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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Bought house but they’re still in it now!

404 replies

ItsOnlyRainFFS · 26/09/2025 17:44

So we exchanged contracts last week and completed by 10am today. We vacated our house by 12.30pm as our buyers keen to get in and contract said 2pm. The house we bought was supposed to be ready 2pm but it’s still
not ready! Now the seller (house we now own!) is saying they’re going to struggle to empty it by 8pm! And that sounds optimistic. They just don’t sound like they packed up properly. Anything we can do? Solicitor and estate agents shut.
We have put most of our stuff in storage - which is shut. We have though thankfully hired medium van which has our essential stuff in it. But we just want to unpack it now. We have 2 kids and have been at a bowling alley and kfc trying to kill time since school.
Would we be unreasonable to demand we move in 8pm?

OP posts:
TheCheekyCyanHelper · 26/09/2025 22:14

InMyHealthyEra · 26/09/2025 17:50

I voted YABU because YABU to accept any of that.

You order them out of your property immediately and either put all of their belongings out the front or in a designated room for them to collect later when it suits you. First thing Monday you call the solicitor or estate agents and start the process of financial compensation for their breach of contract

Their movers are already there unloading the house. Not much else they can do. Not sure why people are posting crazy, impossible suggestions of what OP should do.

IsEveryUserNameBloodyTaken · 26/09/2025 22:14

BramblesMum · 26/09/2025 20:09

This exact same thing happened to me, the previous owners took 6 hours after the deadline and I was on to the solicitor saying he had to get them out, I rang the police and they wouldn't do anything. When I did get in the house was filthy, they had removed every light bulb & the wiring to the electric meter. I had no electricity or heating and didn't get in until 8 pm when it was already dark. I spent my first night in my first new home crying. There was nothing I could do about it. They were complete b*!!!

They took the wiring to the electricity meter.Who the fuck does that.
I hope things looked up for you after then and you had many happy days there since.

fruitypancake · 26/09/2025 22:14

Shocking OP - hope you are now in and they are finally gone . What a nightmare!

tripleginandtonic · 26/09/2025 22:16

MeridianB · 26/09/2025 17:51

This. Call the police if you have to but they need to leave (and ideally get all their possessions out of the house). Guessing this means they won’t be cleaning it either. It’s outrageous.

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You can't call the police for thwt.

Princesspollyyy · 26/09/2025 22:19

By updates?

IsEveryUserNameBloodyTaken · 26/09/2025 22:20

Daygloboo · 26/09/2025 20:11

It never used to be like this years ago. People in this country have become a bunch of bloody flakes. What are you going to do if anything genuinely bad ever happened. It's pathetic. The drama.Honestly. Going over to menace them ? Taking them to court? Storm in a tea cup. And I do understand because I've moved a lot. And things dont always go to plan. And I've never made a fuss. What a load of bollocks.

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Let me guess you are ones of these that is half packed in a house that does not. belong to you any more, having a cup of tea in their garden while the new owners are trying to get in the house that they now own.

choccychipcookies1988 · 26/09/2025 22:23

I can’t believe this. Keen to know what time they actually left

BramblesMum · 26/09/2025 22:29

It was a long time ago, I was young and didn't know what to do.

Daygloboo · 26/09/2025 22:31

IsEveryUserNameBloodyTaken · 26/09/2025 22:20

Let me guess you are ones of these that is half packed in a house that does not. belong to you any more, having a cup of tea in their garden while the new owners are trying to get in the house that they now own.

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No I do things properly, but I also.have a bit of patience and understanding if other people aren't prefect.. I dont stamp.my feet and huff and puff and look for every opportunity to have a go as if Im auditioning for a part in Eastenders. There's far too much of thst bollocks these days.

BreadInCaptivity · 26/09/2025 22:33

namechangetheworld · 26/09/2025 21:25

Well it's not hard if you can afford professional movers to do literally everything for you, no.

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And your point is?

If you can’t afford (or do not want to pay for) professional movers then you need to be even better prepared and start sooner so you can meet the completion deadline.

Moving back further in decision making, when you choose to move, the cost of doing needs to be factored into your budget.

Some people seem to fail to grasp that post completion it is no longer your property and you are trespassing.

Thankfully I only experienced this once in 7 house moves and fortunately only by a few hours - but it was bloody frustrating.

MySweetGeorgina · 26/09/2025 22:51

Hope you are in now…. and they are out!

shocking behaviour

AutumnCosy2025 · 26/09/2025 22:54

tanstaafl · 26/09/2025 19:10

OP, 9 days ago you posted ( for the first time ) about parents parking outside your child’s school saying you live in a nice area now.

you’ve moved already?

Hmmmm

They could have moved within the same zone?

or...they're good at starting threads that get people foaming!?'?!?!

justasking111 · 26/09/2025 22:55

AutumnCosy2025 · 26/09/2025 22:54

Hmmmm

They could have moved within the same zone?

or...they're good at starting threads that get people foaming!?'?!?!

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It's Friday night we've entered the twilight zone 🙄

TonytheTRex · 26/09/2025 22:58

This happened to us when we moved in July, the seller had either misjudged the size of the van they needed or were too tight to pay for a bigger one!
We finally got in gone midnight after watching them carry single items out of the house for an hour! I was so cross!
Get yourself in, pop that champers and eat a takeaway pizza on the floor. Buying a house is a slog, you've earned it!! X

Reallyneedsaholiday · 26/09/2025 22:58

I’m guessing you moved in eventually Op. Speak to your solicitor first thing on Monday.

Vitriolinsanity · 26/09/2025 23:28

Happened to us. At 5pm I had a dozen friends round and just started putting our stuff in. They got their skates on then.

viques · 26/09/2025 23:36

Happened to us, though not quite so drastically. Ended up with my moving people carrying their stuff out of the house before taking my stuff in. They ended up leaving a piano ( came back for it) and one of their helpers, plus small child, whose keys they had taken by mistake.

Hope you get it sorted OP, and don’t worry, it will get sorted, and turn into a great story that you will shock people with for years.

Mangledrake · 26/09/2025 23:36

TheCheekyCyanHelper · 26/09/2025 22:14

Their movers are already there unloading the house. Not much else they can do. Not sure why people are posting crazy, impossible suggestions of what OP should do.

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Yes - and really if people still have stuff in the house, I'd rather let them carry it out than kick them out in a fit of righteous indignation, and then carry it out to them myself!

penfoldanddangermouse · 26/09/2025 23:49

THIS HAPPENED TO ME.

In the end there's fuck all you can do really, I could have phoned the police, but with kids in their family and mine, I simply booked a hotel, paid a massive charge for the removal company to keep the stuff and said I was coming in the morning , hook or by crook, you best be there with the keys to hand over.

They did , but I was about 2 grand out of pocket , mostly to the removal men who took the piss to keep my stuff in the van overnight. I got nowhere with lawyers or the seller, I went to legal ombudsman and property one for the estate agent, who did dick all to help, in the last minute MY OWN solicitor offered to pay me compensation , I think they didn't want their name dragged into mud.

Never complete on a Friday

Ocelotfeet27 · 27/09/2025 00:48

Hope you got it sorted OP. This happened to me and not only were they not out but they'd locked up all the doors and refused to speak to anyone. We'd moved hundreds of miles and had very angry delivery men desperate to offload the stuff and threatening to leave it in the driveway so they could start their long return journey. We got the keys about 6 hours late with no apology but instead a smirk and 'hope you weren't waiting long?'. The delivery men broke half our stuff hoying it in the door. 😫

SickofCovid · 27/09/2025 01:00

InMyHealthyEra · 26/09/2025 17:50

I voted YABU because YABU to accept any of that.

You order them out of your property immediately and either put all of their belongings out the front or in a designated room for them to collect later when it suits you. First thing Monday you call the solicitor or estate agents and start the process of financial compensation for their breach of contract

This! Absolute cheek of them. They won't move out of YOUR home.

TeddySchnauzer · 27/09/2025 01:27

Hope you’re sorted now. Congratulations!

TacCat49 · 27/09/2025 01:36

Although it's not your problem it has become your problem. Maybe you could get a hotel for the night. Go to the small claims court for the additional expenses if they won't pay up

hazelowens · 27/09/2025 01:36

9 yrs ago today we moved into this house. The woman who lived here before us couldn't get the keys to her house so wouldn't give us the keys to our house till she had them. We sat outside for hours waiting for her to leave. She had no furniture in the house as all her stuff was in storage if I remember correctly she just wouldn't hand over the keys till she knew she had a house to move into. She had already changed the moving in date 3 times by this point and when we eventually got in we realised she had hidden holes in the walls with pictures and the bathroom had a massive leak that caused issues with the neighbour as they thought we were like her and didn't care that out bathroom was flooding her house. Thankfully we got it fixed and have a great relationship with our neighbours but 9 yrs on we still get post for her and most of it is legal letters for bills she hasn't paid we think as we just pop out back in the post saying not at this address anymore.

AgnesMcDoo · 27/09/2025 01:41

MeridianB · 26/09/2025 17:51

This. Call the police if you have to but they need to leave (and ideally get all their possessions out of the house). Guessing this means they won’t be cleaning it either. It’s outrageous.

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What do you think the police would do?