charged for blinds - would you pay it?

[alliwant]

Hi,

I have posted on another thread about this but wanted to gauge a bit more of an opinion before I decide what to do.

We have put a good offer on a house and are due to move in 4 weeks (I am 34 weeks pregnant too btw) The people we are buying from have both been made redundant and are in her words "devestated" to be selling up and moving in with parents 3 counties away. The house is a tip, the garden is a state, most of the carpets completely ruined etc, but we like the location and space so we have ignored that.

The house comes with a conservatory and as i was measuring up yesterday she said "these blinds were my christmas present, they cost us £900. If you want to buy them they are £700" I was rather shocked, for the following reasons:

1. £900 would have included fitting, so effectively we are being asked to pay an as new price.

1. With the general condition of the house (I wonder if they have ever cleared up after a spill! ) I feel a bit of good grace would be in order.

1. The blinds are custom made for the house! There is no way they'll be able to find another house that fits the exact requirements and another person that will want to buy them!

1. They are in a financial mess but really - £700??? We are being squeezed too, and really it would be hard to find £700 at the moment.

So should I:
a. pay it
b. offer less (£400??)
c. say no thank you in the nicest possible way and hope they leave them anyway
d. Challenge them about the general state of the house and tell them I feel they are taking the piss a bit.

WWYD?

The're taking the piss. Let them take them, they are asking for far too much. They will have the joy of cleaning them also

That is definitely taking the piss. Hold fast - sounds like they really need this sale so they aren't likely to pull out. If they cause damage when they remove things, they ate legally obliged to "make good".

I would call their lawyer and say you want a list of fixtures and fittings by next week, and anything that is not included, you want a price list for, and then you will decide.
Sounds like they need the money, but tbh imo, fitted items are normally included in sale.

I agree on the fixtures list, have you seen it yet?

Thanks for your replies,

lisa we got the fixtures and fittings form today (only took a month ), thats where it says about the fitted oven and grills, and wanting £500. I always assumed that a fitted electrical appliance stayed with the kitchen????
nowwearefour you sound like you know what you are talking about, should I ask my solicitor about this? I certainly don't want to either feel pressured to buy a second hand cooker (they have provided no details of it, age, model etc) or be left with an unsafe gapping hole in my kitchen! Come to think of it, when the remove the bloody blinds and leave holes all over our conservatory, are they obliged to fill them?? Should we be now asking for money off to address all the potential damage they will be creating???? Don't want to get arsey, but this is starting to get my back up!

Other things noticed on paperwork:
They are unsure if the conservatory has certificates of completion and building regs (they didn't install it) - Do I need to worry about this?

They say they have no burgular alarm and the details say they do. Does this matter?

They don't seem to know their council tax band! - I can phone the council on Monday.

I feel for their predicament, but am starting to feel hassled...... deep breath....

They are taking the piss now.

The people we bought the house from told us the kitchen was staying, and then charged us for the oven, which was fitted.

We agreed because, like you, I was pregnant, and didn't want the hassle. Said oven is now breaking down (admittedly 6 years later).

They also sold us the lawnmower (suited us) and tried to flog us their above-ground swimming pool and living room curtains. We said no thank you.

I will admit though that we have only just put up curtains in the living room so if you want your house to look "finished" straight away it might be worth putting in a lower offer.

If they are going to start itemising everything in the house it might be better to negotiate a global sum which includes leaving light fittings, oven, blinds etc - our people dismantled all the light fittings so we had wires hanging out of the ceiling, and even took the toilet roll holder!

I have heard of people in rare cases doing an inspection on completion day before releasing the final funds. Perhaps you could see what your solicitor thought of that?

Did the estate agent brochure mention any fixtures included? I think that is meant to be binding as well as the official fittings list later - maybe they changed their mind.

It is frustrating. We are moving this week and our vendors are taking the curtain poles, fitted bathroom cabinet, loo roll holders etc etc etc. They are obliged to make good any damage. I expect to find the holes filled at least, though I will be amazed if they actually repaint the areas affected.

Trouble is - if they don't they'll already have the money and it would probably cost us more in solicitors to start hassling them than it would to just fix things.

just spend 5 mins casting your eye over the original sale particulars and see if there's anything there which they are now trying to charge for , I bet the oven is on there...

you can't charge twice for the same thing you know :)

If the fitted kitchen (and oven) is mentioned on the EA details I'm pretty sure they can't now charge you extra.

As for the conservatory, we were asked to pay an indemnity insurance because we'd converted our integral garage before the building regs changed (we told them to get stuffed). Surely this would apply to your vendors? I think you need to get onto your solicitor PDQ.

Thanks

Here is what it says in the details:

KITCHEN/BREAKFAST ROOM

4.17m(13'8'') x 2.92m(9'7'')
A good selection of both base and eye level kitchen units. Worktops with tiled splashbacks incorporating one and a half bowl sink with single drainer. Integral oven, four ring gas hob with extractor fan above, space and plumbing for dishwasher and washing machine. Spotlights, radiator. Opening to:

So the details say its intregral. mmmmmm..... DH says we should just forget it, his parents have an old one in their garage.

You need the building regs certificate or it'll be a problem when you sell on
I have been delving into the murky business of work not having BRegs for a friend who was trying to sell and hadn't got certificates as I work in construction but I had no experience if it so had to research it loads it was a major PITA , that was for a loft conversion so structural/fire issues but just be aware it could be annoying to sort out

hahaha, brilliant!
told you!

maybe suggest they go & quietly study their own partics again

You have to leave fixtures when selling a property, so they CANNOT charge you for the Oven. If it wasn't integrated that would be a different story. In relation to the blinds, I would tell them to get lost, and if they did remove them get new eventually.

If the oven is gas, it would cost them £150 to get it removed by a corgi installer. If they are skint they won't be able to afford that. If they remove it themselves, they are breaking the law and can be taken to court if you report them.

Sounds like they are taking the piss. I would politely refuse. I dont think the kitchen counts as fixtures and fittings anyway.

Before going any further, politely tell them you want the fixtures and fittkng lists. Then ask your solicitor to get a list of all fixtures and fittings, including what they want for them, make/model numbers and age, from their solicitors. Then check each against the new price and make an offer representing their true value. For example, a rangemaster can be got for £1k new in the sales, and a good double oven with 6 or 8 rings for £500 easy.

P.s you can tell if the gas oven is illegally removed - gas pipe needs to be capped off and the caps are only available to corgi fitters (which are now called "Gas Safe").

Also, we just bought a house. Paid £0 for fixtures/fittings.

Thanks for all your replies, you have been really really helpful

I'll be on the phone to the solicitor first thing tomorrow!

E x

they are taking the piss - £700! we are being charged up to £50 for old, frayed blinds - I think it is outrageous and I've half a mind to ask them to take them out. Our vendors also want £200 per used appliance that cost ca. £200 new. WTF.

I know! chandelina I think some vendors just think its a good way to bump the price up...

At current the property Market is dire and people being in the situation to make an offer are few and far between. They are lucky that they have found you as a buyer and so they will not want to loose you. Talk to the estate agent and explain your offer was made for the property as seen and that no caveats were made to you about fittings not remaining or being 'optional extras'. in light of such, you will be considering reviewing your offer for any further changes to the lot being sold... Also remember if they want extra for appliances etc then freecycle and eBay may be cheaper options to tide you through until you find something long term..

Get on to your solicitor first thing this morning and get them to work for their money!

Option C re blinds. A polite piss off.

The oven is integrated then they cannot charge for it. Sounds like your Vendors are total chancers, skint ones at that.

Just for the record, when my friends moved into their new house they were astounded to find not a light bulb or a loo roll in the house! Luckily we are just a few roads away so popped down with lightbulbs and loo rool. Just cant understand some people.

I have a new fitted kitchen with integrated double oven - wouldnt dream of asking someone to pay for it. My washing machine and dishwasher - not integrated and if buyers wanted both I would want some money for them if we didnt need them for our new house.

Definitely get your solicitor on the case. We paid £1k 'extra' for our house but the vendor left the fridge/freezer, washer/dryer, all the curtains, storage shed in the garden with lawnmower and patio furniture. Probably a little over the odds but meant we could move straight in without also having to find somewhere to buy the above - we were FTBs in a new town miles away from where we used to live and knew nowhere. Now we know the area, I wouldn't pay that much but to be fair we have only had to replace the washer/dryer (lasted 3yrs after we moved in so not bad!).

I don't know purploe having just had some curtains made for our patio windows they were blooming half of that and you got all curtains etc, not too bad and probably what you would have had to pay out for new -but then you would have chosen them

Update, please. I'm gagging to know how these grasping feckers got on.

The vendors, not the OP.

What a shower they sound.If I were you I would tread very carefully, they sound like the type where you would move in and they would have ripped everything out in spite!!! Good luck xx

They aren't charging you for the blinds, curtains, oven and stuff.

They're offering to sell you stuff (possibly at inflated prices) that you might or might not want.

So you are at liberty to say "no, thanks"

Or even to say "mmmm, I don't really like the oven but it might be worth £25 to me until I get the new one delivered"

Until contracts have been exchanged neither of you is bound to anything. In the same way they could say "we want the price of the house to be £5,000 more" and you could say "we want the price of the house to be £5,00 less" and either could say No.

Once you have agreed the F&F to be left or taken, I like the idea of a pre-completion inspection. I don't know what you would be entitled to do if they have ripped things out and left gaping holes.

On another thread, people recommended to me that when we sell our house, we should remove (or possibly hide) anything we don't intend to leave, before viewing starts. Otherwise we'd have to keep saying "The kiln is not included in the sale" or whatever to avoid later upsets.