Seller wants to take range cooker despite saying it would stay!

[mabaf90]

We're buying a house and when viewing (viewed twice) the sellers said all fixtures and fittings in the kitchen will be included in the sale. We had a list of questions and specifically asked about the range cooker which they said would be included. We had our offer accepted which was under the advertised price. Just saw the F&F form and they have excluded not only the Stoves Richmond range cooker but also the kitchen pendant lights. They've also excluded a chandelier overhanging the staircase. They're also taking the shed, thee toilet roll holder which is screwed into the wall, and a host of other items. We don't really care for the shed and lights although a bit annoyed/confused as they said these were included when we viewed but are now excluding.

Just wondering what people's experiences have been? First time buyers so not entirely sure what is the norm re. the stove. On reading online it seems they can take the cooker. Wondering if they thought they would sell for higher and therefore are trying to make a point/recoup costs.

what does it say on the original description? If they are mentioned as included they should be left.

Totally agree, and if it's fitted onto tiles the chances of you getting one that covers the exact holes will be difficult and you'll have to live with it looking like that, unless your planning a full bathroom refurb. This would annoy me more than the range.

We did similar and it backfired! Sellers invited us to purchase various items of custom/bespoke furniture. It was all dated, plus we were combining our 2 houses worth of furniture anyway and donating lots to charity, so we politely declined. Moved in to the sight of a huge pyre of burning mdf furniture in the back garden. 10 years later we still occasionally find the odd screw or shard of glass in the ground. Arseholes.

Contact agents.

Explain that you were led to believe by the seller the items were being left as part of the sale. Your offer was under the understanding of this. If the seller now wants to remove these items a lower price will be offered to reflect that.
Work out the cost to replace all of these items (remove 10-15% as these are not new items) and lower your offer by this amount.

Some sellers are rather nasty. When my son bought his house, the seller took not only all the curtains, but all the curtain tracks as well, which I would be surprised if they would ALL fir in their new house.
My understanding is that the general rule is that fixtures should be left unless specifically mentioned.
If you are in the UK, there is a specific form the seller has to complete which states items they are taking or leaving.
I suggest you check what it says.
I remember once a court case, in which the seller had taken the patio, and I believe the court found them to be at fault.

When I was selling my father’s place I was told that anything that Wasn’t screwed down onto the floor or wall was the sellers. Anything that was going to need a screwdriver or and electrician was the buyers.

If verbally they said the cooker was staying and it and can be unplugged (gas or electric) it can go with the seller. They cannot take the chandelier without replacing it with either like for like, or another fitting to make it safe (they need to do an electric testing prior to sale, so after that they cannot change electrical fittings)

Your solicitors are being paid to sort this one.
Btw: my SIL said before selling her house certain things were definitely going with her, but on the day of signing the buyers refused to sign unless those items stayed. It’s a lever to use if they are desperate to sell….

Can you please share a pic of the bathroom so we can all see the toilet roll holder. It must be a beut.

Very normal I'm afraid. Our vendors tried to sell us a rotting 20 year old playhouse and greenhouse and we declined and instead made their removal a condition of our sale at their expense. We agreed to buy their cooker for £100 as a stop gap.

I charged our buyers £50 for our dishwasher and £50 for our washing machine as we could have sold those on marketplace and our new house had integrated ones included. We also took our extendable curtain poles with us as we knew they would fit the new windows and why spend £200 to buy the same thing again. We also took all our curtains as they could be reused albeit we had to.shuffle round which rooms they fitted in.

Is this in England?
If so, didn't the sellers complete a TA10 form, a ten or so page form itemising on a room by room basis what was included and what was not included in the sale? If you didn't receive one, your Solicitors and the vendors Estate Agent both need a stiff letter. Likewise, you should have completed one in respect of your sale.

Have a look at: hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-selling/ta10-form/

I think taking all of that bar the loo roll holders is fair game tbh, they're not permanent fixtures of the house. I would expect the light fittings to be made good with a suitable 'placeholder' though.

They had both. It was weeks before kids and dogs were allowed in the garden. Fortunately it was winter so they weren’t too badly affected.

Yh DH and I discussed and can see their side of things too as people have pointed out. He pointed out that maybe if we spent a fortune on a cooker we would want to keep it too. We were just initially confused as they had said it would be included. We’ve looked online for replacing the exact model and it’s not too bad so we’re minded to let it go so things don’t get frosty moving forward. The loo roll holder we found online for £20 so not a bother.

I'm afraid I disagree with your first couple of comments. If you have spent loads on antique (or otherwise) mirrors, wall cabinets, light fittings etc that fit with your own personal style, why would your buyer be entitled to just have them?

We used to collect a certain period of antique furniture and decorative stuff and over the years had amassed a lot. This included seven large, heavy mirrors that were irreplaceable, worth at least 1k each. Not only was it unlikely our buyers would have wanted them, but there was no way we'd give - or even sell - them as part of the fixtures/fittings!

Please post a link to the holder. £20 still seems a lot to me!

It’s so irritating. When I was buying my first place the listing included ‘built in wardrobes’ with the usual ‘we take no responsibility’ caveat. Turns out they weren’t actually built in and the seller took them, the EA just shrugged.

Just bought our next place recently and the EA told us a strip of land was ours that it turned out in the lawyers meeting 2 days before completion was ‘shared’ between all apartments. The only access to it is via our apartment or through an unconnected neighbour’s garden, so we fought it and thankfully won. Articles were amended to include it with our purchase.

To add, we left all light fittings, all window coverings, all major kitchen appliances and all bathroom fittings (towel rails, drilled in shower caddies etc) for the buyer. Also left her a sample of each paint colour in the apartment, a plant and a New Home card with notes of any details she might need, bin day etc. Treat people how you’d like to be treated I say.

Anything they unscrew will cause you all manner of pain. Wrong size, screws/rawlplugs needing drilling out etc etc.

Ask them to remove and make good or replace before they exchange.

https://theroost.com/products/shell-brass-toilet-roll-holder

When I sold my house the solicitor told me that if I tipped my house upside down, anything that fell was removable & everything else was fixed.

Fixtures and fittings are only worth a lot if you have somewhere to put them . IMO it's petty to take every little thing because you feel buyer should pay for them. White goods, wardrobes etc often don't fit a new house and can be more of a pita to sell separately. I think it's better to include things in the house price even if they are technically F&F. People are rarely keen to add 1000s to their offer later.

The good news is 2nd hand range cookers aren't expensive you will easily get one to slot in the gap. Possibly a better one, almost certainly cleaner.

This is such a ridiculous point of view, even if legally there is something to it. I have beautiful and valuable antique light fittings that need an electrician to install/deinstall them. They took years to find and were birthday presents etc. They go with the rest of my things and probably wouldn't be to anyone else's taste. The definition of "personal item" is not "does not require screws".

I have a feeling that this legislation (which I recall from my childhood when my parents moved house) is very outdated in this day and age and doesn't really reflect modern furnishing usage.

We had the same. Vendor said he'd built it from rare Italian marble or something. Couldn't be arsed with it so found somewhere else.

We’re in the process of selling our house and buying another. We intended to leave the large kitchen appliances, some big wardrobes and all the lights here, because we felt like they were part of the house.
But when we got the fixtures and fittings form through for our new house the owner who is downsizing and we assumed would be leaving things like lights and white goods, isn’t. So we’ve ended up needing to take some of ours with us.
Yes it’s going to be hassle moving them, but unfortunately having had a full renovation done 3yrs ago all our stuff is brand new so any second hand price our own buyers would offer would leave us out of pocket when having to buy new stuff for the new place.

It’s all very annoying and yes I do wish all this stuff could be made much clearer for everyone up front. I think if your offer is contingent on something specific being left you need to put that in writing alongside your offer at the time of writing, but that time has passed.

Just offering a different perspective as your sellers could be in a similar position to us and annoyed they now have to take the range cooker and lights. Perhaps worth asking why they’re taking them and then make an offer based on that.

Agreed

We paid to keep an oven once opened it on moving day and it was filthy and only the hob worked.
we then had to get rid at our expense and buy another anyway