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Mr Fluffy homes: how do we actually sell them?

Houses in Canberra must be clearly sold as a former Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos site.

Houses in Canberra must be clearly sold as a former Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos site.

The New South Wales Government is being urged to develop guidelines for real estate agents selling houses contaminated with Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos.

In the ACT real estate agents and property managers can be fined more than $1 million for non-disclosure or ill-informed comments, but a submission to the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Loose-fill Asbestos Insulation said there were currently no clear guidelines for NSW.

Mr Fluffy – the home-owner exodus begins

Mr Fluffy insulation was pumped into the roof spaces of about 1,000 homes in the 1960s and 1970s.

Despite a Commonwealth-funded clean-up program in the 1980s and 1990s, remnant asbestos fibres have been found in the wall cavities and sub-floors of some properties.

In January the Government will begin making payments for a buyback and demolition scheme for Mr Fluffy homes across Canberra.

But the concessional loan of $1 billion from the Commonwealth to help pay for the demolition of ACT Mr Fluffy homes will not extend across the border into NSW.

Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) president Malcolm Gunning said there were currently no clear guidelines for agents operating outside of the ACT.

“I think the New South Wales Government has been caught on the back foot,” he said.

“Our concern is that real estate agents generally are not equipped because they’re not building experts.

“We require some sort of guidelines, we can then train our members up.”

In a submission to the NSW parliamentary inquiry REINSW chief executive Tim McKibbin said agents did not know the proper procedures around discovering, disclosing and dealing with asbestos.

“REINSW is of the view that the Government is not discharging its obligations adequately in this area by remaining silent and failing to provide guidance on such a significant and important safety concern,” the submission said.

Safety concerns over damage to homes in fire, storm

There are at least 15 Queanbeyan properties that are contaminated with Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos – among them a block with 38 units.

Because there has never been a complete survey done, the real figure could be as high as 60 properties.

Queanbeyan Mayor Tim Overall has called for the NSW Government to develop an emergency management plan in the event a Mr Fluffy property was damaged by fire or storm.

“In the event of a freak storm event one of these properties loosing a roof, or part of a roof, we could see this asbestos material being blown all over the local district,” he said.

“It is simply a matter of time before one of the affected homes is involved in such an incident.”

Mr Overall said there were no guidelines to manage such an event and council did not have the expertise to deal with it.

“We do feel that the issue hasn’t been appropriately addressed over the decades and Queanbeyan has been again left out on a limb,” he said.

Mr Overall will give evidence at the public hearing for the NSW Parliamentary inquiry into Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos tomorrow.

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