Risks of buying a non standard construction (concrete & steel)

stator

00ec25 wrote: »

OP has already stated the council says it is a 5M house (see #4)

the online info on 5Ms is limited, but it is apparent it is not one of the defective types listed in legislation so there is no funding available for any remedial work.

it is also apparent that the Council of Mortgage Lenders do list 5M as non standard and therefore it is down to the policy of each lender whether they will touch anything on that list or not. Future saleability must therefore be a probable issue.

https://www.cml.org.uk/documents/non-traditional-housing-in-the-uk-a-brief-overview-report/pdf_pub_misc_NontradhousingBR.pdf.pdf.

MOHLG 5M is a steel frame with a mixture of concrete prefabricated panels and other materials (like shingles), including asbestos.
Inspection of the steel frame would be necessary to determine structural condition.
Mortgages will be harder to get and home insurance will be more expensive.
If looked after well they could provide good value for money but if you can afford a traditional house of the same size it would always be easier to go elsewhere.

Information for surveyors is available from BRE
https://www.brebookshop.com/details.jsp?id=327226

As long as you get a specialist surveyor and the vendors of the house are willing to let the surveyor do intrusive inspection work, you should be able to get a good idea of the condition

dreyfuss

We lived in one for 15 years. No structural issues though you may be limited if you want to extend. There is a dedicated website for bisf houses which is quite interesting. Got a fab big garden with it too. Oh it did have an asbestis roof which we had changed...

Ours sold within a week of being on the market as it was ideal student territory and you can pretty much change all the internal walls around.

Think when we bought we had choice of 3 lenders and they insisted on a better survey. Wouldn't dusmuss it.

pyrotech999

There are many reasons why a mortgage company may not allow a mortgage on any property.
Sink holes in area
Historic mining
Construction type
listed buildings
Thatched roof
etc etc

Now with all these types there are reasons, with steel framed it was because some early ones had a issue - concrete cancer

Now if an area has many steel framed its normally because a local authority built them for social housing ( council house)

They had them all checked over the last few years and any issues were identified. So what you had was in general , a certain construction company, certain type or certain time of problem hoses and the rest given a clean bill of health.

As with any type of house and the purchasers personal circumstances - a mortgage lender can add any conditions they want.
Some may say you need to be employed 12 months, another may say 3 years. Same with the house, some may be happy with timber frame or steel frame. others may choose to allow just block and brick.

However there are many lenders out there and one for most construction types and many many will mortgage a steel framed house.
You may find it a more affordable price for location, standard and land too.
Northern rock may say no, but Halifax say yes.

You could buy a dream home constructed in Brick and block, to find 3 years later a sink hole appears and your dream home becomes a nightmare so please do not get overly worried about construction.
Reselling will be same as purchasing now, so not really an issue. May take few weeks longer but its still a potential home.

Most steel framed homes are in a street and most are similar in that street, so ask yourself why those people have brought a steel framed home. its fairly unlikely that the property in the street your looking at is the only steel framed one - so they sold and become peoples homes and in time will sell on. Just like the one you may be looking at is getting sold on. So what are you worrying about. I would be more worried about thatched roof, as that has cost implications every decade for renewal and listed buildings which tie your hands sometimes when doing improvements.
If you are worried, don't let it put you off, get a full survey done.

Locally to me construction surveyors checked all the steel framed council properties around 10 years ago and all had a clean bill of health. I suggest that means they have had better checks than the other buildings in the area.

Throwaway1

Clowndog wrote: »

Can anyone advise me on potential risks with non-standard constructions? I have a viewing on a concrete and steel ex council house in Leeds in a couple of days which is on the market for £130k (smaller brick houses across the road selling for £160k)

There have been no recent sales in that area on these type of houses for years. The ones I saw on Zoopla were for £80k 4 or more years ago so I suspect this was residents buying their houses from the council.

I've heard it may be difficult to get a mortgage on one, although I think Halifax do them.

But we're also concerned about potential structural issues and if we want to remortgage/resell, could this be potentially difficult for us in the future?

Has anyone had any experience of these that they can share please? It!!!8217;s a real bargain for the price but as I'm a first time buyer I'm wary of my lack of knowledge and don't want to end up losing money on a house.

Thanks.

We also looked at some of these in Leeds and whilst I know it is tempting because they are bigger and much cheaper than nearly brick properties we ended up walking away. It's really hard to get a mortgage on them and they can be prone to subsidence. Every time we went by that area there were at least 3 houses on every street having brick skins added so this may be an option. I'm guessing it is a Wimpey No-Fines house? After doing a lot of research we decided the intial saving wasn't worth it.


Edit: I see it is a 5M. Rest of my opinion still stands. Looking at the postcode I'm wondering how well you know the area? I personally wouldn't buy there and I would suggest going along at different times of the day and looking at a crime heat map. Of course, if you know the area well then that's fine.

tiny_jackal

I too looked at non-standard construction buildings at the beginning of the year, when I was looking, and I found it to be a minefield. For example, HSBC does lend on those, but they are often ex council flats and HSBC will lend on council flats only if the majority of the flats in the building is privately owned (or so I remember) -- and how can I know if it's the case? Other banks just won't lend for those; some do, tho.
Also, here in London after Grenfell there's a lot of wariness around high-rises; I doubt there's much demand for anything in a cladded building. There also a lot of stories making the rounds about owner of flats in high rise being hit by massive maintenance bills.

Eventually I reluctantly picked a low brick construction even if I adore the high-rise lifestyle. I just can't afford to buy something I might struggle to sell if I need to. A shame, tho.

Davesnave

I expect the OP has made up their mind by now, as this thread is over a year old!