Hips to inform homebuyers on asbestos

People looking for a new house will be notified if a property has asbestos beforehand as part of the Home Information Packs (Hips), according to the National Home Improvement Council (NHIC).

The council has outlined the need for prospective homebuyers to check if a property has asbestos and ask the seller to deal with it if there is asbestos present.

Andrew Leech, technical consultant to the NHIC, said: "With the advent of the Home Information Packs, anything like [asbestos] should come to light when a survey is done."

He added that if a homebuyer has their heart set on a house, and then discover it has asbestos lining in it they should say to the vendor "''You either put this right before we buy or we won''t purchase''".

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral which was used as a building material in the UK in the 1950s. However it can cause a health risk when people exposed to large amounts of it over a long period of time.

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