Hi, would really appreciate some advice here as we are getting a lot of conflicting information.
We are first time buyers, trying to buy a house we already rent in Wellingborough. The mortgage provider has sent a surveyor round and has now come back and said the house is unmortgagable without a PRC certificate, as it's a concrete build.
We've asked the landlord who has never heard of this, presumably because they have never had a mortgage on the property, but they did give me a copy of a RICS homebuyers report carried out by Martin Pendered in 2014.
The report states that although the property is of non-standard construction it is NOT classed as defective and is acceptable to most mortgage lenders. The house is a Gregory build.
However, looking online it looks like a Gregory build is classed as defective and requires the PRC report.
I was hoping someone may be able to offer some advise before I potentially lay out another £1000 for a report! Anything would be really appreciated.
David B 16 September 2022 5:19 PM
Hi Lauren, I can confirm that the dwellings known as Gregory construction are classified as being Defective under the housing act 1985. As such it would only be mortgageable if it had been repaired under an approved PRC repair scheme of which a certificate of proof of repair, would have been provided.
However, quite often properties are mis-identified, so it's important to confirm that your house is indeed a Gregory construction.
Does your house resemble the property below?
Hi David, thanks for your reply. No not quite, this is the house:
Thanks for the screenshot Lauren. I must admit I was thrown slightly by your image, as it certainly didn't match the description of a typical 'Gregory' dwelling that I'm aware of. I reached out to Marc, the site admin and owner of the NSH website, who's currently off recuperating after an injury. Fortunately for us, his mind is working fine.
Marc informs me that there are two distinctly different forms of the Gregory house.
The first, as shown in the image above, is of the Gregory 1954 onward variant of which 1500 were built. These are classed as defective in England & Wales, unless repaired under an approved PRC repair scheme.
The Second type, you'll be glad to hear, is the 'Gregory Industrialised' house. Built from 1965 onwards, with a build total of around 600 units. This version is NOT CLASSED AS DEFECTIVE.
The Gregory Industrialised dwelling is sometimes referred to as:-
Drury
Drury System 3
Gregory Crosswall
It is therefore very important that all parties are made aware of this distinct fact, as they are two completely separate constructions which should not be confused.
I'll try to see if there's a way to create a Blog post specifically for the Gregory Industrialised property in the very near future, which should assist you further.
I trust this helps to put your mind at rest.
David B
Hi David, thank you so much to you and Marc for this information, this is incredibly helpful and I'm ever so grateful! Back to the mortgage provider I go!