House Purchase - Crosswall Construction

mike180591

Afternoon all

Attached property picture for reference.

I'm in the process of purchasing a property. A valuer for our mortgage company has attended site, and noted the following - 

as per our telephone call whilst the valuer deemed the property suitable they mentioned that there is an area of single skin walling amounting to 20% of the structure. Our max tolerance is limited to one storey and a maximum of 15% therefore we're unable to proceed. As discussed it isn't apparent to me from the report which wall is impacted however this may be linked to the construction being confirmed as Crosswall which is a form of non- standard construction.

I note that the construction is in fact crosswall construction and assume they are referring to the area of timber cladding to the front and rear. My main question is, is the valuer likely correct in his 20% single skin walling of entire envelope assumption? I have spoken with neighbours, and they have never had any problems obtaining a mortgage which is my main confusion. I'm told that crosswall is NOT classed as 'non standard construction' but unsure on the single skin brick wall query. 

From the width of the front and rear window sills downstairs, it does appear to be double and from the width of the sills upstairs i would say single. 

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience in this, or if anyone can shed some light on the issue. Is it worth me getting a homebuyers survey and fight this, or will i be wasting my money?

Any help much appreciated.
Thanks
Mike

stuart45

Normally cross wall construction houses are mortgageable. It's more likely that it's timber studwork under the cladding.

WellKnownSid

Sounds like they are saying it's the whole of the front of the property apart from small pieces of double skin perhaps just the bit under the window.  We had a whole estate near us with ex-council homes all of this construction - 1970's era I think.  Normally there is a wrap-around section going the whole height, but methods do vary.  Roof is also typically low height.  Damn cold in winter, mind - literally freezing...

It is pretty common but you'll need to find a company that will accept that, perhaps a broker is required.  It's up to the mortgage company to decide what is and what isn't 'standard construction'.

stuart45

I think that it's possible the surveyors got the description wrong. Lenders are wary of single skin brickwork, which is present in some older properties and can be a damp problem. The odds are that wall is 4x2 studwok. Any wall built after the mid 60's should have a U value as good as a cavity wall of 1.7.
A timber studwork wall protected by tile hanging, or cladding, is a lot different to single skin brickwork. 
It's possible the lenders have been given the wrong description and have just seen single skin brickwork and refused to lend on it.