Concrete Non-traditional Construction Home

EGuitarStar

EGuitarStar

EGuitarStar

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I am in the process of purchasing a home which is a form of non-traditional construction built using a concrete frame and found that finding information on these types of homes are generally all negative provided on forums. Anyway, I am continuing with the purchase of mine.

If you are looking at a home of a non-traditional type, make sure you have a good surveyor or find one that specialises with these types of homes. Certain types these non-traditional houses are notoriously difficult to identify as they appear traditional from the outside and within the roof structure. It is not uncommon in estates where they are located to contain traditionally built counterparts side by side.

Our surveyor initially said our home was a Hawksley Schindler SGS type house which is listed as defective under the Defective Housing Act of 1984. However, upon a return visit our surveyor was able to locate a section of the external wall which had not been provided with render and plaster and spotted insitu cast concrete without fine aggregates (sand). This then led our surveyor to state that in his opinion this is a Wimpey No-Fines property. Wimpey no-fines homes are not listed as defective under the Defective Housing Act 1984.

Our bank carried out a valuation and listed the property as traditional and have given us a mortgage on it. It is from the Bank of Ireland / Post office. Many of the larger banks and building societies will give mortgages on non-traditional/concrete homes even on some of those listed as defective.

If you wish to know more about Wimpey no fines homes this website has some detailed information on it. https://www.bisfhouse.com/wimpey-no-fines-in-situ-concrete-house/

I've looked at building insurance and though not all insurers cover these types of homes (a very small number) it generally costs about 30% more for home insurance.

Potential buyers often post questions on forums about non-traditional build homes and they are instantly informed to stay away, that they will not be able to get a mortgage on it and that they won’t be able to sell it in future. Well, in our case the current owners are selling it, we’ve got a mortgage on it and we didn’t run away from it.

Here are some useful links that I’ve found:
1. https://www.peterbarry.co.uk/blog/houses-of-non-traditional-construction-common-property-defects-6/
2. https://www.bisfhouse.com/defective-housing-act-and-prc-certification-explained/
3. https://prchomes.co.uk/repairs
4. https://www.homeprotect.co.uk/non-standard-construction-insurance/buying-a-non-standard-home



Hope you find something useful here.
 
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My house, my whole estate in fact is wimply
No fines. My estate is very sought after due to
The space and actual parking availability compared to most new estates

Only problem with these houses is putting anything up on the interior of an exterior wall, they are absolutely solid and you will need a proper sds hammer drill to make any headway even to put up a picture for example. Other than that they are very warm houses due to the thickness of the walls and obviously very cool
In the summertime.
 
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Were just close to completion on a WNF property - re: hot/cold.. our surveyor said that it’s dependant completely on if the building has special external or internal insulation as typically they become very cold all year around without this.
 
If it's ex council there's a chance they have cladded the outside with insulation boards, then rendered over the top. I used to work in these houses now and again fitting pvc windows and doors and the owners said the same, that the houses were cold in winter, until they had the insulation installed.

I used to hate these types of houses when the customer wanted a window turned into a pair of doors. The petrol cut off saw only scratched the surface, then the rest had to be slowly chipped away with an SDS on hammer mode. Took forever.
 
Alpherah said:
Were just close to completion on a WNF property - re: hot/cold.. our surveyor said that it’s dependant completely on if the building has special external or internal insulation as typically they become very cold all year around without this.
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Mines been fine. The external walls have been insulated internally i.e battoned out
And then an air gap with insulated plaster board This was done some time in the past
 
Maccapacca said:
Hope it was considerably less expensive than a similar traditional build.

One regulation change or large claim on an insurer and you'll be left carrying the can.
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If it hasn't happened since 1960 they cant just turn around and condemn them. Unless theres a history of things like that happening that you can point me towards.
 
NoobCannon said:
If it hasn't happened since 1960 they cant just turn around and condemn them. Unless theres a history of things like that happening that you can point me towards.
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Not saying condemn them I'm saying change some reg where a mortgage company won't look at them or insurers decide they won't insure them and your left with an property you can't sell and left paying a mortgage on which is worthless.

I'm not saying don't touch it I'm saying you're taking on more risk so it needs to be either less expensive than a comparative traditional build or you get something like loads of land with it.
 
Maccapacca said:
Not saying condemn them I'm saying change some reg where a mortgage company won't look at them or insurers decide they won't insure them and your left with an property you can't sell and left paying a mortgage on which is worthless.

I'm not saying don't touch it I'm saying you're taking on more risk so it needs to be either less expensive than a comparative traditional build or you get something like loads of land with it.
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With mine it was the general space that came with the property. Not all crammed together with as many houses as possible in one area and actual parking space! You just don't get that with most newer houses now days unless paying twice as much ofc.
 
Maccapacca said:
Not saying condemn them I'm saying change some reg where a mortgage company won't look at them or insurers decide they won't insure them and your left with an property you can't sell and left paying a mortgage on which is worthless.

I'm not saying don't touch it I'm saying you're taking on more risk so it needs to be either less expensive than a comparative traditional build or you get something like loads of land with it.
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I’m a building surveyor and tried telling someone this (among other things) in a related thread. It’s my job.

I was told I was wrong. It’s not worth the effort sometimes.

These houses have a history as long as your arm with issues, mortgage problems, corrosion to the steel work, structural instability, poor resale values, poor thermal performance etc etc etc. Many many lenders don’t lend on no fines properties or similar, specifically because they are poorly built and hard to sell within the context of traditional housing stock.

As with ALL ex council houses, the land is good so that’s a pointless argument - I would just rather buy one that’s been built properly with actual bricks and not some pre cast concrete of questionable design in a factory somewhere and slapped together on site be it reinforced with rusty steel work or not.
 
fastwunz said:
I’m a building surveyor and tried telling someone this (among other things) in a related thread. It’s my job.

I was told I was wrong. It’s not worth the effort sometimes.

These houses have a history as long as your arm with issues, mortgage problems, corrosion to the steel work, structural instability, poor resale values, poor thermal performance etc etc etc. Many many lenders don’t lend on no fines properties or similar, specifically because they are poorly built and hard to sell within the context of traditional housing stock.

As with ALL ex council houses, the land is good so that’s a pointless argument - I would just rather buy one that’s been built properly with actual bricks and not some pre cast concrete of questionable design in a factory somewhere and slapped together on site be it reinforced with rusty steel work or not.
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Its not precast or built in a factory somewhere. Its cast onsite with a re usable mould.
 
No fines don't have issues obtaining a mortgage, I have personally had mortgages with Nationwide, Natwest and Halifax on ours. They are not defective, no steel reinforcement (we also extended ours, knocked through along the entire rear elevation) they are toasty warm and bloody solid houses! Not to mention usually a bargain. There is a whole estate of them where we are and they buy and sell as easily as any other properties in the town.

I think they get a bad rep due to the issues some other, generally pre-fab, or I think some with the steels in them found in Cornwall, but Wimpey No Fines and Laing Easiform are solid.
 
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