Are curtain poles a fixture

[lucylockett27]

I am buying a house. A house that I know we are paying slightly over the odds for, but it is all done so we decided to go for it. Anyway the seller has said they want £1000 for curtain poles and light fittings! I have sold 2 house before and assumed these were fixtures, as in fixed to the house, so I left them and the 2 houses I have bought previously they were always left. AIBU to think the seller has to leave them?

Tell them you don't want them but if they remove them then you expect them to make good any damage.

Honestly, the chances are low they can be bothered to uninstall them properly - unless they were super expensive to start with.

Does anyone remember the thread where the OP had bought a house and on exchange day, arrived to find the previous owners had removed the bathroom suite!!
Did they ever get it sorted?

I think things that are fixed to the walls are fixtures and things that are not are fittings. So poles are fixtures but curtains are not.

"A useful analogy is to imagine that you pick up a house and turn it upside down," said Samantha Blackburn, head of property at law firm Slater & Gordon. "All the items that fall out can be taken – these are fittings – whereas everything else should stay put, unless agreed otherwise, as they are fixtures."

arrived to find the previous owners had removed the bathroom suite!!

what about a free standing bath which would fall if you turned the house upside down?

Even a free standing bath must be plumbed in somehow...

of course but i’m assuming if you turned the room upside down the plumbing wouldn’t hold the bath down?

Probably not - but then you might be being too literal. Afterall, if I turned a house upside down and shook it, in reality there wouldn't be much of anything left to sell

I'm sure Samantha thought she was being helpful. She obviously hadn't reckoned with mumsnet

The vendors removed those curtains, replaced them with cheap power rangers ready made in every room.

I am fascinated by this. Is this an autocorrect or did the vendors really leave children’s character curtains in every room?!

When we bought our first house the vendors tried to sell us the most hideous floral curtains and their white goods for some extortionate amount. We politely declined.

The day we moved in they'd left them anyway. The washer went straight to scrap, the curtains I used for many years as dust sheets for decorating and the cooker was actually lethal and live.

We're just in the process of selling that house to DS. Might nip up and steal his lightbulbs 😂

@BlueBilledBeatboxingBird - yes it really was power rangers - I suspect they’d gone to the local market and just bought loads of the cheapest naffest curtains they could find!

They can take them if they list that in the inventory. If they ask you for £1000 just say no thank you

Unless they are listed as include, then no. We once bought a house where they removed every curtain, every curtain pole, every light fitting, the TV aerial, dustbin and utility room tiles. Their removers tried to remove the cast-iron balustrade! We were left with holes everywhere and basic lightbulb holders or bare wires (no bulbs). Surprisingly, they left most of the carpets. From then on, we have always agreed on a list of fittings before finalizing a price for the house.

Our vendors did this. We called their bluff and said no, and they went ahead and took them all. They also took the carpets. Dickheads.

You could say - yes take them, but the property must be reinstated to the same finish as when viewed, with all marks made invisible ie not patched. If not, you will be reducing your offer to compensate for the cost of decorator to do so at an estimate of £2k

They aren't fixed though , lights are easy to change as are curtain poles .. some are very expensive .. I've just bought a small pair and pole which was £250 alone so if you like them then pay it , if not then don't .. be aware washing machines , fridges etc aren't usually Included either unless they are integrated with the kitchen .