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Original poster

Vendor left 2 skips worth of rubbish

48 replies

bimbabirba · 20/09/2013 18:58

In the loft, under the trees, behind the sheds. In very single hidden corner there's a broken chair or an old rug or broken pots, even a basin!
We've moved in 2 months ago. Is it too late to kick up a fuss? We've just discovered the loft is full of rubbish too and that's what had tipped us over.

OP posts:

RedHelenB · 20/09/2013 19:01

Unless you specified it had to be clear I can't see you have any comeback.

RCheshire · 20/09/2013 19:10

'Tipped' us over... ;o)

To be honest it's hugely difficult to have any kind of comeback after you've exchanged, even if the heating doesn't work etc.

Periwinkle007 · 20/09/2013 19:12

our neighbours had this when they moved in - I think it was at least 2 skips and a lot of tip runs. It is very common unfortunately, especially to leave the loft full (do check it though, you may find something worth having)
After 2 months I don't think you can do anything about it now. had you discovered the day you moved in then I think yes you could have complained but by now it is too late.

fingers crossed you find diamond jewellery or original paintings or something

BoysRule · 20/09/2013 19:14

This happened to us - there was a broken shed in the garden (the roof had fallen in) which was full of junk. We had to spend an entire weekend clearing it and hired 3 skips which wasn't cheap. We couldn't do anything about it.

We should have stipulated in our offer that the shed and its contents were removed. But naively we assumed they might at least take their rubbish with them.

BrownSauceSandwich · 20/09/2013 19:22

Ugh. That's really, really inconsiderate, but I have no clue whether you could pin them down to paying for a skip, especially this long afterwards. We had endless crap in the loft here when we arrived, and considering the old rotting leather suitcases, and the luggage rack from when cars didn't have boots, I'd guess it dated back several owners! And of course, we turned a blind eye till we got round to insulating the loft space... You should've see the dirt that came down with it.

Bowlersarm · 20/09/2013 19:23

Do you even know where they are now?

DontCallMeDaughter · 20/09/2013 19:27

Friend of mine always insists on a clause in the contract saying property must be cleared, there's nothing you can do unless its in the contract. It's so annoying, we had it when we moved to this house, took me months to get it all cleared.

Original poster

bimbabirba · 20/09/2013 19:45

Of course it was stipulated before exchange that the house should be empty! Our solicitor made sure that was the case
yes I do have her new address. I've been forwarding mail to her that has made it here despite redirection. So in theory I could sue her for the cost of two skips (£180 each around here).
What really pisses me off is that she's been hiding it all really well so it's clearly sneaky.

OP posts:

PeteHornberger · 20/09/2013 19:47

So annoying and just completely inconsiderate, if they're too lazy to clear out their loft, why should you have to do it?! This happened to us when we moved in to our current house, we naively assumed people would dispose of anything they didn't want to take with them.

You learn though..the house we've just bought is a probate sale and quite full of stuff even though it's been "cleared"- we kept nagging and asked for it either to be completely cleared on exchange or for us to have the cash equivalent of skip hire and half a days labour. They went for the cash option!

Bowlersarm · 20/09/2013 19:47

Then mention it (send her a bill?) and see what her reaction is?

Original poster

bimbabirba · 20/09/2013 20:05

Totally inconsiderate! Cleaning up your own rubbish is bad enough, doing it for someone else after you've paid them half a million is bloody infuriating!

OP posts:

LadyCelia · 20/09/2013 22:36

We had this too. We got the estate agents & the solicitors on the case, which had no effect whatsoever, and eventually I put a note through the door of their new place saying that if they didn't come round & collect/clear their junk by X date, I would dump it in their new front garden. It did the trick, as they sent a couple of blokes & a van round the next week. Could you do something similar?

Elliptic5 · 20/09/2013 22:52

That's nothing, you should have seen what was here when we moved in:
3 Piece suite, table and chairs, sideboard still full of alcohol, television, 2 old cars in the garage.
In the garden: an old van, 3 wooden railway carriages, piles of tyres, enough old windows to reglaze a dozen houses, panes and panes of glass, 2 rotting chicken sheds full of old newspapers and cardboard boxes with more glass stacked underneath them?
3 sheds full of furniture, more windows, doors, carpets, tools, absolutely masses of timber, sheets of asbestos roofing........ The list could go on and on.
The house had been empty (as such!) for two years. The only thing we managed to get them to remove was the cars.
Over time we've sold the tools and other bits and pieces to fund the innumerable skips we've hired - I got so good at stacking the glass in skips that the skip lorry tipped when it tried to lift the skip and the council rang up to query whether it was domestic rubbish . The asbestos removal was a pita.
We had loads of bonfires and upset the neighbours, and OH got on first name terms with the guys at the tip.
The timber has come in handy as we've now got woodburners, and other bits and pieces have been used (we still use the table in the conservatory), but I will NEVER, NEVER move into a house without making sure it is empty first!

Elliptic5 · 20/09/2013 22:54

Oh forgot to mention the bath, half a dozen old sinks (now used as planters) whole roofs worth of slates - sorry I'll stop now .

HomerPigeon · 21/09/2013 06:08

Assuming the usual clause about buying the house worth vacant possession was in the contract, you will have a claim agains the vendor for breach of contract. But your damages would only be the actual loss you have suffered, so the costs of the 2 skips. For £360 (£180) I would not bother issuing a claim in the small claims court, though I would write a strongly worded letter enclosing copies of the invoices for the skips and saying she is liable to you for this sum, and requiring her to pay it within 7 days failing which you will issue proceedings.

Shake the tree, see what falls out.

Hope your new home is lovely other than the detritus left behind!

fossil971 · 21/09/2013 08:46

We had two ten-ton lorry loads cleared from one house - but it was obvious as we couldn't even move in until it had gone - the solicitor got our money back for us.

The silver lining was there were quite a few useful things (tools etc) that became assimilated into our household.

Can't beat Elliptic's railway carriages though!

watchingout · 21/09/2013 08:52

I bought a very ramshackle farm which had one field FULL of knackered old machinery and vehicles. Took three weeks to notice a transit van buried in the undergrowth. Most of the other crap was visible though apart from the loft and we did buy it knowing that it was a HUGE project. Still, you have my sympathy

Elliptic5 · 21/09/2013 09:58

We got quite a lot back in scrap metal value for the bases of the carriages after we burnt the wood away, so not all bad .

Original poster

bimbabirba · 21/09/2013 11:03

OMG Elliptic!
I sent her an email this morning in friendly but firm terms saying that there's a lot of rubbish that needs to be cleared from the loft and under the trees and could she let me know when she can someone over to do it.
We've been on very friendly terms this far and I did cringe a bit in sending the email but it's just time and money that we can't afford to spend on this at the moment.
Will let you know what she says!

OP posts:

AboutTimeForAChange · 21/09/2013 11:07

You have saved some money there in legal fee's. Good luck.

TimeAgainForWellies · 21/09/2013 16:57

Go through it first to see if there is anything you might put onto antiques roadshow, or ebay.

Then dump it on her lawn.

Original poster

bimbabirba · 21/09/2013 19:03

I'm afraid it's all broken and rusty stuff that needs to go to the tip. No chest of treasures!

OP posts:

Lonecatwithkitten · 21/09/2013 19:10

25 tonnes of rubbish from a garden including a dead car and no less than 4 dead computers. Specialist guys came in with ground clearing equipment.

Original poster

bimbabirba · 21/09/2013 20:49

WTF Lonecat!

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Original poster

bimbabirba · 17/10/2013 21:33

So I wrote to the bitch again this time in stronger terms and threatened legal action if she doesn't remove or pay for the removal of the stuff.
I just can't believe the reply! She had the cheek to say that she had accepted our offer to "help us out" and she was implying that I was ungrateful because she accepted an offer under asking price to be nice to us? wtf? I'd never met this woman before so surely she didn't accept a lower offer to be "nice" and how much we paid is clearly beyond the point. Surely she didn't need to accept out offer?
So manipulative and childish.
She also denied leaving ANYTHING behind,
I'm absolutely livid and want to go and dump it all on her front garden.

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