They're taking the curtain poles and fitted units. Is this normal?

[ThePurpleCarrot]

We're buying our first house and I've just received the property information form. I'm shocked that it says the sellers are taking their curtains rails/poles/pelmets.

It says they are also taking their fitted units from bedrooms, hallway, living room, dining room.

Are we dealing with difficult people or is this normal behaviour in London area?

Not unreasonable to take curtain poles etc as long as they make good which solicitor form usually says they have to.

Is the fitted furniture definitely fitted or does it just look fitted? We thought our new house had a fitted wardrobe in one of the bedrooms but it was just a very well fitting standalone wardrobe when we queried the form.

We left curtains, blinds, wardrobes and asked did the new owners want the computer desk leaving for free + new house card and a bottle of wine but when we moved into our new house there was no lightbulbs, no washing line, no wheelie bin so some people are just odd when it comes to house buying/selling.

Hope you find your dream home without any more hassle

I really wouldn't want anyone else's curtains or lampshades. I am always surprised when anyone leaves those.

I would agree with Wineandchoccy

Some people are just weird, but at least now they have to specify what they are taking. I think they are entitled to take what they want, maybe the curtain pole was a specific one they wanted and will fit in new house. At least you know now.
As far as wardrobes are concerned, does it really matter enough to lose the house? I'd be tempted to say you aren't happy and try to negotiate a discount for the inconvenience.
We had a horrific move into our first home, they left it disgustingly dirty, so much so you'd boak. We soon got it cleaned up though, great way to spend your honeymoon .
If you really want the house, if its your dream home, you may just have to put up with it. . Good luck, I can really sympathise.

As other have said check what is on the fixture and fitting list.

When we bought our house, the person selling it wanted a quick sale. She then accept a higher offer which dh matched so we continued with the process. We got to the day of exchange and she suddenly wanted to delay it for 3mths. I said no she wanted a quick sale and that's what happen (offer date to moving was 6wks including the Christmas period)if she couldn't proceed then we would pull out. She complete but took all the light fittings and curtains/curtain poles from a 4 bed house to a one bed flat.

I'm not selling my house, but I could see myself taking most of what you've mentioned in your list. I've got quite a snazzy wireless doorbell - I'd imagine I'd want to keep that! (I would replace it with a cheaper working alternative though, I'm not that mean!) Why on earth would anyone leave lampshades/curtains etc if they like and could reuse them? Why leave them for someone who probably has a different taste and will quickly send them to landfill. Some blinds can be cut to size or sat outside the recess so could be reused in different windows too.

Agree that fitted furniture is slightly more bizarre - not least because a buyer would expect them to be staying. That said, it depends on the fitted furniture, some of it is more like ikea flat packs than truly fitted. We've moved this type of "fitted" wardrobes from one room to another without any difficulty.

Primalass lots of people might not particularly like the previous owner's curtains or lampshades but they are be a complete godsend when you have just spent the largest amount of money you are ever likely to spend plus removal costs, solicitor and EA fees etc. Otherwise, lots of us are faced with living with bare light bulbs and using sheets and towels as curtains for months!

annh as well as lightbulbs being left, especially when they're some odd non standard type. We spend our first few days in relative darkness and torchlight/lamplight.

the other problem (which I've experienced) is that when tehy remove something fitted, you're left with an area of the room which is uncarpeted and possibly has no skirting board - that wasn't a good surprise when I moved.

easter as well as the completely different paint/wallpaper where they've decorated around them!

annh.

Totally agree, even in our first minging house we left the curtains up until the weekend when we bought more, this was nearly a full week we would have done without curtains and lamp shades.
The next week we hired a skip to chuck the minging mess the last occupants left.
I also think it depends on whether you are buying a home or a house.
No disrespect to the OP but spending that sort of money it would have to be a home for me. Which means it would mean so much to me that cupboards etc wouldn't be an issue, let alone a deal breaker.
I suppose we are all different.
I am buying a house to let atm and even though I won't be living in it, it had to be so nice I'd want to live in it if I needed to.
OP, make sure you find the perfect home, one that you can't live without and sod the fixtures and fittings. You will be far happier than buying a house.

Normal-ish to take things like curtain poles or light fittings if you think you can re-use them, and I wouldn't necessarily expect them to be included, but to take out fitted cupboards is very odd indeed, and you should have been made aware that they were not included when you went to view the house. Otherwise what's to stop them stripping the kitchen bare and saying 'well we never said they were included.'

When we moved, the seller tried to sell us a 1973 lawn mower for £200 - and had the nerve to list it as 'needs servicing', a concrete roller garden thing for £300 and a safe for the same amount. We said no thanks and said he could dispose of them. All three items were left when we moved in. They also took carpets and the house name from outside the house.

When the estimator from Pickfords came to give me a quote, she said she had heard of folk removing front doors, cupboards, light switches, nice taps ... Basically anything you can think of.

Were the fitted wardrobes mentioned in the sale particulars? If so, I would argue they form part of the sale.

Annh - I don't think I've ever moved in anywhere with curtains. I got old ones from friends and family - it's never that hard to get hold of something to make do until you have the cash. And godsend or not, my curtains cost as much as the sofas - no way would I give them away if they could be re-used! When I moved house with my parents in the 70s & 80s it was a luxury to be left some carpet, let alone curtains! It's also worth remembering that your seller may well be moving to somewhere that's had everything taken out too. Why should they have to suffer bare light bulbs just so you don't have to?

fixtures are things bolted on to the walls (eg curtain rails, fitted wardrobes, fitted kitchens).

Fittings are things that are removable (eg curtains, carpets, free standing stuff, lampshades).

Normally fixtures and carpets are left, but the rest are usually taken, unless otherwise agreed.

Bottom line - there is nowt so strange as folk.

Primalass lots of people might not particularly like the previous owner's curtains or lampshades but they are be a complete godsend when you have just spent the largest amount of money you are ever likely to spend plus removal costs, solicitor and EA fees etc. Otherwise, lots of us are faced with living with bare light bulbs and using sheets and towels as curtains for months!

I just think they end up getting chucked out though, when the seller could have taken them and used them. It's a waste, ultimately.

I think we have been quite lucky then in our moves, and so have our buyers.
Would not dream of taking curtains from bedrooms. Who has the time and money to go and get new curtains and stuff when just moved?
We lived with whatever was there until we could afford to replace to our liking.
To think we would have taken the alcove built in cupboards and bookshelves from our first Victorian house is just
Some people are just rude and greedy.
OP I can really see how this can make you think twice.

Gosh, I am shocked at some of the things people say they'd take. I only take curtains when I move and sometimes not.

If fitted furniture can be taken by the seller, surely you could end up moving into a house with a missing kitchen.

I'm not saying people should leave curtains and light fittings if they can reuse them, of course not! But if you have odd-shaped blinds that won't fit your new house, why would you want them? On our last house move, we specified that we would take all the curtains with us because I knew we couldn't afford to buy new when we moved. However, our vendors had already moved out weeks beforehand so when we went back to do some measurements and saw that they had left all except the bedroom curtains we told the EA to tell our buyer that we would be leaving all our curtains except for two bedroom pairs and we then used those curtains (6 inches too short) for the next 18 months until we could afford some more.

It's very hard to tell from a quick glance if you're looking at this or this.

Not allowed I didn't think to take fixtures. I would call the agent. I know somebody (it was years ago) and the people took practically every plant and bush from the garden. They got a few hundred pounds compensation.

When we moved from our previous house I had to state in writing that I was taking the washing line, it was 60ft of plastic coated metal and cost a lot and it was the right length for our new house that only had a 6ft line tied between two trees. Also a donkey planter and two round tubs but I didn't take the only plant we had in the garden.

Morethanpotato - I hear what you are saying however I don't believe this is our forever home however it is a house that we could make a home for a while. If there had been emotional involvement then I think I might be feeling completely different.

We are expats and have managed to save well and are rather worried about the cash being in the bank/s/etc due to the current financial climate. We don't have to buy this house, or in this area. I thought being cash buyers we might be at a slight advantage however so far this hasn't proved to be the case.

We are also rather worried about the new Bank of England Governor arriving - who thought anyone could be worse than Merv?? More money printing anyone??

To be frank, we haven't even seen inside this house - which is perhaps why we are quite detached from the process. We know the houses as we have looked at them before (as I said, bog-standard 1960s housing) but the house is in a great area in Surrey. Our friend went to look at the house for us and took photographs and we offered on it, and it was accepted. It is on a great road, overlooking a protected area towards the Thames however there are other areas/houses out there. (Hove Actually, actually!) Are the people in Hove more decent than these?

When we were selling our previous house, we changed the toilet roll holder (from a really nice wedding present to a similar style but relatively cheap version) the weekend before we first showed it. The same with light fittings (we changed a couple but put back up the paper shades we'd used when we first bought, and left those behind when we moved out). And we said we wanted a few plants from the garden and had those dug up in pots 3 weeks before moving (6 week process total) so buyer could see empty spots. Took all our curtains but left all poles (even the nice ones) and the 2 blinds we'd installed. And all carpets and lino.

Got to new house. We'd been offered and rejected fridge, cooker and washing machine (all very dated, grungy, and WM didn't work). There was loads of crockery left in kitchen cupboards. We'd also been offered and rejected the curtains and pelmets (and stated both white goods and curtains were to be removed as part of sale). She said she wanted some of bathroom fittings - there were huge holes in the walls where she'd seemed to just pull out her huge pine towel rail, loo roll holder, cabinet, mirror, other holder, mug holder, all by brute force.

And the dirt and grime everywhere, when I was feeling guilty that, though I'd cleaned our old house beforehand and as we left, the movers had thrown hoover into van early so I never gave it a final run around.

I took all my garden pots though - that's ok surely?