Asbestos roof!

Jofisher

3 years ago we sold our house, few months after selling the young couple asked if the garage roof was made of asbestos sheeting. We told them no as we genuinely thought it was just cement sheeting....because of this this mistake it cost us a lot of money as they felt it was unfit and dangerous and we had sold them the house under false pretences. The money we came to an agreement on was to remove the roof and replace with new.
Three years on they are selling up ( we drive past the house almost every day) and the roof hasn’t been replaced. It’s the same roof and has had no maintenance. I feel they have took our money and clearly used it for something else... can we get out money back, do we have a leg to stand on?.. thanks in advance

Slithery

You never owed them any money in the first place, I think you've been scammed.

jonnygee2

I feel they have took our money and clearly used it for something else...

Yep, sounds about right.

ThePants999

The only way you would have had any liability is if you told them BEFORE selling, and they could prove you knew the truth. It was their responsibility to check on all aspects of the property that they cared about before exchanging contracts. It was unfortunate that you let them talk you into paying them anything.

Tom99

Written agreement? If so what did it say?

eddddy

ThePants999 wrote: »

The only way you would have had any liability is if you told them BEFORE selling, and they could prove you knew the truth.

No - that's not really correct.

All terms in a property contract must be in writing and in a single document.

So something "told" to the buyer wouldn't be part of the contract, and therefore not binding.


So the seller would normally only have a liability if they gave a misleading reply to a pre-contract enquiry, via solicitors.

lincroft1710

It was probably a corrugated asbestos cement sheet roof, which several hundred thousand garages will also have.

martin1959

Knock on the door and ask them for 50% of the money back as they have not had the work done. If they refuse to pay which they probably will, tell them that just in case there is any further comeback on you, you had better play safe and inform the selling EA that there is asbestos on the garage roof, so they can pre warn any prospective purchaser....����

Hasbeen

Jofisher wrote: »

3 years ago we sold our house, few months after selling the young couple asked if the garage roof was made of asbestos sheeting. We told them no as we genuinely thought it was just cement sheeting....because of this this mistake it cost us a lot of money as they felt it was unfit and dangerous and we had sold them the house under false pretences. The money we came to an agreement on was to remove the roof and replace with new.
Three years on they are selling up ( we drive past the house almost every day) and the roof hasn’t been replaced. It’s the same roof and has had no maintenance. I feel they have took our money and clearly used it for something else... can we get out money back, do we have a leg to stand on?.. thanks in advance

Is it me or is this post totally unbelievable?

No on, really no one, can be that gullible.:(

You have no legs at all to stand on.

Their survey should have covered this.

Did you actually use a solicitor?

buggy_boy

Hasbeen wrote: »

Is it me or is this post totally unbelievable?

No on, really no one, can be that gullible.:(

You have no legs at all to stand on.

Their survey should have covered this.

Did you actually use a solicitor?

Have to agree, did they and you go through solicitors to come to this agreement? Surely you put something in writing?

This seems very bizzare, there is nothing wrong with asbestos garage roofs, millions upon millions of houses have asbestos in them, from insulating floor tiles, to hot water tanks to was pipes, even artex and plaster had it in... Cement corrogated roofs with asbestos in is about as log grade as you can get and is not a problem as long as it is not cut or broken up. It is definitely still it for purpose and poses no real danger.

Also the fact they asked you after they bought, plus it was an opinion, I would not expect most lay persons to know what has got asbestos in and what has not, probably just as well as the histeria it would cause if people realised how much stuff has asbestos in.

I think you got done so in that sense unless you had something in writing you are correct you do not have a leg to stand on.

AdrianC

They asked if it was asbestos cement sheet.
You said no.
It was.
They were upset at the misinformation.
You paid them the cost of replacing the roof.

End of.


If you wanted the money to definitely be used for replacing the roof, then the time to replace the roof was before the sale.


As it is, they're selling with an asbestos cement roof on. And that's perfectly fine, so long as the buyer is happy with it. If not, then a putative buyer may ask for it to be replaced before sale. Or for a reduction in the sale price.

Asbestos cement sheet is perfectly fine and safe just so long as it's intact, and you don't start waving power tools at it.