Fixtures and fittings - would you be a bit peeved about this?

[Mykittensmittens]

I know they are within their rights, etc etc but just had the fittings forms back for our ongoing purchase. We loved the house particularly due to its high level of finish - but I was a bit shocked to find they are taking...

Every single light fixture
Not just the cooker but the splash backs
Every blind and curtain rail
The shed, the greenhouse
The compost bin
Towel rails
Toilet roll holders
Bathroom cabinets

All the bathroom fittings that are being removed are fitted on fully tiled walls so that’s not great.

In fact pretty much everything is ‘excluded’ that can be.

I have emailed the solicitor now but there is no mention of wanting to negotiate. Is that it then?

I presumed they might want to negotiate on leaving a few things but clearly not!

It’s not put me in the best of moods tonight.

I wouldn’t buy it. And if they grudgingly say they’ll leave it all day no as they’ll replace it with cheap tat.

This would really make me think twice. I can understand the shed and greenhouse I guess, but splashback and toilet roll holder is just mean.

@7yo7yo we had to wait to find this place - there is nothing else on the market even vaguely like it in a 10 mile radius.

They have even said they are emptying the coal bin abs wood store.

I get taking a cooker - but all the hassle of having the gas disconnected and then us having to pay for a new one to be fitted - surely they’d have been better off negotiating to sell it to us separately? It’s not even that new - probably 5 years old!!

And as for the light fittings - 😣 replaced with nasty plastic tat I assume. The windows are all odd shapes so no idea why they would insist on taking them but with no rails up then that leaves us limited for the first few days in terms of getting sorted quickly.

The shed and greenhouse were there when they had the house 10 years ago - they are on the prior listing!!

I am so annoyed.

Stuff that for a game of soldiers.

Was your offer based on the assumption that most of those things were included and would be staying?

I'd drop the purchase. One of the principal reasons you were interested is the high level of finish. That'll be ruined if they remove everything because retrofitting things like that often means tweaks to the decor of other aspects to the room e.g. tiles/wallpaper not having a perfect flush finish.

As a PP said, they'll just swap out for the cheapest possible on the market if you push them.

Desperation is no reason to buy a house. Or drop the price to reflect whatever they’re removing.

Are you offering asking price or are you getting a big discount?

I would drop the price by at least the cost of retiling the bathroom.

Light fittings (presumably you mean lamp shades?), Blind and curtain rails etc all standard to take imo.

If they take anything off the walls they have to make good, from memory.

Splashback is an odd thing to take, oven not so much if isn't Integrated.

I could understand taking curtains but not curtain rails or poles. That seems odd.

I think they'll find dismantling a shed and greenhouse more trouble than its worth! Hopefully it is just a negotiating tactic, or have they got the hump with you, maybe they thought your offer was low but had to take it for some reason?

Light fittings I wouldn't expect to be left unless they were standard white pendants.

You could go back and offer them less based on them taking out the items.

The fittings form is a fairly blunt tool. I’d wait for a response from your solicitor.

I don’t think you can expect them to leave things like light fittings (obviously they have to replace with basic ones, not just leave bare wires) and blinds / curtains, and I think it’s a bit cheeky to expect it tbh. My curtains and blinds cost in excess of £2,000 altogether and some of my light fittings hundreds each and I really like them - damn right they’ll be coming with me when I move house! Even things like my bathroom cabinet in my last flat was a decent one and cost a couple of hundred. I left it behind but had to buy a new one for my new place, so it was a cost to me to leave it. So I don’t think it’s that strange that they want to take things.

I think a lot is fine to take. I’d take lights as mine were expensive and I love them. Splash backs is odd. How will the walls look afterwards?
How far in to the purchase are you?

Are you sure they’re not hoping you’ll offer to buy it all? I can’t get my head round why you’d take blinds etc that are unlikely to fit another house. How bizarre.

I’ll be taking my bulbs when I move because they cost me a fortune (I’ll replace) but honestly can’t think what else I’d take that’s on your list. Madness!

When we sold our house the estate agent said "I'll get you a good price for fixtures and fittings" leading to lots of pointless arguments about the value of some shelves or our (perfectly decent shed). Complete waste of time as the buyers weren't going to throw another £1000 at the sale for secondhand items. If I ever sell again, everything we want to leave will be in the sale price.

If the market was washed with other properties even vaguely like it I would!!! I think they’re just pissed off we haggled.

The house has two oddly shaped bays - the curtains literally wouldn’t fit anywhere else. The pole is a bay pole. I know the property they are buying and it has windows in no way the same. Plus the house they are moving to has a fitted cooker so why take the cooker with you or not be open to a negotiation?

It just feels so horribly grabby and mean.

Surely if they are open to a negotiation it would say so on the fixtures listing? Isn’t that what the price box is for?

Some things, like curtains, are normal. But bathroom cabinets? That could mean needing new tiles etc. I'd be dropping my offer but however much it costs to replace it all for brand new top quality. Things like a shed can go either way but usually you'd be told. If they're in the agents details then they should be included.

Mind you, one house we bought they said they'd leave the lights, but when we moved in there were bare live wires hanging out of the walls!

Depends.
Light switches - odd to take.
Light fittings and shades -I would expect them to take.
Curtain poles - I’d expect them to take if they are very nice ones.
Splash back would be odd to take.

Totally ridiculous to finish a house off and then take the elements that make it finished, why put them in in the first place why not remove them before you put it on the market, I suspect this is a tactic to get you to offer on the items, if you feel the items removal is acceptable you need to stipulate they make good any holes or damage when these items are removed otherwise you’re going to have a mess to sort out see if they change there mind, of course the issue is if they don’t make good you’ll have to take them to court afterwards

Some people are weird like this. Curtains and light fittings fair enough but the splash back?!

I'm a conveyancing solicitor and recently had one where the sellers were taking everything, e.g. fitted heated towel rail from the bathroom (the ones that are basically radiators), all taps, Solar panels off the roof etc. my client pulled out in the end.

They probably want more money out of you by selling them separately or trying to sell through facebay or similar.

If they aren’t offering a price to buy them at then maybe they just actually want to take their things with them and it isn’t personal. Perhaps they promised the cooker to a friend whose own is rubbish. Perhaps the curtains were expensive and will fit perfectly in their holiday home. Who knows. These are things they’ve bought separately and really shouldn’t be expected to be a part of the purchase, any more than if you thought the sofa was the perfect fit for the living room and therefore wanted it to stay.

If things like the splash backs are going to leave damage then you can insist they make good the damage and put plain replacements in.