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Original poster

What useful things have you been left by previous occupant?

84 replies

wowfudge · 04/08/2015 20:03

I'm adding this thread as I have just finished coat number three on a ceiling with the help of a roller extension pole the vendor left in the first house I bought. They never reclaimed it.

There are frequent threads about how rank people have left places and we had to hire to skip to get rid of the crap left by the previous occupants of our current house so I thought a positive alternative would be good.

OP posts:

CointreauVersial · 04/08/2015 23:08

What a coincidence - DS has just emerged from the loft clutching a giant Grant's whisky bottle, about two feet high. Empty, alas. But I've never seen it before, so it must have been left by the previous owners, who moved out nearly 7 years ago. He's going to fill it with 2p pieces.

Also left behind and still in use - a broom, a nice screwdriver, a coffee table, several lovely garden pots and a very battered garden gnome.

Less popular were the scaffolding poles, the shed full of scrap wood and broken tiles, the loo brushes, the disgusting floral curtains and the large white pair of kidney-warmers found down the back of a radiator.

Pipbin · 04/08/2015 23:15

When I moved into my student house the chap in the room before me asked if I wanted his desk and chair. Nice knee hole desk and a swivel chair. I took that desk with me for the next few house moves and left it in a house I moved out of years later.

Pipbin · 04/08/2015 23:18

But the best one happened to friends of my parents.
They moved into a house and found three carrier bags in the loft stuffed full of used tenners!
I seem to recall that they did make an effort to find the owners but couldn't.
They took a couple of notes a week to spend, just to check that they weren't marked and then just used them like a cash point.

UniS · 04/08/2015 23:27

The first house we bought, we found a Vax in the loft, filthy, but cleanable. Still in service now some 12 years later.
2nd house, the sellers left a number of made to fit bookshelves , eventually we lulled them out and swapped 1 of them for a recipe book.
3rd house we bought, the sellerseft 2nice wardrobes ( still using them, thanks) and some more bookcases, back in use now after a spell in the garage.

Silverturnip · 04/08/2015 23:30

I lovely wooden step up stool from a house I rented year ago, I still have it and use every day.

Ragusa · 05/08/2015 00:00

Useful and welcome: a range of ancient but servicablr garden tools; a ladder; washer and dryer

Not so welcome: a loft full of shite, insulated with old jeans, carpet offcuts and incontinence bed mats

IHeartKingThistle · 05/08/2015 00:20

We bought our house after the old man who lived there died. We'd been round before the house was cleared and it had obviously been a very happy family home (albeit not decorated since the 70s!)

When we moved in there was a pot with a big bunch of fake orange chrysanthemums on the windowsill. We've been here 5 years and I still have them. They are terrible but kind of cool in a kitsch sort of way - I just cannot bring myself to get rid of them.

I did not feel the same way about the salmon pink velvet curtains!

Rosesareblack · 05/08/2015 02:42

My house contained a Victorian nursing chair which was a bit tatty but has been restored. Also a French antique cupboard and matching dresser, a large limed oak table, a gate legged table and a tallboy. I still have them all except the large table and I wish I still had that too.

Justyouwaitandsee · 05/08/2015 03:11

We also moved into an 'unfurnished' flat and inherited a beautiful solid wood table and chairs plus an antique wardrobe. Both of which have moved with us and are still in use today.

echt · 05/08/2015 04:58

Our vendors would have left everything in the house: beds, wardrobes, curtains, sofas, etc. having rented it out for a while. Everything was serviceable and in decent nick. We selected the bits we could use to tide us over, and they cleared the rest.

When we'd finished with the stuff we were able to pass on the better pieces to the DHSS.

MsAspreyDiamonds · 05/08/2015 05:19

Dishwasher
Small fridge
Curtains

MarchelineWhatNot · 05/08/2015 05:24

A giant squeegee on a stick! I use it to sweep the kitchen floor, so much better than a broom and easier than getting the vacuum out.

ToastedOrFresh · 05/08/2015 05:28

First house we moved into they vendor had left the gas cooker insitu, thanks. Most useful. We took it with us when we moved, we had it for 15 years.

Second house, there was a Christmas decoration in the loft, just hanging there. I didn't have the heart to move it so it stayed.

There was also a Christmas tree in the back garden which was probably planted a few years earlier. We harvested it and it was our first Christmas tree in that house that Christmas.

Current house. There's a bamboo hula hoop in the garage which I think has been there for nearly 40 years.

specialsubject · 05/08/2015 10:51

loads of chicken wire - now we know why, sodding rabbits...

moved back into a previous house after it had several sets of tenants. Every cupboard contained a random object, the last tenants were adamant it wasn't theirs so presumably previous ones had left them. Did quite well on ebay!

greenbanana · 05/08/2015 12:58

Giant Jenga

We knew they'd left the shed full of stuff as it came up on our survey (they'd moved abroad and house was rented). Decided not to ask them to clear it as there might be something good. The giant jenga was the best bit, although we also got a lawnmower, strimmer, loads of gardening tools, plant pots etc too.

SenecaFalls · 05/08/2015 13:14

A cat. Not so useful really, but quite a nice cat.

Elvish · 05/08/2015 13:22

We were left a lot of stuff, some of which I still haven't sorted out 3 years later

The highlights were a 10 foot trampoline which lasted over 3 summers and a cellar full of bags of plaster and other DIY stuff.

Shame he felt the need to remove all the nice light fittings and replace them with 50p jobs from B&Q - how special could the light fitting in the downstairs loo or utility cupboard be???!!?

aliciasmama · 05/08/2015 13:57

A set of extendable ladders which came in very handy when it came to pulling all the Dead Ivy off the walls.

misscupcakes · 05/08/2015 14:01

The elderly disabled man who owned our home before left behind lots of gardening stuff and white goods, which we either kept or passed on to family.

Less welcome were the business cards for escort services!

Onecurrantbun · 05/08/2015 14:06

We were left a little set of hooks for keys, still in situ and really useful. Also tons of spare bulbs.

When we moved house in my teens there was a 1980s porno stash behind the kitchen units!

My DH sold his childhood home at auction "as seen". We got a great price for it (it was in a really bad state and full of bad memories, and we exceeded the reserve price by 40% which allowed us to start over). I would love to hear what the investors found - jewellery, ornaments etc he just walked away from. We had a shit-hot solicitor who made sure the contract was watertight for leaving it as seen. I often wonder how brave you have to be to buy a sealed lot at auction, having seen DH's!

jn367502 · 05/08/2015 14:17

the previous owners left a sofa which we were grateful for as we had a three month wait for our new sofa to be delivered. gardening tools In the out house and a baseball bat.

RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog · 05/08/2015 15:54

Current house - a horrible garden gnome, a larder freezer and a safe in the cellar, although tbh we've not used the freezer and we sold the safe. We bought the place eight months ago and haven't ventured into the three attic spaces yet mainly because the hatches are so tiny they'd only be accessible by very small children

Our last house had literally hundreds of brass cup hooks screwed into every ceiling beam. We kept a few and DH reused them christ knows what forbut many were rusty so went straight in the skip. It did earn the PO the nickname of Captain Hook though.

One previous house had some antique walking sticks and a lovely old metal hat box in the attic which we had out on display for a few years, but later sold.....one walking stick fetched quite a good price on fleabay iirc!

Considering we've bought some interesting period houses over the past twenty-five years, we've been quite unfortunate in our findings compared to other posters. The most memorable and unexpected find was a large quantity of cheap, shitty furniture (57 pieces!) in a house we bought that had previously been let out as four flats. The vendor was the dad of an acquaintance and a bit of a nasty landlord by all accounts.

We bought the property privately with the intention of turning it back into a family home and were totally shocked by what we found on completion day not least the dozens of empty toilet rolls and deep brown ring around the lemon bath left by one tenant but were too young/naive to complain to our solicitor about it.....instead we spent many hours chopping the furniture up and taking it to the tip!

IHeartKingThistle · 05/08/2015 16:39

My mum has forced me to keep all the god-awful half broken gnomes in our garden because apparently the wrath of hell will descend if we remove them. Bad luck or something apparently.

NoMilkNoSugar · 05/08/2015 23:22

We did quite well, two sets of garden furniture, IKEA lamp, light shades, curtains, couple of ornaments.

SpecificOcean · 06/08/2015 09:19

A white board in the office- brilliant for lists

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