Selling home with asbestos?

​Is it illegal of selling a home with asbestos?

The very short answer to the question is, no it is not illegal. Although if you are aware the presence of asbestos in the property or the part of the property like asbestos garage, it has to be told to the potential buyer. By knowing about asbestos present in your home and not let the buyers know can stop the sale or later on lead to prosecution. It is not advisable to hide such an information.
Asbestos product can be found almost anywhere inside and outside of the property, and chances are higher when we are talking about older houses or flats which were built prior 1999 when the use of asbestos was banned in the U.K.

The buyer's asbestos survey uncovers asbestos in the property but I was unaware of it. Am I in trouble?

There is no statement of the law that says you need to be aware of asbestos presence in your property. The buyer probably up to date in the topic and if he/she needs a refurbishment on the premises then asbestos survey has to be carried out anyway.  

How badly asbestos can affect on property prices?

Unfortunately, positive tests can highly affect on the selling price. It depend how much and what type and which condition asbestos material is found during the survey. Obviously if certain building material(s) contain damaged asbestos that can be a huge price drop from your property selling price. in this case it is almost 100% the buyer has to carry out asbestos removal hiring a competent licensed contractor. Under the latest asbestos regulations the work can be quite pricey.
On the other hand even if asbestos fibres were found in such a part of the home that would not interfere with the buyer's refurbishment plan and also are in a good condition, asbestos removal is not necessary. Although it will still affect on the price but with a much less impact.
The bottom line from the seller perspective if you ask again: Is it illegal to sell a house with asbestos UK? the answer is no.

Is it worth it to buy a property with asbestos present?

This is not black and white. Let's say there is not so much of asbestos in the property, and it wouldn't be a high cost, time and effort to remove it, but is still there and it devalue the property. It is good for you because you can use this information to negotiate on the price. If you are good enough you can pull down the price tag that much so in the end you can pay a company for asbestos removal work and you might have some cash left.
But there is the other side of the coin: The home is heavily filled with asbestos and there is high risk of asbestos exposure. in this case it's not worth it to buy a home even if you can push the price down, because the work would be so much and costly you would need to pay way too much. In this case we advise you to ask the seller to remove it or if it's not possible, gotta move on.

What kind of asbestos containing material can be found in homes?

First of all you have to know in most of the homes white asbestos was used widely, which is the least toxic type of fibre amongst the six naturally occurred silicate mineral. The natural form of use of this type of kind of flexible and woolly looking material is a loose fill insulation which was used in lofts, and placed between walls. In a more modern way the created asbestos insulating boards and placed them in walls and door. Asbestos insulation as its name says was very useful for fire proofing. Asbestos was also used a list of other elements of the homes:

• floor tile, ceiling tiles
• artex ceiling (decorative textured coating)
• roofing
• asbestos fuse pads
• water tank (usually in lofts)
• pipe lagging
• asbestos cement water pipe
• soffits
• guttering
• panelling   

What does asbestos look like?

Asbestos is a commercial given name to the group of 6 silicate crystal that literally looks like a normal stone. BUT once you hold in your hand you notice that actually the stone is built up of long lines, called them fiber. This fiber is responsible many people's death. Asbestos inhaled or idigested cause cancer or other diseases because once it is in your body it is more likely to stay and scarring the tissues and lining of your organs keep them constant inflammation. These microscopic spiky sharp fibres are deadly dangerous when any construction material that contain asbestos fibres become damaged or broken thus to this action asbestos dust released in the atmosphere and the fibres are able to float for almost days.
What does asbestos smell like? - unfortunately asbestos has no specific smell therefore it is impossible to sense its presence by smelling it. you can't even see once it's airborne. it spread in the air very quickly.  

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