Mutual exchange

[Calamity24]

I am exchanging with a woman who only has a carpet down in one of the bedrooms of her two bedroom flat as its lino in the other bedroom that she has said will have a big bit missing out of it due to her cutting around a wardrobe when she fitted the lino. I have told her I am taking my carpets that I only put down in my flat 15months ago as they will fit her bedrooms, and now she has gone in the huff, am I being unreasonable in want to take my own carpets with me, as I am autistic and like the feel of my carpets. Plus she is working full time, has a car, a dog, sky TV and is getting a new cooker, washing machine and dishwasher when she moves into my flat, I am disabled and living on benefits so can't really afford to but brand new carpets again so soon. As the other woman has no other flooring down except lino in her kitchen and bathroom and I want it to feel comfy when I move in for me and my daughter.

Did you ever agree to leave the carpets before discovering she had a bedroom with lino?
Not sure what your different incomes have to do with anything 🤔

No I didn't as I hadn't saw her flat then, but she is getting the better deal here, she will be paying less rent, less council tax and less in energy bills as I have gch and electric, whereas she has storage heaters all electric.

Oh my.

Why are you moving?

Take your carpets and if you've changed your mind don't be afraid to back out of the deal.

I want the area she is in as I need to access more support for my autism and I hate sitting on buses and trains as they make me anxious, I will be able to walk to support services from the new flat

As it’s rented, if you bought the carpets you should take them with you as they belong to you not the house/homeowner/future renters. If you were selling it could be negotiable but usually sold with house.

When you do a mutual exchange you accept the property as it is. It doesn't matter who is getting the better deal. I was paying less when I did an exchange but the person I swapped with expected me to carpet and paint my old property before he moved in. It doesn't work like that. You either accept each others property as it is or you don't exchange and continue looking. What lead her to believe she would be getting your carpets in the first place? I don't understand why she would be taking the huff unless she thought you would both be leaving flooring behind?

Carpets are classed as contents, not as fixed so you probably are within your rights to take them.

Tell her she can take her lino.

She basically wants a furnished ready to walk into and live in flat, she came out the other night and wrote down what i was leaving like certain curtain poles etc etc, when I said I was going to get a new cooker in the future as my ones on its last legs, she asked if I would leave it for her as she is getting rid of her own one as its past its best. Plus my carpets were professionally fitted whereas she fitted the lino herself and has admitted she hasn't done it properly as her and cutting don't get on. She was even after my table and chairs but I told her they are going with me, she was hinting to my daughter about wanting a treadmill as my daughter has one, but is selling it as she no longer uses it.

She can afford to buy new carpets I can't, no I didn't know she had lino down in one of the bedrooms, there is no flooring in the hall or living room at all and it's a newer build house with the boards instead of floorboards. So I need my carpets to put down, as I hate bare floors especially as it's coming into winter and we live in Scotland.

Just because she's working doesn't mean she can afford to buy all new carpets

This is for tenants to sort out themselves. There are no firm rules. You agree it between yourselves. Bear in mind most carpet fitters don’t want to refit used carpets.

There’s no right or wrong here, no better deal - you’re getting a better deal for your needs.
Forget what she earns. This comes down to what you want to take, and whether you’d compromise to keep the exchange if she hardballed.

How about you ask her to carpet the bedroom and then you leave your carpets. Would that work x

You can say you're keeping your carpets but she can pull out of the exchange?

You have a weird attitude to it, thinking she can afford loads because she works?

I won't back down as she is arrogant and looks down her nose at me, I don't have to like someone I am exchanging with as its their property I want, not to be their friend, she is actually a bit of a bully as she basically just walked in the first time she came to view my flat and demanded to be shown everything right away, then took pictures of every room even though I had sent her pictures of my flat, as she hadn't sent me any pictures of her flat and I never took pictures of her flat when I went to view it.

If you take that attitude she's likely to pull out of the exchange.

Well she is boasting about having savings to buy these things plus she was blanking me until she got the go ahead from her housing association that she could move, I haven't even had my safety checks done yet as they are getting done tomorrow so as long as they come back OK we can move in just over a week, but if there are remedial works needing doing, it will delay the move, as I had asked her roughly when she would move as I had a rough idea of when we would get signed up as I have exchanged before but she hasn't, it was so i could do a provisional booking for a van as I knew who I wanted to use as I don't drive, but because she wouldn't give me a date, then expected me to jump whenever she got the go ahead, I have had to book a van that's a lot more expensive than the van I originally wanted as they aren't available the day I require them.

She couldn't give you a date until it was approved. It's unfortunate it is costing you more on a van but that isn't her fault

Op I would seriously consider re thinking the move overnight storage heaters are in my opinion a nightmare to live with I am in Scotland and lived with them it was a nightmare

No as she has a dog and a cat and I am allergic to dogs and will react to the slightest amount of dog hair within the property.

If your safety checks haven't been done yet - you won't have a date to move. So why have you booked a van for a certified date? That was unwise, especially given how little money you have

No harm to you but - So what? That's not her problem.

I know I have had them before in a flat I lived in, but these are more modern ones so hopefully a bit better than the old fashioned big bulky ones I had, plus she never got one put in one of the bedrooms when they renewed them a couple of years ago, so one of the bedrooms is going to be cold but I have a portable electric heater that my daughter is going to use to keep her room warm whilst she is in it. It's a means to an end me taking her flat, as it gets me back into the city I am from, and away from where I currently live, as I will probably only stay there a year or so before I move again, as nobody in that area wants my area except her, so I am moving knowing I will probably move again.