This page is for anyone trying to buy, remortgage or let a PRC (precast reinforced concrete) home, and finding that mainstream lenders simply say no. If you have searched for a "PRC mortgage" or "precast reinforced concrete mortgage", you are almost certainly dealing with one of the post-war prefabricated concrete house types, you may have heard the word "defective", and you want to know whether the property can be financed at all and on what terms.
Working across more than 135 lenders, Propertyze approaches PRC the way specialist lenders do: criteria first. The starting question is not the rate, it is who will lend at all on this specific construction, in this condition, in this location. We establish whether a property has been repaired under an approved scheme and properly certified, then present the case to the small pool of lenders who consider PRC, with the structural evidence assembled in the way they expect to see it.
Key facts at a glance
- What PRC is: Precast Reinforced Concrete: prefabricated houses, largely built between 1945 and the 1960s, using factory-made concrete panels or frames with embedded steel reinforcement, to ease the post-war housing shortage.
- Common types: Names you may see in a valuation include Airey, Cornish, Wates, Reema, Woolaway, Unity and Orlit. These are examples, not an exhaustive list, and individual variants matter.
- The "defective" designation: Many PRC types were designated defective under the Housing Defects Act 1984 (later consolidated into the Housing Act 1985, Part XVI), because the embedded steel can corrode and the concrete spall, weakening the structure over time.
- Repair is the key: A designated-defective PRC home that has been repaired under an approved or licensed scheme, with a PRC certificate (for example from PRC Homes Ltd) and a structural engineer's confirmation, can be acceptable to specialist lenders.
- Unrepaired is hard: A PRC home that is unrepaired, or repaired without proper certification, is very difficult to mortgage and may need to be treated as a cash or specialist purchase.
- Narrow lender pool: Far fewer lenders consider PRC than standard brick-and-block, and those that do lean heavily on the valuation and any structural report. Saleability and the supply of comparable sales in the area matter to them.
- Regulation: A mortgage on a PRC home you will live in is a regulated residential mortgage contract, regulated by the FCA; a PRC home held as a let investment is usually a buy-to-let, which is most often not regulated by the FCA.
What a PRC home is, and the types you will meet
After 1945, Britain needed homes fast and had a shortage of skilled bricklayers and traditional materials. The answer, for hundreds of thousands of properties, was prefabrication: concrete components cast in a factory, delivered to site and assembled. Many used a precast concrete frame or panels with steel reinforcement bars set inside the concrete to give it tensile strength. The result looked like a conventional house and, for a generation, performed like one.
In practice "PRC" is an umbrella term covering many distinct systems, and the system name drives how a lender and a valuer treat the property. Airey houses, with their characteristic concrete posts and ship-lap panels, are among the most widely recognised; Cornish, Wates, Reema, Woolaway, Unity and Orlit are other names that appear regularly in surveys. Each was built to its own design, so the condition, the repair history and the structural detail of your specific house carry more weight than the broad label. The first job on any case is to identify the construction type precisely, because that determines which lenders will even open the file.
The Housing Defects Act designation, and why lenders are cautious
The underlying engineering concern is straightforward. Where steel reinforcement is embedded in concrete, moisture and carbonation over decades can let the steel corrode. As corroding steel expands it can crack and spall the surrounding concrete, and the structural performance the design relied on can degrade. By the early 1980s enough evidence had accumulated for the Government to act.
The Housing Defects Act 1984, later consolidated into the Housing Act 1985 (Part XVI), formally designated a list of PRC house types as defective. The designation was about the construction system, not a condemnation of every individual house, and it brought with it assistance schemes for affected owner-occupiers. For lenders, though, the designation is a clear signal: the security may carry structural risk, the resale market may be thinner, and the valuation needs to be right. That is why a mainstream lender, whose criteria are written for standard construction, will usually decline a PRC property outright rather than assess it case by case. It is not that PRC is uniformly unmortgageable; it is that it falls outside the standard box and needs a lender who has chosen to underwrite it.
Repaired versus unrepaired, and the PRC certificate
This is the distinction that decides most cases. A PRC home that has been repaired under an approved or licensed scheme is a different proposition from one that has not.
An approved repair typically reinstates the structural integrity of the building, often by replacing or encasing the original defective concrete elements with a recognised, engineered repair system. When that work is carried out properly it should be documented by a PRC certificate, for example issued through PRC Homes Ltd, and ideally supported by a structural engineer's confirmation that the repair was completed to the approved specification. To a specialist lender, that certificate and engineer's sign-off are central evidence: they show the original defect has been addressed in a recognised way.
Unrepaired PRC, or a property where repairs were done but the certification is missing or incomplete, is much harder. Some lenders will not consider an unrepaired defective type at all; others may want a full structural engineer's report before forming a view, and lending is far from certain. Note too that a repair must usually be applied to the whole structure to be recognised; a partial repair, for example to one half of a semi-detached pair where the attached property is untouched, can still leave a lender uncomfortable. If you are buying, establishing the repair and certification status before you commit can save a great deal of wasted time and cost.
How a specialist broker places these cases
Placing a PRC mortgage is largely about matching the precise facts of the property to the few lenders whose criteria fit, and presenting the evidence in the order they expect. In practice that means identifying the construction type, confirming whether an approved repair has been carried out, gathering the PRC certificate and any structural engineer's report, and forming a realistic view on saleability and comparable sales in the immediate area before anything goes to a lender.
A specialist broker also manages the valuation, which is the pivot of the whole case. Lenders considering PRC will instruct a valuer and may require a structural report; we make sure the relevant documents reach the valuer so the inspection is informed rather than cautious by default. Because the lender pool is narrow, getting the approach right first time matters: a decline recorded for the wrong reason, or a case sent to a lender who was never going to consider the construction, wastes time you may not have in a purchase chain. We also keep the regulated and unregulated routes distinct, because whether you intend to live in the property or let it changes both the suitable lenders and the regulatory treatment.
Common complications we handle
- Unrepaired defective types where you need to know, before committing, whether any lender will consider the property or whether it is effectively a cash purchase.
- Missing or incomplete certification on a property that was repaired years ago, where the PRC certificate or engineer's documentation cannot be located.
- Partial or non-scheme repairs, including semi-detached pairs where only one half has been repaired, which many lenders will not accept.
- Thin local comparables, where few similar PRC homes have sold nearby, making the valuer and lender cautious about resale value.
- Buy-to-let on PRC, where the narrow construction pool overlaps with the narrower set of lenders comfortable with both the construction and a let arrangement.
- Ex-local-authority PRC homes bought under right-to-buy, which can layer ex-council considerations on top of the construction issue.
- A previous decline on the same property from a mainstream lender, where the case simply needs routing to a specialist instead.
The process
- Initial conversation to understand the property, the construction type if known, whether you will live in it or let it, and your wider circumstances.
- Establish the construction and repair status, including whether an approved-scheme repair has been carried out and whether a PRC certificate and structural engineer's confirmation exist.
- Match to suitable lenders from the specialist pool, on criteria first, and give you a realistic view of what is achievable before any application.
- Manage the application, valuation and structural report, making sure the certificate and supporting evidence reach the valuer and underwriter.
- Through to completion, liaising with the lender, the valuer and the conveyancer and keeping you updated at each stage.
As a general guide you should expect to provide proof of identity and address, income or rental evidence, and crucially the PRC certificate and any structural engineer's report for the property. Timescales vary with the lender, the property and the conveyancing, and a PRC case can take longer than a standard purchase because of the additional structural assessment, so it is sensible to plan for that.
Frequently asked questions
Can you get a mortgage on a PRC house? Often yes, where the home is a designated-defective type that has been repaired under an approved scheme and properly certified. Unrepaired or uncertified properties are much harder and may not be mortgageable with mainstream lenders, so the repair and certification status is the first thing to establish.
What is a PRC certificate? It is documentation, for example issued through PRC Homes Ltd, confirming that a defective PRC property has been repaired under a recognised scheme to an approved standard. Lenders treat it, alongside a structural engineer's confirmation, as central evidence that the original structural concern has been addressed.
What if the property is unrepaired? Unrepaired defective PRC is difficult to finance. Some lenders will not consider it at all, and others may require a full structural engineer's report before deciding. It can end up as a cash or specialist purchase, so it is worth knowing the position before you commit.
Is a PRC mortgage more expensive? Specialist or non-standard construction lending can carry different pricing and terms from a standard mortgage, and choice is more limited. We will set out the realistic options for your specific case rather than quote a figure here, as terms depend on the lender, the property and your circumstances.
Can I get a buy-to-let on a PRC property? Sometimes, where the property is repaired and certified and the case fits a lender comfortable with both the construction and a let. The pool is narrower again than for residential PRC, which is exactly where specialist placement helps. Most buy-to-let mortgages are not regulated by the FCA.
Speak to a specialist
If you are looking at a PRC or other non-traditional concrete home and want a clear, honest read on whether it can be financed and how, we can help you establish the facts and approach the right lenders. Call 020 7126 8574 or request a call back, and we will reply within one working day.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage secured on it.
Propertyze is a trading style of City Finance Brokers Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA No. 766295). We conduct both regulated and unregulated business, so not all products provided through us are regulated by the FCA; most buy-to-let mortgages, for example, are not regulated.