Bought a non standard build house?

nigelnorris

Sorry I edited rather than new posted. Number 50. Can't do any harm to post my address can it?

Just noticed I'm actually in the streetview putting shopping into my car.

nigelnorris

Ok so I've just found weblinks to freedom of information act requests to BCC asking for listing of prefabricated concrete housing. This produced two spreadsheets. The first spreadsheet is just a list of streets, my street is on it. The second is a list of streets with build type shown but my street is not on it. The latter is a very small list compared to the first one so presumably records are not available for the remaining streets.

The second list [purporting to be all available records] shows over 90% of precast housing to be 'Wates' type. So although I don't yet have confirmation it's presumably strong favourite to be Wates. Looks unlikely that I'll get a definitive answer from BCC though.

Wates is on the defective housing list apparently so what might my next step be?

sleepless_saver

nigelnorris wrote: »

No idea about the former, or where to find out. Built approx 1935. Think it's a ex social housing build.

Make an FOI request to the council for info about your house. Someone has already done so on a city wide basis - see link.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/location_of_defective_houses

nigelnorris

sleepless_saver wrote: »

Make an FOI request to the council for info about your house. Someone has already done so on a city wide basis - see link.

Thanks, that's the site I was referring to above.

Just found another one that categorically states Ravenshill Road and Con Block. Looking into that now.

Oh, 1920s apparently rather than the 30s I thought.

And that date ties it to a picture I found labelled 'Telford Steel Framed House' which looks exactly like mine.

kingstreet

If it is Telford, my guide says it was built pre-1939 and is usually;-

Unacceptable - But special cases of high merit can be
considered. These will be generally high value
properties with proven demand. Properties that are
accepted locally by other major high street lenders may
also be considered, even if values are lower than
traditionally built properties; however, there must be a
proven demand for the properties.

nigelnorris

Nice work everyone, thanks. I feel like I've come a good way so far.

Big question though is what do I do about it?

I suppose I need a definitive answer as to whether the property is devalued as a consequence, if so then find out if the surveyor can be held liable.

Who might be suitably qualified to value a property like this?

drdpj

According to this one (which I think is the other one you must have found):
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/construction_of_council_housing_3#incoming-315527

It's concrete block construction. This might be fine, depending - but it certainly isn't brick and your surveyor should have picked that up! Might be worth a shout to the council to find out exactly what breed it is, as con-block is fairly generic.

Edit: don't think it's a Telford steel-clad, otherwise that sheet would say telford...

nigelnorris

drdpj wrote: »

According to this one (which I think is the other one you must have found):

It's concrete block construction. This might be fine, depending - but it certainly isn't brick and your surveyor should have picked that up! Might be worth a shout to the council to find out exactly what breed it is, as con-block is fairly generic.

Edit: don't think it's a Telford steel-clad, otherwise that sheet would say telford...

Yes I've seen that sheet. It says Con Block but I can't work out if that's an actual construction style or just a generic description. Can't in fact find any reference to the phrase Con Block anywhere useful.

It's from that sheet that I got the date 1927 and it seems too much of a coincidence that I have a picture found elsewhere labelled Telford style with the same date and that looks literally exactly like my house in every way. Could be an old photo of it.

kingstreet

Write to the surveyor, explaining that you believe the property is not of standard construction and you are worried that you were mis-advised and may have invalid building insurance.

Let them suggest a course of action. Perhaps beginning with another surveyor in their firm, before you appoint an independent surveyor, at their expense, or involve the RICS.

Is there a complaints process inside the cover of your report?

nigelnorris

No complaints procedure described, just a note to ask for one to be provided. The company's website has contact details, I'll drop them n email.

Thanks again.