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.

Did you pay asking price?

They'll have fun taking down an old shed, it will probably have rot which they don't yet know about and the greenhouse too, that'll be fun wrapping up all the glass and transporting it, fairly certain they'll break some whilst removing it!

Wood and coal? Sounds like they are being very awkward. Was the agreed offer way under asking price?

They sound seriously pi55ed off and like they're going out of their way to be awkward and save every last penny. Toilet roll holder, christ!

*did you offer asking...?

I picked high-end fixtures and fittings when renovating my flat. I wouldn't dream of removing these when selling, however, if I had to sell drastically lower than my asking price (a realistic asking price), I may consider removing and reusing these as a cost-saving exercise.

Generally speaking, I believe the overall list price should include EVERYTHING.

Have you gotten clarification on this? Is it possible they have filled it out wrong e.g. they in some way thought it was excluded from them taking them perhaps?

They are trying to get you to pay more money for all of these things.

Either
a) reduce your offer significantly for tiling, sheds, light fittings
b) get your solicitor to make sure everything is repaired after they remove this stuff. Walls filled and repainted. Tiles replaced etc.

Not many people are this mean- although I do recall a case where the seller also removed the original flagstones from a garden path; ordered by court to return them - did you knock them down by several k on the price?

We didn’t offer asking no, but for context...

They advertised at £x - the house sold to another person for under asking price after being on the market for 7 months. It isn’t and wasn’t worth the full asking hence the long market wait.

That sale falls through and we are in a position to proceed. But they readvertise at the original (un-met) price plus more!! By which point they are into their purchase and will lose money. So we offer £20k under the asking price which is accepted. The agent says (stupidly) ‘it’s in the ball park of their prior offer so all things considered will accept’.

So not asking no, but given their position they are keen to move and I suspect just trying to recoup costs.

Stuff like the cooker - I get they can take it - but the bloody hassle of a gas fitter to unfit it, etc, sell it - I am 100% sure it won’t go where they are moving! They are moving to a downsized new build as a result of retirement. The development has fully fitted kitchens.

I’d actually be fine with buying the cooker to save the hassle of sourcing, fitting and having no cooker with two small DC!

As for the splashback - don’t get me going - it’s nothing that special really just plain black glass so what on Earth is the point?! Hassle to have one fitted though!!

Are they maybe German? :) This is totally standard in Germany. You move into a new place and there are no bulbs, they may even have taken the toilet or sink if they bought it. When I moved into my current flat, the kitchen was totally empty, just four walls with a hole in the wall where you'd connect the pipes.
I've never been an adult in the UK, do people really want to keep other people's curtain rails? 😂

Don't fall for it!

That's what they want. For you to be thinking it's going to be a hassle to replace an oven.

Ask your solicitor to get them to confirm in writing that they will make good any damage caused by removal of the fittings, including filling holes, repainting etc. This is implied but it's worth flagging it up in writing as some sellers don't understand their obligations.
If they refuse to make good, then you know where you stand and can reconsider your offer which was made on the basis of the high spec finish .
They are being difficult and you should play hardball.

I would go back and say you are fine with the cooker but not with the other items. The splash back going means it will destroy the kitchen. The towel holders etc these can be replaced.

If they say they are not leaving anything i would say you are revising your offer and drop the price by £2k. that would cover the repairs and replacement fixtures and fittings they want to remove.

Either play hard ball or suck it up. Depends how much you want the property tbh.

If I was in your shoes I’d seriously be looking at walking away. You say they have a new build ready and waiting for them, they are more desperate than you!

Walk away, they’re playing you for fools.

Make them an offer for the stuff you like the most or would be the biggest ball-ache

it’s nothing that special really just plain black glass so what on Earth is the point?!

I imagine it was expensive.

I think it's pretty usual to take curtains, curtain polls and light fittings. Also appliances that aren't integrated. I'd draw the line at a loo roll holder though and splashbacks is just wrong.

Taking off the splash back will wreck the wall. I replaced a stainless steel one with a red glass one and it needed a lot of adhesive as it's quite heavy. They'll either leave the wall in a mess or smash the glass.

So it’s okay to say they don’t have to just ‘make good’ the wall but taking a splashback should mean they leave something, not just a plain wall with filled holes?

I’ll also watch ebay. The irony of bidding on their items when they clearly don’t want to negotiate with us is somehow satisfying?

They don't have to replace a splashback no, they're not integral.

I guess you have to ask yourself whether you got yourself a good deal, even without the fixtures etc? By the sounds of it, what they're removing accounts for maybe £3-4k... So is your £asking + £3-4k still a good deal? If so, i'd proceed. If not, and you feel you paid that max you felt it was worth, then walk away.

With my own purchase, I paid £35k under asking price. If the seller wanted to strip the flat bare, I wouldn't have been too bothered because I felt I'd gotten a very good deal for the location, age and condition of the flat.

@SoupDragon

it’s nothing that special really just plain black glass so what on Earth is the point?!

I imagine it was expensive.

Our family friend spent £3k on a plain red perspex splashback. Nothing special in the slightest, in fact I think it looks quite cheap.

We had the exact same when we came here. It was a beautiful house, newly done with a high finish and expensive fitments. They took:
Light fittings
All shelves
Shed
Cooker
Kitchen hanging rails (leaving holes in tiles)
Bathroom mirror
Loo roll holder (leaving holes in tiles)
Bathroom towel rails (again leaving lots of holes in the tiles).
All the Curtains
Most of the curtain rails
But they did leave the nets!

Horrible woman who owned it before was very houseproud and grumpy at having to accept our 5% off AP offer, to allow her to proceed with the house she wanted to buy.
She also failed to disclose previous structural issues which were not picked up until years later.

@DryRoastPeanut

If I was in your shoes I’d seriously be looking at walking away. You say they have a new build ready and waiting for them, they are more desperate than you!

Walk away, they’re playing you for fools.

I agree. It sounds like they are trying to squeeze every last penny out of the house. I assume that they think that they can sell the items ... but all the proceeds will go on making good! I would be wary of them pulling some stunt the day before exchange.

I remember a thread on here a few years ago, when someone moved into a house and the previous occupants had removed the whole bathroom suite !

I don't remember what the outcome was but have in my head that the previous occupant may have been asked to compensate their buyer for the missing items. Perhaps the compensation was in the form of a bucket!

Curtains, curtain poles and cooker is pretty standard i would have thought.

Bathroom cabinets that are attached to the wall is a bit odd, when you say toilet roll holders are they freestanding? Again normal if they are.

Light fittings i probably would take as well if they were nice/expensive and just leave standard bulb in its place