Age and type of house
Is a post-war precast concrete garage the same construction as the house?
No. The garage is its own building, and precast panels are a description of that garage if that is what the survey could see, not a name for the house walls and not a label for the house as a repaired concrete system. The survey should describe the garage and the house separately.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Post-war plots often have a concrete-panel garage beside an ordinary brick house, or beside a house of some other build. Copying the garage sentence onto the house is how a buyer frightens a lender with the wrong building. If the surveyor could see panel joints, cracks or a failing base, those words belong to the garage. If the house walls were brick, render or something else, that is a different paragraph.
A home survey does not sample the panels and does not open them. If the garage was locked, the inside was not inspected. Do not promote a guess about the house because the garage looks like a system. Describe what was seen, on which building, and leave the unseen parts unseen. There is no reason here to rename the house.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which building has the precast panels: the garage, the house, or both?
- What did you actually see: joints, cracks, or only the outside from the drive?
- Was the garage entered?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the garage description off the house construction line.
- If you need the garage interior, get it opened before you rely on it.
- Do not tell a lender the house is a concrete system because the garage is panelled.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Does a concrete garage roof make the house roof concrete?
No. Ask which roof was seen. A sheet or a slab over the garage is not the tiles over the bedrooms.
Should the garage panels be called a house type?
No. Name the garage from what was visible. Do not transfer that name to the dwelling.