If you own a Cornish Unit, you already know the conversation that comes the moment a buyer’s surveyor identifies what they’re looking at. The mortgage application slows down, the buyer’s solicitor starts asking pointed questions, and the agent who was confident about the asking price last week is suddenly using the phrase “specialist buyer”. None of this means the property is unsellable. It does mean the sale you’ve planned isn’t going to look like a standard one, and the sooner you understand why, the better the eventual outcome.
Around 30,000 Cornish Units were built across the UK after 1945, almost all of them by local authorities trying to solve the post-war housing crisis. Most are still standing. Many are well loved. The legal classification that makes them difficult to sell hasn’t changed in forty years, and isn’t going to.
What Is A Cornish Unit House?
A Cornish Unit is a precast reinforced concrete (PRC) house, designed by A.E. Beresford and R. Tonkin and manufactured in Cornwall by Selleck Nicholls & Co alongside the Central Cornwall Concrete & Artificial Stone Company. Two main variants exist. The Type 1 has a concrete ground floor topped by a mansard-style upper storey with near-vertical tiled cladding, giving it that distinctive flared-roof silhouette. The Type 2 is closer to a conventional two-storey appearance, with concrete construction on both floors and a more typical pitched roof.
Both types share the same fundamental issue. The structural concrete elements contain steel reinforcement, and over decades the steel has corroded inside the concrete, causing cracking, spalling, and gradual loss of structural performance. The Housing Defects Act 1984 designated both Cornish Unit types as defective on this basis, alongside other PRC types including Airey, Boswell, Boot, Unity, Wates, and Reema. That designation is the reason mortgage lenders behave the way they do.
You can usually identify a Cornish Unit by sight if you know what you’re looking for. The Type 1 silhouette is unmistakable; the Type 2 is harder, but the concrete construction tends to show through the brick skin if a repair has been done, particularly around window reveals and at the eaves.
Can I Sell A Cornish Unit House With A Mortgage?
This is where the “repaired or unrepaired” question becomes everything:
Most Unrepaired Cornish Units Are Cash-Only
An unrepaired Cornish Unit is, in practical terms, a cash-only property. High street lenders will not advance a mortgage against an unrepaired PRC home designated under the 1984 Act, and the specialist lenders who used to be willing to consider them have largely withdrawn. Your buyer pool consists of cash purchasers, including investors, developers, and homeowners with the funds to buy outright and then carry out the repair themselves.
What Counts As A “Proper” Repair
A properly repaired Cornish Unit, on the other hand, can be mortgaged on the high street. The key word there is “properly”. The repair needs to have been carried out under a PRC Homes Ltd licensed scheme, with a PRC certificate issued on completion. PRC Homes Ltd was a subsidiary of NHBC, ceased operating in 1996, but the certificates issued under their scheme remain the standard mortgage lenders look for. The certificate carries a 60-year structural guarantee from the date of repair.
The Brick-Skin Trap
The complication is that not all repairs are PRC-certified. Local authorities have, over the decades, carried out a great many “repairs” to their own stock that look superficially impressive, often replacing the concrete panels with a brick skin, but were never licensed and never certified. A house with a brick exterior and no PRC certificate is, for mortgage purposes, still an unrepaired house. That’s the most common nasty surprise we see sellers run into.
Tracing A Missing Certificate
If you’re not sure whether your house has a certificate, the conveyancing pack from when you bought it should contain it. If not, the original repairing contractor or the local authority may hold a copy. PRC Homes UK Ltd, the successor company, can also sometimes assist in tracing certificates.
How Much Is My Cornish Unit Worth?
It depends on the condition of the unit:
Repaired And Certified
A Cornish Unit that has been properly repaired and certified, with the PRC certificate to prove it, sells at a discount to comparable traditionally-built houses in the same area, but the discount is manageable. Ten to fifteen percent below market is typical, sometimes less in areas where the housing stock is heavily Cornish anyway.
Repaired But Uncertified
A Cornish Unit that has been “repaired” without a PRC certificate sits in a difficult middle ground. The structural work may genuinely be sound, but the lack of certification means the mortgage market treats it as unrepaired, while the visible brick skin sometimes leads sellers to expect more than the market will give. The realistic value is closer to the unrepaired figure than the repaired one.
Original, Unrepaired Condition
An unrepaired Cornish Unit, in original condition, typically sells at 50 to 65 percent of comparable traditional-build values, depending on location, condition, and the size of the local cash-buyer market. The discount reflects both the cost of carrying out the repair (usually £40,000 to £70,000 in 2026 prices) and the time it takes to get the house mortgageable again.
Should I Repair a Cornish Unit Before Selling?
The equation is rarely as simple as “repair-cost-versus-value-uplift” – because you also need to factor in the time you’ll spend living in or maintaining the property during the repair, the disruption (though most repairs allow the owner to stay in place), and the risk that the housing market moves against you between starting and finishing.
What A PRC Repair Actually Involves
For a typical Type 1 repair under a PRC Homes-approved scheme, expect four to six weeks of works, costs in the £45,000 to £65,000 range depending on size and location, and a PRC certificate issued on completion. The uplift in market value usually covers the repair cost and a little more, but the margin can be slim, particularly if you’ve borrowed to fund the repair.
When Repair Makes Sense
Two scenarios where repair tends to make financial sense: you’re planning to stay in the property for several more years and want to remove the future selling problem, or you’ve got the cash to fund the repair upfront and want the cleanest possible sale at the end.
When It Doesn’t
Two scenarios where it tends not to: you need to move quickly for any reason (divorce, work relocation, downsizing, ill health), or you don’t have the funds to cover the repair without borrowing against the property, which is itself difficult to do on an unrepaired PRC home.
Who Buys Unrepaired Cornish Unit Houses?
For this type of sale, you’re looking at cash investors who specialise in PRC properties and have established repair contractors. Owner-occupiers, usually with cash from a previous sale, who want a bigger house than they could afford on the open market and don’t mind living through a repair. And specialist cash buying companies, including ourselves, who buy directly without requiring you to find a buyer or wait for a chain.
At Property Buyers Today, we buy Cornish Units in any condition, repaired or unrepaired, certified or otherwise. Where the open market route would mean months of failed mortgage applications and renegotiated offers, our direct cash sales can complete in as little as two to three weeks.
The Bottom Line
A Cornish Unit is not an unsellable house. It’s a house with a specific legal and financial complication that the open market handles badly. The repaired-and-certified version sells reasonably well, while the unrepaired or improperly-repaired version requires a specialist buyer.
Understanding which category yours falls into, and being honest about the implications, is the difference between a sale that drags on for a year and one that completes in a month.
FAQs
How do I know if my Cornish Unit has a PRC certificate?
Check your original conveyancing pack first. Failing that, the local authority, the original repair contractor, or PRC Homes UK Ltd may be able to trace records.
Can a Cornish Unit be re-certified if the original certificate is lost?
Sometimes. A structural engineer experienced in PRC homes can assess whether the repair meets PRC Homes standards and issue retrospective documentation, though this isn’t always accepted by all lenders.
Are Type 1 and Type 2 Cornish Units treated differently by lenders?
Both types are designated defective under the 1984 Act, and both require a PRC certificate for mainstream mortgage lending. In practice, repaired Type 1 properties are slightly easier to mortgage because the repair scheme for them is better established.
Will a homebuyer’s survey identify a Cornish Unit?
Yes. Any RICS-qualified surveyor should identify a Cornish Unit on inspection. If you’ve had a survey that didn’t flag it, get a second opinion.
Can I get buildings insurance on a Cornish Unit?
Yes, though not all insurers will quote, and premiums can be higher than standard. Specialist non-standard construction insurers cover PRC homes routinely.
Does the 60-year PRC certificate guarantee transfer to a new owner?
Yes. The certificate runs with the property, not the owner, and remains valid for sixty years from the date of repair.
Are Cornish Units worth less in some regions than others?
Yes. In areas with high concentrations of Cornish stock, particularly the south-west, local buyers are more familiar with the construction type and the discount is often smaller. In areas where they’re rare, the unfamiliarity tends to widen the discount.
