Leaving expensive(ish) light fittings - would you?

[40grump7]

The light fittings I chose for our house were fairly expensive and I love them. All handmade and solid brass.

DH thinks we should leave them for the buyers - but I think they should come with us, or be negotiated for by the buyer. (They haven’t said anything about fixtures and fittings yet.)

We are selling and not immediately buying, so won’t know if we need them for some time. And anyway, maybe the buyers will want to put their own stamp on the place?

But DH thinks leaving wires hanging out where the light fittings all should be would be rude!

I don’t know. What is good form here?

Also have the same question about curtain rails!! (Again, solid brass and I really love them - but were not made to measure.)

Why don't you put cheaper ones in replace of the ones you want to take so not to leave wires sticking out and the new owners without light fittings.

If you're going to take them you should replace with something a bit more bog standard. Absolutely not leave wires hanging out of the wall!

I think you need to note what you are taking on the fixtures and fittings form. It is acceptable to replace fittings with a standard white ceiling fitting but polite to mention that you are doing so.

Agree to leaving cheaper ones

Same with curtain rails. You can take yours but you can't leave your buyers with nothing!

Honestly I can't imagine anyone really considering leaving no light fittings/curtain rails at all. That's not on.

You cannot leave wires hanging out. You would need to fit a rose & bulb and leave it in a working condition.

You can take the fittings but you would need to say so in the fixtures and fittings. You can offer to sell them also but be prepared the buyers may not want them.

But DH thinks leaving wires hanging out where the light fittings all should be would be rude!
Selling a house is a business transaction, not a social engagement.

It's up to the vendor to stipulate what is, and is not, included in the sale. I would make the light fittings an extra to be negotiated - those things are expensive!

We took some light fittings that were a wedding present but we declared it to the buyers and put another fitting in its place.

If you want them for your new place, then take them and replace with a cheap fitting - a properly wired-in bulb holder with working bulb is all that's needed.
You're not obliged to leave them, or curtain rails, unless stipulated in f&fs.
Curtain rails can just be taken down - you don't need to leave anything in its place.
Same with dressers and butcher's blocks in kitchen.

You cannot leave wires hanging out of the ceiling. I think it's actually illegal to do that. You can fit hanging pendant lights in all rooms to make them safe. Thats what our seller did.

I have same, electrician is charging me £20 to replace with a pendant & flex. This is what i would expect re anything fancy

It wouldn’t occur to me to leave light fittings I’ve actually chosen and purchased and fitted any more than I’d leave the artwork on the walls or the rugs on the floor, and I’d be bemused if a buyer expected it. I always fit basic ceiling roses and leave lightbulbs when I move out, though.

Tell the buyers what you are taking.
Make sure you make good any removal of curtain poles - fill holes and paint walls. It's not on selling an immaculately decorated house and then having buyers move in to tatty walls.

This is helpful! Okay I will get some bog standard ones fitted. £20 each will make it add up a bit, but the ones I bought were a lot more than that so it’s worth it.

Thank you!

@40grump7

This is helpful! Okay I will get some bog standard ones fitted. £20 each will make it add up a bit, but the ones I bought were a lot more than that so it’s worth it.

Thank you!

You don’t need an electrician to fit a ceiling rose, it’s a very straightforward ten minute job which you can do yourself, and there’s no legal requirement to have a qualified fitter do it as with major electrical jobs. Watch a couple of YouTube videos and follow the instructions in the packet.

Have you already an offer in place? If not, replace them before you go to market and have the pics taken with the cheap ones in. But you do need to replace them all, yes.

On the curtain rails you will need to make good (polyfilla and paint) holes left when they come down. But no need to leave a basic replacement, unlike light fittings.

Now last time this came up everyone threw their hands up in horror that anyone would be so cheap as to take the light fittings.
They even suggested that the ‘quality of light’ might be what sold someone the house.

I think take them, especially if they are expensive. But you must replace them with something basic to make it safe and make it clear that you are doing this ASAP.

I’ve done it myself with €5 fittings from IKEA. Add one of their round rice-paper shades and it looks ok-ish.

We once left an expensive Heals light fitting because it was complicated to remove, but we did take easily removed wall lights.( leaving cheap replacements). 3 houses later we have never lived anywhere where the light fittings would have suited. I’d leave them and buy new once you’ve found your new house.
As Karma, pay forward, the seller of our current house left two beautiful light fittings at no extra cost.

Unless they've explicitly said so, please don't assume that the buyer shares your sense of taste.

It's more likely they'd appreciate a regular light fitting that they can add their own shade.

I wouldn't waste £20 light fitting are a personal choice . You get a form to fill in what you are taking/leaving just replace with pendant holder and ceiling rose about £2 from screw fix .
It's just so wasteful to get cheap ones that will properly be binned/landfill and the might have there own anyway

You must make sure that you tell them which fittings you are removing and replacing. They may also want a reduction in price if they have made an offer in good faith thinking they are prepared to pay that price because of the quality of the fittings and find out they are being left with standard and will need to pay out to get back to fittings of a similar quality.

The Property Information Form which you'll fill in asks you to confirm whether you will leave a bulb, bulb holder, flex and ceiling rose. If you tick "no", you will invariably be picked up this and it's likely to leave a buyer wondering what else you're going to do!

You can take curtain poles if you want to but it's a faff to take them down carefully and fill the holes unless you're sure that they will go in the new house or are sufficiently valuable that you'd take them anyway.