Buying a concrete house - pros and cons????

WiresDreamDisasters

TTony said:

Colour is always the most important question.    Emp is my guide.

Well.. I was thinking puce ... always puce ...

TTony

Aiming to be slightly more helpful ...

A decent survey should uncover whether there are any structural issues - either with the stability/strength of the concrete itself, or any corrosion/degradation of the supporting steel rods that may (should?) be within the concrete.

Assuming that it's been up for a good few years and shows no signs (large cracks, crumbling walls) of any issues with the concrete, then it's unlikely to collapse overnight.

Finding any issues with any internal steelwork would be more problematic as it's all hidden deep in the concrete, but I'm guessing the surveyors have the techniques to do that.

But - wow - £500k for  a 3bed house.  Ouchy.

Feels like you're making a significant commitment before you're really sure that you want to make that sort of commitment (ie the other thread).  Sure, you could sell up in 3mths, 6mths, 12mths, whenever, and move elsewhere if that's how you end up resolving the other-thread-issues, but every move costs ~£30k with all the costs, so it's an expensive process.

Adey

Getting a survey is really important, and from someone who has some knowledge on concrete construction in houses. is really important.

I would be concerned on workmanship as "one-off" houses are more likely built by contractors without the "specialist" knowledge on how to get it right, and consequently you may have various hidden defects to be wary of.

How old is it, out of curiosity?

WiresDreamDisasters

TTony said:

Aiming to be slightly more helpful ...

A decent survey should uncover whether there are any structural issues - either with the stability/strength of the concrete itself, or any corrosion/degradation of the supporting steel rods that may (should?) be within the concrete.

Assuming that it's been up for a good few years and shows no signs (large cracks, crumbling walls) of any issues with the concrete, then it's unlikely to collapse overnight.

Finding any issues with any internal steelwork would be more problematic as it's all hidden deep in the concrete, but I'm guessing the surveyors have the techniques to do that.

But - wow - £500k for  a 3bed house.  Ouchy.

Feels like you're making a significant commitment before you're really sure that you want to make that sort of commitment (ie the other thread).  Sure, you could sell up in 3mths, 6mths, 12mths, whenever, and move elsewhere if that's how you end up resolving the other-thread-issues, but every move costs ~£30k with all the costs, so it's an expensive process.

Definitely hear you on the last point. I really doubt selling up and moving is on the cards. Maybe renting and living in Japan for a couple of years and basically just not working, or doing freelance stuff from home... that's more likely.

Price-wise.. that's just the price range in this neck of the woods. 3 bed brick houses go for between £450-500K. Sometimes you'll see a 4 bedroom like the one I saw in Harrow Weald a few weeks back, which was very nice to look at, but Harrow Weald is a slum and I don't want to live there.

octatonic

TTony said:

But - wow - £500k for  a 3bed house.  Ouchy.

Cheap for London, actually.
West London entry level for 3 bed terraces is 800k in any area not actually on fire.

In leafy bits- Chiswick and such, you are looking over a million.
A friend sold a 3 bed flat in Chiswick a few months ago for 1.2mil.

Roland

Europe likes concrete houses. As @octatonic said, a lot of Asian apartment blocks are poured concrete. Our house is ancient, but it has concrete floors. Sound proofing is good. Just check for rusting metal inserts and damp incursion

exocet

Get an online insurance quote, change the construction details between Brick and Concrete. See how insurers view the risk?