Does anyone know anything about UNITY built properties?

[bronya]

I know they were not built to last and need the outside walls rebuilding - is this easy to have done? What if the property was mid terrace and the ones on either side were not rebuilt - would that be an issue? How much (roughly) to do that? Are we talking £20,000 or more? Any other downsides? All info would be v helpful. Thanks!

[HappyJoyful]

I have a certain 'obsession' with them at the moment - namely as they are affordable where we are and would give us more space... All the ones advertised in our local paper state that they could be un-mortgagable.
Not sure if that's the case however, but yes just thought I'd throw that into the pot for you!
Not heard about the wall issue.

[bronya]

Thanks Happy, apparently you can't get a mortgage until the walls have been sorted, as some collapsed, so banks won't lend on them. We have the cash to buy outright, but would need to be in a specific budget, including the works to fix them. I am interested for the same reason you are - we could get a much larger house for the money!

[askasurveyor]

Unity is one of a number of construction types that were designated defective under the housing acts 1984. This means you cannot get a mortgage on them unless they have had a 'licenced' repair. Even then most lenders wont touch them. The problem relates to hidden corrosion of the reinforcement that eventually leads to instability. This is why they are cheap. Other problems include poor insulation and condensation issues. If the neighbouring atrached houses have not been repaired then the lenders will still refuse a mortgage. Impossible unless you are a cash buyer that is prepared to accept potential costly repiar liabilities during long term ownership! Avoid.

[bronya]

Ah, thank you askasurveyor the bit about the other houses attached to yours is what I was most interested in finding out! I've looked up the repairs online, and they fix the outside wall issues and the insulation/condensation etc - I did think though that if the house next to yours did fail structurally, surely it would affect yours too!

So it would be worth doing ONLY if the price was low enough that after repair the overall cost was reasonable, AND the attached house had already been repaired?

[askasurveyor]

That is correct bronya. You could also ask if a grant is available from the council, but in the current environment its unlikely. If you do go down the licensed repair route it MUST be done by a a company licensed to do so and you will need to speak to building control and the council about the process. I would also check with your mortgage broker if there will still be problems getting a mortgage; I suspect this will be the case.

[prcrepair]

As long as the Unity PRC house is repaired using a PRC Homes Ltd licensed scheme and is backed up with a PRC certificate it would be acceptable for a mortgage from all major high street lenders at normal interest rates. It is very rare for a lender to insist that any attached properties are repaired, the likes of Halifax, Nationwide, Santander etc do not insist on repairs to attached houses. There is plenty of information regarding mortgages for PRC houses on my website along with lots of pictures showing the repair process. www.prc-repair.co.uk

[kate9010]

i've just sold my repaired prc house within three weeks of it hitting the market (plus two months to complete the paperwork)! as far as i'm aware my buyers had no problems getting a mortgage, even though it was attached to a unrepaired house. they did ask for the certificates though, so i guess you just have to make sure it's done properly and you get the paperwork to go with it. I'm trying to find another one to carry out the repairs on and increase the value significantly again