What is it reasonable to take when you move?

[bluebellbow]

Husband and I have a difference of opinion about what we can and can’t take when we sell our house. We have a really expensive electric/ gas range cooker, I think as long as we say we’re taking it when we fill out all the forms- that’s reasonable to take with us? He thinks we can’t. The washing machines and tumble driers I’m taking, and he thinks this is ok, I just don’t see why the range cooker is any different? But happy to concede I may be being unreasonable? What is the done thing with taking appliances etc?

I would take it, but as it's likely to be a feature I'd write down the details for it and any other lifestyle desirable features if they wanted to emulated what you had.
I'm rubbish with picking our furniture and furnishings and often what I like on Rightmove is how the current owners have decorated and would really appreciate a similar list of what had been in the home and where it was bought from so I could look at similar items.

Thanks for the replies, some very different opinions. The house we’re moving to we’re in the process of building ourselves, so we’ll be buying all the appliances that we don’t take. I have an intergrated dishwasher and an integrated under counter freezer, I’ll be leaving those behind. The range was bought in 2019 for about £1.5k.

Fair enough if it's been clear from the start, otherwise from a practical perspective I'd be annoyed to move in and have no cooker.
My sellers were extremely stingy and removed all the curtain poles, charged me for the fitted over-sink mirrors and even unscrewed and took the coat hooks in the coat cupboard. Didn't make good any of the holes either and left the place surprisingly filthy.

Your integrated dishwasher wouldn't fall out in that scenario would it?

I think you're being unreasonable to take it but if your buyers haven't complained about your plan to take it. that's up to them.

Wow! I’ll definitely be leaving things like blinds and light fixtures, curtain poles etc, that’s stingy I the extreme!

Perhaps I could buy an airfryer as a “sorry I took the range” 😂

That's exactly what the F&F form is for.

My first two bought houses came without a cooker. I bought one for the first house and took it with me to the next one. I then sold it onto my buyer when I left that one.

I’ve got an integrated dishwasher and a range cooker. The cooker was not cheap but is a standard 900mm size wide that just slides into the space under the extractor. I would take it if it fit in the house I was buying, probably wouldn’t if it didn’t.

Integrated dishwasher would definitely be left.

Haha yes - that and a list of good local takeaways 😂

No it wouldn't. But this thread also isn't about whether I'm being unreasonable.

What I mean is that's what the form is for and I've specified that in the form and the buyers haven't complained. So although the rule of thumb is turning the house upside down there can also be exceptions to that.

My buyers can have my range cooker.... It works fine, but it's wedged in, would ruin the floors to take out, has a broken iron bit, one of the rings doesn't work, and there's a dead mouse somewhere in the second oven. You're welcome 😂

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You wouldn't move into a house to find it has no oven. You'd have had full sight of the f&f forms weeks before exchange, so you'd know exactly what was or wasn't going to be there.

You might move into a house with no oven, in which case you either take yours with you or you buy a new one. Simple.

You're not the vendors of the house we're buying, are you?! 😅

I agree @Mildura with your opinion before the edit.

I think the take away from this thread @bluebellbow is that some people would feel annoyed at the suggestion you might take the cooker while others would apparently not be bothered.

You will need to declare it either way on the fixtures and fittings form. Just be aware that some buyers will feel annoyed if you say you are taking it. It may cause a bit of upset, unless it was clear from the start in the EA details that the cooker was not to be included. Somehow it just is different with washing machines and people normally take them unless integrated.

Most people because they bring their own.

Fixtures are things like the bath and lights (which you can take but must replace with the basic) which are part of the house and needed for basic function.

Non built in appliances (personally I hate built in so have avoided looking at houses like that as it means we are then stuck with it) are just appliances, same as the kettle or microwave or vacuum.

Most of the houses I have looked at in the last 2 years we have been looking to buy did not come with the ovens... only some the probate ones did if you wanted it (to save the family having to dispose of it).

I also know many people who have bought through the years and my parents bought 3 times in my life... don't try to discredit my experiences. I actually have MORE experience than many buyer (who have just seen and bought a house quickly and smoothly) by the sheer misfortune of being in this shit show for so long with 3 bloody failed house purchases (all different types of sale too).

The question OP is asking is What is it reasonable to take when you move?

Presumably they wanted opinions on that before deciding what to do and therefore what to put on the f & f forms.

The sales particulars for the house DS is buying refer to "space for freestanding cooker " even though the cooker is obviously shown in the photos.
So the vendor is of course, free to take it just like they'd take the freestanding fridge.
Although in his case the vendor is leaving both as they don't need them - but they've both been listed as being left on the form they've had to fill in.

I know! I was directly replying to the poster who said 'imagine moving into a house to find there was no oven'. My point was that you don't find out what is/isn't there on the day you move in - you know beforehand.

We designed our new kitchen around the v large range cooker. I had it professionally cleaned and serviced when we put the house up for sale. I said to prospective buyers that as long as they offered within reasonable range of asking price it would remain. It ended up getting us asking price in the end as the buyers loved it.

You're right and that poster was me. I accept that was not the right thing to say because you wouldn't generally find out on moving in day - as long as the seller was honest on the form.

I think that's a very good way of dealing with it. To ask the buyer to pay something towards a particularly expensive cooker so they feel they have the option to pay extra for it to stay, rather than just telling them it's not.

I also think it’s part of what sells the house and should remain. We’ve just seen a house where we may have to offer well above asking price. I would be annoyed if they then specified that they were going to take the cooker.

Most people would regard the cooker as a fixture. If someone didn’t I would be more inclined to make an issue out of the survey - in the hope of clawing back that way.

I agree and think it's very important to maintain a good relationship between Buyer and Seller.

At the moment we're in a Buyer's market so I would be more worried about keeping them happy than about what I could get away with re taking appliances they probably assumed during viewings were included in the price.

Was it advertised with a mention of the range? My understanding is that if it were advertised with something then you would leave it. We had this once in a house with a hot tub, which was in the advert. They wanted to take it with them but we'd been sold the house as if it were coming with the hot tub. We did pull out eventually on that house - not for that issue but wood rot in the roof which was really bad. But, we also did get money off in the run up to that, for essentially being mis-sold the idea that the house came with a hot tub!

Something to think about... I have to add that 1.5 years down the line of trying to buy a new house and I haven't ever come across a scenario where a cooker - freestanding or otherwise - would be taken. That leaves you in a situation where you have no choice but to either buy a new range or replace the counter tops to accommodate an integrated hob, which will invariably be smaller than the range. Or another, non-range (likely smaller) freestanding cooker. And there will be gaps in the cupboards down the sides. Which means also replacing those. Essentially half a new kitchen - I'd expect that to be reflected in the price.