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Original poster

Fixtures and Fittings: DO people usually leave curtains in a house?

21 replies

faraday · 04/08/2009 09:55

Curious. MY feeling is it would be daft to take them seeing as your new house would be unlikely to have the same size and configuration of curtains?

Is it something people expect you to negotiate separately?

OP posts:
WhereTheWildThingsWere · 04/08/2009 09:58

I have always taken curtains as I make them all up myself, so I can always alter them for a different window.

I have however, moved in to several houses where the existing curtains have been left.

MrsTittleMouse · 04/08/2009 09:59

No, it isn't something that you can expect, you have to negociate what they will leave and what they will take. My PIL took the carpets with them to their new house.

mankyscotslass · 04/08/2009 10:06

The last house we bought we had to pay extra for them to leave the curtains.

LIZS · 04/08/2009 10:10

Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't . We left neutral ones in the lounge at our last house but took most of the others (standard window sizes, coordinated with bedding and our old house was due for a refurb so wouldn't have been of much interest to purchaser). If there are some you particularly want left but which are not specifically listed as included when you receive the list then you can negotiate. Some vendors will exclude everything such as curtains, light fittings, poles and blinds and may suggest you buy separately, others just include them if they are of no further use to them. You may find that even if they exclude certain items they get left behind anyway.

Original poster
faraday · 04/08/2009 10:15

OK, thanks!

OP posts:
goldenpeach · 05/08/2009 00:23

I left curtains in my first house, took the curtains in second house but left tasty woiles downstairs and blinds in bedrooms. It's a bit mean to strip a house.

LyraSilvertongue · 05/08/2009 02:11

In the very manky house we bought last year, they left all the (manky) curtains and light shades all thick with dust and general dirt. It all went into a skip within days of completion.

YanknCock · 05/08/2009 02:35

I left the all the blinds (we didn't have curtains) in the house I sold last year, and in the house I bought this year, every room had curtains bar one.

ClaudiaSchiffer · 05/08/2009 02:48

MrsTittlemouse - they took the carpets .

HerHonesty · 05/08/2009 04:47

No, you would expect them to charge you for them

notagrannyyet · 05/08/2009 05:09

23 year old DS moved into his first home in the spring.

Previous owner did want to sell carpets & curtains but he wasn't interested. In the end they were left behind anyway. He's had the carpets cleaned, and replaced some of the curtains with blinds.

If it were me I would leave curtains etc. it's more trouble than it's worth to take them out. I would also leave light bulbs and what's left of the loo roll. When my sister moved out both light bulbs and loo roll were taken. She moved with 2 little ones late on a winters afternoon and had need of both!

NoseyHelen · 05/08/2009 09:14

I think it's a disgrace that people take the lightbulbs and it wouldn't cross my mind to take the loo roll. The first thing you'll do in a new house it turn on the lights and go to the loo!!

MrsTittleMouse · 05/08/2009 09:26

I think that my parents' vendor would probably win a game of "worst person to buy a house from". When they moved into a house with two toddlers (me and my brother) the previous owner not only took all the lightbulbs, he also took all the electrical sockets. Including the big one for the cooker. It was completely illegal, even then, but if he didn't give a shit that he was endangering two small children then I doubt that he cared about legalities.

I've also heard of vendors who have dug up all the bulbs and plants from the garden.

Poledra · 05/08/2009 09:31

I have left curtains that I had made specifically to fit an exceptionally large window, but took the other, more standard, curtains.

I also leave the loo roll and kitchen towel and, when I liked the people buying from us, a bottle of wine to welcome them into their new home.

The last house we left, we'd just redecorated it all before selling, so I left the paint so any scratches caused by moving furniture could be touched up after the person moved in.

PurpleFrog · 05/08/2009 14:59

When we moved into our first house the seller had left some nets and around half the curtains. These were very much appreciated and did us in these rooms until we got round to redecorating.

About 4 years ago we moved to a larger house in the same estate. This meant that a lot of the window sizes were the same, so we took any curtains that we were going to use but left the others, including some velour door curtains that I had made.

llareggub · 05/08/2009 15:08

The woman who sold us this house took the light fittings and the grill pan. She didn't even hoover before leaving so there were dead insects on the floor where her furniture had been.

We were never particularly quick at forwarding on her mail as a result.

llareggub · 05/08/2009 15:09

o
Oh, and she refused to tell us the code for the house alarm.

RustyBear · 05/08/2009 15:09

When we moved to this house, we not only left all the curtains, we left the fridge-freezer and the dining table & chairs - we were planning to get new ones & the young couple who bought the house were very grateful not to have to buy new ones.

When we left our first flat, we took the velvet curtains from the living room & spare room because they would fit the new house & we couldn't really have afforded all new ones. I left the ones in our bedroom because they matched the wallpaper.

Incidentally, we sold that flat in 1982 - when we drove past three years ago, the curtains were still there.....

rebl · 05/08/2009 15:31

We'll be taking all our curtains with us as they can be adjusted. I will also be taking some plants from the garden but I have made it very clear to the buyers exactly which ones I'm taking before they even put an offer in.

When we moved in there was no carpet in rooms that they said they would leave the carpet and carpet in rooms they said they would take! They left furniture as well which turned out to do us a favour and only 7 years on are we taking it to the tip and replacing it!

MyNameIsInigoMontoya · 06/08/2009 12:33

We are taking some of our curtains and leaving others, we agreed that with our buyers - the ones we are keeping are 1) one set that was a wedding present so sentimental value, 2) DS's bedroom curtains as we got blackout ones specially, and 3) our bedroom curtains as we got them to match our bedding.

Our sellers are doing the same, they are taking 2 sets and leaving the rest, probably for similar reasons!

Leaving all the carpets and flooring though, it would be a hassle to take and probably not fit the new house anyway.

franklymydear · 06/08/2009 12:34

yes you negotiate separately

even shelves can be taken

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