Neighbour maybe doesn't realise house is concrete WWYD?

[lineylines]

My neighbour has put their house on the market. It's a normal ad.

However, their house is concrete construction. Definitely - not only is ours, and the houses look the same, but theirs in a semi and the one next door (that it's atttached to - effectively the other side of the same house) sold last year, and the ad clearly said "cash buyers only as concrete construction".

The price they're asking is normal for a standard construction house round here, but they're not going to get nearly that for a conrete house. The one next door sold for £75K less than they're asking.

I'm trying to work out whether I should say something to them.

If they already know it's concrete I guess it's none of my business really. It's very unlikely a buyer won't find out as the houses on this road are flagged as "possibly concrete construction" and it will be hard to get a mortage. Unless someone buys cash, I guess?

But if they don't know, then it's going to be a nasty shock - they may find out once they've offered on a new place and then their buyer's mortgage falls through when the lender finds out it's concrete.

Lots of people here don't realise about the concrete I think as this is an ex council estate and some of the houses were bought ages ago and passed down families.

I don't know them well, they keep themselves to themselves.

Should I say something to be neighbourly? Or stay out of it? WWYD?

Airey
hills presweld
Cornish unit
unity
wates
orlit
woolaway
reema
BISF

Does it look like any of the above ?

It is confusing! And I suspect these may be exactly "mix and match" as the houses aren't all the same on the street. It'd be the same materials both sides of a semi though, wouldn't it?

I suspect they'll find out that they can't sell it once they have a buyer, if not before. Unless're very lucky and their buyer is very unlucky for some reason.

I did get a survey - and a full survey, not a homeowners one.

The surveyor disappeared - I think he was havnig some kind of personal crisis. I was heavily pregnant and it was really stressful. There's a lot more boring detail to it, but no, I didn't buy without a survey.

I’d assume so but you never know with these types of construction!

I would just have a friendly chat along the lines that you see they are selling and you remember when you bought your house that you realised it was concrete like theirs and you hope they get a good price

You had a full structural survey and they didn’t pick up that it was non standard construction? That’s very unlucky for you but I’d imagine any other surveyor would point that out. Seriously leave it.

Sorry i misunderstood if the house it’s attached to sold for cash as non standard construction unless they’ve had a full repair and have a certificate then theirs should be the same

I've just been through all of them and I'm not sure! 😂😪

It's kinda similar to the Wates and Reema and one of the others but not quite so obviously conrete - not to me anyway! I'll try see if I can send you a PM with a link to a similar one. Might take me a while though!

You would have noticed if they had repaired the house as it involves removing the load bearing concrete or making it redundant and rebuilding with traditional materials, if they haven’t had any visible work done then they already had a PRC certificate if previous owners did the structural repair or it hasn’t been done

I live in the US and I don't understand the issue with concrete homes. Concrete block homes are preferable in hurricane areas. They are more expensive to build so they aren't used in the northern parts. However foundations/basements are most likely concrete in most of the US.
I read another query about spray foam insulation on mumsnet a while ago and didn't understand that issue either. It's the insulation of choice in the US. No wonder there are so many complaints about damp and cold homes from UK posters, when the best construction materials aren't allowed.

Yes you’re correct there’s an issue with the foam insulation and it isn’t routinely offered to these type of homes as it could apparently be a potential risk if the concrete has cracked it’s only possible to offer loft insulation

It's the concrete and spray foam that causes the damp! Also, they are "allowed" just not advisable.

We don't have many hurricanes. Or basements.

There aren't any old rural homes built of prefabricated concrete in the UK.

I'd put good money on the work not having been done previously. You could still get mortgages on them when I moved in (I bought cash but I know neightbours had mortgages at the same time).

These are the cheapest houses in town. No one has spent a fortune doing them up, and definitely not way back, when they could still be mortgaged.

@lineylines Couid if be a Wimpy No Fines ?
There are a lot of these about . Not all non standard construction are on the defective list so it is still possible to get a mortgage on some from a specialist lender .
Im sure your neighbour knows their house is NSC, they will have been advised when they bought it in the survey surely ?

I think you're having a hard time, OP. I can only imagine the frustration of finding out it was concrete after you'd bought and I don't blame you for wanting to help someone else avoid that, if possible.

Half my old street used to be concrete houses. A few had the remedial work done (including one where it was only one half of the semi), you couldn't really tell afterwards unless you'd seen it done. I think PP's breezy suggestion is the right one, and I'd also be tempted to phone the EA as I do think it should be very obviously there in the listing (and if I had a house where I'd done the remedial work I'd want to point that out too!).

Concrete isn't the best material 😂Unless you're comparing to wood?

It's not built to last as long as standard UK materials. There are houses made of brick in this town that are hundreds of years old and still standing!

Generally, houses in the UK are much more robust than in the US. We don't routinely build with wood. It's strange to us that you guys do! We build with brick and stone (or, concrete in the cheaper homes - or experimental / brutalist like the Barbican centre)

Thanks TeenGreenBottles, I appreciate it. It was a dawning realisation (and sinking feeling) over a number of years. Very frustating!

Thankfully, I've been on Mumsnet long enough to know that some people here could cause a fight in an empty room! 😂

But I do find it dismaying how unfriendly people are. I don't know if it's peculiar to MN or it there's less of a sense of community these days more generally.

This is possible but wouldnt explain why the house next to it was sold as if it was a defective structure unless they made a mistake

@Hatsoffto I've sent you a link to a picture of the kind of house it is, via PM.

They look a little like that, but I don't think so as Google tells me they were built from the 1950s, and mine is 1930s.

But it was valued by the estate agents, surely?

I would feel obliged to tell them if they were planning to buy a property like that but not if they're trying to sell it.

MYOB
It's got zero to do with you.
Why are you invested in it?

Email the estate agents from a fake email account asking them if the house is a concrete build (they will look into it if they haven’t already).

I agree it would be best for them to know but if you don’t know them well I wouldn’t tell them yourself, it might look like you are interfering.

I'm surprised you didn't realise yours was non-standard construction at the time of purchase, this would have been flagged by your survey - did you not have one done?

You're right in that usually EAs flag that it's non standard construction in the advert but I have seen cases where they omit this. So they could know but don't want to put people off initially.

Some non standard constructions are not on the 'bad' list (eg Wimpy No Fines) and as such they command almost as much as a standard construction.

I would speak with the neighbours, and put it in a positive way, eg "I see you're moving! That's a great listing price, considering it's a non standard construction, have you found your onward purchase yet?'

So you're not telling them in a patronising way but dropping it in.