Wimpey no fines?

Question

We are buying a house that has shown up on survey to be Wimpey No Fines. We have found a lender, but should we be concerned about the construction or resale of the house in the future?

Answer 1

I would definitely have concerns about the resale of the house. Fewer and fewer lenders are writing loans for No Fines homes, and unless you make substantial upgrades to the exterior insulation and windows (or the previous owner did) you may have a hard time finding a buyer. It's very hard to predict the future but if you can get any idea from your realtor or lender about how many lenders are still writing these loans, and how that percentage has changed over the years, you may have a better idea how likely a future buyer may be to get their financing.

Answer 2

Hi, mmmmmmmm LARGE LOUNGE! Wimpey built this property between 1950-1960. Worry not my friend! True some lenders will feel ichy, they like to lend to properties made of 'traditional bricks and mortar construction' as it looks good on paper.
These properties are very well made and deteriorate very slowly. Quality control was very high.
Structural defects are rare.
'No fines' refers to the material you cant see within the walls, which has no 'fine' particles, i.e no grains of sand, it would otherwise be concrete (without sand it is not classed as concrete).
The foundations are likely to be very deep, I have seen some brickwork set to a depth of 2 metres below the ground. Set into clay, with brickwork up to 150mm above ground level at least with a visable blue brick damp course. The curve where the no-fine meets the brickwork, is known as a 'bell cast' due to its shape, this is so that the rain drips onto the floor and not down the bricks, which should have open (not cemented) joints to let any water out! It is very rare to get structural problems with this base of brickwork.
The house was built using sheets of plywood bolted together which were used as a mould, a single piece of steel called a RINGBEAM is also built into the framework and will encircle the building like a belt or 'ring', there will be a ringbeam just above the height of the front door which travels al the way around the building, and another ringbeam above this, between the downstairs and the upstairs windows. At least three ringbeams will encircle the property and they are very strong 30mm, thick twisted steel bars. These bars will hold many tons of material together most effectively.
A mixture of cement/water and pebbles (no sand) hence the name is poured in between the wooden framework to encase the metal framework completely, the framework was then removed the following day and used to build the next row of houses.
The no fines are covered with pebble dashing on the outside, and plastered on the inside. If you want to see the no fines material, look at the party walls in the loft.
DO Ask if the concrete floors have been renewed!! The floor would originally have been 'shale' stones covered in concrete then tiled.
These are sometimes a problem as the stone can break up and lift the floor up, it is usually obvious in the larger rooms where the floor would apear to be uneven or raised in the centre.
This is expensive to put right. It has more than likely been done though!! BUT to check if this work has been done, measure the SIZE of the floor tiles in ALL downstairs rooms including the cupboards and pantry which would have also been done, they should be 300mm square and dark brown/black or light in colour. If you find any tiles that are smaller, you will be looking at a (pre 1971) and old floor, these tiles contain a small amount of asbestos and are lighter in colour and they will simply look old and shabby. If they are present is is a good indication that the shale stone has not yet been removed. This is likely to be a £10,000 job to remove it and lay new floors. THIS WORK HAS MORE LIKELY ALREADY BEEN DONE BY THE COUNCIL, BUT DEPENDING ON HOW LONG AGO IT WAS PURCHASED FROM THEM AS A 'RIGHT TO BUY'.

Other things to look for, has the old and heavy cast iron guttering been replaced?? It could be corroded and leak.

Has the soffit (the painted surface under the roof that faces down) been replaced as it could well be asbestos.

Has the lead water main been replaced yet?? They are at 10% risk of leaking into the stone sub-floor. This work can often be done in one day, but work could cost £1,000. Drinking water fed through lead pipes has been proven not to be the best idea.

Dont forget, YOU are interested in this property, so why wouldnt anyone else buy it?

It's just like the one across the road, and next door too! There must be more than 200,000 no fines properties in the UK.
Property is always saleable, remember though, location location location!!

[e-mail]

I wouldnt hesitate to purchase your new home! Good luck!

Answer 3

Wimpey No Fines