Won't give mortgage valuation without asbestos report/survey

ClareTeaches

Good evening all,

I couldn't seem to find a thread that dealt with this exact issue and couldn't find anything else online, so let's see if anyone else has experience of this!

In the process of (hopefully!) buying a non-standard construction bungalow. The mortgage valuer wouldn't give a value until he'd seen a structural survey to show the steel frame was sound. That's been done and is all great. Faxed the survey to lender. Now the valuer has turned around and said that's OK, but they also want an asbestos survey/report. In the original valuation report there was mention that the detached garage appeared to contain asbestos and therefore we should be careful if carrying out maintenance/demolition (standard phrasing), but no mention that asbestos in the property needed investigation.

We've done quite a bit of research on this build type (partner is an architect - useful!) and know that the roof tiles, ceiling tiles and soffits are asbestos cement, which we've been open with the mortgage company about from the start. Plus I've checked it's insurable (have a quote all ready to go!).

So, my questions ...

1) Has anyone heard of an asbestos survey being a condition of getting a valuation? I've read plenty of people being told that the property may contain asbestos and that they might want a survey for their own peace of mind, but I can't seem to find anything about it being required before a valuation figure will be given. Just seems a bit odd ... and I feel slightly like we're being 'punished' by the valuer for getting our own structural survey, rather than using them for it ... or is that me being paranoid?! :rotfl:

2) I seem to recall reading somewhere that you should get an asbestos surveyor who doesn't do removal, so they won't see asbestos everywhere, but again, my search skills evade me and I can't seem to find this info again. Is this the case? And if so, how do I find such a company, do they have a different name (independent asbestos surveyor?) or would they perhaps be registered with a licensing body, etc?

Thanks a lot for reading and any information/advice you can offer!

Clare

(Did consider posting this in the house buying/selling/renting board, but thought it might be more appropriate here, because of the mortgage valuation aspect.)

ClareTeaches

... So guessing no one has encountered this before? :rotfl:

Have sent the BRE report to the valuer and setting up an asbestos survey with my partner's contact (luckily he's found out that someone he knows professionally does them, so hopefully that means we can trust them and won't be ripped off!).

Solicitor did say that it sounds like we've found the pickiest valuer!

ed110220

Our house is also steel framed with an asbestos roof. This did cause some problems as most lenders would not accept the asbestos roof, though not a problem for Halifax.

We did not need an asbestos survey as the asbestos roof covering is very visible and there is no hidden asbestos.

Where we were caught out was that Nationwide's valuation survey declined the property due to the asbestos roof, even though I had given them in detail the construction type of the house.

Ed

ClareTeaches

Thanks, Ed! What build type is yours, out of curiosity? (If you don't mind me asking - have been getting quite interested in all this since I've been researching!)

Sorry to hear you had hassle with Nationwide! We were originally getting a DIP with them, but when we found this house and found out they didn't lend on asbestos roofs, we went with Halifax, because we'd found online that they did (partly thanks to these very forums!).

That's what I thought strange about the request for the asbestos survey - it's clear what is made from asbestos, and it's asbestos cement, so very low risk (and we don't plan to go sanding the tiles and snorting up the dust, so I think we're OK! ).

Anyway, they've come back to us saying that they want the survey so they can assess the condition of the asbestos, which I can kind of accept, since it's 90 years old. However, I am annoyed that the valuer didn't tell us that in the first place, when saying he needed the structural survey!