Buy mundic C house in Cornwall?

raram

Davesnave wrote: »

Obviously a structural engineer with relevant experience would need to look at it, and even then there would be an element of unpredictability.It was standing 25 years ago and it may still be fine in another 25 years.....and perhaps by then all that will be academic.

The risk to gain equation is as much about yourselves as it is for the house. If you are older, retired and unable to afford much in Cornwall, other than wrecks and mobile homes, maybe it would be a goer, if being in Cornwall is very important to you.

I believe it's the county with the worst income to house price ratio in the country.

Me? I'd go north in a monetarily constrained situation, but I'm not you!

Yes, thank you. We are aware to get a structural engineer. Wanted to get some free advice while waiting for that to happen for peace of mind, ya know

Could you please clarify on what you mean by 'and perhaps by then all that will be academic.'? I can't imagine academia has anything to do with the structure of a house.

Also, what does this mean please? 'The risk to gain equation is as much about yourselves as it is for the house.'? What sort of 'equation' am I trying to gain in buying a house??

We are not older or retired. We are quitting the rat race earlier than most and want to settle in Cornwall for various reasons. Right now what I am understanding about 'mundic C grade' is that a wreck or a mobile home would be a better choice - at least the damage is visible and you know where you stand with having to repair it.

Not sure what this statement has to do with my mundic question: 'I believe it's the county with the worst income to house price ratio in the country.'

North is not the only other place to go in a monetarily constrained situation. We don't just want to go and live somewhere/anywhere cheaper. We have chosen Cornwall on purpose.

raram

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

On the other hand - maybe we shouldnt assume OP is in a monetarily constrained situation?

Chances are that they are - but if they aren't then I guess that, in theory, it's possible to remove those outer walls and replace them with normal ones? (though it would be a lot of hassle and expense to do so obviously).

Thank you Yes, correct - we are not rich. Otherwise we'd be looking at properties which don't have any mundic at all in them. Moving house and county is stressful enough as it is, without adding this mundic issue into the mix. We don't want to be doing work on a property - we want to move, continue with our lives and be settled.

raram

diamond_dave wrote: »

Hi -living here in Cornwall there are dozens of Mundic houses AND bungalows. The blocks used in their construction were made from mine waste and when exposed to the damp and rain(it does get wet here!) the blocks start to crumble and go soft. Although I understand that it is classed from A-D -A being the most severe - I would be VERY wary about going ahead with this purchase without some serious structural surveys. Being classed as C may mean that say an extension has mundic but not the main house. Many of the houses close to here have been knocked down and rebuilt. Don't forget you'll have difficulty getting a mortgage and getting house insurance may be compromised. Proceed with caution. They do fall down -please look at properties on rightmove in Camborne and you will see some shockers!

Thanks so much for your take on it! This is the sort of answer I was hoping for although it is completely incorrect as far as I can gather because 'mundic grade C' is actually the worst situation.

raram

loveka wrote: »

A is not the most severe, it is C. However,that shouldn't necessarily put you off! Have you actually seen the mundic report? The estate agent should show it to you. Also, the mundic classifications have changed slightly in the last few years, so you might want to get a new one done.

We are in the process of buying a grade B mundic house. Our feeling is that it is sound. It has stood for 100 years. If it were grade C I probably would be more cautious though.

First stop is seeing what the report says.

Thank you, yes C is the worst - I have managed to work that out at least!

There is apparently no mundic report - it was supposedly done about 25 years ago and has since been lost. I think this is a fob off though because I have just spoken to another estate agent about a different property we were also looking at and apparently the owners 'can't remember' what the mundic report said 10 years ago.
Now either this mundic issue isn't serious enough for people to remember what grade their property is or to keep the report. Or they are desperately trying to sell a property and sound nonchalant about it.

Yes, great that the mundic grades have been reclassified. If you're anything other than grade C. As I see, that is the only one that stays put.

raram

Zeni wrote: »

Ah we even have that on the sign as you enter!

There are a lot of Mundic properties around here (currently house hunting and these lovely houses keep popping up but sadly I need a mortgage!) and if it is something you can go with you can get a lot more house for your money. The only downside is that it is harder to resell so if its not a place your thinking of living in for a long time that may put you off.
Its not ridiculously expensive down here if you look in the right areas to live.. obviously if your planning on St Ives then you may need a small fortune but Camborne/Redruth areas etc are much more reasonable.

Thank you very much Zeni. Just my thoughts exactly - these properties look like good value. We are cash buyers so having to get a mortgage isn't an issue for us and we don't plan to move from there so our thoughts are not with worrying about having to sell it on in the near future. We can't plan for all eventualities but moving again is not in our minds right now.
Camborne and Redruth properties our in a price range and as you have probably seen, most of the workers cottages there have mundic in them. We are not looking for a pokey new build with a tiny garden and no privacy. We don't want an ancient stone cottage which are also very tight on space. We want something roomy with character if possible and that happens to be ex local authority/cheaply made.

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Davesnave

raram wrote: »

Could you please clarify on what you mean by 'and perhaps by then all that will be academic.'? I can't imagine academia has anything to do with the structure of a house.

You didn't state how old you are. If you'd turned out to be as old as me, whether the house was still standing in 25 years would be what's called an academic question. i.e. irrelevant to the real world situation.

However, you are relatively young.

Also, what does this mean please? 'The risk to gain equation is as much about yourselves as it is for the house.'? What sort of 'equation' am I trying to gain in buying a house??

You've confirmed that you're looking at ex-LA houses because they offer something extra over new builds and dark, poky cottages. So, you're willing to consider the Mundic risk if it provides the gain you're seeking.....but it mustn't be too much of a risk. That's how I read it.

Every house purchase carries risk. Unsurprisingly, the houses which offer the best potential satisfaction per £ spent, tend to be those that carry a greater risk of some sort. When I bought mine, I knew there was a a risk I'd never finish it at my age, or with my budget, but it offered so much more than the 'easy' properties I could have bought. I really wanted to walk away, though.

Judging by your answer to diamond dave, it seems you want to hear enough to walk away from this one, but perhaps I'm wrong. I walked away from plenty of damp olde cottages and Woolaway concrete panel nightmares and never looked back.

jackomdj

I know all about mundic from a sellers point of view.

I bought in 1996/7 and sold in 2000, between the time period the mortgage companies had brought in compulsory testing on properties of my type in the area, and it was grade C so unmortgegable when we came to sell.

When the test was done they took samples from various locations within the property, including internal and external walls at various heights. Our house had it all over including the basement/foundations. (Worth paying for the test). Ours was due to sand from the beach being used rather than from mines.

It was ready to be auctioned when we received an offer and we said they could buy it so long as they completed before the auction date. Interestingly it was a structural engineer who bought it, so he knew exactly what he was buying.

Although you have said it is your forever home, personally I wouldn't buy it as you don't know what is around the corner and being unmortgegable limits who can and will buy the property (not only does it stop those who need a mortgage, it stops the majority of cash buyers who won't risk it).

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

diamond_dave

Sorry, guys, I got it a***e about face!! C is the worse case. I live in the Camborne -Redruth area and there are some decent Mundic properties here, but there are some shockers. The real problem as I recall, is that the rendering on the outside of the property HAS to be sound and waterproof. If the render starts to fail, water gets in and starts to degrade the blocks making them soft and dangerous. I have personal knowledge of a builder friend who purchased a lovely bungalow only to find that it had mundic. He removed ALL the walls and rebuilt them - even re installing the footings. Cornwall is a lovely place to live, but please don't think it's Paradise. Jobs difficult, wages low, buses irregular, and it RAINS - lots. But the very best to you I hope that you find somewhere nice and love living here.

joanna0703

Hello new to site but just reading through the threads regarding mundic block houses seems to have an element of negativity about them. We are currently putting our house up for sale which has been found to have mundic block. Our saving grace in many ways is that we are on the edge of the beach with lovely views across the sea and direct access to the beach. We have had a full survey carried out on the house, which has a self contained flat attached to it, and the report which obviously acknowledges the presence of mundic together with the full mundic report from a recognised Surveyor is positive in that it states the house is in very good condition with none of the usual tell tale signs of crumbling, cracks and so forth. When we discovered the house was mundic we applied for pre application permission to knock down and rebuild two on the site which has had a positive response from the planners. On the negative, yes we have a mundic property which has been looked after for over 28 years but it could still be used as a family home with an additional income on the side, if you have the money available, but there is still an option to knock down and rebuild in the future which should give reassurance that the value of the site is in the land but you still get a house to live in. Things are not always so cut and dry and I think that whilst mundic is a problem and is endemic in Cornwall there are positives to look at if the house is in the right location and if up to date reports are positive on the condition of the house then mundic can bring forth an opportunity for the future. We are now putting our house on the market and feel quite positive that with a dual purpose advertising we will attract a person/self build/developer to look at what we have to offer instead of a negative response to mundic.

Davesnave

joanna0703 wrote: »

Hello new to site but just reading through the threads regarding mundic block houses seems to have an element of negativity about them. We are currently putting our house up for sale which has been found to have mundic block. Our saving grace in many ways is that we are on the edge of the beach with lovely views across the sea and direct access to the beach. We have had a full survey carried out on the house, which has a self contained flat attached to it, and the report which obviously acknowledges the presence of mundic together with the full mundic report from a recognised Surveyor is positive in that it states the house is in very good condition with none of the usual tell tale signs of crumbling, cracks and so forth. When we discovered the house was mundic we applied for pre application permission to knock down and rebuild two on the site which has had a positive response from the planners. On the negative, yes we have a mundic property which has been looked after for over 28 years but it could still be used as a family home with an additional income on the side, if you have the money available, but there is still an option to knock down and rebuild in the future which should give reassurance that the value of the site is in the land but you still get a house to live in. Things are not always so cut and dry and I think that whilst mundic is a problem and is endemic in Cornwall there are positives to look at if the house is in the right location and if up to date reports are positive on the condition of the house then mundic can bring forth an opportunity for the future. We are now putting our house on the market and feel quite positive that with a dual purpose advertising we will attract a person/self build/developer to look at what we have to offer instead of a negative response to mundic.

I think this thread was a reasonably balanced one.

As already mentioned, there are very solid reasons for buying some Mundic properties, Woolaway pre-cast bungalows, non-standard construction houses, agriculturally-tied properties etc etc in the West Country, but these places won't suit everyone.

And how many properties have direct access to a Cornish beach? Certainly, here in Devon, well-off people are buying these with the express intention of knocking them down and building something far grander. The last one I saw, only yesterday, had an asking price of £3m.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67074374.html

Personally, I'd rather not sit there enduring a battering from every Atlantic gale that comes along, but each to his/her own.