Buying a house with asbestos on walls

Soldato
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I'm in the process of buying a house for my daughter and her family. I've had a 3rd party survey completed which highlighted the material on the walls - like horrible looking artex.

Subsequently had an asbestos test which has come back positive on 4 walls which contain Chrysotile.

At this point, I'm undecided what to do. Leave it and don't touch it. Renegoiate the price or walk away. If the price is renegoiated and the asbestos removed I'm concerned there will still be traces in the air within the house. They have a new baby and I don't want to risk their health. I don't know how thorough the job is.

Now that its presence is known, there is a duty to disclose it when selling the property.
 
Soldato
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If its removed by a proper professional i'd be happy with it. We have a lot of asbestos removal at work and i feel totally comfortable going into the areas afterwards having seen how thorough their clean up was BUT that does rely on it being done by someone with all the kit who actually knows the risks and what they're doing.

on the contrary there's nothing wrong with just leaving it in place, it'll be perfectly fine as long as it's not disturbed but personally if you're thinking about it i'd get it all removed properly before moving in.
 
Soldato
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Thanks guys.

The seller of the property wasn't prepared to renegotiate on the price or carry out remedial work so have pulled out.

Be interesting to see if the agent mentions it when it goes back up for sale.
 
Soldato
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I think so. Somewhat naughty of the estate agent, they've already put the house back up for sale. They are now legally obliged to confirm the presence of asbestos.

Is that only if asked though? I don't think I've ever come across a listing that says - asbestos covered walls, but could be worth seeing what the council/environmental health say about it if you can be bothered. I guess it's gone back up at the same price?

Tbh they're just going to run into the same problem with the next buyers once they've had a survey done and it flags up the same thing.
 
Soldato
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I think so. Somewhat naughty of the estate agent, they've already put the house back up for sale. They are now legally obliged to confirm the presence of asbestos.
How's it naughty? You are allowed to sell a house with asbestos. As long as it's declared to any potential buyers then it's fine.
As long as it was priced accordingly it wouldn't really bother me.
 
Soldato
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Is that only if asked though?

The law does seem to suggest they are obliged to disclose now they know.

Back up for the same money. It's annoying because 2 houses came up on the same estate in much better condition. More money sure but probably not as much as it would cost to bring the one I was buying up to the same spec.
 
Soldato
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How's it naughty? You are allowed to sell a house with asbestos. As long as it's declared to any potential buyers then it's fine.
As long as it was priced accordingly it wouldn't really bother me.

I would put money on the estate agents not disclosing it in the future. The sale add is no different to when I was purchasing.

Unfortunately, it is no longer priced accordingly.
 
Soldato
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I would put money on the estate agents not disclosing it in the future. The sale add is no different to when I was purchasing.

Unfortunately, it is no longer priced accordingly.
Not your problem anymore, forget about it and find somewhere better :)

But I see your annoyance. Maybe have a read around and see if it has to be declared now they know about it. Then you can always tip off the required people if so.

Unrealistic sellers are annoying, but also hilarious.
 
Soldato
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Not your problem anymore, forget about it and find somewhere better :)

But I see your annoyance. Maybe have a read around and see if it has to be declared now they know about it. Then you can always tip off the required people if so.

Unrealistic sellers are annoying, but also hilarious.

I was all bent out of shape this morning and ready to shop all and everyone as a punishment :)

We've subsequently found a house on the same estate (the estate has other family members which is important) It's more expensive but much nicer. Have put an offer in.
 
Soldato
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I was all bent out of shape this morning and ready to shop all and everyone as a punishment
you had wasted money on a survey -
so can tell estate agent you would contact professional ombudsman/police, if subsequent potential purchasers are not informed - ask them for their position.
 
Soldato
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you had wasted money on a survey -
so can tell estate agent you would contact professional ombudsman/police, if subsequent potential purchasers are not informed - ask them for their position.
Should get somebody in the area ask to view the property and pretend to buy it.

See if the agency mentions it
 
Soldato
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It’s really not that difficult to remove yourself. We removed asbestos Morley tiles from our floor. Full disposable hasmat suit, sealed the doors, gloves, boot coverings, masks, goggles.

Spray bottles filled with water which you constantly spray to keep the dust down. And then just crack on, bag it up in heavy duty labelled bags. Then ring up the council to dispose of it, if you’re lucky your council might have a tip which takes it. We had to pay the council but it was £100 or so.

All the gear you can get on Amazon relatively cheap.
 
Commissario
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If the price is renegoiated and the asbestos removed I'm concerned there will still be traces in the air within the house. They have a new baby and I don't want to risk their health. I don't know how thorough the job is.
I know you said you've pulled out now but any professional company who does this does it thoroughly. There would have been absolutely no trace of it left and there's no guarantee that if you do it yourself that you'd do the same job. There's a lot of training and a lot of hoops to jump through when it comes to removing asbestos, it's not a straightforward job and if you get it wrong, the outcome could be fatal.

An alternative would have been for you to fully encapsulate the coating in an ET150 based paint but that's irrelevant now.

I sold a house recently, there was asbestos on the garage roof that was noticed during the survey and the buyer tried to get a price reduction. I had an independant inspection done, the boards were in good condition and with no damage so there was zero risk. My response to the buyer was that if they wanted to do something about it once they'd bought the house, it was up to them. The house was sold as-is and I wouldn't reduce the price. They went through with the sale.

I believe that now that agent is aware, they should disclose it to any future buyers.
 
Soldato
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I sold a house recently, there was asbestos on the garage roof that was noticed during the survey and the buyer tried to get a price reduction. I had an independant inspection done, the boards were in good condition and with no damage so there was zero risk. My response to the buyer was that if they wanted to do something about it once they'd bought the house, it was up to them. The house was sold as-is and I wouldn't reduce the price. They went through with the sale.

That's understandable. Being in the roof of the garage wouldn't necessarily bother me. Inside the house is another matter, irrespective of condition of the material.

As an update, the estate agent called to say the seller has reconsidered. The agent sounded far more confident that yes, they are now obliged to inform potential buyers. I couldn't help but mention I see the house is back up at the same price. I think a fair amount of chat/googling had been had. :)

Didn't mention we've put an offer in somewhere else. Once I have the removal quote and a further chat with the agent, I'll make a decision.
 
Commissario
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Inside the house is another matter, irrespective of condition of the material.
How old is the house? Any house built prior to 1999 will have it somewhere. Providing it's in good condition then it wouldn't bother me in the slightest as there is no risk.

Do you have the full detailed report from the survey?
 
Caporegime
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any older house will have asbestos, it is unavoidable. It is also harmless unless you start sawing it up. The risk comes from prolonged expose to the dust.
 
Soldato
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It’s really not that difficult to remove yourself. We removed asbestos Morley tiles from our floor. Full disposable hasmat suit, sealed the doors, gloves, boot coverings, masks, goggles.

Spray bottles filled with water which you constantly spray to keep the dust down. And then just crack on, bag it up in heavy duty labelled bags. Then ring up the council to dispose of it, if you’re lucky your council might have a tip which takes it. We had to pay the council but it was £100 or so.

All the gear you can get on Amazon relatively cheap.

Removing marley tiles is very different to asbestos artex. Marley tiles can be removed relatively intact and double bagged whereas artex will either need encapsulating or scraping off.

If done properly by a licensed asbestos removal contractor they will need to issue a clean air certificate that tests for any residual presence of asbestos once the works is completed.

It is hower worth noting that there's background levels of asbestos allover and most of us are probably exposed to it on a regular basis. It si however invariably 100 fibres or less per m3 so not at a level to give any health concerns.
 
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