Purchase & Repair of Concrete (PRC) Houses

At the Mortgage Co UK we have many years of expertise in arranging mortgages for non-standard construction properties, in particular system-built concrete houses. If you've had difficulty getting a mortgage or don't know where you can find builders guaranteed to do an excellent job at a competitive price, or simply want advice on the whole process of buying and repairing this type of property, please call us first. Even if you have already started the process or have obtained a quote for a mortgage or PRC brick up repairs, it does no harm to have a second opinion and we may be able to save you thousands of pounds.

Call us on 08454 174425 or 07966 842293

**WARNING** Please beware of companies who knock on your door and whose main selling point is their claim to "do everything under one roof". They may charge you high fees for this "convenience", will often quote you inflated building repair prices and usually fail to discuss ALL of your options. 

The History

In the 1950's and 1960's, following consequences of war, there was a need to build housing rapidly, with limited material resources and to build without traditional construction skills. 

Concrete was by far the most successful and widely utilised building material and ultimately more than 400,000 pre-cast reinforced concrete (PRC) dwellings were built throughout Great Britain. the various designs shared the common thread of off site manufacture of the components in "factory" conditions, with speedy on-site construction and thereafter, rapid occupation. These homes were often in excellent locations with generous accommodation and large gardens and proved to be a success with the tenants. However in the end, the lightweight nature of the components that was such a positive feature of these system-built properties, ultimately also proved to be their Achilles' heel.

The Problem

In the early 1980’s, coinciding with the newly introduced Right to Buy legislation, defects were discovered in the load bearing columns of many of these PRC house designs leading to large numbers of PRC properties being designated as “defective”. The outcome was a decision by the major lending institutions that they would no longer accept such properties as satisfactory security for mortgages. Thus, the properties were blighted and difficult to sell other than to cash buyers.

Originally, grants were available to repair these properties to mortgagable standards, however these grants ended in the mid 1990's and today anyone wishing to purchase these properties privately, or as a tenant with the Right To Buy has the choice of either using a very high interest rate mortgage product or getting the property repaired in order to obtain a competitive mortgage. Existing owners wanting to release further equity from their homes also face the same problems as very few lenders will grant a mortgage against an unrepaired PRC house. This has frustrated thousands of people wanting to buy these houses which can be highly desirable once repaired. 

Many unrepaired PRC houses, originally designed with a 20 year life span, are now in very poor condition, and fail to meet modern energy efficiency standards making them difficult and expensive to keep warm. Although some councils and housing associations have carried out cosmetic repairs to their PRC housing stock, these repairs are generally not to mortgagable standards. 

The Solution

The Mortgage Co UK have a great deal of expertise in arranging mortgages in this very complicated area. There are many factors to take into consideration, for example, under the current tightened credit criteria many lenders will not lend against a PRC house even when repaired, if it is attached to an unrepaired property. 

We have the expertise to find you the right mortgage products Depending on your credit history, bridging finance may be necessary, however. In this situation we have access to competitive sources of bridging finance to assist you. We will give you straight advice and will not waste your time. On the other hand our advice could dramatically cut the costs that applicants have to bear.

The mortgage or bridging finance will cover the cost of repairing the property to a mortgagable standards. The repair is scheduled to start as soon as possible after the finance is in place (or after the property has been purchased from the local authority). The lender retains the amount to cover the building repairs and the builders are paid only when the repair work has been completed and the Certificate of Structural Completion issued.

However, unlike our competitors we do not offer you a "one mortgage fits all" solution. We will arrange the right mortgage for you depending on your financial circumstances and credit history. In some cases a high street mortgage may be available to you if you qualify. In such circumstances it may be a condition of the building contract that payment is made directly to the builder following completion of the repairs (or at times the builder will insist on this). We will arrange for this to be a condition of the lender's mortgage offer.

The Repairs

• The building work is carried out on a fixed price quotation basis. This means that apart from any extras you may request, there not be any "hidden extras" adding to your costs. The cost includes building regulations and planning where necessary, all building works and structural engineers fees. You can have the peace of mind knowing that the price agreed at the outset will be held to.

• All work is overseen by independent structural engineers (i.e. they do not work for the building company) who will inspect the work at various stages and will only issue the Certificate of Structural Completion when the work is carried out to their satisfaction.

• You will not normally need to move out of your property. The builders are experienced in working around families living in their properties during the repair process.

• The price includes replacing existing windows and doors with high quality double glazed units. If you have recently replaced these items they can be retained and refitted although please bear in mind that council supplied units are not of equivalent standard. Popular requested extras are replacing a rear window with a patio door and a front window with a bow window.

• Option to add loft insulation - to complete the energy efficiency of the repair (provided that access can be gained to your loft). This together with the PRC repair itself will result in a house that feels much warmer, with a dramatic reduction in your heating bills.

• Additional home improvements can often be carried out at the same time, e.g. extension, conservatory, front porch. Please bear in mind that increasing the footprint of your house will require planning permission which may increase the project completion time considerably.

The Results

Your home will be repaired to mortgagable standards, made energy efficient (including new windows doors and loft insulation) and completely transformed and in better condition than most traditionally built houses. We recommend only builders where we are confident that the workmanship is of the highest standards. 

The most common PRC house designs include Airey, Boot, Cornish, Hawksley, Myton, Orlit, Reeman, Unity, Wates and Woolaway. Below are some examples of PRC Repairs on various house types:

Boot House

Airey House

Cornish House

Wates House

The Next Step

Contact us today for assistance with the mortgage products that may be available to you or to discuss the building repair works necessary. If you already have the funds available and do not need a mortgage we can refer you to approved and competent builders who have many year's of experience in this type of work. We have negotiated very competitive fixed prices which you can take advantage of.