Asbestos removal cost
Asbestos removal cost depends on what you have, its condition and how hard it is to reach, not a price per square metre. We do not publish a price list. This page sets out exactly what moves the number, so you can weigh up any quote you are given, including ours.
You should be wary of any firm whose only page like this one has a table with a number already on it. What follows gets you a real figure for your own job, not someone else's average.
- Over 12 years in asbestos removal
- Qualified & insured
- HSE Compliant
- Most jobs completed within a day
A price per metre cannot see your gate, your stairs or your roof pitch
What a per square metre rate assumes
That every job of the same size takes the same effort: a van parked next to it, a clear run to the road, one material, ground level. That description fits some jobs. It does not fit most of them.
What actually happens on site
A van that cannot get past a locked side gate, a roof reached by ladder rather than scaffold, a garden with three turns and a step between the material and the road. None of that shows up in an area measurement, and all of it adds hours before a single sheet has moved.
Area still matters, it is just not the whole answer
A bigger roof does cost more than a small one. It is one factor among several, not the multiplier a flat rate per metre implies, which is why two jobs the same size can land a long way apart on price.
Why we quote the job, not the metre
A flat rate either overcharges the easy jobs to cover the hard ones, or undercharges the hard ones and adds it back later. Pricing what we can actually see avoids both.
Six things decide a price. Square metres is one of them
This is the honest list. It will not give you a figure, because nobody honest can put a number on a job they have not seen.
- How much there is. A single garage roof is a different job from a roof, a water tank and a shed roof besides.
- Whether it is already down. Collection of stacked or bagged material costs less than taking something apart, see collection and disposal.
- Access. A van beside the job is cheaper than a job at the end of a garden through a locked gate, up a flight of stairs, or behind furniture that has to move first.
- Whether it is intact. Sheets already cracked or broken take longer and need more care, not less, than a sound one lifted down whole.
- Height. Anything above a single storey changes what we have to stand on and how long that takes to set up safely.
- Whether it is one material or several. A garage roof, a water tank and a shed are three separate sets of variables under one enquiry, not one job three times the size.
What should be in the number before you agree to it
- What we are removing and roughly how much of it, in plain terms rather than a material code.
- How we are reaching it and getting the waste back out to the road, since access is priced in, not assumed.
- The labour, the wrapping and bagging, loading, transport, and the consignment note that proves where it went.
- Anything we can see now that could change the price once we are on site, told to you before the day, not on it.
- What is not included. We take the asbestos away. If a roof, ceiling or floor needs replacing afterwards, that is a different trade and we will say so rather than take the job and hand the finishing to someone else behind your back.
Do not know yet what you actually have? A survey settles it before anyone prices anything.
The cheapest quote is often the one to ask more about
Worth knowing
What a rock-bottom price usually leaves out
We are not going to tell you we are the cheapest quote you will get, because we do not know what else you have been sent and we are not going to compete on that basis anyway. What we will say is that a number a long way below everything else usually means something has been left off it: proper wetting and wrapping rather than a quick strip, or a consignment note at the end that proves where the waste actually went.
Ask any firm you are quoted by, including us, to show a waste-carrier registration and confirm who insures the job. We do not have a number to publish for either of those yet. Ask us directly and you will get a straight answer rather than a dodge, and if a quote looks too good to be true against everything else you have had, the honest move is to ask what it does not include.
What people ask about the cost
Can I get asbestos removed for free?
We do not know of a free removal route, and removal is skilled work rather than a waste-collection service. If the material is already down and bagged rather than needing removal, Essex residents can request a subsidised council collection, see collection and disposal for what that actually covers. Subsidised means reduced, not free. Source: Love Essex, asbestos awareness and Love Essex, how to dispose of hazardous waste (the subsidised collection, every financial year), checked 13 Sep 2026.
Is it worth it to remove asbestos?
Not always, and HSE's own advice backs that up: if a material is in good condition and is not going to be disturbed, it is often best left alone rather than removed. What usually tips it into "worth it" is something else changing: you are renovating, the material is damaged, or you are selling and want it resolved rather than flagged by a buyer's survey.
Is it a legal requirement to have an asbestos report?
Not inside your own home as a private homeowner. The legal duty to hold a survey, register and management plan sits with "dutyholders" under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, and HSE is specific that it covers non-domestic premises and the shared parts of blocks of flats, not the inside of a single private house. If you are a landlord or run a commercial premises, that duty does apply to you. Source: HSE, the duty to manage asbestos in buildings, checked 13 Sep 2026.
Do you legally have to declare asbestos when selling a house?
That is a conveyancing question for your solicitor, not one we can answer for your sale. What we can give you is a clear written record of what was found and what was done with it, which is usually exactly what a buyer's solicitor or surveyor wants to see.
Is a tiny bit of asbestos ok?
There is no blanket yes or no we can give you, because what matters is the material's condition and whether it is being disturbed, not the amount as such. A small amount of damaged, friable material can matter more than a large area of sound cement sheet. If you are not sure, get it identified rather than judging it by eye or by size.
Does asbestos devalue a house?
We do not have a reliable published figure for this, and anyone quoting you one for your specific property is guessing. What tends to matter at sale is whether it has been identified, documented and, where relevant, dealt with by someone who can show their working, rather than left as an unknown for a buyer's surveyor to flag.
Read the page for the job you actually have
This page explains what moves a price in general. These go into the specific job.
Send a photo, get a real number
A photo and a postcode is enough for us to give you a figure for your job specifically, not an average. If you would rather talk it through first, call and you will get someone who has done this before.