Asbestos advice

Jnj10

Hi, i'm looking for advice and opinions please.
We are selling our house 1980's/90's built semi-  our buyers surveyor noted there 'may' be asbestos present in artex (covering all ceilings) and so buyers lender requested testing to confirm or rule out. We paid for testing in the garage roof, living/dining room, hallway and stairs, and bedroom 3 (4 samples in total out of 9 rooms) totally expecting all samples to be negative. Our EA didn't go into detail when they requested this on behalf of the buyers lender and we assumed if, and it was a big if, any samples came back positive that it may just lead to negotiations on the price. The report was requested by their lenders after the positive results and they also requested quotes for removal, which again we organised. Their lenders are now saying that the presence of asbestos is too high a risk, and they have refused to release any money until it is removed. Removal, according to HSE is strongly advised against as the low levels of asbestos contained in artex (1-3%) is safer left enclosed by the artex and paint and removal actually increases the risk of fibers being released. As a result of this, and due to the cost and process involved the easiest and most cost effective next step for us is to relist the house. After research myself I have found that if you are selling a property with confirmed asbestos present you must disclose this by law- totally agree and understand this, however when do you think it is best to do this? Would you instruct EA to advise and potential viewers before they make an appointment? Would you take viewings, and see if the next survey picked it up or not and only mention it on the property information form when it gets to that stage with the solicitors? The whole of the area i live in was built around the same time and so i'd assume any other houses in the area, especially those on our estate which is very popular, would likely contain asbestos in the artex too. Our EA have just said to 'play dumb and not mention it at all', saying they would just state that our buyers couldn't secure the funding as the reason for resale. 
Would you as a buyer rather know before viewing a property or would it put you off totally?

user1977

Jnj10 said:

After research myself I have found that if you are selling a property with confirmed asbestos present you must disclose this by law

Can you point us towards this law? Bear in mind there are differing requirements depending on the type of property. What do your solicitors think?

Jnj10

user 1977 thanks for the reply-
as of 2013 and the Property Misdecriptions Act you are legally obliged to disclose that there is an asbestos presence during the sale. We are trying to contact our solicitors but its like trying to get blood from a stone!

user1977

The Property Misdescriptions Act was repealed some years ago...

I'm not so sure that there's a great deal of difference between artex which is likely to contain a tiny proportion of asbestos and artex which definitely contain a tiny proportion of asbestos, and I'm surprised that a lender views the latter as unmortgageable (have you seen evidence that they actually do, rather than this just being a line spun by paranoid buyers?). It doesn't need to be removed.

Jnj10

user1977 said:

The Property Misdescriptions Act was repealed some years ago...



I'm surprised that a lender views the latter as unmortgageable (have you seen evidence that they actually do, rather than this just being a line spun by paranoid buyers?). It doesn't need to be removed.

I've actually just read this too while researching this saga! 
We were just as surprised and think it may have more to do with the buyer being top of their budget combined with the presence of asbestos than just the actual asbestos as, if this were the case the housing market in our area would be about to collapse! 
We agree- it doesn't need to be removed but wanted others views on which stage of the process they would disclose its there as a seller, and when they would like to know about it as a buyer
We have had an offer accepted on another house that we really don't want to lose so want to move forward as quickly as possible 

eddddy

user1977 said:

Jnj10 said:

After research myself I have found that if you are selling a property with confirmed asbestos present you must disclose this by law

Can you point us towards this law? Bear in mind there are differing requirements depending on the type of property. What do your solicitors think?

I suspect that the law in question is the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

Failing to tell a purchaser that a previous purchase fell through due to the asbestos in the artex  would probably count as a "Misleading Omission" by the EA.

Jnj10 said:

After research myself I have found that if you are selling a property with confirmed asbestos present you must disclose this by law- totally agree and understand this, however when do you think it is best to do this? Would you instruct EA to advise and potential viewers before they make an appointment? 

It's the EA who is subject to the law (and could be prosecuted), and probably not you.

So ask the EA when they would want to tell prospective buyers. They wouldn't follow your instructions on this, if it meant they might leave themselves open to prosecution (or even just a slap on the wrist).

But TBH, I think some EAs would be very scrupulous about this - but some would be very lax.

(Apparently, there's case law that says that "material information" should be disclosed at the earliest opportunity. But as I say, I'd leave the EA to decide when that is - and trust them to present it in the least negative way that they can.)

K_S

@Jnj10 As a buyer (and as their mortgage adviser), I would definitely prefer to know this prior to putting in a mortgage application or spending any money on this. But otoh, based on experience, I would expect the EA/vendor to not disclose this unless they have no other option.

I have had clients applications declined due to asbestos but it's usually when the area containing the asbestos is damaged or no longer in its 'normal' status, thus posing a risk of the fibres being disturbed or released. It's quite rare tbh and it's even rarer for vendors to offer to remedy it as it can be incredibly expensive.

I'm not an expert and this is the article I forward to clients asking about the impact of potential asbestos on a valuation. https://sdlsurveying.co.uk/news/surveyor-blog-assessment-of-asbestos-in-residential-valuation/

As a buyer, an application with a lender that uses a different valuer might not bring up the issue at all, unfortunately there's a large amount of subjectivity in a valuation but nothing much you can do about that as a seller.