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Original poster

house not standard build... mortgage difficult to get.... what would you do?

54 replies

starlover · 14/02/2006 19:17

ok we m ade an offer on a house which was accepted.

the estate agents then spoke to our mortgage advisor and said that the house wasn't standard build as it has a concrete structure. We were never told this! maybe it's obvious, but we're first time buyers, don't know much about houses!

Anyway, we had an agreement in principle with alliance and leicester who have now said they won't mortgage this house.
Our MA has found us a lender who will, but it is a bit more expensive.

now am worried about this... what if it is a bugger to shift when we want to sell it?

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Original poster
starlover · 14/02/2006 19:34

anyone?

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Hazellnut · 14/02/2006 19:39

Was it cheaper than other houses of its size/location ? If so, guess this would give an indication that it thought difficult to shift against other houses of its size/location.

Ideally you'd want to try and get a surveyor to say whether that sort of construction has associated problems - obviously this would come up in a survey but it would help to find this out before committing to some expenses !!

If you really really love it, then I would consider going back and saying that you have to get a more expensive mortgage so lower your offer. If you're not 110% sure about it, I would think again - sorry......

Hazellnut · 14/02/2006 19:40

Another thing I'd consider is how long I expected to stay in the house - if forever (or a very long time) then its not such a problem if its more difficult to shift. If, as I suspect, its not going to be for too long you want to avoid a house which is more difficult to sell on.

HRHQueenOfQuotes · 14/02/2006 19:44

You could find that loads of the houses round there are of the same build. We looked at one with 'concrete stucture' - but didn't buy as it was too small for us and didn't like the location. However there were lots of houses all of the same build, many of which have been sold since we moved here.

We thought we'd have a similar problem with the house we did decide to buy - as it was a flat roof - however our mortgage provider were fine with it, and we had absolutely no problem's selling it on when we moved.

Original poster
starlover · 14/02/2006 19:56

no... it wasn't cheaper than any others in the area.
might see if we can talk to a surveyor though, and lowering our offer may be an option too depending on what they say.

tbh there are a LOT of houses in our area that are built the same.
I would imagine we'll be there for 5 years or more... although it's a bit scary thinking that far ahead!!!

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Ellbell · 14/02/2006 20:08

I'd get a survey done asap, starlover, and then go with what that says. Some lenders are ultra cautious. But then again there may be a reason why your original lender won't lend you the money on the house... you really need to get an expert opinion. I do know that a lot of older properties near where my parents live are non-mortgageable. My mum (deffo not an expert...) refers to them as being prone to 'concrete cancer', but I suspect that this is not an official 'diagnosis' (mum's a bit eccentric). My parents were responsible for selling mum's uncle's house when he died and had trouble shifting it for this reason. But that doesn't mean that the house you're interested in will be the same. Nonetheless, in your position, I'd be prepared to pay for a full survey (not just one done by the mortgage company, which isn't really worth the paper it's written on) and then go from there (which might mean going ahead regardless, making a lower offer, or even pullng out...).

HTH

Original poster
starlover · 14/02/2006 20:34

yeah, i mean i tend to think that the fact there are SO many of them round here it can't be that bad.... but would feel very cautious about going ahead without knowing fully what we're getting ourselves into.

it's a shame because the house is perfect in every other way!

dp has tried to research it a bit but not got that far. apparently SOME houses with this structure were built with a "shelf-life" as it were as the metal reinforcements in the concrete rusts and the concrete can pop off (same as concrete cancer i guess!)
But we can't find out how that relates to these particular houses and whether they were built the same or not!

hmmm... how much do you reckon a survey would cost?

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edam · 14/02/2006 20:45

It might be worth phoning a few surveyors and asking whether they know much about concrete construction (and how much they will cost but you are talking several hundred pounds from memory). You want surveyor who can give you a steer, rather than one who just fills their report with disclaimers that leave you no better off. And, tbh, surveyors only look at what they can see, they don't even lift carpets so you'd have to talk to the firm first about how on earth they would be able to assess the state of the construction. May be possible, but check first.

Do the owners know who built the house? If the firm is still around, they may be able to give you the structural engineer's details and you can ask them to look up their records for the expected life of the property. If it's ex-council, maybe housing department would have details?

In fact it may be worth phoning some structural engineers anyway, they might be more able to give you a considered opinion than a surveyor. It's their job to spot when a building will fall down (although when I worked for a firm, one of their associates managed to OK a car park which collapsed the following day... so even they aren't perfect).

Have Alliance and Leicester given you detailed reasons with techincal terms and everything that you can put to the surveyor?

Original poster
starlover · 14/02/2006 20:51

i believe the house is ex-council, but not 100% sure...

will get dp to ring round some local surveyors tomorrow... they should have come across this before i guess.

I don't have any specific reasons/technical terms from Alliance and Leicester as our mortgage advisor was dealing with it all, but I can get all the details from him (assuming they gave more detail!)

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moschops · 14/02/2006 20:53

some friends of ours looked at a house like this.....i just asked dp why they didn't buy it and he said ..........concrete gets 'fatigue', it's not designed to last forever therefore a house constructed with it doesn't have a very long shelf life. most mortgages are for a 25 year term and its a risk as far as the mortgage company are concerned.

dp agrees with edam.....you need to speak to structural engineers and find out when the building was erected.

Mirage · 14/02/2006 21:16

The house opposite us are like this.They were built as prefab type houses after the war & are semi detached.

The guy who lives in the one opposite us told us that his dad had to buy it for him as they are unmortgageable due to their fire risk.Apparently they are built as one house then divided down the middle with a central wall,making 2 semi's.He said that if there was a fire,the houses would just collapse in on themselves as there is no proper support structure.

He also said that because of this,his house is essentially worthless unless his neighbour sells his house to him,then the value would be purely for the land it stood on.

Another chap in the same type of house actually went to the expense of having the external walls rebuilt with brick.He obviously loved his house & location enough to do it.

Personally I wouldn't touch one of these houses,but that's just my opinion.Have you checked on one of those websites to see how much similar house sold for or asked around to see how long they took to sell?

Sorry-this probably isn't that helpful.

Mirage · 14/02/2006 21:18

The house near me are ex council,they are built of horizontal slabs of concrete.

Original poster
starlover · 14/02/2006 21:20

they're selling for the same as other "proper" houses in the area.
had a look and others in the street have gone for more than we've offered on this one

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Orinoco · 14/02/2006 21:21

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Orinoco · 14/02/2006 21:22

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Original poster
starlover · 14/02/2006 21:24

our mortgage advisor is pretty good, he has found us the most competitive one that will lend on the property (i think!)
it is "only" £10 a month more... but obviously over the term of the mortgage this makes a fair difference.

it's this house

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Outstandingkatymac · 14/02/2006 21:24

Some concrete houses were called "Airey" or something like that

There is a company in leeds (or somewhere maybe not leeds) that re builds them up to standard - about 5 yrs ago it would cost £32K to rebuild - but the houses were about 70K so you got a good buy - when it was finished

Flossam · 14/02/2006 21:28

I'd be wary tbh. But I know nothing about house buying, we are muddling our way through with a horrible feeling it will all go kaput! If you really really love the house and don't see any reason to more for the forseeable future then give it some serious consideration. If any doubts, leave it I reckon.

Orinoco · 14/02/2006 21:43

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Orinoco · 14/02/2006 21:44

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Orinoco · 14/02/2006 21:45

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Original poster
starlover · 14/02/2006 21:47

yeah that's true... we had a pretty good deal with a&l on a 5 yr fixed.

i guess i was just worried about the fact that some people feel that the house is too risky to mortgage...

do you know of any way i could find out online when the house was built?

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Orinoco · 14/02/2006 21:51

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Original poster
starlover · 14/02/2006 21:53

yeah i think i will talk to someone

dp can't remmeber the name of the new lender, it isn't a high street one, connected with yorkshire building society though

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Orinoco · 14/02/2006 21:54

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