Buying a house with asbestos roof tiles

lawcher

Hi we had a survey done on a house we are buying. It was highest level survey.
The surveyor said the roof tiles
 ( detached house ) and long porch roof tiles are asbestos.
The house needs some work doing on it so we can’t afford to pay £25,000- £30,000 having the tiles removed and replaced as well.

My husband wants to offer that amount lower which is 10% on the agreed price so we can have it retiled. The surveyor said it only has a short life on it someone also removed a chimney breast replaced the hole with awful tile job so these asbestos tiles have been disturbed.

The house was probate - gone through it’s sold funds are going to 11 people the late persons left it to them.

As it’s 11 inheriting my husband said they’d receive £2/£3,000 less each so isn’t like one person getting £30,000 less.

i worry if anymore asbestos is in the house it’s £120 plus vat for only 4 samples tested.

Do vendors usually reduce the price accordingly ? Should  the inheriting reduce as asbestos is dangerous &  roofs been messed about with  ? 

This is our 3rd property we’ve trued to buy with issues and we have lost a lot of money on surveys and legal costs 

thanks 

Phil4432

Many homes have asbestos in them.  Not an expert but I'm guessing the tiles are low content asbestos, as would be found on many older garage roofs. 

The survey has revealed that it will most probably need to be replaced in the near future.  So yes, you can certainly adjust your offer based on that.

NorfolkCanary

Any pictures of the tiles? Or the bad repair?

Asbestos was commonly used in various domestic and business settings until it was banned from use in 1999. This obviously doesn't mean it disappears from existance where previously used.

For e.g. artex ceilings will have a low % of asbetos contained, as could motar joints. Concrete bonded asbestos sheets were used for (e.g.) garage roofing.

That's before insulation boards etc...

May be worth a read up on ACMs (abestos containing materials) if you're concerned.

Edit: could start here: https://www.north-herts.gov.uk/sites/northherts-cms/files/asbestos_in_the_home_booklet.pdf 

and: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asbestos-properties-incident-management-and-toxicology/asbestos-general-information

for some background

The definite likely way of having no asbestos in a home is purchasing a property constructed post 2000

As for a price reduction, you can ask, but there's no requirement for them to accept. If you're concerned about the roof, it may be prudent to seek an opinion from a trusted recommended local roofer (I'm presuming the surveyor is neither a roofing expert, nor qualified asbestos surveyor?)

penners324

Or it's not really a problem. Are you being too picky after seeing the survey?

Olinda99

I would concentrate on the fact that the surveyor has said that the tiles will need replacing in the near future rather than the fact that they are asbestos.

it sounds like you would have an immediate short-term bill for repairing the damage that removing the chimney did and a medium term bill for replacing all the tiles and getting rid of them

the whole point of a survey is to pick up things that you might have to pay for, so it'd be quite reasonable for you to get some kind of estimate from a roofer and to reduce the offer price accordingly

stuart45

lawcher said:

As it’s 11 inheriting my husband said they’d receive £2/£3,000 less each so isn’t like one person getting £30,000 less.


Do vendors usually reduce the price accordingly ? Should  the inheriting reduce as asbestos is dangerous &  roofs been messed about with  ? 

An estate agent friend of mine gets loads of backhanders from property developers getting cheap houses for them, and the majority are probate sales for the reason your husband stated. 

Bigphil1474

OP, personally I'd get a trusted roofer to have a look if you know one. Where have you got the £30k cost of roof replacement from? I had a quote on my roof and it was around £10k. Different roofs obviously. If you've had a quote fair enough, if not, get one and offer that amount below. Bear in mind, they might argue that the property was valued in it's current condition, and with a shiny new roof it might have been valued at £30k more - maybe meet in the middle?

I was executor selling my late dads house last year - we did accept a lower offer on the basis that we knew what work needed doing but it was a relatively low value property. The number of beneficiaries is largely irrelevant, it's the executors who decide whether to accept your offer. If you approach them in a reasonable way and show them the report to justify reducing your offer, they might say fair enough, or might not. 

We've just sold our house and the buyer had the surveyor round last about 10 days ago. We were half expecting them to reduce their offer as ours is a bit of a fixer upper, but they've got their mortgage and they are happy. If they had asked for a reduction we wouldn't have gone down by 10% as that would have stopped us buying the house we are buying. You might be okay with it being an inheritance, but if they are all getting £2-£3k less, that might be a lot to some people. One of my dad's beneficiaries moaned about getting £1k less than they expected. 

lawcher

We had a person who is a specialist asbestos remover / roofer tell us it will be £25,000-£35,000 
asbestos is costly to remove & then  re roof.
its a detached house and long porch roof.
no it has a short life left and the surveyors indicated it needs to be changed asap. 

lawcher

Patched up roof 

lawcher

Tiles close up 

stuart45

When they start to curl up it's nearing the end of it's lifespan.