Unity Houses in Chesham

Two Unity house owners describe how they have been affected by the publication of the Building Research Establishment report into the structural condition of Unity houses. The authors compare the results obtained from a chemical analysis of a concrete component at a Unity house in Chesham with those in the BRE report and discuss the lack of understanding of the significance of these results, and of the processes of carbonation and chloride‐induced corrosion, on the part of the building societies and the Building Societies Association (BSA). They conclude that this basic lack of understanding has made building societies overcautious in their treatment of Unity houses, which in turn has led to a mortgage blight on their estate.