Concrete Houses: the Complete UK Seller's Guide

Concrete houses — also called Prefabricated Reinforced Concrete (PRC) or non-standard construction — are some of the hardest properties in the UK to sell on the open market. Most high-street lenders refuse a mortgage on them, which cuts your buyer pool from every homeowner in the country down to cash buyers and a handful of specialist lenders.

If you own an Airey, Cornish, Wimpey No-Fines, Reema, Woolaway, Unity, Boot, Tarran, Orlit or similar system-built home, this guide explains what your house actually is, what it is worth, and how to sell it without the deal collapsing at survey.

What counts as a concrete house?

There are two completely different groups, and confusing them costs sellers money:

1. Precast / prefabricated reinforced concrete (PRC). Built from factory-made concrete panels or columns between the 1920s and the 1970s to solve post-war housing shortages. Airey, Cornish Unit, Woolaway, Reema, Wates, Unity, Boot, Orlit, Parkinson, Stent, Stonecrete, Tarran, Underdown and Winget are the names you will see on surveys.

2. Poured in-situ concrete. Wimpey No-Fines is the common one — concrete poured on site into shutters, with no fine aggregate. Structurally a different product, and treated differently by lenders.

If you are not sure which yours is, a RICS Level 3 surveyor or the original local authority build records will confirm it. Many sellers only find out when a buyer's surveyor flags it.

Which concrete houses are designated defective?

Under the Housing Defects Act 1984 (later consolidated into the Housing Act 1985, Part XVI), the government designated a list of prefabricated concrete house types as defective because their reinforcement steel corrodes over time, cracking the concrete panels from the inside out. The main designated types are:

• Airey — pre-cast concrete columns and cladding panels
• Cornish Unit (Types I and II) — concrete frame with a concrete-clad first floor
• Woolaway, Wates, Unity, Boot, Reema, Orlit, Parkinson, Stent, Stonecrete, Tarran, Underdown, Winget

If your home is one of these types, mortgage lenders will generally only lend once it has been fully repaired to a certified standard — usually by stripping the concrete panels back to the frame and rebuilding the outer leaf in brick and blockwork. A licensed PRC repair contractor issues a PRC Certificate on completion, and only then will mainstream lenders consider the property.

Without a PRC Certificate, your buyer pool is essentially cash only.

Wimpey No-Fines: the misunderstood one

Wimpey No-Fines houses (built in large numbers by George Wimpey from the 1940s to the 1970s, especially across South Wales, the Midlands and Scotland) are not on the defective list. They are poured in-situ concrete and structurally they are generally sound.

The catch is that most lenders still classify No-Fines as non-standard construction and require:

• A specialist surveyor's report (RICS Level 3, not a basic HomeBuyer)
• Confirmation there is no external render damage or cracking
• Sometimes a structural engineer's letter

Some lenders will consider No-Fines with restrictions; others decline outright. The practical result is the same: a noticeable share of chain buyers fall through at the mortgage-offer stage, and the sale has to start again.

Why mortgages and insurance are the real problem

The house itself is rarely what kills a sale — the finance is:

• Mortgage refusals. Lenders decline unrepaired designated PRC types as a matter of policy. Even No-Fines and non-designated systems face extra conditions, valuer caution and down-valuations.
• Insurance. Some insurers load premiums heavily or refuse cover on designated PRC types in original condition. A buyer who cannot insure cannot get a mortgage even from a willing lender.
• Survey shock. Most sellers first hear the phrase "non-standard construction" from a buyer's surveyor three months into a sale. The buyer panics, the lender declines, and the chain collapses.
• Resale risk pricing. Even cash buyers price in the fact that the property will be harder to resell — that is a discount for liquidity, not a judgement on your house.

Action for sellers: obtain a written quote for buildings insurance in your own name before you market, and show it to buyers. A concrete premium beats a vague fear every time.

What is a concrete house actually worth?

Value depends on type, repair status and location. As broad, indicative ranges:

• Unrepaired designated PRC (Airey, Cornish, Reema etc.): typically sells well below an equivalent brick-built house in the same street — often around half to two-thirds of the brick value, because the buyer is taking on a property most of the market cannot mortgage.
• PRC-repaired with certificate: close to brick equivalent, sometimes with a small residual discount from buyer perception.
• Wimpey No-Fines in good condition: usually a modest discount to brick, reflecting the smaller lender pool rather than any structural defect.

Cash buyers price in the risk that the property will be difficult to resell, so offers below the brick equivalent are normal — not a scam.

Your three realistic options

1. Sell on the open market (slow, uncertain). Expect 6–18 months for unrepaired PRC. Multiple buyers may offer and then withdraw once their lender declines. You pay estate-agent fees, mortgage payments, council tax and utilities while it drags on.

2. Fund the PRC repair yourself (expensive). A full PRC repair typically runs into tens of thousands of pounds per house, takes months, and usually requires you to move out. It only makes sense if the uplift in sale price clearly exceeds the cost and disruption — run the numbers with a local agent before committing.

3. Sell to a specialist cash buyer. Companies that buy PRC and non-standard construction take the risk on themselves. Completion is usually 14–28 days, no mortgage chain, no survey renegotiation. The offer will be below full brick-equivalent value — that is the price of certainty and speed. We buy concrete houses across South Wales in any condition, repaired or not.

What to have ready before you list or request an offer

• Original property deeds or Land Registry title
• Any existing PRC repair certificates or structural reports
• EPC (concrete homes often score D–F; that is normal)
• Coal Authority search if you are in a former mining area — see our guide to selling a house affected by coal mining in South Wales
• Buildings insurance history — some insurers refuse defective PRC types

Concrete houses in South Wales

South Wales has one of the highest concentrations of Airey, Cornish, Woolaway and Wimpey No-Fines housing in the UK — particularly in Merthyr Tydfil, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Caerphilly, Swansea (Clase, Cwmrhydyceirw, Townhill), Newport (Ringland) and the Cynon Valley. Local estate agents know the type-by-type problems, and specialist house buyers in Wales who work the region can usually give a firm offer within 24 hours based on postcode and construction type alone.

If your home is defective PRC and you need it sold on a fixed date — for probate, divorce, mortgage arrears, or simply to move on — a cash sale is almost always the fastest route. You can read what a cash buyer actually pays before you decide, or request a no-obligation offer below.