Asbestos and mortgages

[FCB]

Just wondering if anyone can give a little advice...

In short, the property I'm hoping to buy might have some asbestos dry lining in it - none of this is structural.

The mortgage company are demanding that it be tested and have put a retention ahead of any agreement.

Is this normal? Personally I can't find any law that justifies this approach.

Help, please!!!

 

[Lime]

Asbestos would make me wary of buying a property.
Not that I particularly mind it being in the house but I'd worry how much more stringent the regulations regarding asbestos might become.
Already it is treated very seriously now whereas in my childhood it was used just about everywhere and no one thought anything of it.
I think the discovery of asbestos in a property must be a very great encumbrance to it's sale.

 

[Johneds]

Unfortunately mortgage lenders can and do make all sorts of odd lending rules. It often amuses me that one will be obsessive about something which another doesn't even bother about.

I expect what has happened here is that the valuer has spotted something that he/she thought might be asbestos board and mentioned it in the report. Once this happens the lender will tick the box on the form and will automatically insist on a specialist report.

Short of going to another lender I don't see what you can do now. Might be best to bite the bullet and get a survey done.

I expect it will turn out to just be harmless asbestos cement. But you never know, it might be really nasty stuff that you wouldn't want to be living with anyway.

 

[FCB]

Thanks for the thoughts.

Truth is, it isn't confirmed, though I suspect one or two (literally) boards might be asbestos.

Point is, I could ask the vendor if they didn't mind me going in one night, ripping the lot out with a crowbar, and burying the damn stuff in the garden. Hey presto... no asbestos! Or whatever the hell it is.

But you know what I mean.

Makes me madder than a bag of adders. It really does.

 

[Johneds]

If it's a specific area why not take a sample and have it tested. Costs about twenty quid and you usually get the result next day.

Of course you need to take sensible precautions and seal the damaged area but it's not difficult.

 

[biffvernon]

If it's a specific area why not take a sample and have it tested. Costs about twenty quid and you usually get the result next day.

But do 'listen again' to You and Yours Radio 4, today's broadcast, for the company that you MUST NOT send your sample to.

Nice item about a Medieval hall house found on a Welsh farm, following the asbestos sampling and testing warning.

 

[Nemesis]

We have bathroom walls lined with asbestos cement board (partitioned from a larger room) and also a corridor lined with it.

The corridor stuff is going asap, the other is plastered over and can wait.

It's hard to know who to believe about the danger really, but our local authority was quite laid back - said to remove use sense, put down plastic, wear a face mask, spray anything you break with dilute PVA, bag and seal and they will come and collect. There is a sort of 'milk round' they do every now and again.


But - I think the jury is still actually our re white asbestos, so hard to know what the risk is.

Try contacting the local authority, see what official advice is, then submit that...

 

[gsport george]

Some of the asbestos hysteria has actually died down a bit these days.... probably the easiest solution is to get a quote for removing it then (assuming it isnt too much) show this to the lender and let them make it a "retention". Then either get the work done and regain the retention after you move in, or live with it.

Our first lender wanted a retention of £1000 for some trivial thing and we just let them have it and effectively had a £1000 smaller mortgage...

 

[Johneds]

I think we might be getting ahead a bit here. The lender is wanting a test and report. Removal probably won't come into it unless it turns out to be a highly hazardous type - which is very unlikely.

 

[Nemesis]

It may also be that the seller could pay for removal - it may keep cropping up in surveys otherwise - or a small reduction in price negotiated if it proves to be something which does require removal.

(Ours is going as it's horrible...)

 

[Penners]

(Ours is going as it's horrible...)

Your what? Asbestos?!

 

[Nemesis]

Yes - not the house!

 

[Penners]

Where have you got it?

 

[biffvernon]

I think we might be getting ahead a bit here. The lender is wanting a test and report. Removal probably won't come into it unless it turns out to be a highly hazardous type - which is very unlikely.

The point of the You and Yours report was that if you (illegally) post your sample to this certain company, paying your £20, you will probably get a negative result irrespective of whether there is any asbestos present, allegedly.

 

[Manks]

FCB

There may be no asbestos there at all.

I just had someone pull out of a deal on a proper because the surveyor said "the propery may have asbestos in its construction". It hasn't. It's Victorian. The surveyor was just covering his butt and it has cost us the sale.

We are just deciding whether to pursue the surveyor for our financial loss. But as he was not instructed by us it is not straightforward. He also works in a small town and we cannot afford to have him mess up a succession of sales for us.

Manks

 

[NT]

I think we might be getting ahead a bit here. The lender is wanting a test and report. Removal probably won't come into it unless it turns out to be a highly hazardous type - which is very unlikely.

The point of the You and Yours report was that if you (illegally) post your sample to this certain company, paying your £20, you will probably get a negative result irrespective of whether there is any asbestos present, allegedly.

How is this helpful if we dont know the company? A company committing fraud is in no position to sue, I can assure you. 'A program on radio 4 alleged' should cover your rear end nicely.

The McLibel case really changed the stage with all this. No-one has dared to sue over this since.

IANAL though, so might be talking out of my IANAL for all I know.


NT

 

[biffvernon]

How is this helpful if we dont know the company?

I gave enough information for anyone interested to find the name of the company from the BBC website whilst, I hope, not contravening the spirit of Forum Rule 10.

 

[Johneds]

But do 'listen again' to You and Yours Radio 4, today's broadcast, for the company that you MUST NOT send your sample to.

Interesting. There is a lot of hype and nonsense about the dangers of asbestos but I must say that sending it through the post just sounds obviously wrong to me.

 

[NT]

How is this helpful if we dont know the company?

I gave enough information for anyone interested to find the name of the company from the BBC website whilst, I hope, not contravening the spirit of Forum Rule 10.

Was a wild goose chase.

NT

 

[biffvernon]

OK, Ok, here's chapter and verse:

Royal Mail launches investigation into company encouraging the public to send samples of asbestos containing materials through the post

Royal Mail has launched an investigation into the activities of an asbestos surveyor whose company is encouraging the public to send samples of asbestos containing materials through the post. Asbestos Watchdog offers a sampling service for people who think they have asbestos in their homes… it’s run by John Bridle, a man whose claims about his credentials, You and Yours investigated last month. Our reporter Shari Vahl explains more...

Full report and listen again from You and Yours