On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 14:41:21 GMT, EricP wrote:

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:09:33 +0100, MM wrote:

My estate agent has just called to say that the buyer's building
society survey report has come back saying that there are "traces of
asbestos" in my property and a separate special investigation by an
environmental services company is required. Consequently, a man is
coming later this week.

Is this where I should really start panicking? The only abestos I can
think of is four corrugated sheets forming the roof of the adjacent
brick shed, which is approximately 10 ft x 8 ft.

How much is this going to cost me? Should I get a second opinion? I
thought asbestos in sheet form, provided it is undisturbed, is
harmless.

MM

I am sitting in my 1979 semi, under acres of artex ceiling containing
asbestos and looking at my garage with it's asbestos roof. My house is
one of many hundreds within a half mile of me, and hundreds of
thousands, in the country. It was the standard method of construction.

Yours is the second problem of this type reported here. I wonder if we
are seeing the replacement for Double Glazing as a money-spinner???

If so, it will make the flooding scare look mundane.

Andy has made very good comments.

And what a wonderful way of getting the price down!

Your latter point may very well be at the heart of it, but how
justified would that be? For example, the building society survey says
"asbestos nee nah nee nah" and the buyer thinks, ah, spend a couple of
hundred quid on an additional survey, then negotiate a grand off the
agreed price. I need to stick to my guns, but so far, on the web, I
haven't found any definitive statement from the environmental people
that blows away any bargaining position by the buyer. The best I can
find so far is: "Asbestos in good condition should be left in place
and managed." What I need is a building regulation/advisory or
something. Something really official, from HM Government.

Now, the buyer may very well be planning changes to the building -
building an extension, for example - which might entail removing the
asbestos sheets from the shed roof. But what the next owner does or
doesn't do is nothing to do with me and I would not see any
justification for a price reduction on that basis. Feel free to add
your additional comments, though.

MM