This guide will help you to understand more about asbestos. It explains what it is, where it could be found in your home, why it might be a problem and how to deal with it.
What is asbestos?
Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous material. It was extensively used as a building material because it was cheap, with fireproofing properties, and it could be shaped and incorporated into many different products.
If your home was built before the year 2000, there is a possibility that it contains asbestos
Why might asbestos be a problem?
Undisturbed, undamaged or sealed asbestos is safe. Asbestos cannot harm anybody unless they breathe in asbestos fibres.
Products containing asbestos do not normally present a problem unless they become damaged or worn, and the asbestos fibres are released into the air. If this happens, the fibres can be breathed deep into the lung where they may stay for a long time and can lead to serious lung diseases including cancer.
This is why it is important not to damage or disturb materials which might contain asbestos, this includes drilling, cutting, sawing or sanding.
What should I do?
If you've been told or suspect there is asbestos in your home – don't worry. Remember, asbestos in good condition is safe and so we will not normally remove asbestos present in your home unless it is likely to be disturbed.
If you think you might have damaged asbestos materials in your home you should tell us straight away by contacting us via our emergency repair number.
If you are a council tenant - under your tenancy agreement you are required to ask us before carrying out any DIY work in your home. This will allow us to check our asbestos records and let you know if it is safe for you to carry on.
If you are a leaseholder - it is your responsibility to arrange for a refurbishment and demolition (R&D) asbestos survey to be carried out if you want to do any work in your home. You also have a responsibility to get permission from us before starting any improvement or refurbishment work to your home.
Where might I find asbestos?
Asbestos is present in many different materials and common uses in the home include decorative textured coating to ceilings and walls, plastic and vinyl floor tiles, toilet cisterns and seats, some sink pads, asbestos cement water tanks, some boards to roofs, corrugated cement garage or shed roofs, and asbestos insulation board (AIB) fire-lining to communal risers and gas meters.
There are many other uses which are less common in the home such as sprayed fire-coating to structural steel, and thermal insulation 'lagging' to pipes and boilers.
It is not always easy to tell whether a product contains asbestos, because modern asbestos-free materials often look similar.
What we're doing to keep you safe
We have responsibilities under the law to manage asbestos risks in non-domestic premises (which includes common areas of blocks of flats) and to record where asbestos has been found – this is known as the asbestos register.
When our contractors undertake building work within your home which may disturb materials, your home becomes a place of work and we have to provide the person doing the work with information on whether there is any asbestos present before they can start. We undertake asbestos surveys during improvement works and when we upgrade empty homes. Our aim is to gather as much information as possible about asbestos in our properties so we can inform contractors ahead of any work being carried out.
If work is due to take place in your home and we don't already have asbestos information held on our register, we may arrange for an accredited asbestos surveying company to carry out a survey, this may include taking samples of materials to analyse. If the survey finds asbestos, we will assess the risk and either remove it, seal (encapsulate) it, or confirm that it is safe to leave as it is.
It is usually best to leave asbestos materials in good condition where they are rather than remove them.
If you have a question about asbestos materials council leaseholders and tenants can contact us by phone - 0800 023 4499.
For non-emergency repairs, use our online form Housing repairs reporting form.