Wimpy No-Fines House

slappy

We are buying a house that was built in 1965 and constructed as a Wimpy No-Fines. We have been told by a surveyor that

"that due to the property being of non standard construction we do have to recommend a building survey as a homebuyers is simply designed for properties of conventional build and may not provide the detail required within the report. While we can continue with the HBR if desired we do have to be clear that this will only provide limited information for this type of property. "

Obviously a building survey will have more detail than a HBR but what sort of information would a HBR for this type of construction omit compared to a conventional build.

Thanks

Fire_Fox

Useful information on the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors website
http://www.rics.org/uk/knowledge/more-services/professional-services/home-surveys/

andy.m_2

"No fines" is a type of concrete we use in the building game.
Is the house a concrete house?

If it is non-standard construction you may struggle with some lenders to get a mortgage. You may be a cash buyer, do you even need a mortgage?

slappy

Thanks for the reply.

We do have a mortgage in place and the lender is aware that the building is a Wimpy No-Fines concrete construction.

andy.m_2

Issues with concrete houses are that the rebar, the reinforcement within the concrete can rust from within and "blow" chunks of concrete causing them to fall out the wall.

A call to a surveyor would be useful to get their take on it.
They may say they cannot advise on this and you need a specialist...

ic

Aren't these normally either severely lacking in insulation, with any insulation normally being asbestos?

Richard_Webster

I'm not a surveyor but the impression I get is that Wimpey No-Fine sis one of the better non-standard systems that will attract mortgage lending from most major lenders - some of the smaller ones may not be so keen.

bigchrissyg

We own a 'no fine concrete' house built in 1927! We've had issues with some lenders because we couldn't identify the 'system' used. We were always told if it's a Wimpey No Fines then it's likely to be acceptable subject to a survey. So it's good to know that this is one of these. The reality is the lenders have tightened up on lending on concrete so keep this in mind, but usually the price reflects this.

In the end, we got a Structural Engineer to give us a report to verify the structure is sound. Cost about £300. Surveyors prefer this as this passes the liability off them. The engineer just said to look for cracks or signs of the render blowing - these are signs of of the steels rusting. Keep the render in good order and you're fine.

Just give the exterior a good look over or commission a structural engineer (not surveyor) to give you a 'visual' reassurance. It can be useful for future saleability and for lenders too.

Good luck!