Concrete pre fab house - anyone have any experience?

[Hippielle]

Hi we are looking for a new house with a low budget - we have found a lovely house in Sheffield with everything we want. It is cash buyers only due to the construction type - which isn't a problem as we will be cash buyers. But we are a little concerned about things going wrong and selling the property on in the future. We believe it's pre fab concrete - the current owners have lived there 30 years.
Has anyone had any experience buying or living in one of these types of houses ?

My MIL lives in one and has done for 40+ years. No more issues / maintenance than any other house. She has reconfigured downstairs and moved walls etc with no issues.

What is the construction type? Some are more resilient than others. Also you may have trouble if you ever want to sell it, as it will always be unmortgageable.

My mil bought one from the council although hers was fine, the neighbour had structural problems as the concrete slabs are fitted together with girders and the metal girders were perishing.
She did have problems with her roof which was felt.
They still live there but I do know you won't get a mortgage on one due to the construction so would be difficult to sell.

My MIL definitely got a mortgage, as did most of the people on the large (500 + houses) estate that she lives on. I think it was through a local building society though, maybe they struck a deal with the LA who were wanting to shift the housing stock? I'll ask her

Some are mortgageable. We are looking at one that was declared defective by the council and repaired in the 80s. We have seen the certificate from the structural builders who carried out the work. The vendors have lived in it for 50 years from new and have kept all the documentation.

Friends have bought and sold in the same road with mortgage with no problems.

You need to find out exactly which construction type it is. Some types have been declared defective so you can't get a mortgage on them - if this is being advertised as cash buyers only then it sounds like it might be one which is classed as defective. Even if this particular house proves to have no serious problem, your market will be limited if you ever did try to sell it on which will restrict price. In the worst case scenario though the house could develop serious structural faults which will cost a fortune to put right hence being classed as defective.

One example of this might be the steel frame the concrete is poured around rusting and rotting the concrete from the inside out aka concrete cancer. You would need to virtually rebuild the house to correct the problem.

If you do decide to go ahead I would get a full buildings survey conducted by a specialist in concrete houses. Concrete houses can be fine. My grandmother owned a concrete house for over 40 years and it's been no more trouble than a traditionally built house (other than being a pain to hang things on the wall because you have to drill through concrete rather than brick) but it is a Wimpey No Fines construction which is generally agreed to be as good as a brick built house. You just need to make sure this house is one of the ok ones and not a complete money pit!

Thank you everyone for your advice. I think it would be too much of a risk for us at this stage and we have found a standard construction house in a different area for about the same price