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Asbestos Removal in Manchester

Greater Manchester, North West

From surveys and testing to safe removal and disposal, we cover asbestos work all over Manchester.

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Asbestos disposal in Manchester: what the council says

We can get it taken down and taken away for you, with the waste paperwork done. Tell us what you've got and we'll send you a free quote.

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Only a little, already taken down? What Greater Manchester says

Greater Manchester

In Greater Manchester, Recycle for Greater Manchester takes cement-bonded asbestos only, and only at four waste transfer facilities: Arkwright Street (Oldham), Bredbury Parkway (Bredbury), Cobden Street (Salford) and Longley Lane (Sharston).

The full rule
  • Use the entrance for council and high-sided vehicles.
  • You must wear a hard hat, safety glasses, a high visibility jacket or vest, safety gloves and steel-capped safety boots or shoes, or you will not be able to dispose of your waste, and you must bring proof of address for the property the waste is from.
  • The asbestos must be double wrapped in heavy duty plastic or sealed in household rubble sacks.
  • Wigan runs its own service: Kirkless recycling centre, Saturday mornings only between 9am and 12 noon, by appointment on 01942 825755.
  • Wigan centres are for Wigan Borough residents only and staff will ask for your photo driving licence as proof of address; pedestrians cannot carry waste in, and vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and trailers over 4 metres are not allowed.
  • In Wigan, a van, campervan, minibus or pickup needs a free waste permit (valid for one visit within seven days, 12 permits per household in 12 months), the asbestos must be double wrapped in thick plastic and sealed with no holes or rips, and packages must fit the 1m x 1m container opening; more than 15 packages means a home visit from Wigan Council first.
  • Asbestos removed by someone you hired is business waste and is not accepted.
  • No charge is published.

Manchester's own pages add: Manchester City Council lists asbestos among the things its bulky waste service does not collect. For asbestos from your own home it tells you to contact your local waste and recycling centre, which means Recycle for Greater Manchester.

Cost: no charge published Council's own pageChecked Oct 2026

Council schemes are for small amounts that have already been taken down and wrapped. For anything more, or anything still in place, we arrange the whole job in Manchester: removal, collection and disposal. Get a free quote

Not your council? Check any UK council.

Asbestos Specialists Covering Manchester

Manchester is one of the biggest cities in the North West, and its buildings go back nearly two centuries. Victorian terraces, converted mills and warehouses, post-war estates and high-rise blocks are all found across the city. A large share of them were built before the asbestos ban. Any building put up or refurbished before 2000 can contain asbestos.

We arrange asbestos removal, surveys and testing across Manchester and Greater Manchester, through the specialist contractors we work with. That includes Salford, Stockport, Oldham, Trafford, Bury and Tameside. You might be opening up a period home, managing the shared parts of a block of flats or fitting out a business. The safe first move is the same. Asbestos can't be spotted by eye, so anything suspect needs a survey or a lab test before it's disturbed.

We cover the M postcode area across Manchester and the surrounding towns.

Manchester's buildings and asbestos

71.6% of properties in Manchester were built before 2000

That's 184,420 of 257,700. Asbestos wasn't fully banned until 1999. Only a survey or a test can tell you about one property: do you need an asbestos survey on a house?

More about the buildings around Manchester

In Manchester, flats and maisonettes are the largest group by some way: 42.2% of the 257,700 domestic properties on the Council Tax list, which is well above the national pattern. In flats and maisonettes the risk is often in the parts nobody owns individually: service risers, ducting, communal cupboards and ceiling voids, where insulating board and lagging were widely used. Inside a flat, textured coatings and floor tiles are the common ones. The next largest group is terraced houses at 31.5%, where party walls and shared roof spaces mean neighbouring work can disturb material next door. One and two bedroom homes make up 52.9% of the stock, so a lot of it is flats and small conversions. Around 71.6% of all property there predates the 1999 ban, and the largest group by age was built since 2000. Property built from 2000 onwards is after the ban, so it should be free of asbestos as built. Anything older on the same plot, and any part retained from an earlier building, is a different matter. By period, 14.4% were built before 1900, 20.3% between 1919 and 1939 and 28.1% since 2000. None of that tells you whether a particular property contains asbestos; only a survey or a laboratory test can.

How it works in Manchester

Tell us what you've got and your postcode, and we'll send a free quote with no obligation. If you go ahead, we book a specialist suited to the job, licensed where the work needs it. Get my free quote

Which asbestos service do you need in Manchester?

Pick a service to see what it involves. Not sure, or need more than one? Use the quote form and tell us what you have.

Asbestos Guides for Manchester

The largest group of homes in Manchester is flats and maisonettes, and more were built since 2000, after the ban, than in any earlier period. It is the older stock where asbestos turns up.

Asbestos in Manchester: Common Questions

Do you provide asbestos services in Manchester?
Yes. We arrange asbestos removal, surveys, testing, disposal, encapsulation and management across Manchester and the wider Greater Manchester area, for homeowners, landlords and businesses. The work is done by the specialist contractors we work with. Every job starts with a free quote, with no obligation. Any suspect material is checked by a professional survey or a test at an accredited lab.
Is asbestos likely in a Manchester property?
Around 71.6% of properties in Manchester (184,420 of 257,700) were built before 2000. Asbestos wasn't fully banned in the UK until 1999. So most local buildings date from a time when it was still in use. The largest single group was built since 2000, after the ban, but the older periods together make up that 71.6%. That doesn't mean any one property contains asbestos. Only a survey or a lab test can tell you that. Figures: Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties 2026, table CTSOP4.0 (31 March 2026).
Does my property contain asbestos?
If your property was built or refurbished before 2000, it may well contain asbestos. It wasn't fully banned in the UK until 1999. It often turns up in roof sheets, textured coatings like Artex, floor tiles, pipe lagging and insulation board. The only reliable way to know for sure is a professional survey.

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