Would you re-negotiate badly after finding badly stained carpets?

[30sthngLondon]

I'm in the process of buying a flat - it's an old building and when we looked around it was tenanted to some v grimy hoarder-like tenants (I touched the tap and immediately wanted to scrub my hands!!) - but I'd seen photos of it empty from the previous year, brand new carpets and good repair for things that matter. Generally it's a bit run-down and needs a decor upgrade and a good scrub which I knew when I put the offer in.

Tenants have now vacated and now they've taken all their stuff and now you can see that the carpets have been revealed as badly stained in verrrry large areas (need replacing type level, wouldn't want to walk around in bare feet!) I had a building survey done and they think replacing them could run into the thousands.

Would you ask for money off the sale price? I feel I'm getting a relatively good deal but not an absolute bargain and I can't actually afford to replace the carpets (using every penny I have!) First time buyer and don't want to jeopardise the sale.

Thanks for your thoughts!

No I dont think you can expect to renegotiate for that. In the old days people used to take their carpets with them

With v grimy hoarder tenants I would have assumed you would want to replace all the carpets anyway?

If you don't want to jeopardise the sale then just rip up carpets and put down rugs until you can afford new carpets. You could also ask the current owner to remove the carpets I guess - that would make things easier for you.

Not at this point I wouldnt, esp as you've said it wasnt a bad price to start.
I'd rip any carpet out anyhow, as I cant stand them, sorry not much help there!

No

Okay, thanks! Good point @haveuheard, I'm not keen on carpets anyway, I'd probably go for rugs with a choice... (there's a clause in the lease that it has to be carpeted because it's a flat but hopefully rugs do the same job).

Finding it hard to navigate having a bulldog QS father-in-law who plays hardball with everything and thinks I should negotiate. Think it's an okay deal, no idea really as nothing to compare - I just know I want to live there!

It's a risk, but it's an ask too - you could say it, if I was the vendor I'd be pissed though if you got a decent price anyway as it's run down?

you cant really as they could of put new carpets in that wernt a colour you liked or style you didnt want the house we have moved into has horrid floral axminster about twenty years old all the way through, spotlessly clean but hurts your eyes, we didnt even think about asking for a reduction we just went round going thats got to be replaced and we take the hit

Could you request that given the condition they were left by the tennant that they are professionally cleaned before completing!?
That seems only fair so that they are liveable to move into!

there's a clause in the lease that it has to be carpeted because it's a flat but hopefully rugs do the same job well, no. If it says they have to be carpeted, you need to have them carpeted.

I wouldn't give up on the carpets until they have been professionally cleaned. You could ask sellers to do this or ask if they could arrange and carry out and you will pay before you move in. It can make a huge difference.

I really wouldn’t
You’ll probably get a sharp no and risk just pissing off the vendor.

Unless it's an enormous flat, it really shouldn't cost thousands.
Try a professional clean - the tenants should have done this and if they didn't, the vendor could have done it and tried to get it back from their deposit
If carpets are only a couple of years old, it's worth cleaning them before giving up.

Another one saying professional clean. You may find they come up well. Just throw the rug over the stain if they can’t get it out. You will need it carpeted though, rugs aren’t sufficient.

Rugs would only replace carpet surely in your situation if you leap from one rug to the next and never put foot on the floor? Like an adult version of "the floor is lava"?

I agree that professional cleaning may solve this. Or if you really can't face it then carpeting a flat doesn't need to be expensive. Most rooms in apartments can be covered with off cuts - you'd be amazed how big an off cut is - and they can work out really cheap. Don't go to carpet right or whatever. Go to a local merchant. You've got plenty of time to go back and forth getting the off cuts you want until your purchase goes through.

@Hopesorfears I love this idea, floor is lava it is for the next 10 years

Think I'll try giving it a professional clean (it's not just stained in one place - it's throughout, kind of everywhere, in every room) - if it doesn't come up okay we'll take them up and use a combo of rugs and offcuts until we can afford to do it properly!

When we bought our house the carpets were actually ruined under the furniture, we didnt bother to say anything because we were the ones who hadn't thought to check and ended up replacing them all! For a 3 bed semi with laminate downstairs and a lovely deep carpet upstairs it cost 2k

The seller is allowed to take all the carpets with them if they want (same as curtains and light fittings) so you really can't ask for money off due to the state of the carpets.

Usually in a house purchase you wouldn't even see the property without furniture until the day you move in anyway.

We got a good price on our house, but when we moved in some carpets were in a disgusting condition. We just had to suck it up and replace.

In fairness, when we moved out of ours, our carpets looked dreadful too. There's nothing like moving out furniture to get the true view on a room.

I don't understand how a flat can run into thousands though.

We live in a large flat and re carpeted with end rolls and off cuts. New lino for the kitchen and bathroom. Paid for top quality underlay and fitting, and the whole lot came to about £800. It doesn't cost thousands to re carpet a flat.

Maybe I misunderstood what the building surveyor was saying about the cost, maybe he meant the general cost of repairs was thousands in total rather than just carpets...

Either way, good news that it can be done for less! I will stop worrying and go back to being excited about moving

I probably wouldn’t ask for money off but it might be worth asking for them to be cleaned. Be really careful taking carpets up in a flat, it can be a nightmare for people living underneath (the noise, even with rugs, is massively increased- I once lived in a flat where I could hear alarms, coughing, snoring and money dropped on the floor sounded like a major landfall!). Quickest way to fall out with neighbours. I’d get the rugs laid on top of the (hopefully cleaned) carpet.

I carpeted my cottage 3x double bedrooms 1x single bedroom, landing and stairs , good quality carpet but not top end , supplied and fitted with underlay was £1k , if you can do it before moving in it's much easier without furniture

A building surveyor wouldn't be looking at carpets? Also, if you are buying the place then why do you have a lease?

@Sunbeam18 when you buy a flat it's usually leasehold not freehold so the owner of the freehold can stipulate things like this.

Also the survey when we bought our flat mentioned decor so some surveyors must look at those things.