Buying a house, survey has been done, asbestos...

frank_butcher

Evening all,

I am in the process of buying a house and the survey has just been done. We are buying a 1930's mid terrace house which has a detatched single garage at the back of the garden.

The survey report states that the roof has asbestos in it which is deteriating or has been damaged and poses a risk to our health. Obviously we are going to raise this with our solicitor for the seller to sort out before we go any further.

As a first time buyer I am not sure what to expect. Will the seller carry out the work or will they just knock money off the agreed price? How much roughly would it cost to get rid of the asbestos for a single garage roof? We were going to knock it down anyway!

Thank you in advance.

muckybutt

If done by an approved contractor best part of a couple of grand.

Alternatively once you move in kit yourself out with disposable coveralls and appropriate dust masks, firstly paint the whole building with a dilute pva water mixture to seal any loose acm, then take down bit by bit being careful not to smash any of the sheets. One by one wrap them up in bags if possible, if not then visqueen or polythene sheeting is acceptable, double wrap each sheet - seal with gaffer tape and clearly label as "containing asbestos".
Once its disassembled take it to your local council dump where they should have a sealed container for asbestos disposal.

busy_mom_2

We has a garage in the back garden, concrete blocks with asbestos roof. We were quoted a few thousand to have it disposed of.
We put ours on e-bay , listed the asbestos roof and sold it. People came and dismantled it and took it away!

iamcornholio

The seller is under no obligation to remove the asbestos nor reduce the price. You can ask, but it depends on how much he wants the sale

I can't see how you survey has stated that this is a risk to health. Seems to be just scaremongering or incompetent reporting

Anyone can remove these sheets, and your local council may even offer a collection service if someone removes them from the roof

keystone

Sheet asbestos like this is not dangerous unless you cut it or crush it and release dust. Just remove the screws / nails, take the sheets down, wrap them in plastic sheeting sealed with tape as advised above and consult your council about disposal. Mine has a bin at the tip for just this sort of thing per post #3.

I'll also bet a pound to a pinch of the proverbial that it ws a House Buyers Report rather than a survey. They are not worth the paper they are written on due to the vast amount of ifs, buts and probables required by the CYA approach that these things are written with.

Cheers

Leif

keystone wrote: »

I'll also bet a pound to a pinch of the proverbial that it ws a House Buyers Report rather than a survey. They are not worth the paper they are written on due to the vast amount of ifs, buts and probables required by the CYA approach that these things are written with.

A HBR is a survey, just not a very useful one. My mortgage lender wanted a basic survey, and I upgraded to a HBR rather than the full survey. I think most people do the same. I agree with your comments. It came across as a boiler plate template with a few changes for my property. It wasn't a drive by survey as some are, but it was not much use.

He missed the vinyl tiles, possibly with asbestos, underneath most carpets. He missed the parquet floor under the sitting room carpet. Wall paper meant he could not examine walls, and see blown plaster and tanking. It was full of evasive "we think X is okay but to be safe we recommend a full examination" and so on. Fortunately he spotted the lack of safety glass in two doors which was listed as a serious danger requiring immediate fixing. Very important that one. He did spot the existence of exposed snipped off radiator pipes in the floor indicating an old heating installation. He missed Holly trees, and an apple tree planted close to a buried waste water pipe leading from the road drains to the sewer pipe at the end of the garden.

But I do wonder what the full survey would have found. They would have had to remove wallpaper, and lift carpets and underlay to find items missed.

frank_butcher

It was a HBR survey as far as I know, it was the middle tier survey in between the basic and full structural and cost around £1100 which produced a multi page report that we received yesterday.

I haven't got the report to hand but it basically says that the asbestos in the garage has been disturbed and is detririating resulting in a health risk. This was flagged up as an urgent problem.

I am a first time buyer, I don't have much experience in dealing with situations like this but I am going to go back to my solicitor and say that I want something done about this, I feel this would be fair especially as I have a 7 year old and a new born to consider.

Hintza

The asbestos scam raises it's head yet again. Just use it as an excuse to bargain the price down and do as muckybutt suggests. Should be quids in!

macman

There must be millions of houses in the UK with asbestos garage roofs, it was a standard roofing material in that era...
You can use it as a ploy to try and get a price eduction, (just like any other snags the survey throws up) but don't expect the seller to do it before exchange, because they won't.
The risk from this material is very low unless it's breaking up and forming dust.

frank_butcher

Getting the price reduced would be the ideal situation, as I say we want rid of the thing anyway asbestos or not.

keystone

frank_butcher wrote: »

..................... especially as I have a 7 year old and a new born to consider.

They are more at risk from traffic fumes in the street TBH. If the thing is going anyway just get on with it. If I were the seller I would say please take the usual asbestos hysteria elsewhere, do you want the property or not?

Cheers