An expert in concrete cancer has come up with a solution that could prevent hundreds of council houses in Bristol from being demolished.

Martin Pring, who runs a specialist firm repairing PRC (pre-cast reinforced concrete) homes has said they can be repaired without being pulled down.

The Post revealed last month that plans to demolish more than 500 PRC homes in the Sea Mills and Lawrence Weston areas of the city have been scrapped because of the recession.

The decision means that hundreds of council tenants face more months of uncertainty over where they might live in the future.

Mr Pring, whose firm M N Pring Ltd is based in Winscombe, near Weston-super-Mare, has repaired more than 1,000 PRC homes throughout the country.

He works under licence for a firm in Mold, North Wales, that uses a method that guarantees the house will be remortgageable after repair.

Mr Pring, 53, who is married with four stepdaughters, said there are a range of repairs for the 30 different types of PRC homes.

Most of the PRC homes in Sea Mills and Lawrence Weston are the Parkinson type which are very similar to the more common Woolaway design.

Mr Pring said PRC homes were all based on the same design, with a frame that is clad with concrete panels.

The frame is made from concrete pillars and beams that are strengthened with steel rods.

The joints where the pillars are joined to the beams have suffered from corrosion since the homes were built in the Fifties.

The council says it would be cheaper to demolish some of these homes and rebuild them than try to repair them.

But Mr Pring said: "These PRC homes are not going to fall down.

"Demolition is not the only solution. We can repair them without the need for people to move out, put all their furniture into storage and worry about how long it might be before they can return to their home.

"Our repairs can be done while the people stay in their home, which helps to keep down costs."

He said that repairs can be carried out at no cost to the council if the tenant is prepared to buy their property under the Government's right-to-buy scheme.

He said they are entitled to a big discount if their house is declared defective. They also get a discount according to how long they have lived in the property.

He said a lender would provide a mortgage to cover the cost of purchase and repair – about £40,000 for a Woolaway – so the tenant ends up with a home of their own that can still be sold on.

He said that a repaired home soars in value because it is remortgageable.

The method for repairing a Woolaway is to treat the joints with an anti-corrosive solution before filling the cavity walls with a special type of mortar.

Then a brick skin is built on the outside of the house and the windows moved and replaced.

Liberal Democrat Cabinet Councillor Tim Kent, who is in charge of the city council's housing department, said he would be happy to meet Mr Pring at any time to discuss his repair plans.

He said the answer for Sea Mills would be unlikely to be one solution, but a range of options to cover different circumstances.

The city council had to scrap plans to form a partnership with a developer to demolish PRC homes and build new houses because of the collapse in the housing market.

Housing officers

They have promised to consult with tenants before any decisions are taken.