Mortgage for house in concrete?

Judzzy

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has a mortgage for a house made out of concrete and with which bank?

Barclays has sent a surveyor who stayed 10 minutes and reported the house was made out of concrete so it's out of their policy. But I saw on their mortgage criteria that only some concrete types are problematic so I'm wondering how did the surveyor get the info. I have searched building control archives and can't find the info. Even the vendor doesn't know which type of concrete it is...

Anyway I want to plan forward and see which bank would lend on these houses...

anmarj

We have a mortgage with Halifax, but not sure if they still do them, although Santander when trying to offer business seemed to indicate they did, but was not convinced that was the case. We happen to be lucky in that our mortgage broker was able to tell is at the time that Halifax and BoS were the only two offering for concrete buildings.

AnotherJoe

Don't buy it.
[STRIKE]Or are you trying to sell ?[/STRIKE]

Xyzzy

Valid point from Anotherjoe- you need to carefully consider whether the resale price might be affected.

I believe Halifax still accept pre-cast reinforced concrete properties so long as the cavity l hasn’t be retrospectively fillled

AnotherJoe

Ah, OK it looks like you are trying to buy.
I say, don't. Because even if you find a company that will lend now, what happens if in five years they change their criteria and will not lend on these properties any more? Your resale value will crash, that's what. . Because there's a history of this happening, there would have been more lenders for this type of property five years ago and more five years before that.

dwsjarcmcd

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Ah, OK it looks like you are trying to buy.
I say, don't. Because even if you find a company that will lend now, what happens if in five years they change their criteria and will not lend on these properties any more? Your resale value will crash, that's what. . Because there's a history of this happening, there would have been more lenders for this type of property five years ago and more five years before that.

In addition to AnotherJoe’s point, if you can get a mortgage, you may pay a much higher rate and will probably need a decent deposit of around 25%.

Xyzzy

I haven’t know it to affect the interest rate or deposit required.. do strongly consider Anotherjoe’s point though

Judzzy

Yes I am trying to buy... Problem is this is the only house suitable for us on the market at the moment and we have been looking for 6 months... I am hoping to stay there for a long time as it's big and in the area we want to live in...
I am very worried now I don't know what to do. It's not an investment I'm looking for but our family home. I know that I have to keep in mind that maybe one day for one reason or another I may have to sell it but what will happen to all those houses built in concrete?? They just won't be able to sell them anymore?? Sounds crazy!! Especially that concrete is really strong I don't understand what's the problem with it... But that's another debate...
Anyway thanks all for reading and trying to help

AnotherJoe

Judzzy wrote: »

Yes I am trying to buy... Problem is this is the only house suitable for us on the market at the moment and we have been looking for 6 months... I am hoping to stay there for a long time as it's big and in the area we want to live in...
I am very worried now I don't know what to do. It's not an investment I'm looking for but our family home. I know that I have to keep in mind that maybe one day for one reason or another I may have to sell it but what will happen to all those houses built in concrete?? They just won't be able to sell them anymore?? Sounds crazy!! Especially that concrete is really strong I don't understand what's the problem with it... But that's another debate...
Anyway thanks all for reading and trying to help

If "concrete" was "really strong" and it was that simple, there would be no issue. The issue is that some types of concrete have inherent faults which mean that over time it quite literally crumbles away. Lenders are not refusing to lend on a whim, they are refusing to lend because there's a much higher chance you will need massively expensive repairs later on. Rebuilding the whole house level of costs.

Now, there are different types of concrete which means that some types are OK but that is mitigated by the fact that even "good" concrete constructions can be made in such a way that it isn't good, for example the steel reinforcing starts to rust, as it rusts it expands and this literally breaks apart the concrete. Or, in theory the concrete is good but it was mixed incorrectly. Or both together. Hence lenders generally giving it a wide berth !

It may be that your house isa good one and there's nothing wrong with it in which the only problem you'd have in say 20 years time, is finding a cash buyer. Or it might be a bad one where the walls literally crumble away and need to be fully replaced. How much do you reckon that would cost ? Because insurance won't cover it.

Judzzy

Ok I understand. I am waiting to find out what type of concrete it is but when I went to view it with my brother (who is an architect) we didn't see any crumbling or cracks on the walls, it's in excellent condition. It probably takes an expert to analyse and say what could happen in the future...
But you're right I know it's a big risk and it would probably cost too much to repair it... I'm just blinded by the fact that there is no other house on the market and this one is an amazing one for us!!
So annoying... Thanks again really appreciate your help!

AnotherJoe

Just consider what the reason is that this is the only house that suits you, eg you can afford it. Essentially the risk of spending £50k or £100k to rebuild.
And yes to determine if the structure is OK you not only need an expert you need some invasive testing done. Which the owner, if he has any sense, won't allow to be done.
Because at present he can say "I don't know what type of concrete it is" whereas after the tests he can either say "tests show it's fine" but still be stuck with few lenders, or catastrophically finding out it's going to fall down in five years time and he'd be obliged to state that on any legal documents. At the moment he (or she of course) has plausible deniability