What is PRC?

In the early 1980’s an Airey type PRC house burnt down in Leeds. When it was examined it was noted that the structural columns had suffered degradation. The Government of the time was faced with a quandary as lots of tenants had taken up the Right to Buy option and become home owners. Lenders quickly become aware of the problem and made a general decision to withdraw lending facilities to Airey type houses along with a multitude of other PRC properties including Unity, Cornish, Wates and Reema.

The Government commissioned the Building Research Establishment to investigate almost all of the "system built" houses. Based on this BRE report the housing defects Act of 1984 (incorporated as part xvi housing Act 1985) was passed giving owners the right to claim assistance to have the remedial works carried out to eliminate the defect.

For the next ten years or more structural engineers and recognised builders designed repair systems and had carried out repairs to the houses of people who had bought prior to 1984 and who received grant assistance from their Local Authority.

Once the last of the "grant aided" houses had been finished, the tenants were still given the opportunity to purchase a "defective" property and then get it repaired. Thus "Tenant Purchase & Repair" was born. The tenants of PRC houses, in addition to their RTB (Right to Buy) discount also received a further discount by virtue of the fact that the house is "defective". When the cost of the purchase was added to the cost of the repair the tenant/owner still has a very good deal with the property being worth considerably more after the PRC works are complete. The total mortgage is generally a lot less than the open market value of the house once repaired.

To carry out a "full" PRC Homes Ltd approved scheme on certain types of properties has and can prove far too expensive due to the extent of works required. With this in mind, reduced cost schemes were introduced and approved under the Norwich Union 2000 appraisal scheme. The end result is that a Qualified Engineer with Professional Indemnity Insurance supervises the necessary works rendering the properties "defects" remedied.

Armed with repair schemes to suit almost all house types & pockets the marketing and repair of PRC houses has continued to this day.