Valuation results - steel construction, asbestos in artex

myfairrlady

I wonder if people could offer some insight. We are trying to buy our first house, we found ex council house for a very low price of £70 000 which has 3 double bedrooms and a nice enclosed back garden. We were willing to pay up to 100 000 but could not find house to our liking for a while (either bedrooms too small or garden not nice).

Our offer was accepted and mortgage offered but i just received valuation and the surveyor stressed that the house has a steel construction which is negatively affecting marketability. Also asbestos in artex, which scares me as we have a small child.

We were told that previously sales fell through on this house twice, now i think it is due to the above. (In our case, the lender accepted the valuation results and offered mortgage.)

I really dont know if we should go ahead and buy it or walk away. It is worrying to know that I might not be able to sell this house in the future if I ever need to, because surveyour stressed low marketability.

Also, I never lived on a council estate before and I am not familiar with this part of the city (North). Surveyor wrote that the fact that this is on a council estate will detract many buyers.

We dont know what to do and we need a house rather quickly. (I don't see anything on Right Move except shared ownership houses which are new and very nice but not sure it is good idea to buy 75% of a house when you can buy 100%.)

phill99

If you want a house that is asbestos free, you need to buy a house less than 20 years old. Asbestos was used in construction right ip to the mid 1990s. Virtually all atex will contain a minute amount of low grade artex. You have more chance of being hit by a meterite while dressed as Kermit than suffering the consequences of asbestos in artex.

In terms of your other concerns, you have already amswered your own questions.

stator

As Phil has said, virtually all building surveys will tell you there might be asbestos in the artex. You just need to be careful if you do any renovations of the artex, otherwise just leave it alone and it's not a problem.

What type of Steel Framed house is it? BISF?
Some are worse than others but if they are offering a mortgage on the house then it can't be too bad. There are many types of steel frame house that are unmortgagable.
If you are still thinking about the house I would recommend getting a specialist survey done by someone who knows about steel frame houses. This might involve drilling little holes and poking a camera in them to look at the steel. This will give you a good idea on the condition and might set your mind at rest.
If you need a house and your options are limited then there's nothing particularly wrong with a steel framed house as long as you keep maintaining it properly. If you come into money later on you can convert it into a traditional construction house by building brick/block walls but this costs a lot of money.

myfairrlady

stator wrote: »

What type of Steel Framed house is it? BISF?
Some are worse than others but if they are offering a mortgage on the house then it can't be too bad. There are many types of steel frame house that are unmortgagable.
If you are still thinking about the house I would recommend getting a specialist survey done by someone who knows about steel frame houses. This might involve drilling little holes and poking a camera in them to look at the steel. This will give you a good idea on the condition and might set your mind at rest.

The valuation report does only says steel frame and no more details, how can I find out what type? Also, would it be appropriate to ask seller to pay for such survey ?

When you say it will give me a rest of mind, is it because if it is confirmed the construction is in a good condition, the house will be mortagable in the future? or is it just my peace of mind that nothing happens when I live there?

alchemist.1

I would be more worried about not being familiar with the area or knowing anything about it.

Do some more research. Are you happy living there? Being on a council estate isn't a negative on its own but if you have never experienced such it might be worth driving around there at night to see how you feel.

Which city in the North? and whereabouts?

AdrianC

The house looks very cheap BECAUSE it's ex-council and of non-standard construction. The question is whether the low asking price is low enough to make it worth the risk.

In the future, somebody will buy it, at the right price - just as somebody will buy it now, at the right price. The art is in making sure you buy it at a low enough "right price" that you won't lose money in the future.

And nobody - NOBODY - can tell you what that is. It's all a gamble. If you don't want that risk, buy a conventional property.

stator

Post a photo and we might be able to help tell you what type of construction it is (it's probably BISF)

You want the survey so that you know the house is in good condition and no serious defects. If the house is neglected and the steel rusts badly this could obviously require an expensive repair.

No-one can say whether in the future banks will stop lending money on BISF style houses, it's always possible. If this happens you might have trouble selling it on as your buyers can't get mortgages, so you would have to sell it to a cash buyer, like an investor / landlord. However they have been lending money on these houses for over 50 years, so I think you will probably be ok.

ed110220

stator wrote: »

As Phil has said, virtually all building surveys will tell you there might be asbestos in the artex. You just need to be careful if you do any renovations of the artex, otherwise just leave it alone and it's not a problem.

What type of Steel Framed house is it? BISF?
Some are worse than others but if they are offering a mortgage on the house then it can't be too bad. There are many types of steel frame house that are unmortgagable.
If you are still thinking about the house I would recommend getting a specialist survey done by someone who knows about steel frame houses. This might involve drilling little holes and poking a camera in them to look at the steel. This will give you a good idea on the condition and might set your mind at rest.
If you need a house and your options are limited then there's nothing particularly wrong with a steel framed house as long as you keep maintaining it properly. If you come into money later on you can convert it into a traditional construction house by building brick/block walls but this costs a lot of money.

That's not entirely true. You can clad a steel-framed house in brick, block, UPVC, timber, hanging tiles etc etc, but it does not replace the steel frame or make the house any different structurally or for mortgage purposes. It is only cosmetic.

Three double bedrooms suggests something other than a BISF house as they typically have two double and one single bedroom.

Most non-traditional houses were built in fairly large numbers on each site, so you should be able to see if others have sold recently, for how much, how long they took to sell etc. Here in Bath there are several hundred BISF houses so there's almost always at least one for sale or recently sold and they tend to sell quickly as there aren't many relatively affordable semi-detached houses with reasonable gardens.

Chanes

There are so many down sides to this house! And that's just from reading the replies you have had. As someone has said, if you get it at a good price that could be a win...if someone will buy it off you in the future and the banks don't stop lending on that kind of construction. And asbestos was used in housing artex until the late 80's it would be a rare thing to find it in a house after 1990. I know that because I engaged a testing and contract company to test the houses I was buying and just for peace of mind; and they said much as everyone else has said, even if found as long as you aren't disturbing it then it should not cause any problems.

ed110220

Chanes wrote: »

There are so many down sides to this house! And that's just from reading the replies you have had. As someone has said, if you get it at a good price that could be a win...if someone will buy it off you in the future and the banks don't stop lending on that kind of construction. And asbestos was used in housing artex until the late 80's it would be a rare thing to find it in a house after 1990. I know that because I engaged a testing and contract company to test the houses I was buying and just for peace of mind; and they said much as everyone else has said, even if found as long as you aren't disturbing it then it should not cause any problems.

Given that we don't even know what type of house this is beyond it being steel framed, it's a bit of a jump to conclude it has "so many downsides"!

GoldenShadow

I was worried about artex but the odds are a lot of houses with smooth walls and ceilings have just covered it up anyway. If drilling holes in the wall and such just make sure you don't send plaster absolutely everywhere and clean it all up with a damp cloth.

A lot of our walls and ceiling are smooth but a couple of ceilings still artex. I have no doubt there is probably asbestos in every room somewhere.