AIBU to want payment for fitted items left in my rental?

[Maurit]

I just left a rental and left behind three items I had fitted: an extra loo, fitted wardrobes and 4 curtain rails. I asked the landlord to message the new tenants that I was happy to leave these provided they pay a small fee for each - much less than they cost to me. They don’t want to do that and the landlord is suggesting I just leave the items as less hassle than taking them out. AIBU in thinking that the new tenants are just joy riding on this, knowing that they’ll get access to the items for no fee? .

When I moved into my first private rental there was a nice big mirrored bathroom cabinet which I assumed to be part of the "fixtures and fittings" when I moved in. The LL's agent subsequently contacted me to ask if they could come and collect it as it was left by the previous tenant. I refused as it was attached to the wall and would cause me inconvenience if it was removed. The agent then said well we will send the handyman to collect it and replace it with another. She sent me a picture of one they intended to put in its place but it was smaller and cheap looking. She tried saying that in my lease it stated I must allow access to the agent and their workpeople for inspections and essential repairs. I said I am not taking time off work as this is not an essential repair or an inspection. There is also nothing mentioned in the lease about my having to provide these services for free. This is an extra service and you will need to pay me an admin charge of ££ to cover my time and trouble. I never did hear anything back.

Of course you are not being unreasonable. I am sure most tenants fit additional toilets and then take them with them once they move.

Just standard stuff🙄

This is essentially how it all happened

You don’t have a lot of options. If you take the toilet you will need to replace it as presumably there was one there prior to the one you put in? You would also need to replace ant poles or storage you removed to make way for the new. The lesson is don’t spend on somewhere that’s not yours. You can’t force the new tenants to pay.

There was a thread recently about a LL who found that his tenants had replaced the gas boiler with a heat pump. I don't know how the thread ended but the tenants could hardly take it with them when they moved. If you attach or fit something and then move away it becomes part of the fittings. Its up to you to plan for its removal or replacement before you move out and to make good any repairs. I once left a HA flat fully carpeted because I had no option. I could hardly expect the new tenant to pay so they got a great freebee.

You have no relationship at all with the new tenants; your only agreement is with the landlord who expects you to leave the place as you found it (unless you made other arrangements with the landlord).
I think you’re wasting your time trying to get any payment from The Landlord and you’re definitely not going to get anything from the new tenant.

As you should, what a cheek even asking! 🙈

You’re very lucky the landlord isn’t insisting you put everything back the way it was when you moved in! I spent years in rentals and didn’t do anything more than paint and put a few shelves up. I had to refill holes from the shelves and repaint when moving out. Installing a toilet in a property you don’t own is just insane!

@Maurit You aren't coming back to your post in response to the comments or questions, are you surprised by our responses?

What an odd perspective. They are renting from the landlord not you. If you want payment for the items you ask the landlord and leave the new tenants out of it. You put permanent fixtures in a home you don't own and think some more people who don't own the property will pay you for things they won't be able to take with them when they leave because they are fixtures which now belong to the landlord.

If your lease has now expired you would need the landlords permission to go and get the items and as you are no longer a tenant he/she would have a difficult job of demanding you make good any damage from the removal so in their shoes I would refuse. If the new tenants have moved in they can and should refuse you access. You should have negotiated all of this before you moved out.

I'm finding it hard to believe anyone could be this thick but if this is real, why on earth do you think the new tenants should have to pay you anything? And if I was your landlord, you'd be losing your deposit!

You've been a bit silly and naive here. YABU

Never put fixtures and fittings into a rental. Your landlord would be within their rights to ask for it to be removed and everything put back as was. They are being kind. I would take the offer to leave it as is. The new tenants have zero obligation to you

The OP will be back at some point to say this is a reverse and she's either the landlord or new tenant.

reverse! Obviously a reverse!

Although there are parts of Europe where this type of thing does happen. In Munich, for example, it was so hard to find a rental that often landlords let tenants out of contracts earlier (three to six months notice was often required) if they found someone to take over the tenancy, and tenants used this to essentially blackmail applicants (often hundreds of applicants for each rental) into buying their fitted kitchens and random unsaleable pieces of furniture they didn't want as a condition of recommending them to the landlord.

Didn't help that most rentals didn't come with fitted kitchens, just the bathroom and plumbing in the kitchen, bare wires for lights etc. Still people really pushed it and would include high prices for their old ikea kitchen (which would cost them hundreds if not thousands to have taken out tidily and legally disposed of) and for whatever large furniture items they didn't want to take and couldn't sell.

In the UK, a reverse though, yes.

In the Netherlands the estate agent stepped out so I could negotiate with the existing tenant for the fitted carpets! I recouped most of my cash by selling them on to the next tenant. It’s very much not the done thing in the U.K. though so I’d agree a reverse.

I wouldn’t pay extra for permanent fixtures in a rental. That’s for the landlord to fund. I don’t blame the tenants. You should have removed them before leaving or negotiated with landlord as removing now will be disruptive which isn’t very fair

Yeah you can't leave stuff basically because you can't be arsed to remove it then be pissed off the tenants won't pay for your old junk.

There's nothing silly about you having nice stuff put in your home but it is silly to think that it wasn't a sunk cost and money you wouldn't see a return on.

I really need to know more about this - was it put in a bathroom so there are now two loos, or somewhere else???

legally if you fitted them you will be responsible for damages if you take them out so you will have to make good the surfaces. fill and paint holes. did you get permission to install them? if not you are in breach of your lease. if landlord let's you leave them then do, as its less hassle.

Op hasn't been seen since the op.