ?

Also, what are your thoughts on the indemnity ?

Thanks, and here is the link


rightmove co uk/property-for-sale/property-36735380.html?premiumA=true

RDG

DSH

You dont have a gable end on your house but as its a semi you may have a wall between the houses which will be of the same material as the house is build of.

The pretend stone cladding means you could have anything behind it I was hoping to see somthing that would point one way or the other. I take it you drilled into the walls to put those tvs up? How hard were the walls? Was the dust grey?

As theres only 2 houses of that design it is entirly possible that they are concrete and may have replaced 2 houses similar to the rest of the area. But your house has concrete lintels over the windows and door and a concrete house wouldnt need these so maybe their assessor got it wrong.

What would the indemnity be for? As its insurance it needs to be for something happening or not. Have you discussed this with your solicitor as they will have a good idea if this will work.