How to know what to include on fixtures and fittings?

[BraOffPjsOn]

So we’ve received a fixtures and fittings list - there’s only 3 of us in the chain. Do we wait to receive the list from our sellers so we know what we can put down as leaving on our list?

it’s only really the washing machine as I guess if they leave theirs we could leave ours (as long as working)!
Never brought and sold so this is all new!

I don’t know what’s normal, but I always put down what I know is staying then at a later date to back and say, did you want us to leave xyz

You leave fitted kitchen white goods. So you don’t remove a hob. If the washing machine is free standing, it’s normal to take it. I truly would not want your old washing machine.

As for other things, don’t leave holes in the walls. So leave curtain poles and picture hooks and maybe shelves. If they are not coming off the wall easily, leave them. Leave carpets and other fitted floor coverings. You can take light fittings but you cannot leave exposed wires. So if you take wall lights, you must replace them with something that works. Ditto ceiling lights. You can tell the buyers if you want a few plants from the garden but you should not empty flower beds. You need to think about leaving bathroom cupboards but you must leave fitted bedroom furniture.

So go into every room and work out what is fitted and must stay and what would mess up a wall if you took it.

Ok thank you.
So I don’t really need to wait for our seller to send us their F&F list?
We just put that we’ll take our washing machine and hope they take their one too?

When we bought this house, we didn’t want his washing machine either but it was still left and we ended up with 2! Along with a load of other furniture and a full skip on the driveway!

If you are moving your washing machine, don't forget to install the transit bolts beforehand.

Maybe I will leave it then as I’ve no idea where they went 😂

Sellers will normally take free standing washing machines with them. Sometimes they will offer to leave them if you agree to pay them the extra amount they want for it.

I think you’re fairly safe to assume that the seller isn’t going to leave their washing machine for free.

Ok it’s fine either way for us as we have ours. Just we’re buying a probate property so there’s no one moving to another place with all of their things. And we have first time buyers so it all technically could have just fed down but it might not be worth the hassle anyway and I’d just worry about whether it still works.

Probate property means they might be keen to leave it, as there won’t be a new house for them to move it into.

We bought a probate property and they did offer to leave the washing machine for an extra £100. We declined and they did remove it before we moved in.

I’d mark it on your r&f list as not staying. You can always change your mind and offer to the buyers at a later stage.

Thank you - that’s exactly what I was wondering.

So the integrated oven in our new house should be staying so we can leave our oven? Ours is free standing.

I think shake your house upside down basically and anything that doesn’t fall in the chaos is staying, so kitche, bathroom, fitted light fittings (unless it’s a special one you want to take) etc

I'd contact the manufacturer for replacement transit bolts if you do take the washing machine. Cheaper than buying a new machine damaged in the move. And if you end up with 2, give one away on a local thrift site or sell it on eBay.

Thanks.

I’ve just remembered it’s a washer dryer (we banned ourselves from drying when the energy bills went up!) so probably is worth taking.

I would say you're taking it for now.

If you change your mind later, you could ask them if they would like you to leave it behind.

It would be normal to take a free standing washing machine but not any fitted furniture.

Depending on your machine brand, you might be able to find replacement transit bolts. B&Q sell Bosch ones but it won't let me add the link.

Our most recent purchase was a probate property and they offered to leave the white goods (fridge, washing machine, tumble dryer, freezer). We declined them all as they were ancient, but they included the freestanding cooker with the house. This was also old - 1970s - and the (gas) oven didn't work, but we were glad of the hob for a while as we left our expensive but temperamental Bertazzoni range cooker for our buyers.

Our dishwasher stayed as it was integrated. We also gave our buyers our Smeg fridge freezer (a decision made after we'd declined our vendor's offer) and almost new washing machine as neither we nor our removers could get the latter out of our tiny laundry space under the stairs. This was only discovered on moving day, so in hindsight we should have accepted our vendor's offer of the white goods!

I remember once we had a lovely vendor (who we hadn't met) who announced during conveyancing that the freestanding dishwasher at the house didn't work so he was giving us £300 for a replacement 😊

Yes anything integrated normally stays for free. Anything free standing either gets taken with you, or negotiate with the buyers if they want to have it and possibly pay you extra for it.

totally irrelevant what your seller leaves for you to find when you arrive. &f is not stuff that passes up or down a chain, it is specific to each buyer/seller combimation.

what matters is what you are leaving for your buyer and does your buyer want those items or not. If you leave crap behind then the buyer could, potentially, claim the cost from you of having a rubbish removal company take them away

equally if you leave stuff behind you are perfectly entitled to ask the seller to pay extra for it, obvious ones are:

• carpets
• curtains / blinds
• free standing appliances
• light fittings and/or light bulbs

On the other hand fixtures are items that are (in the eyes of a normal person) "permanently" attached to the fabric of the building. Examples would include fitted kitchens, any and all fitted/"integrated" appliances, the water/central heating system. You might for example take down "fitted" shelves, if you do that you must a) state that fact on the F&F list and b) repair any holes left in the wall from the removal. You should have claimed money from your seller when you moved in for the cost of disposing of the crap they left you, your conveyancer would have done that for you

One famous legal case involved a buyer who fell in love with a mature planted garden and tried to sue the seller when they found the seller had dug up and taken with them nearly all the plants. But they had individually named them on the F&F list using their botanical (Latin) name so the buyer had not bothered to understand what the list meant and thus had agreed to!!

@Wot23 Light bulbs! Of course you don’t ask a buyer to pay for lightbulbs! You leave them for nothing out of courtesy!

sorry but you appear to have had a gold plated life experience.
I suggest you visit some internet forums to see how others have "suffered" from the foibles of vendors

Er? No. I don’t need to read any Internet forums thanks. It’s a cheap spirited person who charges for light bulbs! They should not be taken because lights are supposed to work. They are not a gold plated “extra”. They should be left behind. Cheap skate Brits!

Carpets?!
ours are brand new but wouldn’t fit in the new house so it would be mad to pull them up and bring them (even if they did fit)!

On the other hand, I’d love tor the awful carpets in the new house to be removed 😂

you asked what to include so I don't understand why the !

carpets are fittings, they are not fixtures. you can take them with you or you can leave them behind, either for free or because you sold them to the buyer.

The key point however is that if you leave them, then specify that you are doing so on the F&F list so the buyer cannot claim the cost of disposing of them when they move in and decide they are crap for which you should have paid the disposal cost.

Ok that makes sense - so every little thing listed.

Although if they say it’s if you tipped the house upside down and what falls out that are fittings then the carpets wouldn’t fall out.

I’ll just be really specific about everything.

No, they wouldn't...but equally we have quite a few - antique, irreplaceable - mirrors which are suspended from fixings drilled into the wall which also wouldn't fall out. There's no way I'd be leaving those - for free or if our buyers wanted to purchase them!

As you say @BraOffPjsOn, it's best to be really specific/transparent, just in case confusion arises (have been there!).

Fitted carpets are usually left, rugs are not. Mirrors go with you but if you take out the screws, don’t leave holes in the walls. It’s common sense really and very outdated to take carpets!