Found asbestos in a Bournemouth home? Start here

Bournemouth grew as a Victorian seaside resort. A lot of its big villas were later split into flats, and that housing is where asbestos turns up most, because the conversions and refits of the last century used it heavily. The terraces and converted houses around Springbourne, Boscombe and Winton tend to hold the lower risk materials, textured coatings and old floor tiles. The post war blocks and estates are where the higher risk materials appear, because insulating board and pipe lagging were standard when they were built. What decides whether you legally need a licensed firm is the material itself, not the age of the house.

Every HSE licensed asbestos contractor covering Dorset

There are two firms holding a licence with a Dorset address. The trade association directory that most people find first only lists the ones that pay for membership, so it comes out shorter. This is the full licensed set, straight from the register.

Every firm on this list holds a standard licence, which is the type that covers removal work.

Two things about the Dorset list worth knowing

• Neither of them is in Bournemouth itself. One is next door in Poole and the other is at Blandford, both a short run into the town. The address in the table is where the office is, not how far the firm will travel.
• Only two firms hold a Dorset address. That is a short list, so expect to wait, and expect firms from Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset to quote for Bournemouth work too. So it is worth looking beyond Dorset here more than in most places.

Getting rid of asbestos in Bournemouth

BCP Council does take bonded asbestos at its recycling centres, within limits. It has to be the bonded type, double wrapped in tough plastic and completely sealed. You get a free allowance of either two 50 litre sacks or one large item up to 200cm by 75cm. Beyond that, the council charges £10.50 a bag or £21 a sheet. Anything a contractor has already removed cannot go through the household route, because it counts as business waste.

The South West and the mesothelioma figures

Bournemouth had no heavy industry, but the building trades that converted and maintained its villas and hotels used asbestos for decades, and they carry the risk today. Mesothelioma can take decades to show, so a rate measured today reflects work done in the 1960s and 70s.

The South West records 57.6 asbestos related mesothelioma deaths per million men, above the Great Britain figure of 55.9. Figures from the HSE’s mesothelioma statistics for Great Britain.

What asbestos removal in Bournemouth is likely to cost

Bournemouth sits in the higher labour band of the South West, so expect prices above the Midlands and the North. Where the town adds its own cost is access. The converted flats, the seafront blocks, and parking near the centre all add time, and time is what you are paying for. For the wider picture, see what asbestos removal costs across the UK, and where the published price guides disagree.

Asbestos removal in Bournemouth: questions people ask

Will the council remove asbestos from my house?

No. BCP Council does not remove asbestos for homeowners. It does take bonded asbestos at its recycling centres within a free allowance, which is covered above.

Can I take asbestos to the tip in Bournemouth?

Yes, bonded asbestos only, double wrapped and sealed. Two 50 litre sacks or one large item are within the free allowance, then it is £10.50 a bag or £21 a sheet. A contractor’s waste cannot go this way.

Do I always need a licensed contractor?

Not for every material. The law treats some lower risk asbestos cement as non-licensed work, while insulating board, pipe lagging and sprayed coatings must go to a firm holding a standard licence. The safe move is to have the material identified by a lab first, so you know which rules apply before anyone touches it. See our guide to what an asbestos survey costs.

How many licensed contractors are near me?

2 hold a current licence with a Dorset address, in Poole and Blandford. Firms based in Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset also work across Bournemouth, so your real choice is wider than the table.

Getting a quote from a Bournemouth contractor

The firms above quote for this work routinely, and so do firms in the neighbouring counties. To widen the field, see the licensed contractors covering Southampton and Hampshire and Exeter and Devon.

Not in Bournemouth? See every area we cover.