Can seller change things in the property between offer and completion?

[Femining]

This might be best in legal, but I think people here might know, too.

The fixtures and fittings form in residential property sales: If it says 'bath included' should it be the exact bath the buyer saw, or can the seller take the bath and replace it with another for the new owner. Same with boiler etc.

If it's different to the exact one buyer saw, is this breach of contract and is there anything a buyer can do?

The seller has changed a few things and my solicitor is not being clear on my rights, and says it's really not worth the hassle.

I don't know about baths, but when we moved we changed the light fittings from the ones up when the viewings were done. That's pretty normal, but I would think it's very unusual for expensive and disruptive work like changing a bath or boiler to be done between exchange and completion.

Second hand or new build? Difference in value between what.was viewed and what was left? Are any of the items changed either massively valuable or to only reason you bought the property?

You need to do a visit before completion to be able to challenge any changes to included fixtures or feature of the property you are buying. Make sure the vendors know there will be one.

The last time I move I was told to view just before contracts were exchanged to check everything was as I expected and hadn’t been changed. My buyers also did the same so changing things must be getting more common. This was 2 years ago

depends. I’ve never heard of someone taking a boiler. If it’s a free standing bath then possibly but I’d expect a bath to be fitted and the bathroom put right with tiles etc.

If you haven’t exchanged yet, I suppose they can as there’s no contract between you.

If the boiler was not working. Yes they can change it. In factvthey are legally obliged to sell the house with a working heating system.

Bath. I would assume is a bath unless the details specify something specific like a whirlpool and they replace for a standard non whirlpool one.

Was it a nice free standing bath they’ve replaced with a basic one? In which case yes,
unless it was explicitly agreed the free standing one included in the sale.
Replacing a boiler would be odd unless either faulty or again it’s more than your typical boiler and it makes sense to take it.

Not true. Their is no legal obligation to sell a house with a working heating system. It is up to the Buyer to establish if the heating system is working, when it was installed, last serviced etc. The Seller is legally required to answer any queries truthfully.

Anything that forms the fabric of the property such as fireplace, bath, kitchen, plants in the garden, that aren't separately listed as fixtures and fittings, curtains, carpets etc ie that can be offered for sale cannot be removed from the property,

example: nowadays nobody bothers to rip up carpets but back in the day, people used to. I remember the seller of our last house saying they were going to take all their carpets with them, to which I thought fine good job, it saves me from ripping the disgusting things up. They never did of course! But it was in the contract so it would have been lawful if they had.

so in the case of a bath, if they remove the bath that you saw when you visited the property and will have been in the photos, without clearly stating that, that's a breach of contract.

that's why it's really important to check the paperwork that comes through from the other side before signing it, if by chance it said bath will be removed (eg an old iron bath they wanted to take with them), that's something you will have had to sign in agreement or contest. Contracts have to clearly state the intention of both sides. Photographic evidence is always useful.

your solicitor does need to be clear on your rights, it isn't difficult. Your estate agent can also verify what was in the property sale documentation.

Our seller is taking their door knocker 🙄 but replacing it. That’s also the case with some lights. They did say that in the fixtures and fitting form though.

I mean unless the boiler was broken who would take it? thats madness it would cost as much to uninstall, replace and reinstall in a new property as it would be to just buy new in a new house.

I do know there have been issue in the past with people complaining wood burners have been taken etc... a bath maybe the same not really sure what the recourse is though. I assume you mean take a antique freestanding roll top cast iron bath etc... and replacing it with a cheap modern bath? once again though seems like such a hassle though.

Our house was empty as the sellers had already moved but had a Chiminea in the garage when we viewed, it was gone when we bought but isn't on the fixtures and fittings form so I assume they just came back for it.

We left my childhood home in 2000. We left the custom made house number with a photo of our childhood pets printed on it.

House has listed/sold 3 times and being nosy I have looked through the listings and it STILL has our house number with our now long dead pet photo on the front. Also still has my freestanding wardrobes from the 90s that we left although they have move rooms.

Its strange to see.

No your not, you can sell an empty shell of a house with no roofing, semi collapsed walls, no heating at all etc...

You can sell anything. Houses don't have to be 'good condition' there is a MASSIVE market for buying houses that need fixing.

A fire damaged house down the road from us just sold, its completely destroyed inside.

Perhaps but mortgages cannot be granted without a kitchen and a bathroom

I fail to see why anyone would replace a working boiler with another in this time period. If the boiler was broken then I would expect it to be changed. As for a bath, I guess maybe they might want to take the freestanding one but I'd want another one of similar value to be fully plumbed in if a bath was included in the cost.

I don’t know about the legalities but I would have thought there would be an issue if the seller replaced something that was inferior to what was already there when your offer was accepted unless it was made clear they were replacing the item.

I bought a house off a friend (big mistake) and paid extra for various items including a single bed and the washing machine which was only a couple of months old. When I moved it she’d removed the ‘new’ washing machine and replaced it with a second hand one which was her boyfriend’s (who she was moving in with). It was made worse as they’d moved the washing machine without unhooking the concrete block in it and it had smashed up the interior and it didn’t work. She did replace it (begrudgingly) with another second hand one but I wasn’t impressed and the friendship didn’t survive. I was even more annoyed because I saved her a load of estate agent fees by buying directly from her and she tried to double cross me over a £100 or so pounds for a washing machine.

They can change anything they want too but they have to make sure one is in its place . So a bath for a bath etc. when my brother moved he had a beautiful standing bath and replaced it for a standard bath.

Bath was a freestanding very nice bath, left with acrylic but new bath.

Also removed and replaced cast iron radiators with new but not as attractive radiators. So i guess i can't really quibble on lost value as they replaced with what looks like new.

I guess they just had designs on their stuff.

I thought sellers had to be transparent about what was being left and what wasn't. I'm sure there's usually a list of what is and is not included in the price. So in your situation it should have been made clear that you weren't getting the free standing bath and radiators. I'm not sure on the legal of it all but should your solicitor not have been clear on that!

I'd be pissed off if I was in your position op and it wasn't made clear that the bath would be getting changed and they'd be taking their radiators!

They can do what they kind up until Exchange, but should expect the offer to decrease if it is a change that the buyer does not like and removes something of value.

It doesn’t matter about the value, if it is a change since the offer was affected and a change you don’t like you can renegotiate. You offered on what you saw and was in the fixtures and fittings forms.

Have you exchanged?

I’d be going back to the solicitor and telling them that your offer was made and accepted on the basis of the bath and radiators being what you viewed and either they are replaced, the price is reduced to reflect the replacement costs or you’ll have to pull out.
a 760 x 410 mm cast iron radiator could cost £185, a similar bog standard radiator is half that price. If they’ve removed 5 radiators, that’s £450. Cheeky sods!

Before you have exchanged contracts yes, afterwards not anything mentioned in the contract unless something breaks and is replaced like for like.

I did that @kirinm! It was a special one sent to me from the US and I told them I was taking it.

As someone who spent a small fortune on really good quality cast iron radiators I’d be very annoyed if they were removed and replaced with inferior radiators, even if they were new.