To be miffed about my filthy house

We moved last week and like you also got the keys around 5pm!
It was an absolute god send that the house was clean enough for us just to unpack especially as I had spent a significant amount of time and energy making sure my old house was spotless for our buyer!!
We were very lucky by the sounds of things, I would have been a broken woman if we got here after 5pm and it was bloody filthy.
I think every house should be cleaned to a professional standard ready for the new owners, perhaps it needs writing into the contract that a professional cleaning company must be used before completion (they could exclude renovation projects like barns that are un-livable) and it would just become part of the cost of moving.

I bought a filthy house, I'd not have been able to afford it had it been in great condition. My first priority was to decorate one room and put new flooring down so the toddler kids had a room to play in/eat in etc whilst I did the rest of the house up. next was the kitchen then the bathroom and so on.
To be frank, you would have seen the condition of the house when you looked around. You know that rooms are alwasy MORE filthy when furniture is removed as muck collects under and behind stuff so should have factored that in.
Personally I always clean a house after moving my stuff out but an old lady.... no I'd not expect them to.

Saw a video the other day where someone bought a house that was so soken in cat piss they basically had do demolish half of it, as it was rotten through. You do wonder how it was possible to live there - sometimes my pets have accidents, I can smell one tiny patch from 2 floors away.

They're being ripped out because the whole house is caked in dirt and grime.
I stand corrected though,

Oh sorry.
It's just OP said the whole place was caked in grime and each room needs a deep clean (floor and walls scrubbed). I couldn't imagine living there with a 5 month old baby (though a babe in arms is preferable to a crawling one I suppose).

I admit I have never been in OP's position.

I mean, presumably you looked at the house before you bought it 🤷🏻‍♀️

When we moved into this house it was left utterly filthy, but had been empty for ages so were prepared for that.

What did chap my arse though was the loft full of wasps nests the vendor had agreed to have removed prior to us moving in, was still there.. solicitor had provided us with paper 'proof' it had been dealt with, which was obviously some forged document.

We ended up getting a local pest controller in and dealing with the problem ourselves as by this point we had , had enough of the vendor and his dodgy dealings ( gas leak hidden by turning off the gas supply before we moved in.. we had young kids and the whole place could have gone boom).

Guy was a wanker, but we wanted the house and got it at a reasonable price.

Why?

Oh for gods sake, this smacks of privilege, how many houses up and down the land do you think either dont have curtains or carpets or who dont at various times due to renovations, all while young children are living there.

When we moved in, we ripped up all the carpets and just threw down cheap rugs and we put a bed sheet up at the windows temporarily as there were no curtains.

So precious!!!

If you're having to rip out carpets and remove curtains surely you can't live in it, not with small children.

FYI BHF quite picky they rejected our old sofa !

I’d go for the living room first, as it’s likely to be the barest- strip the carpet and wash it down.

The babies can sleep in it too, as can you if you have big enough sofas!

Look for carpet offcuts- people will often give them away- and make a patchwork temporary covering for the floor while you get started on sorting things out. That way you’ll have a fresh clean room to hang out in while you sort the rest.

We moved into a flat that stank of dog a few years ago and honestly the smell probably took a couple of months to get rid of, it did eventually go though. I wouldn't be letting the estate agent just ignore the email if I was in your position! Her / her sons need to be getting rid of her stuff.

The standard wording in sales contract is the house is to be left 'free of possessions and swept clean'. Unfortunately you can't just throw her possessions out. You need to write to her (through her solicitor) what she has left and that you are storing these items at X cost (ask a storage company how much they would charge) and you expect items to be removed by Y date or else you will dispose of them. And hopefully you took photos of the state of the house and that it was uninhabitable so you had to stay in a hotel.
Best case her lawyer convinces her to get someone to remove the junk.
But let's assume date has passed, she did not collect her stuff, you've hired a skip and chucked her items. Then add up all your costs (hotel stay, storage and removal) and ask yourself is it worth the cost and effort pursuing the costs. Generally if under £500 it isn't.
As for cleaning - there's no legal requirement, 'swept clean' is a wooly phrase so unlikely you would recover costs there but if you do decide to pursue costs I'd add that in too.
I've moved in to a couple dirty places, one one couple removed all the light fixtures (you are required to leave a light source, even if that's just a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling). But fortunately no junk. It made my skin crawl but had to deal with it.
Now I try and get a place cleaned before I move in, even if it looks ok.

Don’t book a skip. The vendor needs to arrange for it to me moved. Speak to your solicitor

Like people have said there’s probably nothing you can do about the filth but you shouldn’t have to pay to get rid of her furniture and clothes. Contact the solicitor and they will advise you and claim the money back from the seller.

Kick up a fuss only works if it is legal to demand this

Do people just go through life thinking never mind what the law says just kick up a fuss that will make it all go away?

Film it and send it to your solicitors office.
Of course the house has not been left as agreed?
Full of shit to be removed and filthy.
Tell your solicitors you will make a complaint about them if they do not sort this out on your behalf.
This is a huge extra expense for you.
You were told the house would be cleared and cleaned.
Kick up a fuss.

Yep, one room at a time. You’ll feel such a sense of achievement.

Get the furniture out into the front of the house and it will miraculously disappear within a few hours, that will reduce your need for a skip.

Alternatively call British Heart Foundation or Scope and see if they want them for their furniture charity shops.

Then just start with a bucket of hot soapy water and start scrubbing a room, pick one that will give you a communal space to enjoy when it's clean so kitchen or living room. It will clean up quicker than you think. Sometimes looking at the problem makes it get bigger, just attack it.

Did you specifically communicate through agent and solicitor prior to completion that you expected the house to be empty? The previous owner sounds like a hoarder so it would be reasonable to make specific comments about this. Contact solicitor again and request reply today, even if you need to do this by phone conversation. I don't know what the law is on disposing of her belongings yourself.

I have had exactly this, except not able to move in for a full week due to even worse issues (and also the pipes under the sink were hanging off).
I had to fork out for a full day deep clean, rubbish clearance, emergency plumber etc.

Solidarity.