Buying a Wimpey No-Fines house, any experience?

Mandalorian17

Hi Guys,

I'm currently in the process of buying a 3 bed end of terraced Wimpey No-Fines house, and as like many others, I've never heard of a non-standard construction house before embarking on the process of purchasing my first property.

Since I've come to notice of the WNF houses, I've been searching these forums and other pages reading as much as I can regarding this certain house build. I'm happy from what I've read and from what our surveyor has reported that the house is structurally sound and poses no issues with the walls, no condensation and no damp.

I've had no issues in obtaining a mortgage (a few pages appear to scaremonger regarding issues of obtaining a mortgage for a WNF house) with a number of big banks stating they're happy to give me a mortgage with our deposit of 20% of the property value.

I was wondering if anyone on here has any experience living in a WNF house? Ideally, i'd like to know more about:

- How hard is it to drill holes into the wall, for example, to install a TV bracket, fit kitchen units?
- How much does a WNF house really impact the selling price?
- Do the walls really let out a lot of heat?
- Peoples experiences in selling their WNF house, good or bad.
- Any issues that i've missed or not thought about?

The house is located in a really good area (close to train station, schools etc) and is in need of a bit of decoration and modernisation which once complete, I assume would bump the price of the house up. The house attracted a lot of attention with many people booking in viewings, I eventually managed to get my offer accepted after only 7 days of the house being listed on the market, which would have been sooner if it wasn't for other bidders.

My main concerns I want to put to bed is that when I come to sell the house, I wont have any issues and that I wont lose money is the property value dropping in the future.

All advice/tips are more than welcome as I want to know as much possible before making the big leap on to the property ladder!

Thanks in advanced!

laptop80

We lived in a no-fines concrete house for 12 years and the experience was good.

- As long as there is plaster on the wall (i.e. holding the concrete chippings in place) then drilling into the wall is no problem with a hammer drill, and you'll get a good solid fix. If the chippings are exposed then the drill bit will tend to kick off the stones and dislodge them.

- Depends on the potential buyer and how worried they are about concrete houses and the scare stories they might've heard. We sold ours without any problem and it sounds like there has been plenty of interest in the one you've had an offer accepted on.

- We didn't find the heat issue too bad (we actually spent a lot less on heating than most people we knew in conventionally-built houses, but that was possibly largely to us not blasting the heating all the time). In 12 years our monthly combined gas and electric bill varied between £30-50 / month. We did find we had to be a little careful to avoid condensation issues on exterior walls in the winter - e.g. only drying in the house with a dehumidifier running, but that's the same for most houses.

Overall it was a good, solid house. Never had any issues with mortgages or insurance, and no structural issues at all - we only moved because we needed something different.

Smodlet

laptop80 wrote: »

We lived in a no-fines concrete house for 12 years and the experience was good.

- As long as there is plaster on the wall (i.e. holding the concrete chippings in place) :eek: then drilling into the wall is no problem with a hammer drill, and you'll get a good solid fix. If the chippings are exposed then the drill bit will tend to kick off the stones and dislodge them.

- Depends on the potential buyer and how worried they are about concrete houses and the scare stories they might've heard. We sold ours without any problem and it sounds like there has been plenty of interest in the one you've had an offer accepted on.

- We didn't find the heat issue too bad (we actually spent a lot less on heating than most people we knew in conventionally-built houses, but that was possibly largely to us not blasting the heating all the time). In 12 years our monthly combined gas and electric bill varied between £30-50 / month. We did find we had to be a little careful to avoid condensation issues on exterior walls in the winter - e.g. only drying in the house with a dehumidifier running, but that's the same for most houses. It so is not, not brick built ones with adequate insulation and ventilation.

Overall it was a good, solid house. Never had any issues with mortgages or insurance, and no structural issues at all - we only moved because we needed something different.

To each, their own but I would not buy a concrete house ever; I'd rather rent a brick one having said which, it really does depend on experience. If concrete houses are common in your area, it may be less of an issue. I think I have read on here that WNF are the least worst type so perhaps mortgages are easier to obtain on them. Still a "No" from me but what do I know? It may be a great starter home for you.

Rosieandjim

Our area has many of these houses which were built initially for Social Housing. Hubby helped to build them.


The ones that were purchased always sell quickly.


I would agree with the above. You have to be careful with condensation and furniture up against outside walls so ventilation extractor fans etc are a must.

hazyjo

They might lend now, but nobody can guarantee they'll still be lending on them in the future. That would possibly be my main concern.

laptop80

Smodlet wrote: »

To each, their own but I would not buy a concrete house ever; I'd rather rent a brick one having said which, it really does depend on experience. If concrete houses are common in your area, it may be less of an issue. I think I have read on here that WNF are the least worst type so perhaps mortgages are easier to obtain on them. Still a "No" from me but what do I know? It may be a great starter home for you.

If you dry clothes on a radiator and have furniture up against a wall you're probably going to have condensation issues in a brick built house too. A concrete exterior wall is likely to be a bit cooler due to the poorer insulation qualities and so more prone to condensation (and it wasn't a huge issue), but I know from experience of having lived in both that you can get the same thing on brick cavity walls.

Smodlet

Concrete houses were built to be temporary. In my humble opinion, they should all have been demolished and replaced with brick houses by now. Yet another epic failure by the government of the day and every successive one but hardly a surprise.

Imho, concrete houses are an abomination which should never have been built in the first place. They were used as a quick fix after so many homes were destroyed in WW2. 70-odd years later, people are still having to deal with those poor decisions. I think we all deserve better.

laptop80

hazyjo wrote: »

They might lend now, but nobody can guarantee they'll still be lending on them in the future. That would possibly be my main concern.

The concrete houses they don't lend on are on the defective housing list. The chances of Wimpey No Fines suddenly going onto that list, or lenders deciding not to lend on them anymore as a class of housing is practically nil. If there was a credible risk they wouldn't be lending on them now.

laptop80

Smodlet wrote: »

Concrete houses were built to be temporary. In my humble opinion, they should all have been demolished and replaced with brick houses by now. Yet another epic failure by the government of the day and every successive one but hardly a surprise.

Imho, concrete houses are an abomination which should never have been built in the first place. They were used as a quick fix after so many homes were destroyed in WW2. 70-odd years later, people are still having to deal with those poor decisions. I think we all deserve better.

To each their own, but apart from poorer insulation a lot of concrete houses are better, more solid properties than many of the cheaply slung-up brick new builds that some people are being lumbered with today. I've no doubt our old house will be going strong long after I'm pushing up daisies - after all, the colosseum was also made of poured concrete and it's still there almost 2000 years later. I think the defective 'concrete cancer' panel concrete designs have done a lot to colour people's perceptions on the material as a whole. Trump Tower, the high-end home of orange idiots, is also made of concrete (I wouldn't live there, but not because it's made of concrete).

Smodlet

laptop80 wrote: »

If you dry clothes on a radiator and have furniture up against a wall you're probably going to have condensation issues in a brick built house too. A concrete exterior wall is likely to be a bit cooler due to the poorer insulation qualities and so more prone to condensation (and it wasn't a huge issue), but I know from experience of having lived in both that you can get the same thing on brick cavity walls.

Drying clothes on a radiator is inadvisable anywhere and there should be no need for it; airers and open windows work better; ventilation is all.

We have loads of furniture against walls and no issues: You so-and-so, I have just had to go and move the small sofa in the living room to check! You know, the one less moved when hoovering because it is seldom sat upon; it's fine, thank goodness.

"... after all, the colosseum was also made of poured concrete and it's still there almost 2000 years later."

Well, bits of it are. Get away! The Romans had concrete? Didn't think Wickes/B & Q/ Homebase, etc. had been going that long. Surely the colosseum was built from blocks of stone quarried by an endless, disposable supply of slaves, wasn't it?

intmilkbrilliant

Yep, the Romans pioneered concrete and used lots of it. The Colosseum is faced in stone, but they used concrete underneath, same as most of their fancy aqueducts and villas. They figured out it was cheap, flexible and nigh-on indestructible.