To think fitted wardrobes come with the house...

[NeverMovingAgain]

We've taken bloody months and months to get to this stage and we're finally on the home stretch towards completion and exchange so it's entirely possible I've lost sight of what is and is reasonable but am I wrong to think fitted wardrobes should come with the house?

We've finally received a fixtures and fittings form today along with the paperwork we need to sign before we can complete and exchange and it says the fitted wardrobes are excluded from the sale.

Am I losing the plot to think they would surely be coming with the property? We're leaving them in our property, it never occurred to us not to because they are fitted to the space, so surley the whole point is they're designed for that room and you don't take them with you?

I've emailed to get clarification but was it presumptious of me to think they would be staying in the house?

We had this on a previous purchase - we negotiated a price which was less than the asking price but not unreasonable

Sorry you had it too. Want to know the really annoying part, we paid over the asking price as we love the house and location so much.

Details from the estate agent always include a disclaimer to cover that.

Noooo! I have never heard of this. It's absolute insanity and you are really not being unreasonable to expect them to stay.

Thanks to everyone who has said similar. I was honestly starting to doubt myself that I'd missed a memo that of course the wardrobes wouldn't be staying. It genuinely never occurred to me to ask because they're fitted to the space. Just like it wouldn't occur to me to ask if the kitchen cabinets or the front door were included.

Then they are included. I'm an estate agent and the seller has to approve the schedule so if they were being taken then they have to mention that.
Frequently people want to take their fancy light fittings so I've to put in the schedule that the light fitting isn't included but will be replaced with another one.
Speak to the estate agent.

It is very annoying. You should definitely politely ask to clarify (it could be an error (eg referring to the wrong bedroom). If not, I think you have two options - play hardball and say that's fine you won't be paying extra them (if they do remove, they are obligated to "make good" any damage of removal) or, if you don't want to risk it, stump up for the cost and chalk it up to experience.

Go back and say your offer included retaining the wardrobes as they were in the particulars.

Yes - of course any integrated or fitted items come with the house! We left fitted wardrobes in both upstairs bedrooms, and integrated dishwasher and washing machine at the house we sold last year (also left the 20 year old fridge freezer, because we couldn't get it out!)

They are taking the piss. Of course fitted wardrobes should be part of the purchase - they are bespoke and unique to that house. You have paid for these as part of the negotiated sale price along with the state of the property E.g it is in a very good finished state with little work.

If they are insistent on taking them say you may need to think about reducing their offer as you will need to pay for what is already in place and of course the sellers need to ensure the carpet doesn't just end randomly before the wall and the wall is made good and painted

I had a similar thing when I bought my flat. The original documents stated 'fitted wardrobes' but in fact they weren't actually fully fitted and were taken. The vendor's agent argued that there's a disclaimer on their documents

I've since had fitted wardrobes put in and obviously wouldn't take them! Take what? They'd have to be dismantled to get them out and would never fit into any other space, not to mention the fact that the flooring continues under them, but the wallpaper on the feature wall doesn't.

Also ask your estate agent and solicitor if this is usual in house purchases. I bet they say the sellers are taking the piss as well

Tell them you're not paying extra for them as they were included in the description and it's one of the reasons you offered the price you did. If they kick up tell them you expect the flooring to run all the way to the wall and the wall decor behind where the wardrobes were to match the rest of the room and any holes etc from fittings to be made good. Get their agreement to be noted buy the solicitor. You may find they'll rethink as it'll be a ball ache for them.

Why would a PP take made to measure blinds? Surely they won't fit in the new house??

I honestly don't think them taking any of these things is unreasonable. Lots of blinds curtains an be adjusted to fit. Most untainted poles can be adjustable. I'd take everything, why would I leave it to then have to repurchase. For example I just also fitted really nice expensive door handles, I'd be taking them all off and replacing with cheaper ones.

Nope.

Because if they insist on removing them, and this is the first they've mentioned of it, then you insist on the room being appropriately redecorated.

Why do all estate agents have a disclaimer then?

Explain that as they were in the original particulars and discussed at viewing they were part of the purchase. If they are not for sale you can have someone come round and quote for replacements and take it off your offer.

The house I have just moved out of had fitted wardrobes that had been moved from a previous house, we found out.

We found the old receipt when we moved in. Two double bedrooms worth of fitted elaborate wardrobes and drawers had been installed at a cost of £5k (plus extra insurance). When she moved she had them moved and installed in her new home. Must have cost her a fortune. Pennywise and pound foolish that one.

Finding the receipt made me quite nostalgic for MFI though. Those were the days…

When we bought our previous house the f+f form said they were taking the fire with them, then they came back to us and said 'oh, our new house will have a fire, do you want to buy ours?' we called their bluff and said 'no, you can take it'. They didn't take it.

Christ on a bike! of course they should remain. Some sellers are so bloody tight fisted! We moved in a house and they had taken every light bulb and wanted to charge us for a venetian blind that was on such a quirky shaped window it would not have fitted anywhere else. I told them to stick it.

This is the whole point of the fixtures and fittings clarification form, to tell you what is and isn’t included. It varies based on people’s circumstances so to assume before you’ve seen the form is a mistake.

We are in the process of moving house ( never again!) We are leaving curtain poles, blinds etc as they won’t fit in our new house and the effort of making everything good again after you’ve removed them isn’t worth the effort

I completely understand why they ahve the form but honestly never thought to even consider something like that wouldn't be included. It's like saying the front door is included it's just obvious surley?

Anyway uve left messages with both the agent and solicitor but I doubt I'll hear back until Monday which is frustrating as we were so bloody close to the end and this is now going to hold things up again.

I'm pretty cross it's taken them this long to even get the fixtures list over to us but I'm now thinking it was probably deliberate as if we'd seen it earlier it wouldn't have been so last minute and they're now hoping we agree as we won't want to mess up the chain.

You had better check that they are leaving the toilet!

I’d agree with you, but we did buy our current house from people who listed just about everything you could think of as stuff we might like to buy from them - including the hall carpet. Our solicitor suggested we ask the estate agent whether they really intended to take the carpet with them - and yes, it was an actual fitted carpet, not a runner or anything. Wanted £500 for it. We said no thank you to everything on the list and they left the carpet anyway.

Stuff like curtains, I don’t mind people taking as long as it’s clear. Even light fittings as long as damage is made good and a plain bulb is left. But carpets?!

You made me laugh but I've just checked to be sure and the toilet isn't even listed and neither is the sink but the bath is...

I'm going to rock up on moving day to find I have no toilet aren't I...