Angry at house seller?

[perfectpotato]

Had our offer accepted, in the middle of the legal process and we’ve had got the fixtures and fittings form from the vendors.

They are taking with them all the column radiators (will be replacing with basic ones), all light fixtures - they had these beautiful sconce marble light fixtures that they will be taking and they are have a fixed mirror in the bathroom, has Bluetooth and different lighting and they are taking that too.

My partner doesn’t seem bothered but I’m really upset, Aibu?

Taking the light bulbs is really mean spirited. When my brother moved house, it was a place with bespoke sized windows. Instead of just leaving the curtains that wouldn't fit anywhere else anyway, they asked if my brother wanted to buy them. He said OK, and they wanted £37K extra for them 🤣

Also this is probably something to talk to the estate agent about.

from a legal perspective they are doing the right thing they’ve notified you that the are going to remove the items. It’s annoying but within the law. There’s not much you’re solicitor can do and it’ll cost you to have them working letters on your behalf.

Speak to the estate agent, express your incredulity at the bat shit craziness of taking the rads (they will absolutely agree) and get them nervous that you’re going to pull out/renegotiate the price. They’ll be in the phone to the vendor explaining the error of their ways immediately!

Radiators are assumed to be included with the property unless otherwise stated in the sales contract.

@perfectpotato You need to consult your solicitor.

They aren’t leaving you with no radiators though, you have some just not the expensive ones they are taking. The fittings and fixtures form is where they have to state what they are taking so they aren’t doing anything wrong. Obviously if you want the items they are taking then now it’s on you to either make an offer for them or negotiate on the asking price but be prepared theyll say no. I took my radiators with me when I moved as the standing ones are bloody expensive and my buyer didn’t pay for them.

When we brought our house our solicitor told us to imagine that if you turned the house upside down what wouldn’t fall out should be left.

The radiators are the hill to die on as they shouldn't be taking them and column radiators are supposedly cheaper to run, so the running costs of the house increases if replaced with basic ones. How many radiators are there? Potentially it could be a few thousand pounds to buy and fit new ones the same as the ones they're removing, so you could reduce your offer by 3k...

Taking/replacing the radiators is so weird. That is not normal. The rest I do get, although the light fittings and mirrors would be a nuisance.

Tell them you will reduce your offer accordingly, that you expect the walls will be made good, and that you will need to inspect the house again once the replacement ones have been fitted BEFORE exchange of contracts.

Tbh I’m surprised your solicitor hasn’t advised that - you shouldn’t be agreeing to buy a house knowing that things will be ripped out before having chance to view again.

It's not normal to take radiators

I would actually withdraw my offer.

fuck knows what other batshit stuff they'll come up with.

if you still want to buy it without thise things I'd go for a cash settlement as putting in cheap 'replacements' would be a waste of money & do damage

but like I said I personally would withdraw my offer.

They are leaving radiators though just basic ones. They aren’t leaving empty spaces.

Agree, I would be pulling out or offering less as a consequence. Radiators can be expensive

Of course YANBU! Who on earth takes the radiators?! In what world are these not fixtures? I’d be contesting this or wanting a reduction if they are being replaced with really basic ugly ones. The vendor of my house didn’t leave anything at all - all mirrors, shelves etc ripped out. The issue is that the walls are then left in a dreadful state and immediately you have to redecorate (and not just painting, often holes / damage to plaster/tiles etc.) Radiator pipes for column rads will be at different widths to bog standard rads - will that leave pipe holes in the carpets? What about bracket holes? YANBU for being cross.

Cheeky Fuckers!!

They’re fixtures.

Yes, they can choose to replace them with cheaper basic fixtures but… I’d tell them via the agent that you will reduce your offer by £10k to reflect the fact that they’re not selling you the house as it was originally presented and advertised.

They will refit THE most basic bitch rads and you will need to refit those anyway most likely. I was amazed at how bad and how low the BTU can be on cheap modern rads.

A decent rad can be £500 or more...

Unless you LOVE the house I'd go back and say "its unorthodox but fine, accordingly we need need to drop the offer by 15k (wdot: re-reading possibly £20k) to cover the costs of like for like replacements, labour and the inconvenience of works."
And I would not blink or negotiate.

I'd start viewing other properties because the kind of people that would do this arent sensible or normal and generally dont concern themselves with others. This means you can expect boat loads of foolishness by the time you've fully completed and moved in.

I assume they replaced the basic radiators with column ones and are now putting them back and taking them to replace in their new house unusual so would check what the price difference is

the mirror is standard of course you would take and light fittings is fairly normal

I would be bothered about the radiators- never heard of that before.

As others have said, taking the radiators is insane - I've never heard of anyone doing that before.
Even light fittings seems a bit of a stretch but possibly a little more 'normal' in as much as there may be something very specific they'd want.
However, all that info should have been made clear at the outset, and certainly prior to the sale.

Taking the mirror and light fittings is perfectly normal. The radiator thing is slightly odd but they're not technically doing anything 'wrong.' I'm assuming you didn't buy the house solely for the radiators.

We have column rads, and they aren't very good! You've probably missed a bullet there!

Agreed, we have one in our kitchen and it's utter shite.

So dd2 had her seller try this bullshit 2 years ago.
They basically were waiting for her to start offering money for them.
i told her no!
instead she insisted and instructed that all damage and holes be fully repaired and left in decorated state that matched property when she viewed it.
slso new gas safety certificate and guarantees for new radiators and electrical work to replace what they were removing.
they never took any of it!

This.
Every light fitting replaced is likely to leave marks / missing paint etc and as for replacing radiators! The house could look completely different.

I'd certainly reduce my offer but would consider pulling out in the face of such fuckery

They should have changed the rads first really

Nah, not normal to take radiators, and the walls will need redecoration to cover the mess cos the replacements will be different shapes.

Dealbreaker for me. I don't mess about with sellers like this. Once they start this sort of palaver, they always end up being complete CFs who keep moving the goal posts in one way or another. They rely on people being held to ransom by sunk costs, but it's usually cheaper to pull out early doors and find a different place, because the CFery never ends once it's begun.