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Original poster

Seller leaving house in disgusting state

20 replies

Happychappy33 · 05/04/2019 08:04

Hello,

We have just completed on our first home and moved in yesterday after the owner moved out in January. We were shocked to find the place was really dirty - we first saw it in November and it wasn’t as bad. I thought she might have at least attempted to clean it. I’m talking mouldy cupboard where food has leaked and never cleaned, black toilet, dirt on door handles, skirting boards, dog hair everywhere.

Our contract says the property should be ‘left in a reasonably clean and tiny condition’.

Is there anything we can do about it or do we just have to suck it up? We spent 4 hours cleaning it yesterday before we could put anything in.

OP posts:
BlackSatinDancer · 05/04/2019 08:41

"Is there anything we can do about it"
What were you thinking could be done? Do you want the former owner to pay you 4 hours labour?

I'd just suck it up. One person's idea of reasonably clean and tidy may vary significantly from another's. If they'd left old furniture and a shed or garage full of rubbish that would be a different matter.

I wish you much happiness in your first home.

Gooseygoosey12345 · 05/04/2019 08:48

Now that you've cleaned it there's not much you can do. What should have been done is that you take pictures, employ somebody to clean it, then the invoices get sent to them/their solicitor. It's a condition of sale so they'd have been made to pay.

AwkwardPaws27 · 05/04/2019 09:01

The cleanliness isn't usually enforceable - it's par for the course unfortunately. One person's 'reasonably clean' is another person's filth.

Also, don't underestimate the amount of muck that can be uncovered by moving furniture and having a team of removal men walking in and out. Our flat was pretty much ok, I'd wiped out cupboards etc as I packed, but the hall floor was really grubby after the furniture was moved out, and as we exchanged and had to had over the keys an hour earlier than expected I didn't have time to mop it.

My vendors left a bin in the garden filled to the brim with dog shit and water. Getting rid of that was fun Angry

flumpybear · 05/04/2019 09:05

Next time you move, particularly if you're moving into an empty house, get the keys if you can and either clean yourself or get a team of deep cleaners in

We did this at our last house and even steamed all the carpets the day before we moved in - it made moving day less stressful!

stucknoue · 05/04/2019 09:07

Unfortunately this happens, I had to throw out a carpet on the day I moved in and the oven wasn't useable. Nothing you can really do but I was a lot less generous with the post forwarding - after 3 months I returned to sender

Burlea · 05/04/2019 09:09

When we moved in to our present home it was absolutely filthy, like yours mold, dog hair, loo in a terrible state. The first week we spent scrubbing like mad. I took photos and asked the solicitor who advised that it would be difficult to claim as what is one person's idea of clean is not the same as ours.
The sellers were stalwarts of the local chapel and everyone kept saying to us what a lovely home we have got. Imagine there faces when I showed them the photos on my phone.
Enjoy your home and just think that it is now to your standards.

Original poster
Happychappy33 · 05/04/2019 09:30

Thanks all, we will suck it up but reassuring to know we are not alone! Really helpful to hear your stories - it could have been a lot worse

OP posts:
BlueSkiesLies · 05/04/2019 09:44

Best thing you can do is just get your new home lovely, and forget about it.

Harboring ill feeling and annoyance will drive you mad when there is no recompense easily available.

jackparlabane · 05/04/2019 10:11

Sympathy. Our house had been empty for two years and not cleaned before that by lots of 'laddy' tenants. So we had two cleaners spend six hours each on the place, and they didn't have a chance to start on the kitchen.

It was after I'd spent about five hours on it I discovered the tiles actually had a pattern of grey smears, and it wasn't just intractable dirt...

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 05/04/2019 11:39

Don't know what you can do after the event, except take photos and get your solicitor to take it up with theirs.

Having once suspected that my vendor was going to leave a load of rubbish and manky old furniture, I specified that he must clear it completely - I didn't see why I should have to pay to have his rubbish taken away.

However I had a fair idea that he'd try it on anyway, so I arranged to meet the EA at the property, just a couple of hours before completion,when the money was due to be paid over.

Sure enough, he had left a load of junk. I refused to sanction completion until he'd cleared the lot, 24 hours later.
He wasn't at all happy, but that was his problem.

janinlondon · 05/04/2019 11:44

We also had this. They left all their filthy furniture and old mattresses too. We had to pay our removalists to take it away. We managed to clean one room for us to sleep in on the first day.....the rest happened on the weekend. I was 8 months and three weeks pregnant. There is no recompense - just suck it up I'm afraid.

BillyCongo · 05/04/2019 14:32

Four hours?? We spent four whole DAYs cleaning ours before we could move in! I think you got off lightly. If they left everything as per fixtures and fittings list and no rubbish then nothing you can do.

longearedbat · 05/04/2019 16:40

My last house was a total tip when I moved in. I had to throw out the carpets, replace the loo immedietly which was so disgusting and old and stained like you've never seen. I also had to scrape the kitchen floor with a knife. I was amazed to find it was red and yellow and not brown. A visiting friend has a violent athsma attack because of the dust - and she hadn't had an attack for years!
Probably why it had been on the market for a year, and why I got it cheap.

Inferiorbeing · 05/04/2019 17:47

We moved in to find everything (and I mean everything!) sticky and mould all over the place. We also could smell weed and found a large stash of it in a cupboard!

Movinghouseatlast · 05/04/2019 20:04

This house was absolutely filthy.

They had also run the oil in the tank so low that the boiler blew up. Cost us £7000 when they could have paid £100 for a bit of oil. I actually hate them.

VictoriaBun · 05/04/2019 20:09

When we got our house, I donned those white paper all in one things and started in the kitchen from above the kitchen cupboards and worked my way down !

Bunnyfuller · 05/04/2019 20:14

I half killed myself taking the cooker we were leaving to bits, losing a little screw thing and frantically trying to find something to replace it (which I did) such was my need to leave it clean. Moved into the house we bought and had THE most revolting dirty cooker and oven.

They also ran the oil down, and we found out that the plumber who had serviced it had told the previous owners it was about to die. Fuckers. It did die.

MiniMum97 · 05/04/2019 22:06

It took two of us two weeks to clean our house when we moved in, plus a professional carpet and oven clean. The oven cleaners were not happy, it was the worst oven they had ever seen!

There were still bits we didn't get to in that time.

Grim.

Nat6999 · 06/04/2019 18:36

We spent a week scraping chip fat & nicotine off the walls, ceilings & floors in my first house. Gallons of hot water, sugar soap & bleach are best, buy new toilet seats for every toilet. Give all walls & ceilings a couple of coats of cheap emulsion to give you a blank canvas.

Phillipa12 · 06/04/2019 18:46

My sister took photos and called in emergency deep cleaners and then got her solicitor to chase for payment. She would have cleaned it herself if she had not been 8 months pregnant with twins.

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