Buyer wants £7k off £125k asking price due to asbestos in roof & garage, is that reasonable?

[penguinflippers]

We're first time sellers so please be gentle! Our buyer put an offer in at asking price within 24 hrs of house going on the market, which we accepted.
She looked round again last week with her dad and a builder who seems to be a mate of theirs, and today they've said as there's white asbestos in the garage (which we knew about) and in the house roof tiles (which we didn't know about) they want £7k off the asking price to cover the cost of demolishing the garage and replacing the roof tiles - that seems quite high to us but we have no idea how much it actually costs?
Builder confirmed the roof has no leaks so I don't think they could say it was work that urgently needed doing.
Just wondering if anyone has had similar work done recently and how much it cost - it's a 2-bed 1920s semi in the north east.
Thanks

Forgot to say we had a quote a few months ago for demolishing and removing the garage that was £800.

Replacing roof tiles would be expensive, but unnecessary. If they want to replace them that's their choice but no reason you should pay. To me the garage is more understandable (but still not necessarily needed). Maybe offer the #800 off/show them the quote / as a compromise? If you got an asking price offer so quickly then you'll likely be able to sell it again if they decline

That £800 seems too cheap to demolish a garage with asbestos. Undisturbed, itsxsafe. But you need specialist contractors to demolish a building with asbestossnd dispose of it legally. I wound think it would be much deserved.

Excuse my typos, but you get the gist.

Thanks both
Angrysaurus that was was DP's view on the roof tiles as well, that the work wasn't strictly necessary. Pretty much every house on the street still has the original tiles.
AgentProvocateur it does seem quite low doesn't it, I'm now wondering whether that was just for the dismantling and not the disposal as well

Is the garage structurally sound or in poor repair? Frankly, if it's in good nick then it's personal choice to decide to demolish it, not a necessity and you shouldn't be paying for it. It would be like the buyers saying they don't like the bathroom so want to discount their offer to pay for a new one done to their taste. Asbestos only presents a risk if it is damaged. I think they are trying it on.

My garage roof is made of asbestos. It's structurally fine and as long as it isn't damaged then there isn't an issue with it.

If they are asking for money off so they can replace it further down the line tell them to jog on.

How do they know there is asbestos in the roof tiles? I would have thought a survey would pick this up as it picked it up on my garage roof. I think they are being chancers on that one. Tell them you will only negotiate when you see the surveyors report on the roof tiles.

Assuming you are willing to negotiate of course!

Asbestos in garages and roof tiles is usually asbestos cement. It is the least dangerous type of asbestos and doesn't have to be removed by a specialist company according to HSE advice. It's best left if it's not damaged. I'd find another buyer.

Cheeky. It is only a problem if disturbed or broken. Do either really need any work? If they are going to take fright at this what else will they fret about and expect you to fund.

The garage is a complete eyesore to be honest so we always knew we'd have issues with it when we came to sell. It's got asbestos walls and a corrugated roof, with wooden doors - it's quite dilapidated looking but it's fine for storage and it's not as if it's actually about to fall down. I can see why someone would want rid of it as it does spoil the garden so although it's not 100% necessary we've always been prepared to knock money off for it, we weren't expecting the huge amount for the roof though

We had a request for £10,000 discount due to a similar problem. We told them we'd sort it ourselves, and did it very quickly for £1,500 on the grounds that if they pulled out it would only come up again. It took the wind out of their sales and the sale proceeded smoothly after that. Could try that for the garage?

Sorry cross posted with everyone! Yes we're a bit at how the builder is certain they're asbestos roof tiles when he didn't actually go up on a ladder to look at them, guess he's just basing it on what's typical for this area.

Thanks everyone this is really helpful, lots to think about. Survey is being done on Monday so I think we'll say we want to wait until we see the results of that to discuss how much to take off the price.

Just had our garage with asbestos roof demolished (for extension). Disposal of the asbestos roof was about £600 I think. I think they are trying it on.

Interesting October - my first thoughts were that their suggested reduction paid for a new garage, not just removing the existing one.

I think as a compromise if you don't want to lose your buyer is that you agree to sort the two issues and the price remains as agreed.

As a buyer I would be happy with that - in fact it would in my mind be less hassle! Sounds like the issues are likely to come up again with another buyer anyway.

£600, for safely demolishing and correctly disposing of an asbestos garage seems very cheap to me. I'm sure there are "contractors" who would do it, but cased on quotes I've had recently for similar work, I don't think a properly certified firm would do it for that.

I agree the work doesn't "need" doing, but if it's something that most buyers would want to do, as it's an eyesore, then it's not unreasonable for them to expect the price to reflect that. How much difference does having a garage, or not, make to house prices in your area?

Ultimately OP, it depends how much you need the buyer. Is this garage likely to prevent a sale or is the house so attractive in other ways that people would buy it anyway?

We're happy to reduce the price to reflect the cost of removing the garage but it's just the supposed cost of the roof replacement that's thrown us, can't seem to find any information on whether that's really how much it costs to replace that sort of roof.

But does the original house reflect the fact that it has a garage? i.e. if £125k is the price for a house with a garage in your area, then it's not completely unreasonable for them to expect to get a house with a garage for that price, which could mean reducing the purchase price by the cost of demolishing and rebuilding it.

Ah I get what you mean Council, don't think this is a street where a garage would add value though even if in good condition - hardly any of the houses in this street still have the original garages as you can't actually use them as such, I think having one even in good condition wouldn't add value as they take up so much of the garden and they're not much use, here's a terrible picture of our garden from before we had it cleared (looks much nicer now) so hopefully you can see what I mean about the garage (left of picture)

We just had asbestos tiles removed as part of a demolition, it cost £800 for them to be removed by a licensed contractor. If we hadn’t been knocking down that part of the house there would have been no issue with them staying put a few more years as they weren’t doing harm.

My DH (used to run a company which refurbished social housing) has suggested that you get an asbestos survey done. Might clarify things.

£800 seems about right I think we had a price of £900 to the same. I'd be weary of these buyers they seem determined to get money off. 7k for these works is a finger in the air quote. Stand your ground if you knock money off this time I bet they will find something else wrong. Best of luck.

I’d be very wary of these buyers too.
They put in the full asking price (which they probably had no intention of paying) in order that you stopped viewings, etc.

Then they came with their builder friend and are asking for money off before they’ve even had a survey done. My guess is they will be asking for more money off after survey. Then they may possibly mess you around/ask for money off further down the line when you risk losing the house you are buying, etc.

Personally, I would say you can’t afford to sell by knocking £7K off and would re-market ASAP. That way, you at least have something to fall back on if they won’t budge on the 7K or the survey throws up more problems. I would sell to someone else if you can though.