Has anyone got a concrete built house / would you buy one?

[Bubbaloo]

We only found the house a few weeks ago but seeing as there's no chain at either end,we're rather excited and hoping to move at the end of this month.
However,we've had the survey done and my surveyor has just called to say there's absolutely no problem with the house BUT it is made of concrete,rather than brick.
It's not pre-cast concrete so it's not likely to fall down and according to him the only problems would be if we wanted to knock walls down etc(which we're not going to do)and I'll probably have to use a drill to put up pictures etc.
He also said the roof tiles have also been replaced with concrete ones which are about 1.5 x heavier than most other tiles.
We really like the house and although he's told me there's nothinhg wrong with a concrete house,he also said they're very rare and it's been a few years since he's seen one,so it's got me worried...hopefully over nothing.
Just wondered if anyone else has a concrete house or has any views please.
Thanks.

This might help.

our roof tiles are concrete tiles - alot are these days.

We lived in a concrete house for a while - fabulously sound proof and would love one again!

Wow,thanks Spacepuppy.That article is very reassuring and thanks Furball-I feel silly now

nothing to feel silly about - I din't know til we had our extension built last year. I mean why would I? It aint exactly top of the agenda is it! LOL

Very true.

I've just had a word with my aunt who is is an estate agent and she said she's going to find out how difficult it is to get a mortgage on concrete houses,as I don't want to be left with a house that we can't sell.
She's also sent me a couple of links which don't really go in it's favour,but I have a feeling that they're mainly for pre cast concrete houses,which this isn't.
I'm just hoping we haven't got to go back to square one,looking for another house.

We had a 1930s concrete (Modernist) house. It was absolutely fine: we lived there for seven years without any problems except that when it was rewired, all the wiring was surface run because just too difficult to channel out new channels for it. The next door house was exactly the same but the owners were a bit odd and had had some windows refitted that had caused some damage to the concrete around the openings which they had ignored. It was amazing how quickly the elements entered into these areas and larger and larger lumps started falling away...

Just remembered, we also had to hire a special drill every time we wanted to hang a picture or put up shelves because the concrete was so tough.

We had two sets of buyers interested in the end and both of them were offered mortgages with the only caveat being that the house was surveyed by someone who knew about "non-traditional construction" who confirmed it was all absolutely fine. That was two years ago, though, and banks may have got a bit harder to please.

Thanks Lalalonglegs.

Our surveyor has just dropped off the survey,so I've now got 35 pages to trawl through.I asked him whether it would put him off buying it,knowing it was concrete and he said no,which is good.
I just now need to double check that lenders are happy to give mortgages on concrete houses and if so,then we can go ahead and stop worrying.
I think the other thing which may be bugging me is that they did have another buyer who pulled out after the survey was done but apparently gave no reason.

Our neighbours put an offer in on a concrete house, had survey done and they couldn't borrow on it.

They obviously pulle dout.

They would have bought it if they could have borrowed for it.

Was that recently,Littlerach?

This is very useful . I have just been told that the property I am buying is of unconventional nature which I had no clue about until an hour ago !! But now there is another thing to worry about . I am going to get a mortgage in principle done tomorrow and the lender seems ok lending but I am now concerned about the future when I am ready to sell .. also could someone please advise if there is a separate place to look for surveyors for the property survey for this kind of buildings ? Thanks so much

Those type of walls can be bastard-hard to drill to put up curtain rails etc - bitter experience....

I’ve been looking into this for when I get a house because lots of the cheaper houses here are Wimpey no-fines. If it’s one of those I think it shouldn’t be a problem the only issue might be resale when the buyer has the same worries but they will also find out that it shouldn’t be a problem.

From what I saw Laing Easiform is also mostly ok.

Other concrete builds have been put on the defective housing list and are unmortgagable but if that’s not the case it’s not a problem.

If floors were concrete, I’d definitely buy. It just feels sturdier to walk on that rather than creaky wood which always freaks me out.

We love abroad and all the houses are built with concrete blocks.

We have think walls and so the house stays cool in summer and warm in winter.

The floors are also concrete but With insulation, scree and then tiles/wooden floors.

I can’t hear my son upstairs playing his drums!

I live in a flat in a concrete built block, haven't tried putting pictures up yet but imagine it'll be a drill job, other than that, great sound proofing!

I was brought up in a 50's concrete house and my mum still lives there. They had no problems with a mortgage and my dad re-mortgaged it twice. As for drilling, it's a bit tough but a modern drill and bit will tackle it with ease and would take that any day over a modern studded wall where you can't even hang a TV without reinforcing the wall. The only downside is they are not usually insulated so cost more to heat but it's dry and also cool in the summer. I notice many houses in the area have fitted external insulation. Looks a bit cheesy to me but it no doubt saves on the bills.

how much does survey cost?

We've got a 1940s concrete build; no problem with getting a mortgage but home insurance was a bit trickier so watch out for that! We've been in for about two months and no problems with it so far :)

We have a 1930s concrete/steal frame house which we bought five years ago. No problems with it at all. We had a full structural survey before buying it, our mortgage lender was happy to lend without a survey but we got one for our own peace of mind. Only thing that we've noticed is when we had our extension built it took triple the time for the knock through than a conventional build house. Our builders said our house was pretty much built like a nuclear bunker.
The house stays lovely and warm in the winter and is very cool in the summer which we definitely appreciated last summer

We love ours! Totally sound proof as someone else has said. It;s toasty warm too. We had no problem obtaining a mortgage or insurance and have extended ours too.

I think people get a little worried because of the mundic houses in Cornwall that were defective because of the steel in them, and there are a lot of people online giving advice that really don't know what they're talking about :D ;) but Wimpey No Fines and Laing Easiform are totally different and have never had any structural issues. I wouldn't be put off, we live on a whole estate of them and no one has any problems selling :) they are usually much bigger properties as well :)

Concrete homes are typically more expensive to build than conventional homes, but they're less expensive to maintain and more durable over time

Concrete affects the bottom line in other ways, lowering heating and cooling costs and even insurance premiums.
www.pro-mixconcrete.co.uk/concrete-pump-hire/