House move. AIBU to leave an oven in situ?

[MovingFun]

Moving house soon. My buyer is very keen to move and get into the property, which is all good, if leaving me feeling rather hassled while I try and sort out 10 years of accumulated stuff in a tight time frame. Last bits and pieces being sorted out with solicitors.

Most recent 'query' is more of a demand that I agree to remove the freestanding oven from the property before leaving. On the fixtures and fittings I said I would be leaving it as I have a fitted oven in the new property. I intend to remove all other white goods. I'm not particularly keen on doing this. It's massively inconvenient - I have a family I need to cook for until we move. I have a vast amount of other things to do. I know the vendor is having works done on the kitchen almost as soon as they move it, that involve stripping it out and walls coming down, so they will have to clear everything else.

If I've stated I intend to leave it, do I have to remove it if they insist?

MovingFun - moving house is full of annoyances like that. I was in a chain and we all had to be out by 1230 - we arrived at our new house to find that they were still packing and they actually didn't leave until around 1500. We couldn't even start unpacking in one room as there was stuff in every room of the house. What annoyed me even more was it was a long journey to get there and we had two cats stuck in their carriers. After just over an hour they cleared the whole upstairs and one room downstairs so our removal men could start. And of course, we were paying them by the hour. At least we were able to shut the cats out of the carriers into one of the rooms with food and water.

Then we found they had left the large shed - but had filled it to the brim with scrap wood and all sorts of rubbish which we had to dispose of, including a gas cannister and there are strict laws on getting rid of those. We would be within our rights to sue them for the cost of the removal men waiting and having to dispose of their rubbish - but we didn't because the amount of money involved would not be worth the stress when we had enough to organise and the sellers had been very reasonable on problems we had at our end of the chain.

Be prepared for nasty surprises like what we had. Almost everyone I know had something like that.

Why not just take it with you? I know you don't need it at new house, but at least you could use it up until the move, take it with you, then scrap it. Will it not fit into any vehicle you have access to? We stuck and old fridge in the back of my car last week and took it down the the tip. Pulled back onto the driveway and there was the bloody scrap metal van doing the rounds!

Is it good condition? Would selling it be an option?

Your job to remove. They are declining that item and as it isn't fitted, you should arrange for its removal. It isn't a big job and won't cost much, but it is your oven.

If you say no and it turns out to be a deciding factor (bet it isn't really) you can always negotiate, ie, you will have it removed but you therefore want 500 quid or an extra day or something.

I'd just put it on FB the day before the move for free, must collect today, and someone will have it off you.

You would think most people /buyers would be grateful for a working oven

The day you move arrange for cooker man to disconnect oven and leave outside /put free on facebay etc

We have a local scrap man who would take it ASAP. Once we were literally heaving out a freezer from our home and man was driving past and literally squealed to a halt and asked if he could have it

Nope - we've moved quite a bit and have asked DH. It's clear they want it, they've probably arranged for builders and their kitchen has probably ordered etc already plus surveys. They have quite a bit to lose if they pull out. Just say no. You need it until the moving date as you are cooking for your family, it is in fixtures and fittings but if they desperately want it removed then you can arrange for this to be done on the day of moving out however they have to pay for this as it was not in your budget.

I bet they've haggled on your price as well. Just wait until they demand your curtains.

I always thought rule of thumb was a fixture is something which is more fixed to the house. And a connected gas hob is fairly fixed.

Fixtures are generally left unless it's been agreed otherwise.

So I think it's the buyers responsibility to it out. If it was a plug in electric oven it would be different.

Otherwise where would you draw the line? Buyer wants the bath, sinks, toilets, fitted wardrobes ripped out? Don't think so.

The last few posters are wrong. A freestanding oven does not count as a fixture and the buyer had the right to demand for anything that isn't a fixture to be removed.

The people I bought my house from, like I mentioned earlier, tried to get me to pay for some furniture because they didn't need it at their new place - same as op is doing here - and it was lots of bulky heavy furniture they had in their conservatory. I demanded through my solicitor that they removed it. They offered it for free - again, no thanks, remove it or break conditions of sale.

Sorry but if the buyer says they want you to remove it you have to remove it unless you both agree it's left.
This is a pile of bollocks.

The fittings and contents form is part of the Contract terms. If OP has stated in the form that the oven is included in the sale, freestanding or not, it's included in the sale. The Buyer can take a view on it and they have every right to ask for it to be removed but can't insist on it.

Stop posting legal advice, which is wrong, without qualification

Pinklady I'm not asking for any money for it. I think I felt a bit that a connected gas hob was on the border between fixture/fitting and something that can be removed. After all, things like loos, baths and cabinets can be removed but aren't. It's not nailed down, but it is connected to the house in a way something like a kettle or sofa isn't.

Alysa - even if we haven't exchanged yet? My solicitor seemed to think I had to acquiesce if they asked. I have agreed now, to be honest, as I decided life was too short to argue over an oven and on balance it seems that the obligation is mine, but I am interested in the legal position (because I'm sad like that).

Your position would be even stronger had you exchanged with the oven included on the form. Those are the contract terms. The Buyer would have no grounds to insist it was removed.

As you haven't exchanged, there is no obligation on you to remove it, but you can if you are feeling charitable. The house and what is included in it is yours to decide, not for the Buyer to dictate. Personally I'd stick to my guns and say it's staying. If they pull out over an oven I'd think it was an excuse and they hadn't been serious anyway. Some Buyers find stupid reasons to pull out to cover the fact they can't actually afford the property. Not saying that is the case here though!

For an easy life you could offer to remove it, provided completion date is moved backwards and provided exchange takes place without further negotiation as to contents.

The Buyer wants something from you in having the oven removed; use it to your advantage!

As you have agreed now and knowing you are brassic - could you ask around on local facebook/streetchat/freegle to see if any plumbers want it? On a 'collector to disconnect' basis. Might be worth a shot to save a few quid?

Thanks Alysa, that's really interesting. Though v different to the impression my solicitor gave.

Thanks Paradise I will try something like that I think.

I can see that a freestanding oven isn't a fitting, but a connected gas hob? I wouldn't be happy disconnecting something like that myself.

Nor would I be particularly confident about moving in somewhere where gas had been disconnected and I didn't know if it was done by someone qualified.

Good, because it is against the law. Get a quote for a gas safe engineer to disconnect and remove it the day before completion, put that on the f and f form.

Night before move you eat previous batch cooked stuff done in the microwave.

Your solicitor just wants a quiet life so it's to their advantage if you agree. I'd be cross about this, it's piss taking. Just tell them it will mean moving the date back and they will soon shut up.

I had similar when I sold a flat some years ago. I was going to leave some semi-built-in wardrobes and the day before exchange the buyer asked me to remove them. Like you OP, I didn't want to lose the sale because of it, so arranged to have them removed. It was a pain but people know when they've got you by the short and curlies in the house buying process.

The council will probably take it for £30. It's annoying, but pay it and keep your sale.

I don't know why Alysa is giving you advice that's so contrary to what your solicitor, my solicitor and every piece of advice I can find on it says. Are we maybe talking across different jurisdictions? OP, are you in England (I am)?

We were told that fixtures and fittings were an offer...we could put whatever we want as being left but unless they were material to the house if the buyers didn't want them we had to remove as they were ours. This came from all solicitors in each of our house moves...has something changed? Otherwise we could just write down whatever we wanted that we couldn't be arsed to move and that would be that. The OP hasn't exchanged, they are well within their rights to decline items from that list.

Alysa you are incorrect. As others have since mentioned.

I'll repeat - on the fixture and fittings form my sellers said that they were leaving conservatory furniture I had to pay for. I declined. They then sent another one saying the would leave for free. I contacted my solicitor who then said if I declined they had to remove it and advised me that if they did I would be within my rights to tell them to take it away.

If it's make or break for either of you then you're both as bad as each other so I don't feel it's fair to criticise the buyer as being petty. No one wants to go to extra effort to clear out stuff left by the previous occupant. You just want to move in to your house.