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Thousands of leasehold and freehold properties throughout the UK were built using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) from the 1950s to the 1990s, but some of that concrete is now starting to crumble. This guide details the challenges you could face trying to sell a property with RAAC concrete, but it also offers tips on how to sell for a competitive and fair offer.
- What is RAAC at a leasehold or freehold property?
- The recent RAAC / crumbling concrete property controversy
- Do you need to tell buyers about concrete problems at your property?
- Drawbacks with selling a property that has RAAC / crumbling concrete
- Deciding whether to fix concrete problems before selling a property
- Your choices for selling a property with RAAC / crumbling concrete
- Top questions about selling property with RAAC concrete problems
What is RAAC at a leasehold or freehold property?
Starting in the 1950s and continuing through to the 1990s, thousands of freehold and leasehold properties were constructed across the UK using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). It’s found in schools, office buildings, airports and even flats and other homes.
This is a type of building material that was first developed in Sweden and is also known as “bubbly” lightweight concrete because of its design, as The Guardian notes. RAAC was popular because it was a cheaper alternative to other construction materials, and that’s why it was used to build a wide range of properties.
But RAAC was meant to have a 30-year viable lifespan, meaning that it would be expected to possibly crumble or otherwise fail any time after that lifespan had expired.
Any type of structural problem, like potentially unsafe concrete, at a property can make it harder to attract buyers, whether it’s a freehold property where you own the land and the building completely, or it’s a leasehold property where you’re the owner of the residential or other type of building for a set number of years as defined in a lease agreement with the freeholder – for this category of property you will also be paying the freeholder an annual ground rent.
This guide will explain the recent RAAC controversy that has gained attention throughout the UK, as well as the negative implications for selling a property that has crumbling concrete.
However, you should not fear that your home or other type of property will never be able to find a buyer just because it has RAAC or otherwise possibly crumbling concrete. Later in this guide, you’ll also see advice on certain ways that you can still generate a competitive and swift offer on your property, even without investing in any work to remediate the concrete problem.
The recent RAAC / crumbling concrete property controversy
Although builders stopped using RAAC to construct properties by the 1990s, recent news report have shed light on a growing controversy about the use of the concrete to build schools.
It’s believed that more than 150 schools throughout the UK might be affected by being partly constructed using RAAC, and that the concrete could be crumbling, posing a safety risk if it were to collapse. Some schools have sent pupils home instead of risking having them being harmed should the property become unstable, as the Euronews website notes.
The current UK government is attracting criticism by some for the perception that it has not worked sufficiently hard to assess the full scope of the risk that RAAC might pose at schools, as well as concerns about crumbling concrete at hospitals, government buildings, and elsewhere.
Although the use of RAAC to build houses, flats and other types of residential properties is not considered to have been on a major scale, there could still be potentially thousands of homes that might be affected. If RAAC is detected at these properties, and particularly if it is found to already be crumbling, that could make it hard for those owners to sell their homes.
Do you need to tell buyers about concrete problems at your property?
If you know that your property has RAAC and it has the potential to crumble, or is already showing signs of structural damage, you must tell prospective buyers about this.
As part of the selling process, you will be required to fill out what’s called a Property Information Form, which is more commonly referred to as a TA6 form. This is effectively a questionnaire that asks you a lengthy list of wide-ranging questions about your property, such as whether there are any boundary disputes, details of planning permission that you may have, structural issues and much more.
When answering questions about the physical integrity of the property, if you know that it was partly constructed using RAAC then you will need to disclose this on the TA6 form. And if the concrete is actively crumbling, this is also something that must be declared on the form.
Answering questions in full and honest to the best extent you can is required by law, as the HomeOwners Alliance’s website explains. You must not withhold information that you know about the presence of RAAC at your property, because if the buyer is not told about it and then discovers the issue once they become the new owner, they could sue you and you’ll face significant penalties.
Drawbacks with selling a property that has RAAC / crumbling concrete
Because you are required to tell potential buyers about the presence of RAAC or crumbling concrete at your property, you should be aware that this can complicate the sale.
That’s because certain buyers will consider your home or other building to be a “problem” property because of the concrete issue, and this could make them reluctant to make an offer for buying it. Alternatively, they could still be willing to purchase your property, but they might want to offer you a dramatically reduced price, citing the concrete problem as the reason.
Some recent news reports have compared the growing RAAC controversy as similar to the concerns about cladding at blocks of flats throughout the UK.
The cladding problem gained prominence following the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017, a disaster that was blamed in part on the use of highly flammable cladding material for constructing the block of flats. And fears about cladding were seen as making it much harder to sell this type of property.
One of the reasons that cladding made it more difficult to attract a buyer for a flat is the new fire safety rules enacted following the Grenfell Tower incident. These regulations specified a mandate for a qualified specialist surveyor to inspect blocks of flats with cladding in order to determine their safety in the event of a fire, and whether any work needed to be done.
But the UK faced a lengthy backlog of survey applications, and many homeowners reported that it was hard to attract interest from buyers who worried that the flat might be a fire risk.
A similar concern applies with properties that were constructed using RAAC, because the news coverage of the schools that are at risk has been spreading to also raise questions over the structural integrity of other public buildings and private homes that were built with the concrete.
Some leaseholders now worry that they could be liable for spending large amounts of money on paying for surveyors to assess whether their properties have crumbling concrete, as inews.co.uk reports. And they also have concerns that they might be responsible for paying very costly bills for any remediation work that might be needed for that concrete.
A further barrier to selling that you may face is reluctance from mortgage lenders to approve loans for people to buy your property. That’s because the lender could be concerned that the property might be at risk of major structural damage in the future because of the crumbling concrete. That could make it impossible to resell, in the event that the home loan provider has to repossess the property if the buyer ends up defaulting on the mortgage repayments.
As a result, the primary reasons why it can be harder to sell a property built with RAAC is that buyers and mortgage lenders may question its structural integrity, and owners could struggle with finding the time, money and effort needed to address the issue before selling.
Deciding whether to fix concrete problems before selling a property
One issue that you will need to resolved before making the decision to sell your property with crumbling concrete is whether to fix the problem before you seek a buyer.
You might be concerned that your home or other property will struggle to sell because of the presence of RAAC. If that’s the case, you could consider spending funds on having a qualified surveyor assess your property, and identify whether there is any remediation work to be done. Next, you could decide to invest in those repairs before you start the search for a buyer.
The benefit of this approach is that it would eliminate the problem of prospective buyers either losing interest in your property entirely because of the crumbling concrete, or reducing their offer prices significantly based on the costs they expect to face in fixing the issue as the next owner.
However, many property owners throughout the UK will not have energy, time or funds available for pursuing this type of survey and potential remediation work – particularly those sellers who want to find a buyer as quickly as possible, because the fixes could take many months.
If this situation applies to you, there’s no need to worry that your property will never sell. You will just have to consider alternative approaches for selling, such as getting in touch with LDN Properties or another quick property buying company. These businesses have the funds available to make immediate purchases of almost any type of leasehold or freehold commercial, residential or other type of property regardless of any structural problems that it might have.
Your choices for selling a property with RAAC / crumbling concrete
Perhaps the biggest choice that you will have to make with the sale of your leasehold or freehold property with crumbling concrete is which option to use for finding a buyer.
You could sell to a quick property buyer, sell using an estate agent, sell at a property auction or sell without any help. Some of the approaches have notable disadvantages, for example you’ll have to pay commission when using the services of an auctioneer or estate agent. Other choices have clear benefits, like quick buyers being able to complete the process of buying a property within weeks, and that includes the time it takes for exchanging contracts.
To help you identify which of the four methods might fit best with your unique situation, write down your main priorities with selling, including how fast you would like to find a buyer, whether you can accept paying any fees, and your preferred price. Then browse the details of the four selling options below and look for the one that most closely satisfies your aims.
Sell to a quick property buyer
Quick buyers, like LDN Properties, have the funds available upfront to purchase almost any age, condition, location, shape, size or type of leasehold or freehold property, including those built using RAAC or that currently have crumbling concrete. This means they can buy properties right away, and not wait many weeks or longer to get a mortgage to cover the purchase.
This allows quick buyers to complete the purchase of most properties within a handful of weeks, and that includes the time it takes to exchange contracts and pay the seller the proceeds. That’s much speedier than the average schedule when selling a property using any other method.
A major pro of quick buyers is that they will make competitive and swift offers to buy properties even if they have issues that some may see as problems, such as being built with RAAC. For example, LDN Properties launched in 2003 and since that time it has purchased many properties throughout the UK, including not just buildings that have crumbling concrete, but also Tyneside/crisscross lease flats, uninsurable houses, properties that have a high ground rent, penthouse flats, new build homes, flats that have spray foam insulation, homes near power lines, and more.
Legitimate quick property buyers will also never charge the seller any commission, which helps with reducing the costs involved with selling. But if you decide to sell through an auctioneer or estate agent, you’ll have to pay them fees which are taken out of the final sale proceeds.
Sell using an estate agent
With an estate agent, you won’t need to put in much effort to sell your property with RAAC. They will take care of creating a listing that describes the property and includes photographs of it, and then advertising the listing in local newspapers, online and in their office to generate interest from buyers. They’ll also schedule viewings to give prospective buyers a tour of your property’s interior and exterior, and they will hopefully take a serious offer through to completion.
For putting in all this work, the average estate agent will charge you commission within a range from 1.15 percent up to 1.40 percent of your property’s eventual sale price. This will increase your expenses because the fee will be subtracted straight away from the sale proceeds. If you’re looking to lower your costs when selling, you should review some no-fee options available, which include selling on your own or selling to a zero-commission quick buyer.
You may find that this is also one of the slowest options for selling a property, and you should not be surprised if you fail to attract a serious buyer for more than an entire year. If your top goal with selling is doing as fast as feasible, you might want to review the other methods.
Also note that a potential buyer could make an offer and then take it back, and not be subject to any penalties for doing so, any time until contracts are exchanged on your property. In the event that this happens, you can expect the selling timeline to take even longer, because you will have to start fresh with the process of trying to attract interest from buyers in your property.
Sell at a property auction
Another approach for selling a property with crumbling concrete is doing so through an auction, where people will place bids at ever-increase price amounts. The highest value bid at the time the auction ends is deemed the winner and the buyer of your property.
Auctions are often another relatively slow way of trying to sell a home or any other type of property, because there can be a lot of delay involved with the process. You will have to wait many weeks or even more between when you decide to sell your property and when the auction is held. Then, if your property does sell at the auction, the buyer usually has about 28 days to complete all of their required steps, such as signing the relevant legal paperwork.
Selling at an auction can raise your overall expenses, because the average auctioneer will charge you commission at 2.5 percent of the property’s final sale price, and the auctioneer will be able to subtract this fee immediately from the eventual auction proceeds.
There are some auctioneers that could be willing to negotiate on certain aspects of the selling process to your benefit, for example by reducing their rate of commission or shortening the deadline for the buyer to complete their actions, so always ask whether this is possible.
Sell without any help
Alternatively, you might be thinking about selling your property that has RAAC without any third party assistance from an estate agent or an auctioneer.
In this situation, it would be your responsibility to handle every step of the selling process, from the initial production and advertising of a listing through to scheduling viewings and hearing offers from serious buyers. This will take up a lot of your time and it can also be very stressful, so it’s only suggested if you have previously had success with selling properties.
One of the only obvious advantages of selling on your own is that you will not need to pay commission to an auctioneer or estate agent. But this cost saving could quickly be wiped out by the money that you will have to spend on marketing your listing and other expenses.
Plus, selling without any help can also take a very long time, and you should not be surprised if you are still waiting for a serious offer more than a year after starting to look for a buyer.
Instead of enduring the stress and delay involved with selling on your own, think about instead selling your property to a no-fee quick buyer like LDN Properties. These companies make fast and fair offers to purchase almost any type of property, including those built with RAAC, and in addition to not charging any commission, they can also provide a much speedier sale – on average just a few weeks, and that covers exchanging contracts and paying you the proceeds. It’s a great alternative for selling your property in a streamlined, no-stress and hassle-free way.
Top queries and answers about selling a house or flat with RAAC
Homeowners thinking of selling quickly typically have a few questions to be answered, ranging from the repair work needed before they can sell through to selling a concrete home. Here are some of the top questions we’re asked about selling a property built from RAAC or crumbling concrete:
Your top questions when selling a property with RAAC / Crumbling Concrete
Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, or RAAC, is a type of lightweight concrete that was used to construct schools and certain other types of leasehold and freehold properties throughout the UK from the 1950s until the 1990s. Although this type of concrete is believed to have been mostly used to build public buildings, it was used to construct some homes.
In 2023 and recent years, concerns have been increasingly raised about the use of RAAC at properties, because this type of concrete is believed to have a very short useful lifespan of about 30 years before it is at risk of crumbling. Although the most current fear is about schools at risk of problems, the issue of crumbling concrete could affect some homes in the UK.
You might find that there are additional challenges involved with selling a house, flat or any other type of property that was built using RAAC. That’s because buyers could be concerned about the structural integrity of the property, and the risk of damage in the future. Buyers may also struggle to get approved for a mortgage to pay for the purchase of your property.
Mortgage lenders provide loans for buying properties on the condition of the new owner paying the loan back through monthly instalments. If the buyer defaults on the loan, the mortgage provider can then move to sell the property, in order to recoup the outstanding money. But lenders may fear a property with RAAC will be hard to resell, and deny the loan as a result.
Yes, you are required to be honest and disclose all known issues with a leasehold or freehold property as part of the TA6, also known as the Property Information Form. This form asks many questions about the structural integrity of a property, and if you withhold information about RAAC from a buyer, they could sue you when they discover it as the new owner.
One option to address buyers’ concerns about RAAC would be to spend money, effort and time on remediating any crumbling concrete before you attempt to sell your leasehold or freehold property. However, pursuing such work is not required, and you still have options for selling a home without fixing the presence of RAAC, for example selling to a quick property buyer.
The quickest method for selling a freehold or leasehold home or other property that has crumbling concrete is contacting LDN Properties or another quick property buyer, because they can finalise the buying process within a few short weeks. Selling on your own, through an estate agent or at an auction are all much slower methods, and can take at least many months.
