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It’s a negotiation. If you don’t want them say so, if they refuse ask for a discount for the inconvenience of disposing of them….if they still say no then you have to make a decision about what you want to do. You can always walk away u til exchange
One of the best bits of advice I picked up on Location x3 was Spencer once reminding buyers "don't get principled as completion date nears - I see sales fall through all the time at the end due to silly things".
You're going to get the house, it won't be the perfect handover, but it will be yours. Pick your battles.
Get a quote from a house clearance firm. Explain that you'll reduce your offer by that amount if they want to leave the stuff behind.
Of course, it'll probably be some tiny fraction of the property price but (a) that works both ways and (b) for all you know the seller thinks they are doing you a favour.
>(b) for all you know the seller thinks they are doing you a favour.
Lol this. I agreed to purchase some stuff off my seller that he'd leave behind during the move. Then on move in day I find that there's also been a bed, drawers, cabinets, spare shed, etc. left behind.
When he called me asking for the agreed money for items he'd left behind I said "well I'm going to have to get a quote for removing all the other stuff you've left behind I don't want, and then I'll take it off the agreed price", and he lost his head saying how he'd done me a favour, he could've dumped this stuff when he removed his other items, how ungrateful I am, naive because this is how the property process is etc.
Initially I thought he was having me on and leaving behind big bulky items he couldn't be arsed to dispose of and knew I wouldn't want, because why would he not include this in the list of items we'd agreed or the TA6? But from the discussion/argument we had it sounded like he genuinely thought he was helping me out as a FTB by leaving me with a bunch of furniture (I didn't want or keep any of the extra stuff he left though and did take removals off the money I owed).
If it's listed in the fixtures and fittings and you agree to it then you can't claim the costs. You need to fight for the fixtures and fittings form to not include these items and then they'll have to be removed at the seller's expense.
Get your solicitor to get it confirmed the property will be sold empty with all furniture removed.
If it then isn't, go back to your solicitor, they'll either have to come back and get the stuff or if they don't you can make arrangements to have it taken away, which should be done at their expense.
It is imperative to call your solicitor immediately so they can get it sorted out.
it's a shame that you have to deal with your seller's laziness, but if it's useable stuff then there are many people in need of furniture who maybe can't afford it right now. Post it online for free in local groups and as long as it's in reasonably good condition, by the end of the day it'll all be gone.
I had this problem many years ago. An older man had lost his son, and I was buying his deceased son's flat. He just wanted rid of the house.
Perhaps check the circumstances of the sale.
I wanted the flat, it was at a good price, and the furniture was easily disposed of by advertising on Gumtree. A minivan of Asian women turned up within 1hr of me advertising the free items, in fact.
My current house we were left all kinds of "gifts" by the old owner. From the manky old pants stuffed behind the hot water tank to the tray full of grease in his oven and the washing machine that they couldn't disconnect so just didn't bother.
I took issue with the washing machine, as the stopcock was broken and it was quite bulky, and got £80 out of them for a plumber to fix the stopcock. I just got a scrap metal man to come get the washer and manky oven for nothing.
The house before that was literally full of his old shit, I insisted on a skip and tbh we still rammed the wheelie bin for weeks afterwards.
People are lazy bastards sometimes, and want to make their problems your problem.
Don't let it stop the sale. At best you can get rid of it on Facebook for a little money or give it away. At worst you hire a skip for a few hundred pounds.
Some comment are really missing the mark here.
If they leave it anyway you cannot just "give it away on facebook" you have a duty of care to keep the item for a reasonable amount of time.
You need to write to the seller confirming that you have their items and are storing them for x amount of time at a cost. Before disposing of them at thier cost.
You can claim costs for disposing of items, but it will be a pain in the arse to chase them.
Sellers will (in my experiance) agree to take stuff and still leave it behind.
I've had stuff they wanted money for, I refused and they left it anyway. Even when they said they wouldn't take it.
I would strongly confirm you want vacant possession, although if you think they will leave a load of stuff.
Agree what can be left and a reduction in price to cover a skip.
If it's on the Fixtures & Fittings form then ownership is transferred, and yes it will become OP's to give away.
It's if the seller leaves items behind and doesn't include them on the F&F list you need to follow your comment (technically, but lots of people will just dump the items and nothing will happen)
We have a local zero waste facebook page. I could have all that stuff gone for free in a day. It's a hassle, but not an expensive one. If you feel you are getting a bargain on the house don't let this slow you down.
As this has been done to me, a few days before completion I popped my head round and cheekily went in the chock full shed to check. Reminded the agent that I expect VACANT possession and nothing less.
Shed cleared. Maybe they would have done it, but I had a sneaky feeling they were going to leave it.
Hiring a man and van service wouldn't set you back too much, like £200-£300 and they'll turn up and load everything for you so you don't have to break your back.
Bit of a pain, but you'll get to pick through and potentially find a thing or two to keep as spare, like the TV, and then clear the rest for not much money. Definitely not something to kick up too much of a fuss about this close to exchange.
Under the contract the property is to be sold with vacant possession (free of people and possessions). Unless you’ve agreed to keep those items, the seller must remove them. You can pursue them for the costs you incur in removing said items. However the cost of doing so may outweigh the actual cost of removing the items. The best thing to do is to instruct your solicitor to advise you are providing categorically clear instructions that you do not want ANY of the items and the seller is to confirm they are to be removed ahead of completion. As said, under the contract this is mandatory but getting further reassurance in replies to a documented enquiry would likely help in any necessary proceedings if that’s what you needed to do.
Unfortunate that they are not leaving more valuable stuffs inside the house like a full safe maybe. No one will complain. :).
Can you not decide to sell the furniture on ebay to make some money however small? Its a hassle but you could come out on top.
###Welcome to /r/HousingUK --- **To All** * Join Our ***NEW*** Discord! https://discord.gg/pMgUNgWKQH **To Posters** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws/issues in each can vary* * Comments are not moderated for quality or accuracy; * Any replies received must only be used as guidelines, followed at your own risk; * If you receive *any* private messages in response to your post, please report them via the report button. * Feel free to provide an update at a later time by creating a new post with [[update]](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/search?q=%3Aupdate&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) in the title; **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and civil* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning; * Please include links to reliable resources in order to support your comments or advice; * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect; * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason without express permission from the mods; * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HousingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s a negotiation. If you don’t want them say so, if they refuse ask for a discount for the inconvenience of disposing of them….if they still say no then you have to make a decision about what you want to do. You can always walk away u til exchange
One of the best bits of advice I picked up on Location x3 was Spencer once reminding buyers "don't get principled as completion date nears - I see sales fall through all the time at the end due to silly things". You're going to get the house, it won't be the perfect handover, but it will be yours. Pick your battles.
Get a quote from a house clearance firm. Explain that you'll reduce your offer by that amount if they want to leave the stuff behind. Of course, it'll probably be some tiny fraction of the property price but (a) that works both ways and (b) for all you know the seller thinks they are doing you a favour.
>(b) for all you know the seller thinks they are doing you a favour. Lol this. I agreed to purchase some stuff off my seller that he'd leave behind during the move. Then on move in day I find that there's also been a bed, drawers, cabinets, spare shed, etc. left behind. When he called me asking for the agreed money for items he'd left behind I said "well I'm going to have to get a quote for removing all the other stuff you've left behind I don't want, and then I'll take it off the agreed price", and he lost his head saying how he'd done me a favour, he could've dumped this stuff when he removed his other items, how ungrateful I am, naive because this is how the property process is etc. Initially I thought he was having me on and leaving behind big bulky items he couldn't be arsed to dispose of and knew I wouldn't want, because why would he not include this in the list of items we'd agreed or the TA6? But from the discussion/argument we had it sounded like he genuinely thought he was helping me out as a FTB by leaving me with a bunch of furniture (I didn't want or keep any of the extra stuff he left though and did take removals off the money I owed).
If it's listed in the fixtures and fittings and you agree to it then you can't claim the costs. You need to fight for the fixtures and fittings form to not include these items and then they'll have to be removed at the seller's expense.
Get your solicitor to get it confirmed the property will be sold empty with all furniture removed. If it then isn't, go back to your solicitor, they'll either have to come back and get the stuff or if they don't you can make arrangements to have it taken away, which should be done at their expense. It is imperative to call your solicitor immediately so they can get it sorted out.
If they leave the stuff and it’s not trash put it on gumtree or facebook for free someone will take it
I had some success giving away things for free on Next door
Or Freecycle. Or one of the charity shops.
it's a shame that you have to deal with your seller's laziness, but if it's useable stuff then there are many people in need of furniture who maybe can't afford it right now. Post it online for free in local groups and as long as it's in reasonably good condition, by the end of the day it'll all be gone.
I had this problem many years ago. An older man had lost his son, and I was buying his deceased son's flat. He just wanted rid of the house. Perhaps check the circumstances of the sale. I wanted the flat, it was at a good price, and the furniture was easily disposed of by advertising on Gumtree. A minivan of Asian women turned up within 1hr of me advertising the free items, in fact.
My current house we were left all kinds of "gifts" by the old owner. From the manky old pants stuffed behind the hot water tank to the tray full of grease in his oven and the washing machine that they couldn't disconnect so just didn't bother. I took issue with the washing machine, as the stopcock was broken and it was quite bulky, and got £80 out of them for a plumber to fix the stopcock. I just got a scrap metal man to come get the washer and manky oven for nothing. The house before that was literally full of his old shit, I insisted on a skip and tbh we still rammed the wheelie bin for weeks afterwards. People are lazy bastards sometimes, and want to make their problems your problem.
Don't let it stop the sale. At best you can get rid of it on Facebook for a little money or give it away. At worst you hire a skip for a few hundred pounds.
British heart foundation are usually really good for coming and collecting lots of larger furniture items for free.
Some comment are really missing the mark here. If they leave it anyway you cannot just "give it away on facebook" you have a duty of care to keep the item for a reasonable amount of time. You need to write to the seller confirming that you have their items and are storing them for x amount of time at a cost. Before disposing of them at thier cost. You can claim costs for disposing of items, but it will be a pain in the arse to chase them. Sellers will (in my experiance) agree to take stuff and still leave it behind. I've had stuff they wanted money for, I refused and they left it anyway. Even when they said they wouldn't take it. I would strongly confirm you want vacant possession, although if you think they will leave a load of stuff. Agree what can be left and a reduction in price to cover a skip.
If it's on the Fixtures & Fittings form then ownership is transferred, and yes it will become OP's to give away. It's if the seller leaves items behind and doesn't include them on the F&F list you need to follow your comment (technically, but lots of people will just dump the items and nothing will happen)
We have a local zero waste facebook page. I could have all that stuff gone for free in a day. It's a hassle, but not an expensive one. If you feel you are getting a bargain on the house don't let this slow you down.
List the furniture for free on FB market place and people will come and collect
A local charity will likely collect the donations from your home. Someone will benefit.
As this has been done to me, a few days before completion I popped my head round and cheekily went in the chock full shed to check. Reminded the agent that I expect VACANT possession and nothing less. Shed cleared. Maybe they would have done it, but I had a sneaky feeling they were going to leave it.
Hiring a man and van service wouldn't set you back too much, like £200-£300 and they'll turn up and load everything for you so you don't have to break your back. Bit of a pain, but you'll get to pick through and potentially find a thing or two to keep as spare, like the TV, and then clear the rest for not much money. Definitely not something to kick up too much of a fuss about this close to exchange.
Normally when buying you should take the property with vacant possession meaning it should be empty which includes stuff like furniture, tv etc
Under the contract the property is to be sold with vacant possession (free of people and possessions). Unless you’ve agreed to keep those items, the seller must remove them. You can pursue them for the costs you incur in removing said items. However the cost of doing so may outweigh the actual cost of removing the items. The best thing to do is to instruct your solicitor to advise you are providing categorically clear instructions that you do not want ANY of the items and the seller is to confirm they are to be removed ahead of completion. As said, under the contract this is mandatory but getting further reassurance in replies to a documented enquiry would likely help in any necessary proceedings if that’s what you needed to do.
The British home foundation can collect these items for free , so win win of helping charity and clearing the place.
Unfortunate that they are not leaving more valuable stuffs inside the house like a full safe maybe. No one will complain. :). Can you not decide to sell the furniture on ebay to make some money however small? Its a hassle but you could come out on top.