Asbestos on roof of shed shared with neighbour

FabsFerr

Hello there!
I have recently moved into a property and found out that the roof of the shed is made of asbestos. The shed is shared with the neighbour: it is a big size shed from the outside but it is divided inside and one door is in my garden and the other in the neighbour's garden. 
It is the first time I deal with asbestos so I panicked when I found out and decided to deal with it quickly. The neighbour knew about the asbestos and have been living with it for many years so I did not think they were bothered by it and so I made the mistake of saying that I was going to pay for the roof replacement. I have a slight doubt that next door is a council-owned property. I have emailed the council to see if they would chip in but they emailed back very quickly saying that there is no council-owned property in the area which I don't believe is correct. Of course, I can be wrong but I want to verify that the information provided is correct. I have checked on the Search for Land and Property information on the Government website and when I look for the property the result is: No information is held for the address.
Does anyone know if there is any other way of checking for council-owned properties?
Replacing the roof is going to be expensive and now that I am in a less panicky mode I would like to avoid paying for the entire job, any advice on how to deal with the situation? Thank you 

The_Unready

Too late now, but didn't your house survey identify the likelihood of an asbestos roof?

Section62

FabsFerr said:

Hello there!
I have recently moved into a property and found out that the roof of the shed is made of asbestos. The shed is shared with the neighbour: it is a big size shed from the outside but it is divided inside and one door is in my garden and the other in the neighbour's garden. 
It is the first time I deal with asbestos so I panicked when I found out and decided to deal with it quickly. The neighbour knew about the asbestos and have been living with it for many years so I did not think they were bothered by it and so I made the mistake of saying that I was going to pay for the roof replacement. I have a slight doubt that next door is a council-owned property. I have emailed the council to see if they would chip in but they emailed back very quickly saying that there is no council-owned property in the area which I don't believe is correct. Of course, I can be wrong but I want to verify that the information provided is correct. I have checked on the Search for Land and Property information on the Government website and when I look for the property the result is: No information is held for the address.
Does anyone know if there is any other way of checking for council-owned properties?
Replacing the roof is going to be expensive and now that I am in a less panicky mode I would like to avoid paying for the entire job, any advice on how to deal with the situation? Thank you 

Can you clarify, has the work been done, or have you paid a non-returnable deposit to book the work?

A lot of council owned land isn't registered, so when you do a LR search you won't find information about it.

What makes you think the garage is owned by the council?  Have you checked to see if/when the neighbour's house was last sold?  How long is "many years"?

Another way of finding out if a council owns a particular property is to try a Freedom of Information request - but there's a chance they will use one of the statutory exemptions to avoid telling you.

Tucosalamanca

If the roof isn't faulty, there's absolutely no way that the council will contribute to costs, even if they do own the property.

Councils across the country are flat broke, they are struggling to provide habitable accommodation and fulfil the minimum of obligations.
Why do you think that they have money for garage roofs?

FabsFerr

@The_Unready for a series of unfortunate events I did not do the survey .. I know, I know .. 

@Section62 no the work has not been done and I have not paid any deposit. I still want to go ahead and replace the roof: there is ivy growing between the structure and the roof of the shed. Removing the ivy is dangerous as it will create dust so to remove the ivy I need to remove the roof. 
I cannot find any info on when the house was last sold and this + the fact that I don't find info on the LR search makes me think that it is council-owned. 
Thank you for the suggestion of the Freedom of Information request, I was not aware of this. However, I am sent to the council website so I would probably be dealing with the same people who have already told me that there is no council property in the area?

@Tucosalamanca the roof is not faulty but as per above there is ivy growing around it and sitting on it. I have done a survey and was told that ivy can damage the roof. Fully aware that councils are broke, I am too and so if there is a way I could save a few £ I am going to explore it. 

theoretica

You don't own the whole roof, so to replace it all you would need permission from the owner, even if you are paying.  If the person living there is a tenant, they cannot give you permission.  If they are the owner, they could.  Did you ask if they rented or owned?

You could look to just get your half replaced.  Do sheets go over the boundary?

Section62

FabsFerr said:

Section62 no the work has not been done and I have not paid any deposit. I still want to go ahead and replace the roof: there is ivy growing between the structure and the roof of the shed. Removing the ivy is dangerous as it will create dust so to remove the ivy I need to remove the roof. 
I cannot find any info on when the house was last sold and this + the fact that I don't find info on the LR search makes me think that it is council-owned.

Can you post a picture of the Ivy problem?  You can probably kill it by cutting it at the roots.  Left for a while the ivy will die off, and may detach itself from the ACB without creating any dust.  You should also be able to reduce the bulk of the Ivy by trimming the leaves off, without disturbing the stems attached to the ACB.

You could tell the neighbour you have changed your mind about doing the roof.  Then leave it for a while before deciding what you want to do about your roof.

FabsFerr said:

Thank you for the suggestion of the Freedom of Information request, I was not aware of this. However, I am sent to the council website so I would probably be dealing with the same people who have already told me that there is no council property in the area?

It is possible (quite likely) that the first people you speak to at the council are front-line staff who don't look into issues as thoroughly as they could.

The FOI process is far more formalised and the council have a duty to ensure the information given (if any) is correct.  Most councils will have some form of internal 'sense check' to make sure the answers given are right.

The answer is likely to come from the same source/people, but you'll have a greater degree of confidence it is right if you obtain it through the formalised FOI process.

Bigphil1474

OP, as others have said, if the cement panels on the roof are in okay condition, you don't need to get rid. I got rid of Ivy on our house by just cutting it near the roots, left for a couple of weeks, then it mostly just pulled off easy.

The panels aren't made of asbestos, they will contain asbestos - usually contain Chrysotile in very low proportions, roughly 10-15%, which is the lowest risk asbestos anyway. Not saying it's not dangerous, but it's the least dangerous.

If it was me, I'd cut back the ivy where it is growing onto the shed, leave for a bit, then I'd wet the panels before removing the ivy. If you thoroughly wet the panels you shouldn't create any dust. Wear appropriate PPE as well. If you see any damaged sections of the asbestos panel, you might have to get it fixed, but otherwise should be straight forward. 

subjecttocontract

I'd contact my local County Councillor(s) and ask them to confirm wether it's private, Council of Housing Association owned.

Section62

subjecttocontract said:

I'd contact my local County Councillor(s) and ask them to confirm wether it's private, Council of Housing Association owned.

I don't think they would be able to do that.  They should just pass the enquiry on to an officer to reply to.

TELLIT01

There is absolutely no need to remove the current roof unless it is falling apart.  The ivy can be remove from inside the shed without damaging the roof by simply cutting off what is accessible and doing the same outside.  My neighbour had a problem with ivy on their asbestos built garage and that's exactly what we did to get rid of the ivy.  Removing the roof is going to be an expensive mistake.