Can you ask vendors not to leave stuff?

[Abi Cott]

I've been reading a thread about estate agents and the complications of 'fixtures and fittings' and its brought a question to mind.

In the listing of property f+f my kind future PO (soon to be ex-slum landlord) has seen fit to kindly leave me a fridge and a freezer. Neither of these appear to be in working order (even if they were I wouldn't want them). I didn't have this issue in my last property because as a ftb I was grateful for some of the items, and just took the rest to the tip, but given the issues with recycling refrigerated appliances is there a polite way I can suggest the current owner disposes of her own excrement?

 

[MikeG]

This is why you employ solicitors to do the conveyancing. Contact them.

As an aside, it is a little difficult to follow your post because of the various abbreviations. "f&f", "PO", "ftb". I have no idea what these things mean.

 

[DJH]

I'm with you on that Mike...I have no idea what these acronyms (?) mean. It took me a while to work out what Penners was on about with Fred Drift in an earlier post!!

In haste as I'm back on the tools...

Doug

 

[plasticpigeon]

I'm going to guess at fixtures and fittings, previous owner and first time buyer. We could start a game of guess the acronym!

 

[Flyfisher]

This is why you employ solicitors to do the conveyancing. Contact them.

There is a contractual condition of 'vacant possession', which is a standard requirement in property transactions though I don't know how this would apply in case of a formal dispute. Sometimes it's simpler and quicker to just take such things on the chin, annoying though they may be. But yes, it's a good question for your solicitor.

Might be worth checking with your local council about collection and disposal of such items. I've heard that some will collect things such as sofas but don''t know about fridges and freezers.

 

[JanJonWestWales]

whats a "future PO"....permanent occupancy??

 

[Abi Cott]

Sorry, it was late and I was 'tired' reading it back it is rather obtuse. PO is an abbreviation I see a lot on these pages, but I have no excuse for the others.

Thanks for the suggestions

 

[Mickey]

Good luck with this ours left an old washing machine, a sofa which was 7 foot long and stank to high heaven, assorted crap in sheds, filth and dirt everywhere including the oven which should have been condemned and bathroom carpets which stank of wee and to top it all off nicely a 10 foot fibre glass boat complete with hole in the bottom! I complained to the agent and my solicitor and the vendors kindly wrote back saying "you knew what state it was in when you bought it"!! What can you do? Small claims? I just shouted a lot and drank a bottle of wine whilst contemplating the cleaning job ahead. I don't know what you can do to ensure they take their stuff but as others have said presumably your solicitor does, what I do know though is that it cost me £30 to get the council to take the sofa away and the boat complete with hole is still round the side of the house!

Hopefully though since you are on the case before you complete you might be able to get this sewn up. Best of luck with the purchase and the subsequent renovations

Mickey

 

[mims&pip]

The previous owner - who we never met, he had already bought his onward purchase and moved out long before we viewed - of our current house which we purchased in 2014, contacted us via our respective conveyancing solicitors a few days before exchange to say he had discovered that the washing machine he had intended to leave had been found to be no longer working. He offered us £300 for a new one. We already had our own which we were not leaving at our then home, but had accepted we would end up with two. Therefore we accepted his offer which was paid in cash iirc.

Fortunately there is an old school 'rag and bone' type guy locally who collects unwanted goods - including appliances - free of charge if they are left out on the kerbside. We moved the offending item outside by way of a sturdy sack truck and had it taken away ASAP. Perhaps there is someone similar operating in your new location, Abi? Less fortunately there were also both a fridge-freezer (working) and a large safe (empty ) in the cellar. Almost two years on these are still in situ as we tried and failed to get the safe up the cellar steps.......

This is nothing though compared to a much larger property we purchased a few years back. The vendor - another slum landlord - had divided the Victorian villa into four flats and we were buying the whole building to convert back to our family home. Being young and naive - and I guess the fixtures and fittings form was different back in the late '90s - we took it on the chin on completion day when we discovered more than fifty pieces of shoddy furniture (not to mention other rather less savoury items!) had been left at the property. We didn't even approach our solicitor, but instead had great fun with sledgehammers chopping it all up and skipping the lot :shock:

Mims x

 

[DJH]

iirc mims? :?

 

[steveb]

iirc = if i recall correctly.

iirc

 

[DJH]

iitf...if I type fully....

Doug

 

[a twig]

YANA? (Yet Another Needless Acronym)

I originally wrote this and then realised I had misread your initial post so ignore this bit:

There should be a fixtures and fittings pack filled out as part of the seller's contract etc - where any furniture etc is listed, and it is stated whether or not it is included in the price, available for additional purchase, or will be taken away by the seller.

If fixtures and fittings have been left which are not mentioned on that, you should get your solicitor to inform the vendor that they have 7 days to remove the items themselves - failing that you will remove them yourself and send them the bill.

Regarding rubbish - usually there is something in the contract along the lines of: 'Please confirm that any rubbish and any items that are not included in the sale price will be removed from the property before completion'. Again, a 7 day notice and bill if not.

The above can always be pursued through the small claims court if required. Alternatively, just accept that you win some, you lose some, and move on

More helpfully:

In your case, if the appliances are listed on the "F&F" document as included, then unfortunately they are yours. You could negotiate with the vendor for him to remove them, however the vendor would most likely then want some compensation. In my experience the cheapest method would be to dispose of them yourself - most councils do a collection service these days.

 

[88v8]

In our first house, the vendor left a sideboard, which we still own, and a clock, ditto, plus a nice 1930s leather armchair which we had to sell when we moved here 35 years later.

In our previous house we inherited an ancient pair of boots, a decrepit long-case clock mechanism and various gas lights.

Here, nothing.

If ever we move, the freezer in the cellar will definitely be left behind. It was hard enough getting it down the narrow stairs, let alone back up!

Ivor

 

[malcolm]

I bought a boarded up pub a year after it closed. It was my job to clear the half empty beer glasses from the tables, face the decaying food bin, and the monster that had evolved under dirty dishes in the sink of muddy water. Everything was left and I have a nice piano and tables.

The price had fallen a huge amount since the place was first advertised. I wonder if the sellers might have benefited from one of these house doctors you see on the telly - those people trained to see the tiny details that put people off buying.

 

[Bogart]

Simple answer is yes.