Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Property inspection, found lots of asbestos, do we ask for discount?! help!

33 replies

missperegrinespeculiar · 22/03/2018 08:26

Hallo all, I need a little advice. We have just made an offer on a non-renovated Victorian cottage (1892), we always knew it would be a "project" but the building inspection came back today with the news that there is LOTS of asbestos! In the eaves, the walls of the extension and the cladding! what do we do now?!

A fiend of mine asked for a big discount in similar circumstances and got it, should we do the same? and how much? I don't know what to do and fear we are biting more than we can chew!! help wise mumsnetters!

OP posts:
BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 22/03/2018 08:28

Unless they are willing to sell it for a pittance, walk away

JaimesGoldenHand · 22/03/2018 08:29

I agree with Squiffanys

Original poster
missperegrinespeculiar · 22/03/2018 12:08

oh dear, as I feared... I think what we will do is ask for an hefty discount, basically putting at just above land value, if they say no so be it! Thanks!

Such a shame, as I love the location and it could have turned into a lovely little cottage! (well, not that little, it's three bed/two bath), not to mention the cost of all the inspections and conveyancing

OP posts:
ItsAllDoomAndGloom · 22/03/2018 12:46

Breakfast and GoldenHand, any personal experience with this situation? Just interested in what others have done.

OP my personal experience - had it in last Victorian property, now have it in floors of current 60s property. Previous property, got an assessor out, he advised most of it was best left where it was, similar places like eaves etc. As long as it's not damaged, and you know where it is, it's not a big issue.

If you are planning to knock down walls with it in etc it will need to be removed by a licensed contractor. A pain, but doable.

If you love the house and can get the discount required for removing what needs to be removed, I'd buy it, but I'd make sure I knew what was where and costs for removal.

Most pre 2000s houses have some, it was a wonder material at the time so they used it quite a lot...

ItsAllDoomAndGloom · 22/03/2018 12:47

Also if you had a friend that has done similar that's a massive help in terms of experience!

johnd2 · 22/03/2018 13:19

What kind of asbestos? Assuming it's the cement board type that's the type you can remove yourself safely by following certain precautions. A surveyor always makes things sound worse than they are. Get a quote for removal of you're not planning to do it yourself, or check the HSE advice if you are.

Regarding offers of the land value only, that's not really relevant. Supposing the house really were contaminated with some thing bad enough to need complete demolitionl, you'd likely have spent more than the value of the land in disposal costs. Not to mention the cost of decontamination of the soil. Some land eg former petrol stations and other industrial land can be contaminated to make the land worth less than zero, ie a liability.

Original poster
missperegrinespeculiar · 22/03/2018 13:22

ItsAllDoomAndGloom oh, thanks, that's a little more encouraging, we are planning on some restructuring that may involve moving walls, so we would have to look into that, I guess it hinges on having the discount

and yes, true, most houses pre-2000 will have it, so no guarantee the next one won't be the same

OP posts:
Original poster
missperegrinespeculiar · 22/03/2018 13:25

ok, just sent off an email to a company for a quote on removing it, at least in the cladding since we want to renovate the facade, then we will see about the extension, thanks so much, I will update for those interested in response/have a similar issue

OP posts:
Original poster
missperegrinespeculiar · 22/03/2018 13:26

oh, cross post! thanks johnd2 that's really helpful! yes he did say it is mixed with cement, so not very dangerous

good to know about land value, too! thanks!

OP posts:
Original poster
missperegrinespeculiar · 22/03/2018 13:28

and yes, he did make it all sound very bad, I got quite deflated, good to remember that is their job!

OP posts:
TarzansPlasticCrocodile · 22/03/2018 13:37

Our house had loads of asbestos but it was the ‘least dangerous’ type - cement board - I think. Our builders took it out but they wore masks and disposed of it in specially marked bags. Wasn’t a big drama at all.

Original poster
missperegrinespeculiar · 22/03/2018 13:39

Thanks Tarzan, that's reassuring as I think ours is the same!

OP posts:
ItsAllDoomAndGloom · 22/03/2018 13:40

Yes the cement stuff is one of the least problematic, we had some of that.

As John says can be removed carefully yourself/by general builder (with masks, using spray to wet dust, and other precautions you can find online), although I think I'd pay someone to do it as I get a bit paranoid and they'll pay to dispose of it too, which you'd need to do anyway.

The key is knowing. There will be much worse versions in houses that people just don't recognise. Old cladding of pipes with loose fibres flying everywhere, people removing garage roofs and smashing them up just because they don't know what it is.

Get an asbestos pro's opinion (they will know more than general surveyors) and go from there.

Sunnyshores · 22/03/2018 13:44

Assuming this was your full survery, has your mortgage company valued it yet? They are likely to view any risk as a huge negative.

MinaPaws · 22/03/2018 13:45

We got a quote for removing it and took that off the price we'd offered. the vendor was hacked off but accepted it.

ItsAllDoomAndGloom · 22/03/2018 14:28

I'm really surprised to hear that Sunny as I've not had problems either time.

ItsAllDoomAndGloom · 22/03/2018 14:28

I also sold my previous house and didn't seem to be a problem for that buyers mortgage either.

Sunnyshores · 22/03/2018 18:46

It depends what remedial costs youre looking at, if its just a few hundred for a garage roof they wont bother, but if its a significant amount and affecting the actual house they might well downvalue it. I dont suppose they would necessary notice it though with their brief housebuyers survey.

Original poster
missperegrinespeculiar · 22/03/2018 22:19

no, mortgage company has not done any valuation yet, we have a 21 day finance clause, so still a couple of weeks, I guess we could ask our broker, the problem is also our cooling off period will likely be over before the bank comments though, I am really nervous about it all!

I am waiting for removal company to call, so will see what they say

OP posts:
time4chocolate · 22/03/2018 23:17

We had asbestos cement board on all ceilings in our house except for the kitchen and new extension that we had done. We knew it was there from the survey but we still went ahead with purchase and lived quite happily with it for about 10 years. We subsequently decided as we may want to move in the near future selling it on would be easier without the asbestos present so we had it removed about four years ago. All I can say is have it removed before you move in, we were in situ at the time and it was bloody horrendous, the entire contents (and I mean absolutely everything) of the house had to be rammed into the kitchen and the extension, we moved out for four days and the contractors moved in and it was incredibly messy. We then had to redecorate again top to bottom. We had new neighbours move in last year and they had it removed before they moved in and was a very painless procedure for them.

Bumblealong1 · 22/03/2018 23:39

Please can I ask.. what report did you have that picked up their is asbestos?
We just had a homebuyers report done through the mortgage company and they just told me today that they suspect their is asbestos and their often is in properties of s certain age/using certain types of material but they can’t comfort anything. Did you get a specific surveyor out?

Many thanks

time4chocolate · 22/03/2018 23:58

Bumble - homebuyers report picked it up as a possibility initially, we then got a full structural survey that confirmed it. It was in use up until the 1980s I believe.

Original poster
missperegrinespeculiar · 23/03/2018 00:10

time4chocolate thanks, that's great advice, if we do go ahead then we will look at removal before we move in

Bumblealong1 yes, we got a surveyor out ourselves, a little pricey and we may lose the money if we don't go ahead, but really worth it with what he has picked up, he was thorough, his report is pages long with more than 70 pictures of spots that are potentially problematic, also, if we ask for a discount, we have proof asbestos is there and where, so it helps us negotiate

OP posts:
ItsAllDoomAndGloom · 23/03/2018 09:56

What sort of age is your house time?

time4chocolate · 23/03/2018 11:35

ItsAllDoomandGloom - House is 1930s but the asbestos ceilings would have appeared during the 1960/70s due to some major rejigging of the layout both upstairs and downstairs.