To ask that the sellers of the house we've bought pay for all their rubbish to be collected

[Rain2122]

We've just moved house. The sellers left loads of stuff all around the house e.g. old mops and brooms, loads of half empty cleaning products, wardrobe storage things you put clothes in, dead plants, a cat bowl, a wooden unit in the downstairs toilet. They also left the fridge-freezer despite saying on the Fixtures & Fittings list they were taking it, so we will need to pay for removal.

I went around gathering up all the smaller bits and have piled it up in one corner for now with the intention of gradually disposing of it or filling the car for a tip trip. I wanted to take a photo but OH started putting some of it in the bin already, though there is still a lot there.

The latest thing to annoy me is that they'd also left the recycling bin half filled - we stuck some recycling on the top and put the bin out for bin day today but the bin men have refused to empty it because apparently the sellers have dumped non-recycling stuff in it!! So now my OH is saying he's going to have to sort through all their rubbish which has been in the bin which is disgusting.

Am I being unreasonable contacting our solicitor about this to see if we can get the sellers to pay for all this rubbish to be collected? I don't like to make a fuss and suspect the sellers are still in contact with our new neighbours so we don't want to appear 'difficult' but it doesn't seem fair for them to leave us to deal with all their rubbish!

Don't spend any money on solicitors.

Get a skip to get rid of their rubbish then contact them and tell them what you've had to do and ask them to reimburse you. Then take them to the small claims court for £50 if they refuse. You may or may not win but it's easy to do.

The EA won't give a shit, they don't represent buyers, & do not concern themselves with post-exchange legal matters.

I moved a month ago and there was enough stuff left for two mini skips.
I should have taken photographs but I did list everything, and took photos of the crap in the garage.
My solicitor chased her solicitor, and I got back £450 for the skips. It didn’t make up for the effort of dragging stuff out to skip it. My solicitor hasn’t charged me anything extra. Apparently the vendor thought I would find all the stuff “useful”.
included her used toilet brushes and gardening shoes.

Our sellers dumped all the food from their fridge freezer into the green recycling bin. By the time we moved in, it had been sat in a summer heatwave for a week and was crawling with maggots. We had to remove it all, bag it up again and then dispose of it. I'm gagging just thinking about it!

They also left stuff in every room, the garage hadn't been emptied, nor had the loft. It took us years to get rid of their stuff! (Kept their toaster though, it was better than ours!)

We have had the same in the past & solicitor required the vendors to clear the stuff they left behind.

Are you sure it's not stuff they thought would be useful?
I might leave my least favourite mop & broom behind thinking I was doing you a favour. Our first house the vender stripped, including light bulbs, every loo roll and door stops and half the door hinges were missing two screws.

The second house , the vendor left behind stuff like you describe, enough to use whilst we gutted and repaired the place. At least you've somewhere to keep your milk.

your solicitor will deal with it and it should cost less than getting a skip.

Nice idea but most solicitors would (quite rightly) charge you almost as much as that for agreeing the wording then holding and releasing the funds, it's an administrative nightmare. In the first instance I'd ask the agents, then the solicitor but in the meantime just get it cleared and send them the bill.

Try contacting your sellers' estate agent. Our vendors left rubbish and their EA sorted it out for us. If your vendor moves out of area, the EA may think it useful to keep you onside, you might sell through them one day!

This happens a lot people really are arseholes when it comes to moving and leaving their crap behind for the buyers to clear up. Ask your solicitor to request they either come and clear it up or pay for a skip for you to get it removed. Most people are shamed into paying for it to be cleared. I wouldn’t bother with agents as they were acting for the sellers and not you.

Next time put it in the contract that the house, garage, garden, drive, loft must be left totally empty. Then you'd have a comeback.

OP already has a comeback - this is exactly what "vacant possession" means.

Plenty of lazy vendors have been held to that contractual obligation by purchaser lawyers - OP's vendors are in breach of contract, & need to either put the matter right or pay her enough money for her to hire a skip.

The contract should have had a clause stating the property should be cleaned to a professional standard and and empty except for items agreed on the inventory.

If the above does not happen, the vendors are in breach of contract. The solicitor acts on the purchasers behalf to recover all related costs and the costs are charged to the vendor through their solicitors.

We have never had a problem but friends had an issue with the bank transfer on completion. There was a delay at the beginning of the chain compounded by a bank error at the penultimate link. Friends got access to their house as the banks closed but their vendors could not complete. They incurred hotel, removal storage costs and a penalty for non completion. The claims went all the way down the chain to the solicitor who had created the problem and they were sued for damages along with the other solicitor's fees for pursuing.

No thanks. I have my own mop.

When we moved into our current home I was heavily pregnant, removal men said it was worst state they'd seen in a supposedly empty house - loads of stuff left, tv's, mattresses etc & rubbish including used nappies. We also had t deal with a gas leak as they had loosened the gas valve on meter!! DH & I had to clear the rubbish ont9 garden while pur boxes were put into rooms. We spent 1st night in a hotel before having a deep clean done. My DS were both ill so had been staying at my DPs, they stayed extra few days till house was habitable.
Contacted our solicitors who made them pay for a skip and cover the cleaners cost. The house had 9bvuoisly not been in this state when we viewed it but seemed they didn't bother cleaning anything as soon as price was agreed.
Oh and neighbours literally ran up the flags to celebrate them leaving & were delighted to welcome us instead!!

For everyone on this thread.
WHEN BUYING INSTRUCT YOUR SOLICITOR NOT TO RELEASE FUNDS ON THE DAY OF COMPLETION TO THE VENDORS SOLICITOR UNTIL THE ESTATE AGENT HAS VISITED THE PROPERTY TO CONFIRM IT IS PROPERLY EMPTY.
EA can do some legwork and the problem is avoided.
As a conveyancer I always told the EA I was working on this basis and would point the buyer in their direction if the house wasn't properly clear.

We made a mistake when we bought our house of saying we’d buy a couple of Tiffany light fittings, this seemed to give them the impression that we wanted all of their shit as well. I wouldn’t bother going through your solicitor though, I doubt anything will come of it

I thought that vacant possession meant that the property was not tenanted. In other words people are not left as tenants, nothing about physical possessions.

It’s annoying but I expect it will cost more for your solicitor to enforce it - than it will cost you to dispose of the items.

If you sell a property with vacant possession, it means you or any tenants you have must remove yourselves and all personal affects (except those agreed to be left in the contract) by completion day. It’s at the point where contracts are exchanged that this now becomes your legal obligation.

Failure to do so risks breach of your contract, and the buyer could make a legal claim against you. This applies to anything that would stop the buyer immediately occupying the property, such as furniture and rubbish being left around.

myhomemoveconveyancing.co.uk/help-and-advice/what-does-vacant-possession-mean/

This is pretty standard. House I bought previous owners left the beds in the bedrooms. They must have got them in through the windows when the windows were replaced years ago (old cottage) as they were too big to get out the doors or down the stairs. Spent first few days there dismantling the beds with an axe. It cost me hundreds of pounds to get everything they left removed including the obligatory broken freezer. It was annoying as I had left the place I sold lovely and clean and tidy and also gifted some item the buyer liked and left them for them as they suited the house so much.

The only thing that should ever be left in a house for the purchasers is a bottle of champagne. Preferably not a final skid because the bleach and bog brush have been packed.

Same thing happened to ds when he moved into his house. It took ages to deal with the recycling bin situation. He had to buy some strong protective gloves and tip the whole lot out and go through it. The house and garden were full of rubbish. He lined the boot of his car with tarpaulin and made so many tip runs we lost count.
You may find that if you place the freezer on your drive (if you have a drive) it might disappear. It definitely would where I live because the scrap metal value is around £30.

If you incur extra costs due to having your solicitor enforce the removal of crap that's been left behind, the invoice should also be paid by the 'Seller', due to the fact that they have failed to meet the terms of the contract.

@Rain2122 just as an idea, AO collect fridge/freezers for £20 even if you don't buy from them. It may be cheaper than other options

YANBU, but I don't think you'll get anywhere sadly.