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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Taking shelves when moving house

285 replies

legfaced · 15/07/2020 05:31

We are due to move in a few months. We have long and quite expensive scaffold board shelving in our kitchen - AIBU to take it with us when we move?

OP posts:

SoupDragon · 15/07/2020 08:57

Nevertheless, I thought it was clear that the OP meant "not part of the fitted kitchen" ie the cabinetry.

Fandanglethat · 15/07/2020 09:07

I'm picturing something like these?

If so, I think it's fine to take them. Very much like pictures attached to the walls.

BlackCrow · 15/07/2020 09:08

We pulled out of a house when it became clear that a vendor was going to disassemble part of the kitchen. It was a very quirky, home built kind of kitchen with lots of freestanding units. I loved it. But when the futures and fittings list arrived and it was clear that we'd be moving into something that would need time, money and work to source replacements, we felt cheated and pulled out.
Obviously this was more than a scaffoldboard shelf, but equally, it doesn't sounds as it it would be difficult for you to source another one, so why not leave it in situ and do just that?

BreatheAndFocus · 15/07/2020 09:10

I think they count as fixtures too, so you shouldn’t take them. But mainly, it’s such an annoying thing to find when the buyer moves in.

We bought a house with shelves in the kitchen, nicely fitted into a nook. Very useful. But on the day we moved in, we found the vendor had taken the shelves themselves but left the supports! So not only did we have no shelves, there were two ugly metal strips on the wall where the shelves had been! He’d also taken a tiny but useful shelf in the downstairs loo, and both toilet roll holders upstairs and downstairs. It’s just petty and thoughtless!

If your shelves are particularly expensive or have sentimental value, you could remove them but replace with a normal standard shelf.

When we sold our previous house, we had beautiful built-in shelving that would have been very useful in our new house, but which we left because it was built-in and that’s what you do.

Byllis · 15/07/2020 09:13

I'm with all the PPs who have said this is covered on the fixtures & fittings list, so hardly unheard of if you were to remove them. You could also advise your buyer ahead of time of your intentions so you can gauge their reaction. They might be planning to rip them out as soon as they move in!

I excluded a bathroom mirror on the form last time we sold. Not expensive at all, but I particularly liked it and we hadn't had it long. Buyer didn't bat an eyelid. They then dropped out and our new buyer immediately asked if we would leave it. I said no. They then became really difficult and messed us about over completion. EA said it was all because they were annoyed we wouldn't leave the mirror. Weird. So I guess beware the attitude (as seen in this thread) that you're somehow not playing by the rules!

Bluntness100 · 15/07/2020 09:15

There are lots of things in my kitchen that aren't "part of the kitchen"

What’s it part of then, the living room?

SoupDragon · 15/07/2020 09:15

This is exactly why there is a fixtures and fittings form.

SoupDragon · 15/07/2020 09:17

@Bluntness100

There are lots of things in my kitchen that aren't "part of the kitchen"

What’s it part of then, the living room?

Is my kitchen table "part of the kitchen"? Is my dog "part of the kitchen"? Is that cobweb I cant be arsed to get down "part of the kitchen"?

The box frame with my D.C. first shoes in? The bag of shopping bags?

No they aren't. Unless you are really really thick.

Fandanglethat · 15/07/2020 09:21

@Bluntness100

There are lots of things in my kitchen that aren't "part of the kitchen"

What’s it part of then, the living room?

What a ridiculous statement.

My pots and pans, microwave and freestanding fridge would not be considered "part of the kitchen" for sale purposes. Neither would our dining table, free standing washing machine and dishwasher, the google home, the high chairs, the clock attached to the wall.

Lots and lots of things that are in the kitchen are not 'part of the kitchen' for sale purposes.

Bluntness100 · 15/07/2020 09:22

EA said it was all because they were annoyed we wouldn't leave the mirror

But conversely you were willing to piss them off and argue just to keep the mirror. So it was equally important to both of you.

Ultimately anyone can take what they want, but they need to notify the buyer if it would commonly be seen as part of the fix and fittings. Most people would see shelving as part of the fix and fittings

The other way to do it, which is better, is to remove these things before you have any viewings. And where required, Ie light fittings, curtain poles etc, repLace with something cheap, thus totally avoiding the conversation and not misleading buyers in any way

Darkestseasonofall · 15/07/2020 09:23

Come off it, scaffolding planks are cheap as chips. It'll cost you to make good the area after removal. YABU

ReceptacleForTheRespectable · 15/07/2020 09:27

If something is nailed/screwed to the wall, that is a permanent fixing - the default is that it stays unless you make clear to the buyers that you're taking it.

Pictures / mirrors etc. are not nailed or screwed to the wall. Shelves are.

billy1966 · 15/07/2020 09:29

A friends son and girlfriend were first time buyers and near the final transfer of funds, final contracts etc.

Her husband suggested a final look around after the owners had moved out, early the morning of the fund transfer.

The people had vacated the house, and they tried to brush the son off via their solicitor.

Husband got a bad feeling told his son to say they were insisting and would delay things.

Turns out they had removed loads of fittings in the house and replaced with cheap and nasty substitutes.

They had dug up lots of plants from the garden too.

As it happens the son and girlfriend were going off on holiday, so the whole sale was delayed weeks until they came home and everything had been fully reinstated and made better.

They were furious and outraged as they claimed they had every right to do it.🙄

Their solicitor was very pissed off as he knew the other solicitor and felt he also looked bad...

They were an older couple who thought they could screw a young couple.

Friends husband went through the house with a fine comb and it really bit the other couple.

Horrible thing to do.

TiddleyWinks123 · 15/07/2020 09:29

As long as you specify in fixtures and fittings that they're not included, I think that's fine - we've got them in our house and would take them with us

Bluntness100 · 15/07/2020 09:30

Actually I just googled it, scaffolding boards are dirt cheap, so not sure what this is about really or why anyone would take them.

80sMum · 15/07/2020 09:30

You can take anything you like, providing what's included in the sale and what's excluded from the sale is clearly specified in the inventory prior to the contract being drawn up. You could dismantle the fitted kitchen and take the whole thing with you if you wanted to, just so long as the buyers know what they're buying and what you're taking.

Byllis · 15/07/2020 09:31

@Bluntness100 It didn't really occur to me that someone would get pissed off about a bathroom mirror tbh! There was no 'argument' about it. I advised them what I was doing in the correct place, they asked me via their solicitor if I'd leave it and I said no. It was only after the EA mentioned their annoyance that I realised.

I suppose I could have offered to let them have it at a price in the same way I ended up paying £250 for two pairs of knackered old curtains when we bought the same house! I certainly didn't get too upset about that - vendor got to choose what they kept, what they left and if they wanted to offer us the chance to buy anything.

ThanksItHasPockets · 15/07/2020 09:32

'Expensive scaffolding board' is a bit of an oxymoron.

InkieNecro · 15/07/2020 09:34

It's fine, I've never moved into a house where they haven't taken the shelves. It's not like you're taking a cupboard or a sink.

Ohtherewearethen · 15/07/2020 09:35

Maybe the shelves are made from scaffolding boards but have been upcycled which costs time and resources. Our kitchen table is made from scaffolding boards but it's not like we just balance the planks over the dog when we want to eat from it.

zingally · 15/07/2020 09:35

Unless they are specifically mentioned as "not included" on the sale documents, then they would count as a fixture and fitting, and you should definitely leave them.

I assume they were in place during the valuation of the property, and you did not tell the estate agent they were NOT to be included in the price?

NotShiny · 15/07/2020 09:36

I think it's fine to take plants out of the garden if you've nurtured them. New owners usually RIP out plants and redo gardens anyway. Noone buys a house based on a rose Bush in the garden. Equally a set of shelves? Who is going to care, or even notice.

CrayonedWalls · 15/07/2020 09:37

@Cadent your post really tickled me! Hadn’t thought of the lightbulbs...you’re giving me ideas now!

Ellisandra · 15/07/2020 09:38

Scaffolding boards are cheap to buy.
Scaffolding boards sold to hipsters are expensive.

Did you move into someone else’s house, OP? You don’t sound like you’ve been through the F&F process before.

sbhydrogen · 15/07/2020 09:42

Sounds like the scaffolding board was purchased from notonthehighstreet. They're so cheap!

OP, just stick it on your fixtures and fittings form, or buy more boards from a timber yard.

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