Would you back out due to asbestos roof?

[Marmaladegin]

our offer (significantly below but house was very optimistically priced and hadn’t shifted for over a year) was accepted approx 3 weeks ago. Village is very desirable, hence still a decent amount of money, even though house is a dated mess. Now found from roofer that the pitched roof (original, 1930s at a guess) is asbestos. There is also some damp on ground floor. House is detached. House is vacant and being sold by owners who have inherited it. Owner has previously indicated (over another, much more minor issue) that they would not budge a fraction more. I think they feel we’ve already got a good deal. So I’m not hopeful they would meet the costs (approximately 35k I think) of replacing this roof.

Would you walk? The difficulty is also that we are keen to keep our buyer and very little else on the market that suits us

Is it the whole roof, or part of it? We've a quitelarge building in our garden that had to have the asbestos roof replaced and that didn't cost anywhere near 35k. Yours may be a bit bigger though if it is a whole house. Building materials and labour are very expensive at the moment though. I guess it really depends how much you love it and whether you think it will be right in the long run. The damp wouldn't bother me too much as it has been empty, it probably needs properly airing and heating.

Does the roof need to be replaced? It being asbestos is only a problem as and when it needs replacing, as specialist removal will add to the other costs of a new roof.

If the roof needs replacing because it's reached the end of it's life then you can negotiate. If they won't budge you have to decide if you still want to buy it and absorb the cost of a new roof.

you only need to replace the roof if at the end of life. If you can repair for now that’s more cost effective and perfectly ok. We have a quote for a very very large new roof on a listed property requiring specific tiles that is £22k so £35k sounds a lot.

damp is almost certainly because the property has been empty a while. Some decent ventilation and checking for blocked gutters and so on will most likely sort that for you.

It might be that they feel the low offer they accepted from you already factors in the need to replace the roof, so the won’t budge any further.

However don’t assume they won’t budge and don’t guess the price of a new roof. Get some quotes to replace the roof. Then put that to the seller and see if they’ll cover it. Or you may be pleasantly surprised by the cost of replacing it.

I’d suggest an original 1930s roof probably is at the end of its life though.

No not at all. I would get a proper survey done tho. We have just bought a 1940s house and all the ceilings and walls have asbestos in. You just have to act accordingly

I certainly wouldn't back out without first having tried to renegotiate. It's quite possible that they wouldn't give you money off for something small and visible but that this is something you didn't know about before you offered and is a possible deal-breaker, so quite possible they will be reasonable.

This will come up on survey for every buyer.

Assuming you mean asbestos tiles? In which case likely chrysotile (white asbestos cement) and not a notifiable material, so any roofer can do it with a respirator, bag them up and dispose of in an asbestos skip. All roofers are different of course, but most won't bat an eyelid at it. Plus you'd only remove them when you need a new roof, not just because they are asbestos.

So external (white chrysotile) asbestos wouldn't worry me.

Internal asbestos would, not so much chrysotile but any which is amosite (brown) or crocilodite (blue).

The only sensible answer to your quandary is does the roof need complete replacement and who said that (roofer looking for work)?

i second the post above, asbestos roofs have long lives and won't kill you unless you decide to drill holes in them and shove the drill dust down your lungs

can i ask what type of roof that quote is for and approx what size and materials as i am getting some very high roofing quotes at the moment

Yes

I'd first of all get a different roofer around to check it out and give you a price for a new roof before trying to negotiate with the seller. You might get £10k off but I wouldn't hold out any hope for much more.
Wouldn't worry me but then we've dealt with all sorts.

Thanks for replies. Yes, roof is not in great state, unsurprisingly for age. Also we are doing a considerable renovation which is very needed, and therefore given the not great state of the roof (some tiles lifting and looking like deteriorating, it seems daft not to do it at the same time.

in that case I doubt the seller will be keen to fund your development ideas by reducing the price by tens of thousands.
They are selling a house with an old but functional roof, not their problem if you want to change that to something more modern

i think I didn’t explain properly- the roof is crumbling, and a (non asbestos) bit of it does need replacing immediately- we think we’re unlikely to get anyone to do that bit without properly removing the asbestos bit.

walk then, you are getting no where
what else do you expect people to be able to say on here, we have no idea what drives your seller after 1 year unsold on the market