Does everything need to work when I sell?

[MrsFogi]

We're selling the house (have an offer but not exchanged yet) - two rings on my hob have just stopped working. Does anyone know if I have to disclose this to the buyer and/or replace before they exchange or buy? Also, there are lots of little things that are on my diy to do list around the house like changing the odd light bulb etc - do I need to have everything sorted for the buyers or is it just a matter of them getting the house in the state of repair they saw it in?

[Wingedharpy]

I've no idea what the legal position is but morally, if I looked around a house and saw a cooker in the kitchen which was included in the house sale price, I would expect it to be functioning.
I wouldn't worry too much if I turned up on moving in day and found a couple of dud light bulbs (some tight b***ds take the light bulbs with them) but I'd be well brassed off if I only had 1/2 the capacity of cooking burners that I'd anticipated.
Before you replace though, I'd consult with your buyer as they may not want to keep your cooker anyway and, given that you have the offer but not yet exchanged, your buyer may withdraw their offer any time so you could end up with 2 dud rings for months.

[lalalonglegs]

Light bulbs aren't an issue (but I'd say it looks pretty cheap to leave more than one spent bulb) but the hob will be a problem as the buyer has offered on the assumption that it is fully working. So either get if fixed now or fess up.

[Saltycopporn]

Take the burners out as if you are about to wash them up.. In the centre of the recess that the burners sit in you will see the injectors. Each has a pin sized hole at the centre that may be blocked with burnt food or fluff. Use a pin or similar to clean them out and hopefully you'll have nothing to confess!

[PigletJohn]

is it an electric hob or gas? is it a hob or a cooker?

[MrsFogi]

PigletJohn it is an induction hob and two rings on one side have just stopped working. The other two are fine.

[LIZS]

Have you completed a fixtures and fittings list yet ? That normally asks questions about condition/working order and last service. Once you have submitted it it forms part of the contract so you should inform of changes.

[PigletJohn]

ah, I don't know about induction. On most electric cookers it would probably be the control under the knob.

I agree about mentioning it on the F&F questionaire "included but two faulty rings"

What does a hob cost? £250? not worth a fuss either way. Maybe the new owner prefers gas.

[Devora]

I can't respond to this without a bit of red mist coming up. When i bought my house, the oven and dishwasher were explicitly included within the sale price. We were pretty excited at getting our first ever dishwasher.

When we moved in we discovered that neither were working. At all. Worse, the dishwasher had been installed BEFORE kitchen pipes had been laid. Around the bottom of it. So replacing the dishwasher (which we still haven't done) is actually a big, expensive job as the pipework will need rerouting.

If the vendor had told us the oven and dishwasher were bust, it wouldn't realistically have made much if any difference to the agreed sale price. But it would have meant we could have arranged to have new ones put in at the start. (Actually, it would have meant we would have made him take the old ones away, which is presumably why he kept mum.) Moving house is always very stressful and we could have really done without this. Please don't do it to your buyer.

[mycatlikestwiglets]

I agree with Devora - imagine moving into your new house and discovering your hob doesn't work. Regardless of the legal position, your buyers will be expecting a fully functioning hob so imo it's unfair not at least to tell them beforehand.

I have experience of this - my oven broke down a week before we were due to complete on my sale. It was part of the fitted kitchen so I got an engineer out to have it fixed because I didn't want to leave the buyer without an oven or to make him think we were sneaky buggers. Unfortunately the people I bought from didn't feel the need to tell me that the extractor fan in my new kitchen was broken. When we raised it after completion they claimed they'd mentioned it on the fixtures and fittings list (they didn't), but ultimately I couldn't be bothered to pursue them as it wasn't worth the cost of doing so. I was fuming though that people think it's an acceptable way to behave.

[Coconutfeet]

I agree with everyone else. I would definitely mention it. They may not be bothered but I imagine they would want to know.

We moved recently and however organised you are, it's a pretty horrible experience. I couldn't wait to get unpacked and have a normal home cooked meal. I think if we'd arrived and the hob wasn't working it would have sent me over the edge.

I would also change the lightbulbs. When I bought my first flat they'd gone round and removed all the lightbulbs. It was just one more thing to deal with when I was already really busy which doesn't exactly endear you to the sellers. It may make the difference as to whether they forward any stray mail or not.

[Spirael]

I guess it also depends on how you feel towards your buyers.

If they've been lovely, understanding, agreed to a fair price and stuck to it then I'd be inclined to stay on their good side and either mention it or get it fixed.

On the other hand if, like our buyers, they've been gazundering bastards then I'd just leave it broken and stay quiet!