What type of prefab is this?

[DIYDanT]

I've just been to view a property that is of a non-standard construction.

It was on a street of around 60 prefab houses that were all built after the war to try and solve the housing crisis. A lot of the houses (including the one I had viewed) had been re-rendered to hide the underlying construction material but a number still had visible steel rods on the outside as you can see in the attached image.

I just wondered if anyone could shed any light on how these houses were built or if anyone has lived in or bought one before and if they have ever caused any problems?

 

[Nige F]

ex council ? . Tenanted next door ?( semi) Buy a pair, demolish and put up an eco house. Or walk away. Just my opinion

 

[Deleted member 174758]

We used to have council houses like that round here. The ones in this area were mainly Tarran houses (which is what the OP's looks like to me). They have a series of pre-cast re-inforced concrete wall sections that are bolted into a relatively lightweight steel frame on top of a concrete "raft" foundation. The roofs on them were originally lightweight steel framed with profiled metal (steel) cladding. There were a whole range of standardised designs produced during and after WWII to deal with the housing shortage, but none of them were designed to last more than 20 years (although many of them did 40 to 60 years). Our local council pulled most of theirs down around 20 to 30 years back, re-using the concrete rafts (and the services) and constructing more conventional brick-skinned timber-framed houses on them.

I had a look at a few before they were demolished - they all had signs of "concrete cancer" in the panels and the bolts where the panels were fixed into the framework were badly corroded. So they were time expired. "Concrete cancer" is where water has penetrated the concrete panels and started corrosion in the rebar within the panels - the resulting rust is less dense than steel, but it expands, causing the panels to crack or fail, allowing more water in and accellerating the failure.

Unless you can buy both semis and have the money to demolish them both and then build two new timber-framed semis on the concrete raft which is left, walk away. They will just be money pits.

BTW I've been told by an S/E that a lot of the concrete rafts built to carry these houses are fairly lightweight and won't carry the weight of a double skin brick and block house, hence going to timber frame for the replacement as it can be a lot lighter

Google "Prefab Museum" for more info about the various house types

 

[Nige F]

Thanks for identifying the type and the link to the museum . Don't you just love the Right to buy ?

 

[DIYDanT]

Thanks for providing that info, it's just what I was after.

The property I viewed was in Lancs so I'd like to bet they are indeed Tarran houses. From what I've been reading each area seemed to have their own unique type of post war prefab build.

It's a shame the semi next door isn't up for sale as it'd be a really good sized plot on which to build, it wouldn't be silly money either as they obviously go for a fraction of what a standard build would but I'll take your advice and stay well clear.

The prefab museum site has provided some good early morning reading, who knew there was a whole post-war prefab community out there just waiting to be discovered!?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

My understanding about these houses is that they are almost impossible to get mortgages on. I have to say that the rebuilds the council did looked good - they also went up really fast because they were able to re-use the foundations

 

[DIYDanT]

My understanding about these houses is that they are almost impossible to get mortgages on. I have to say that the rebuilds the council did looked good - they also went up really fast because they were able to re-use the foundations

You are correct. The EA was very open about this and they would only do viewings for cash buyers on the basis that no lender will touch them. I imagine they'd take quite a bit of insuring as well.

 

[^woody^]

Your legal advisor woukd normally make enquiries with the local council which built these and would hold the records and details of issues.

Many system builds may look similar or be different versions, so it's best not to guess.

Typically, the bad system builds have been remedied or demolished by now. Some lenders still don't like the risk, but there are whole estates of these things still standing, still being lived in and still being bought and sold with no problems.