House Purchase - disturbed asbestos - price negotiation

Jodemo2710

Hi,

We are purchasing a house that was marketed as "requiring a new flue". The boiler is old and the flue had started to corrode. We have offered £145,000 with £1000 cash-back from the vendor for us to replace the heating system.

Our Surveyor has reported that the flue is made from asbestos that has deteriorated so badly the asbestos is turning to dust. This therefore means it is airborne and dangerous.

We have gone back to the vendors and asked that they remove this and have the property certified safe from asbestos. They have said they will do this and replace the flue so the boiler is working but will not give us £1000 cash-back.

Can I negotiate here? Any tips? We would like to replace the whole heating systems so it seems pointless asking them to put a new flue in however we need the cash-back to do this.

Any advice on the asbestos issue in general?

Thanks!

sonastin

They offered you £1000 to do some work. The work turned out to be more than you expected so you asked them to do the worst of it themselves. They agreed but you still want them to give you the full £1000 even though they are now carrying out some of that work themselves - and a more expensive bit than either of you first envisaged? Have I got that right?

Asbestos is a nasty little b*gger. I'd be glad that they have recognised the scale of the problem and accepted it is their problem to get rid of it. Changing the rest of the heating system is small fry in relation to dealing with asbestos dust.

latecomer

To be honest if they are getting the asbestos flue replaced and certified as safe afterwards I'd be happy but I would ask for details regarding who does the work etc.

But it is still a buyers market so if you dont like it - walk away.

tyllwyd

I would't want to move into a house that had an asbestos flue in that bad a condition - have you got the option of not moving in straightaway? Could you maybe negotiate for them not to replace the flue but give a bigger cashback, then arrange to take out the flue and get a new central heating system put in before you move in? It will be much easier doing all that before you move your furniture in. (But I'd check how difficult it will be to find a contractor to remove the aspestos before you do that.)

Niv

An asbestos flue is most likely (i.e will be) asbestos cement. This typically contains white asbestos (Crysotile). The asbestos will not be turning to dust. It is a fibre and will stay that way. White asbestos is fairly low risk, the dust is likely to be some deteriation of the cement. This deteriation (assuming it really is deteriation) I would expect to be occuring inside the flue (as the deteriation woudl be due to heat) putting any release of fibre in the boiler that you propose to dispose of. If the flue has been painted the dust is much more likely to be paint.

It is hard to be specific in this case (without photos), but if it was me, I would not be terribly concerned about this product unless it was badly broken into little pieces around the house and then I would replace carpets and get affected rooms cleaned.

Please also remember that typically the surveyor that does the house surveys for house sale purposes is NOT a qualified asbestos surveyer so their opinion is just that.