Asbestos in garage roof

justpassingthrough24

Would be grateful for any advice or words of wisdom on this.

I'm a first time buyer. I've had an offer accepted on a property, which I like a lot. Everything has gone smoothly so far. I'd had 3 viewings before putting in an offer. I had a 4th viewing after my offer was accepted, which was purely to show my family the property, and at this point it was disclosed by the estate agent that there is asbestos in the garage roof.

I know this isn't actually a massive deal and it's very common. But I'm a bit disppointed. I'd mentioned on the first few viewings, all with different agents, about how eager I was to expand and convert the garage and that was one of my key criteria in purchasing the property. However this wasn't mentioned to me until after the offer was put in.

From looking through this forum and other websites, it looks like I'd be perfectly entitled to request a slight reduction or at least ask the sellers to split the cost of asbestos removal, once I've obtained a quote. But also, the seller had accepted my initial offer for ~5% lower than asking price as they are in a rush to sell. They have a young family and I'm feeling mindful about slowing things down and ruining things for them. I honestly think my moral compass is stopping me from pursuing this, but I'm also massively disappointed that I wasn't told about it before putting in an offer when I'd voiced that I was very keen to do things to that garage. If I didn't have plans to convert, I'd probably just leave things alone.

I will arrange a full survey. I'm also waiting to hear back on some asbestos removal quotes. I've been seeing it can cost anything from a few hundred quid to a few thousand. If a few hundred, I'm tempted to leave things alone? But if a few thousand I'm a bit stuck. What's the general consensus on this? Thanks in advance.

sammyjammy

The asbestos in the garage isn't an issue as long as its in reasonable condition and isn't disturbed.  It is your choice to make changes to the garage and remove the asbestos so if I were the seller I'd refuse your offer of a reduction or to share the cost of removal.

The person who's job it is to inform you of the asbestos is your surveyor not the EA or the seller, as long as they've not told you there ISN'T asbestos in garage then they are well within their rights to keep quiet.

user1977

By asbestos in the roof do you mean something like corrugated asbestos sheeting? If so, that’s reasonably obvious to the layperson. And commonplace. I don’t think the sellers have to highlight it to you.

FreeBear

sammyjammy said:

The asbestos in the garage isn't an issue as long as its in reasonable condition and isn't disturbed.

If it asbestos cement board, it is a low risk material and not hugely expensive to remove. If it is asbestos insulation board, I would be very concerned - That stuff needs expert removal which is not cheap. What does the survey say about it ?

Albermarle

I believe it is reasonably safe to remove asbestos cement board yourself with some basic precautions. Many local authority recycling/waste centres will accept it for a small fee, as long as it is double bagged.

Grizebeck

I removed one easily by myself 
And it's harmless staying where it is

Grizebeck

Also don't waste money on paying someone to remove it. Do it yourself or leave it where it is

bobster2

justpassingthrough24 said:

Would be grateful for any advice or words of wisdom on this.

I'm a first time buyer. I've had an offer accepted on a property, which I like a lot. Everything has gone smoothly so far. I'd had 3 viewings before putting in an offer. I had a 4th viewing after my offer was accepted, which was purely to show my family the property, and at this point it was disclosed by the estate agent that there is asbestos in the garage roof.

I know this isn't actually a massive deal and it's very common. But I'm a bit disppointed. I'd mentioned on the first few viewings, all with different agents, about how eager I was to expand and convert the garage and that was one of my key criteria in purchasing the property. However this wasn't mentioned to me until after the offer was put in.

From looking through this forum and other websites, it looks like I'd be perfectly entitled to request a slight reduction or at least ask the sellers to split the cost of asbestos removal, once I've obtained a quote. But also, the seller had accepted my initial offer for ~5% lower than asking price as they are in a rush to sell. They have a young family and I'm feeling mindful about slowing things down and ruining things for them. I honestly think my moral compass is stopping me from pursuing this, but I'm also massively disappointed that I wasn't told about it before putting in an offer when I'd voiced that I was very keen to do things to that garage. If I didn't have plans to convert, I'd probably just leave things alone.

I will arrange a full survey. I'm also waiting to hear back on some asbestos removal quotes. I've been seeing it can cost anything from a few hundred quid to a few thousand. If a few hundred, I'm tempted to leave things alone? But if a few thousand I'm a bit stuck. What's the general consensus on this? Thanks in advance.

If you're planning to convert the garage why does this bother you??? Surely if you were planning to convert you would have been expecting to pay to replace/upgrade the roof anyway?

Asbestos cement garage roofs are not expensive / difficult to remove. There is advice here...

https://www.croydon.gov.uk/environment/noise-pollution-and-air-quality/asbestos

You are perfectly entitled to ask the vendor for a price reduction for any reason you like - but the vendor is perfectly entitled to refuse.

justpassingthrough24

Thanks for the replies. Helps to know that it's not really considered acceptable to ask for a reduction in price, which I am happy with. Just hoping it doesn't end up being a more costly problem after the survey..

FreeBear said:

sammyjammy said:

The asbestos in the garage isn't an issue as long as its in reasonable condition and isn't disturbed.

If it asbestos cement board, it is a low risk material and not hugely expensive to remove. If it is asbestos insulation board, I would be very concerned - That stuff needs expert removal which is not cheap. What does the survey say about it ?

I haven't yet had the survey but will be arranging this soon - will go for the full survey. Out of interest, if it is a bigger problem than initially thought, would I then have some scope to ask for a price reduction or is the consensus still generally "your choice to remove it, you pay for it"? I know the surveyor would usually advise me on this, but I've seen that sometimes they are extremely OTT and unfairly push for issues to be sorted that don't need to be.

Grizebeck said:

Also don't waste money on paying someone to remove it. Do it yourself or leave it where it is

Ok, I really know zilch about DIY by this, would it be acceptable to ask any builders involved in the conversion to just be aware of the problem and do so with the extra protection?? Or if I'm getting builders involved, I'd have to make sure it's removed formally by an asbestos removal company for their own safety?


Forgive me if these are really naive questions, happy to admit I know nothing about house buying/buildings/DIY. 

Grizebeck

Just remove it yourself
Double bag it . See your councils own policy
There is nothing to worry about 
People get so stressed about this type of asbestos it's unreal

FreeBear

Asbestos Insulation Board is very friable, and nasty stuff. It should only ever be removed and disposed of by a licenced contractor.

Asbestos Cement Board has a much lower concentration of asbestos, and as long as it isn't sanded/drilled/cut, is relatively safe to handle. Suitably double bagged, some councils will accept it as DIY waste. Builders will have to pay to dispose of it as trade waste.

If you are not sure if you have AIB or ACB, get it tested. Once you know the results, you can decide how best to proceed. Do not trust a builder to correctly identify AIB or ACB - Without the appropriate training, it is easily mistaken for modern asbestos free alternatives.